Due to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I have been looking a little into US gun laws for different states and I am litterally shocked! I did know there is a lot more to accomplish in this field, but I did not know that it was so bad.
Connecticut, where the latest school shooting took place is actually one of the few states with more restrictive gun laws. They have earned three stars, according to the rating made by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which makes them end up number five in the nation. Still, they only scored 58 out of 100 points (where 100 is the most restrictive and with the lowest risks for gun violence). Thirtyone states have no stars at all, eight states have only one, five states each have two or three stars, while only one (California) made it to the four stars level with 81 out of 100 points. Admittedly, the organisation doing the ranking is campaigning to prevent gun violence and hence has a more restrictive view on guns. However, something must be wrong when the citizens in one of the worlds' most powerful nations feel that they have to arm themselves for protection and voices have also been raised for changes in the gun laws after the tragedy in Newtown.
I find it difficult to compare with Swedish laws, and it would be interesting to have Sweden ranked in the same way by the Brady Campaign to see how we fared. After the tragedy at Utöya in Norway 2011 there were demands for changes in Swedish gun laws, something that was never accomplished as far as I know. So far, Sweden has had no school shootings but (at least some) psychologists and psychiatrists believe it more being a question about availability of guns than there being no one inclined to carry such things out.
On the other hand, the US now has a tradition of school shootings occurring far too often. I try to explain to my children and I hear their disbelief. There is absolutely no sense in letting this historical idea of having the right to arm oneself for protection lead to case after case with desperate people shooting children down. If there were similar systematic disasters related to aeroplanes, car traffic, whatever, the society would make strategic plans to see to that they ended, or at least were reduced. It is not even a war zone we are talking about, for which we are saddened but used to have tragic news about unnecessary deaths. No, this is the United States of America and full of sorrow we keep on watching the US letting their children die in vain, for the sole reason to be able to go on with the American dream and everyone's right to possess a gun.
Footnote: I am writing this in English since I began my reading on the gun laws pages of the Brady Campaign. Unfortunately most other links are to sites in Swedish. I will probably mix Swedish and English henceforth, though hopefully not in the same post. The English posts will at least appear sometimes when writing about books I read, which is something I have been planning to do recurrently and eventually.
Well said Karin- as an American I don't know how to explain it. It doesn't make any sense. The NRA (national rifle association) really convinces people that any restriction on guns will lead to all the guns for hunting and personal protection to be taken away. So, they create this atmosphere of fear for most gun owners, who in turn defend ownership of even heinous assault weapons that have no place in civil society. It's crazy.
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