With reference to Starlifter's opening post, he is, alas, 100% correct.
From the point of view of a European, and an Italian at that, it is a sorry thing to say there are more murders in NYC in one night alone, than in all of the mafia-ridden South of Italy in a year.
Think about it.
From the point of view of a European, and an Italian at that, it is absurd that there are, according to FBI and BATF statistics, 88 firearms per 100 citizens... and that includes newborn babies, old-age pensioners and all those living abroad whose gun rights are waived in respect for host nation regulations.
From the point of view of a European, and an Italian at that, it is absurd that, as Starlifter correctly said, the 2nd amendment is quoted only in its second half, and ignored in its first half.
You want to know what "gun control" means? Go to your local vehicle licensing office and ask what happens if you buy a car and simply drive out, no plates, no insurance, and expect to drive home happily "exercising your constitutional right to freedom of movement"...
Yup!
Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 12/15/12 at 14:09:45:I wish I knew. It's a society problem, not a weapons problem. Kids today play horrible viseo games, full of death and destruction. So many split homes where kids go home to an empty house after school and are left to their own devices for hours until some tired and frazzled mother then has to deal with all of the domestic chores after work, and no father present. Church attendance falling drastically, especially among families with children.
Our society has fallen off of the cliff. At the risk of sounding like the old guy who isn't "with it" anymore, I was thinking of my high school yearbook pictures of us seniors. I went to a mixed race, inner city high school, but every yound man, black and white, in those pages of pictures looked sharp, had a suit on for his picture ( a teacher actually lent one kid, white, by the way ) a suit coat and tie for his picture because the parents couldn't afford one. But we all looked normal and sharp.
We had a dress code - no ankle length black trench coats like the Columbine shooters wore would have been tolerated - you had to come to school shaven with a normal haircut, and boys had to wear a belt on their trousers. Girls' skirts had to be no shorter than the middle of the knee. Shorts were not allowed, even though obviously the old school had no A/C in the early 1960s. We were taught to be normal.
We've just lost it as a society. I was on our school board for one term 20 years ago when all of this diversity crap began. The motto of our nation is E Pluribus Unum, which is translated One From Many - that's what the country used to be; one people with many roots. Now, we celebrate diversity - what crap. We are afraid to say Merry Christmas because someone might be offended at a heritage that made our country great but is now considered offensive.
That's why I REFUSE to use the words African American. They spit in the face of the proud black people who work hard, raise good families, serve and die in our military - these folks are Americans without the need for an adjective. I am not a Swiss American - I'm an American, plain and simple and so are my fellow citizens who just happen to have a different color skin.
So if we are ever to fix this, we first must fix society and get back to an appreciation of family, country, discipline, good order, pride in our country first, and another hundred qualities that we've lost. It sickens me when some of our fellow on this forum insult our president, call him a criminal or an idiot, be he GWB or Obama - both of them, while miles apart politically, are good men who did, or are doing their best. We have lost respect for the most basic of American values in the rush toward political correctness.
Sorry to preach, but you did ask. I know of no simple one liner to fix this.
Alas, Jerry's spot on. Ever heard the old adage "Too mant rights mean no rights at all" ?
When my son was 6 I had to wrestle off his cold fingers the CDROM to "Grand Theft Auto" and prove him, playing the game, what he was actually doing, was rehearsing and practicing to be a robber, hijacker and fiend. An assassin and cop-killer.
I'm sure that for every single white or grey-haired Savage rider there are a few hundred dozen crotch rocket riders whose previous vehicle was a skateboard.
I'd love to ride the US coast-to-coast, riding solo. I'd absolutely, positively love it.
It scares me to death to think that I can fall victing of a roadside shooting simply because I split lanes or stopped at the lights when turning right,
or talked back at the angry white 300 lb. mama on a pickup when she flips me the one-fingered salute.
From the point of view of a European ... THAT is how the world sees the US... unfortunately.
Sharpen up, shape up, or be prepared, it won't be nice, but someday, someone will march up to Capitol Hill and will tell the protesters
"
I will fix things for you, and I will make America great again!" and they will all cheer and he'll win the elections with an 80% landslide.
It happened in Europe, alright. Three times.
Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, in that order.
And Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Sharpen up, shape up, or be prepared. Gun control by Federal Law would be a good start, whether you like it or not.
PS Anywhere in Europe, if you have a mentally ill living inhouse, you CANNOT have guns. So much for so much.
Pages: 
