20 April 2007

Ban on Firearms

Despite being having a intense personal interest in firearms, I do think a blanket ban on firearms is necessary in all 'civilised' societies. It is far too easy to perpetuate massacres with firearms, be it a pistol, a hunting rifle, a shotgun or an assault rifle. The keyword is massacres, not murders.

Right to bear arms in an American context? Seriously, will hunting rifles or pistols be of any threat to a military dictatorship or foreign invader should there ever be one in the USA? Almost certainly not. A militia or rebel group armed with assault rifles, possibly. In that cause, arm every citizen with assault rifles, however, that clearly is just not practical or safe in a societal context. Thus, that law is definitely, well, to say the least, obsolete.

BAN ALL FIREARMS. ALL.

Meanwhile, I have just read a disgusting rationalisation from the BBC of why they gave the madman's person and actions publicity.

"As to what of the NBC video should be transmitted, we decided what was editorially relevant for our audiences. For our TV audiences, where people are not choosing to watch a specific item in the way the online audience can, we bear in mind the time of day, who may be watching and the editorial purpose."

Here is another snippet (I bet every news agency is rationalising it this way, bravo):

"However, given that the video is already widely available, we had to judge whether withholding the video from BBC audiences was the appropriate thing to do. We decided that playing short clips, responsibly contextualised, could aid understanding of the story."

I posted a comment in the BBC editors' blog. I doubt if they will publish it:

"Justify it all you want, rationalise it whatever way you can, I am sorry but this is sheer irresponsibility.

The BBC has suffered from biased reporting (and is still biased) and now, it has gleefully succumbed to a ratings war and has gone ahead and published the manifesto of a madman, playing into Cho's hands. I am sad at the decline of this once great institution."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem is not with firearms as I am under the impression that every Swiss has an assault rifle at home and we don't hear anything about college shootings or gun crimes there. I was told Canada also allow possession of firearms as well and they don't do the same shit as the Americans. The problem is not the guns. It is the irresponsible people holding them. That is also the reason why no one in Singapore should get any.

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

That is absolutely true with regards to Switzerland.

Agreed on the bit regarding Singapore.

Yes, Cho did grow up in the USA since he was eight. However, he was living in a first generation Korean family. In other words, he was also infused with Korean values as well as American ones. In light of his mental illness, I am loathed to attribute his actions to societal causes.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that you can ban all firearms in the US. There are simply too many in circulation that are completely unregistered and untracable. I personally have several, including a MAK-90 with three 30 round banana clips and over 1000 rounds of Warsaw pact surplus armor piercing ammo. If you think that a large Army can take them away from the millions of Americans who own them, just look at how well that is working in Iraq. Yes, the US government is kept in check by the approx. 300,000,000 (yes, 300 million) firearms in circulation in the US. Almost all of these, with the exception of handguns, are unregistered. It is impossible to round them up, even if you suspended the US Constitution and had the Army kick in every door and search every house. The only way to remove them would be to nuke the entire country, and that would be a little bit of overkill.

cutefuzzyoctopi said...

Just what kind of Anarchist are you SC! Sheesh!!

;)

They should allow everyone to own 50 cals and GPMGs too IMO!

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Anonymous, you are right. We have to be pragmatic. In the USA, that would be pretty unrealistic. Over in certain countries where ownership of firearms is not widespread, I think it is very possible.

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Fuzz, I would love to own assault rifles and heavy machine guns myself.

However, I don't want them in the hands of some of the screwballs that we know in real life. Imagine some of the depressives we used to have in Lothy armed... Not a funny thought dude!

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Fuzz,

The idealist in me believes in freedom. Liberty.

However, the realist in me knows that there are too many assholes out there who just cannot be responsible even with education, guidance and more...