How many deaths will it take before America initiates a serious debate on guns? With each new death, the situation is the same: some indignant outcries, and then all goes back to normal.
Today, America is the Western, industrialized country that counts the most civilian deaths committed by fellow civilians on Earth, and yet not a single politician has the courage to launch a national discussion in Congress on the availability of all types of guns across the country.
Of course, it’s easy to turn to the Constitution’s sacrosanct second amendment, which accords “the right to bear arms.” But it’s nevertheless important to recall that this “right” had been given to militiamen who were fighting the English…
The reality is that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is such a powerful lobby across the Atlantic that it’s got most elected officials, Republicans and Democrats, in its pocket. In its day Michael Moore’s film on the Columbine shooting really showed this.
Thus, this results in the arms debate being nipped in the bud before it even begins. Only yesterday morning, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had the courage to call on Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to put in place “better control” laws on the sale of arms in the United States.
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