Hi Bindiboi
People all around the world feel such sympathy for the families of the bereaved. The pain of loss after the death of anyone is so bad for families, but it is unimaginably bad for the parents of such young children. Your suggestion is a lovely way of giving physical expression to the sympathy that is in our minds.
What is more difficult to understand on this side of the Atlantic is the concept of everyone having guns to defend themselves against criminals, as you suggest later in answer to Meatpie. Sure, here in the UK, some criminals have guns; but we have police to catch criminals, and draconian sentences for possession, which persuade most criminals not to carry arms.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like the US you’re less likely to be shot by a criminal than by a family member in a blind, momentary, rage, by a child by mistake, or by a nice chap living down the road who suddenly has a brainstorm. If there isn’t a gun to hand, then you might get hit by a thrown vase, or surprised by a child going ‘boo!’, or be punched on the nose in the street. In the US everyone seems to have a small arsenal of sophisticated weaponry. I would feel very uncomfortable living with my hand on the gun in my pocket, going round suspiciously eying my partner, my neighbour, my mother, the waiter in the restaurant, and every single stranger, knowing they too were armed, and were looking at you suspiciously, everyone wondering who was about to go mad and start shooting.
We employ soldiers to fight, and possibly die, to defend a life of freedom and peace. It would seem the least I can do is to run the miniscule risk of meeting an armed criminal, and the infinitesimally small risk of dying by being shot by a criminal, to avoid the carnage that comes from universal gun ownership. It would be my sacrifice to secure a civilised society, and I know that there is a good chance that the police, for whom I pay tax happily, would catch my murderer.
Besides which, ownership of a gun implies a willingness to kill, and to kill easily. Although in a fantasy world on the internet, I acknowledge the erotic potential of some forms of death, both personal and of others, I would never hurt another human being – or animal. (I can be a bit mean to plants, sometimes.) I would guess that is true of the majority of members here. The dark thoughts are exorcised in fantasy.
Sadly, it looks likely that, since gun control seems politically impossible in the US, the main target of legislation will be sites like this, violent video games, movies, and TV. I don’t know whether there is evidence that others are depraved and corrupted by images of death and violence. I don’t think I have been. How are things in Japan, where Manga violence seems fairly extreme, often perverted, and widely read? Artistic violence, though, is a soft target for politicians who want to be seen to take action but cannot deal with two of the key factors in murder: means – the mass possession of guns; and motive – the adverse effects on mental health of harsh divisions of race and wealth.
Bindiboi, I hope you don’t take offence at these comments. It’s not a criticism. We come from utterly different cultures. Bearing arms is a constitutional right, a symbol of freedom, on your side of the Atlantic. In the UK, I think most people feel uneasy about the few that do own guns, whether for competitive pistol target practice, or for shooting game. My biggest worry about the fallout from the recent event is that sites like this will be lost and that Hollywood war or murder movies will turn into old Batman movies (POW! KERRANG! WHAP!).
Oh well, what will be will be.
Merry Christmas to you and a happy New Year to all.
Marky.
