Massacre with Advance Warning

September 23, 2013

Published in Berliner Zeitung
(Germany) on 18 September 2013
by Daniel Haufler (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Gillian Palmer.

The massacre in Washington, D.C. again shows how wrong the United States gun lobby is. Since the shootings in Newtown, Conn. nine months ago, it has more vehemently than ever opposed stronger background checks for gun buyers. Had more stringent checks been in place, they might possibly have prevented the latest bloodbath in Washington. The shooter was mentally disturbed and had attracted police attention for once firing a weapon into the ceiling of his apartment and, on another occasion, shooting out the tires of a vehicle because he felt he had been disrespected. Then, several weeks prior to his rampage, he claimed to be hearing voices that were harassing him.

How is it possible that such a person could legally buy multiple firearms? How can it be that he was only prevented from buying an assault rifle — which would have permitted him to kill even more people — purely by chance? How is it possible that a nation prefers to defend the freedom to kill rather than to save lives by passing stronger gun laws?

Since World War II, there have been 12 shooting incidents in the United States that resulted in more than a dozen deaths. The first six took place over the 50 years between 1949 and 1999; the last six happened during the last six years.

Those statistics should be enough to make even gun nuts pause and reflect.

Amoklauf mit Vorwarnung
Von Daniel Haufler
18.09.2013

Der Amoklauf von Washington zeigt einmal mehr, wie dringend geboten vernünftige Kontrollen beim privaten Waffenkauf in den USA sind.

Der Amoklauf von Washington zeigt einmal mehr, wie sehr die Waffenlobby in den USA im Unrecht ist. Sie hat seit dem Schulmassaker von Newtown vor neun Monaten energischer denn je verhindert, dass Käufer von Waffen vernünftig überprüft werden. Hätte es solch einen „Background Check“ gegeben, wäre es womöglich nicht zu der Bluttat gekommen. Denn der Todesschütze war geistig verwirrt. Mehrmals schon ist er der Polizei aufgefallen. Einmal schoss er in die Decke seines Apartments, nachdem er sich mit der Mieterin der darüber liegenden Wohnung gestritten hatte. Ein anderes Mal zerschoss er die Reifen eines Wagens, weil er sich herablassend behandelt fühlte. Und wenige Wochen vor der Tat hörte er Stimmen, die ihn angeblich verfolgten.

Wie kann es sein, dass ein solcher Mensch legal mehrere Waffen erwerben darf? Wie kann es sein, dass es nur einem glücklichen Zufall zu verdanken ist, dass er nicht auch noch ein Sturmgewehr kaufen durfte, um noch mehr Menschen zu töten? Wie kann es sein, dass ein Land lieber die Freiheit zum Töten verteidigt, als mit einem strengen Waffenrecht Leben zu schützen?

In den USA gab es seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg zwölf Amokläufe mit mehr als zwölf Toten: die ersten sechs Massaker zwischen 1949 und 1999, die letzten sechs in den vergangenen sechs Jahren. Diese Zahlen sollten selbst Waffennarren zu denken geben.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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