America Shoot Outs
The Thrill Of Firing A Gun
Each year dozens of innocent Americans get killed by, gunmen who are very American. A school student, guns down more than a dozen children and adults, the student used a gun owned by his parents. A maniac, enters a movie theatre and randomly fires at people busy watching the movie. An American, enters a Sikh temple in America and blindly shoots worshippers. This list is not exhaustive, it never can be exhaustive as new stories come up everyday.
So what is America doing about this, well let me tell you. The President, wears a black coat, looks really sad and gives a speech gaurded by some of the most heavily armed bodygaurds the world has ever seen. Then you have phsychologists rush to the scene of shooting, they need to counsel people who were victims but did not die or, those who are shocked just by seeing the shooting. America loves news, dozens of news reporters, screech from the scene - TV screens blare 'Breaking News' type of scoop stories. Some time later, dozens of sad looking faces, carry candles, flowers and cards to be put at the scene of the shooting. The local police, look tough and talk tough - they get paid to do that we all know that.
In this report we will touch on an issue that few Americans would dare talk about. Is the American phsyche being controlled by the macho image that the country loves to paint. Should guns be banned, should America ensure that EVERYONE has a gun, starting at the age of 12. Should America just shut up and stop that macho, 'kill thy enemy hype' that is blared on T.V night and day.
About Banning Guns: This might seem like an obvious solution to the problems of random shootings in various parts of America. Let me tell you why the U.S politicians do not want to ban guns. I heard Obama on a campaign debate before the Nov 2012 elections. He clearly mentioned that hunting and gaming, is an American tradition it is deeply rooted in the history of America. So a blanket ban on guns would dampen interest in one of America's biggest hobbies.
Guns For Everyone: So should we just ensure that everyone has a gun, starting probably at the age of 12? The logic is to give people including children a chance to protect themselves. After all the politicians, don't want to ban guns so how can the dear children be protected. Well the story goes that no guns is not a solution, more guns is not a solution either. A good example is an incident in New York. A gunman near a prominent building was surrounded by over 25 fully armed members of the police. Many bullets flew in all directions, the dangerous thing is that about half a dozen bystanders also sustained bullet injuries. The lesson here apparently is that, guns in the hands of non-professionals could cause far more damage than that caused by the police!
Keeping Guns: Teenagers involved in gunning down people, often get their weapons from home - mommy's favorite gun or dad's tremendous fire power. So how do these lethal weapons become so easily accessible at home. There probably are too many of them in many homes, and some are really large and bulky - not easy to put them off in a safe place at home. So all daddy says is 'Mah, son don't you ever touch that brute, he has power to drive a hole in the walls'. So the son knows what exactly to use when he feels like releasing some real brute force. It is well known that many of these gunmen have mental disorders, something that their close family members are surely aware of and yet - they have access to weapons that can maim or kill a dozen people in less than a minute.
Fire Power: So you don't wanna ban guns, wanna keep the tradition of gaming alive - fine. But just how much fire power should a person with a licensed gun or guns be allowed to keep. The 2012 shooting in a movie theater, took police to the residence of the gunman. The guy had many guns, hundreds of bullets, explosives to booby trap the home and much more. All that the common American was told is that, the weapons were all legally purchased. So just how much of gaming, would this guy do with all that ammunition? Is there something like wildlife law in the U.S?
The Real Cause: It is the macho image painted by the Americans that shifts a human mind to go on such violent sprees. Remember? America will not let off it's enemies, we will chase them down to the end of the earth. Bin Laden, here we come - a handful of heavily trained and armed American combat men, shoot down the number one enemy of America. And before that, 'we will get saddam' even it means getting a few hundred American soldiers killed. And long before that, the mad desire to wipe off Vietnam from the world map, just because - America did not like the way Vietnam wanted to govern itself. Graphic images, of how American soldiers both ladies and men, tortured, humilated and humbled their 'Iraqi' enemy prisoners. The mind becomes dumb to violence will all these scenes. You start believing that you need to finish your enemy, finish anyone who does not come within your point of view. That enemy need not necessarily be a non-American, it could imply people of a particular religion, or someone who does not dress or talk the way you would like them to.
Once the sad funerals are over and the black coats return to the wardrobes, does the American man have the guts to insist on change - a change that can effectively reduce or eliminate the senseless terror unleashed on Americans by Americans. Or will we just go by our life as if nothing happened, that is what the medical counsellors would tell you. All is over, everything is fine now, let us light a candle and burn our fright away.