Craig comes out of hiding to sum up another issue with clarity....
When Cho Seung-hui walked into a Virgina gun shop last month and bought his second gun, we cannot be sure of the ensuing conversation. Perhaps pleasantries were exchanged, but not about hunting, for this was no hunting gun. It was a weapon that had been previously banned under the Clinton administration, only to be made legal when Bush and his NRA backed republicans let the law lapse in 2004.
What we can be sure of is this:
- There was no mandatory waiting period. Cho was able to choose his gun and walk out. A bit like buying a shirt.
- There was no background check done on Cho. If there had been, they may have found that he had spent time in a mental institution after a stalking incident. But none was performed.
Why? It is hard for us Australians to comprehend the gun culture of the US. 200 million guns are owned, and the right to “bear arms†is enshrined in the constitution (which was written during a time of armed insurgency against the British…). In George W Bush’s first public response to the shootings at Virginia Tech, he reaffirmed the right of Americans to bear arms. Excuse me? 32 people are knocked off by a madman with a formerly illegal weapon and that’s the time to defend people’s rights to bear arms? That’s a bit like AFL head honcho, Andrew Demitriou, defending free speech in response to the Adam Selwood/Des Headland stoush.
Source: Craigs Rantings about life, the Universe and everything. - The Right of Crazy People to Bear Arms
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