Originally Posted By ecdc Lovely. Another day, another shooting. Not many details, all just breaking news right now.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney But this is America, land of the free...home of cowardly gun-toting murderers. It will never stop, and the rest of the modern world finds us ridiculous.
Originally Posted By dagobert It's already on the news over here as well. Wasn't there a shooting on Times Square as well recently? >>>It will never stop, and the rest of the modern world finds us ridiculous.<<< I don't understand why gun possession is so important for US citizens, but I don't have the cultural background and I'm from a country where gun possession is very restricted.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I don't understand why gun possession is so important for US citizens<< Because we're a culture of fear and paranoia, a culture of shadows and conspiracy theories. Twenty-four hour news has convinced everyone they'll be a victim. I think Michael Moore is his own worst enemy, but his analysis of the role of race and white flight in "Bowling for Columbine" is spot on.
Originally Posted By dagobert Really? I spent six months in the US and met very friendly and open people. No one over here would invite someone for dinner when they have just met. So I have to be glad that we don't have 24h news channels. I'm just glad that gun possession is very limited over here.
Originally Posted By ecdc It's a funny place. Most people are nice. Most people mean well. You might have a conversation with a guy who is very kind, he might even have pulled over to help you with a flat tire. You could talk about sports and your kids and get along great. Then you might hear him crack a joke about the White House becoming the Plantation House since Obama moved in and that's why he's started hoarding ammo. Think it's far-fetched? I just described two of my uncles and a few cousins.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer The Empire State Building has a brew pub AND a cocktail lounge. I think we all know what the real problem here is.
Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-celebrates-full-week-without-deadly-mass-sh,29293/" target="_blank">http://www.theonion.com/articl...h,29293/</a>
Originally Posted By DyGDisney The thing I noticed in NYC was that many tourist locations have security systems in place like you find at the airport. Remove your belt, jewelry, money, shoes, etc and place them on the conveyer belt then go through the metal detector; even the museum we visited. I've been wondering if we will see that type of security point pop up at more places as gun violence continues to escalate.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>The thing I noticed in NYC was that many tourist locations have security systems in place like you find at the airport. Remove your belt, jewelry, money, shoes, etc and place them on the conveyer belt then go through the metal detector; even the museum we visited. I've been wondering if we will see that type of security point pop up at more places as gun violence continues to escalate.<<< We had to go through such a detector when boarding the Liberty Island Ferry and when we visited the Empire State Building. I guess they were introduced due to 9/11. Over here only airports, jails and courts use them.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>Over here only airports, jails and courts use them.<<< Yes, here in Cali too. But being that this is America, and every crazy who wants to own an AK47 can, I'm going to predict the need for them at the grocery store within 50 years. Unless something changes, which I don't see happening anytime soon. Too many people living in back-woods dixie clinging to their "God-given 2nd ammendment rights" to let any kind of necessary gun reform happen.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Strange. I work about a half a mile from the Empire State Building and you'd never know from the streets around here that anything had happened. But in NYC, a half mile can be a world away.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EMPIRE_STATE_BUILDING_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-24-11-49-15" target="_blank">http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s...11-49-15</a> Some of those shot might have been accidentally shot by the police...This is coming from the mayor himself... So gun control while an issue is less of an issue then teaching law enforcement officers who the bad guys are and who those they are to protect are...
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 BTW, doesn't NYC have the tightest gun controls in the entire nation?
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<Some of those shot might have been accidentally shot by the police...>> Which never would have happened if some wacko with a gun hadn't started shooting in the first place.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Which never would have happened if some wacko with a gun hadn't started shooting in the first place.<< Police are trained to take down a suspect without hurting innocents. When the police can't even handle that and they have valid guns, we have a major issue. Maybe if law enforcement in America wasn't so incompetent people wouldn't feel the need to have to protect themselves?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Maybe if law enforcement in America wasn't so incompetent > That's an awfully sweeping statement. Especially when we know so few of the details about this incident. <BTW, doesn't NYC have the tightest gun controls in the entire nation? > I don't know if they're THE tightest, but certainly among the tightest. It also has the lowest murder and gun violence rates of any large city in the country.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>When the police can't even handle that and they have valid guns, we have a major issue.<<< Have you ever been to NYC? I have, and the sidewalks and streets are crazy crowded; especially around tourist attractions. I'm not excusing the police if they shot into a crowd and hurt innocent people, but I think your statement is far too broad and does not negate the fact that there is a gun problem in our country.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 but I think your statement is far too broad and does not negate the fact that there is a gun problem in our country.<< I know there is a serious gun problem in our country, but based on initial reports it looks like NYC police made the situation worse.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>it looks like NYC police made the situation worse<<< With that in mind, the whole argument about how the Colorado theater shooting wouldn't have been as bad if there had been some folks carrying guns in the audience might take on a different light.
