That piece is a recipe for moving AMerica back in time about 250 years

ummmm you can be a border jumper and just mooch off welfare

No, I didn't fail. You did. The inference was yours. The rest is your opinion. By the way, I've got the Second Amendment to stand on......

That should be the end of this thread basicly. Simply put you can not control something that people have the right to bear and openly get(pending background checking).
2nd Amendment = no possible way to control guns

So what?

I've shown you that it's utterly wrong to claim that the right to bear arms, or any other right in the US Constitution, is somehow "God-given".

And that the rest of the civilised world has somehow got it wrong as they live without fear of being shot

Amendments can be changed, or rescinded. Although I don't expect the 2nd Amendment to disappear anytime soon.

So we'll just wait for the next school shooting instead and hope it's nobody we know

is easy to get yourself intoxicated and relax in your house, it seems easier nowadays to get yourself intoxicated and go on a shooting rampage

Gary, as someone British you might be more used to a set of laws, a legal constitution of your country, simply made up by a series of documents that change on the discretion of the Parliament. However, in America there is a rich foundation at its core that no matter what the Congress or what the President deems necessary, that they still must play within the rules. That no matter what, some basic rights as humans must not be violated.

So while I can understand where you're coming from with your speak of banning guns or whatever, you must also recognize that doing so is unconstitutional here and against 'the rules'. An overly restrictive gun control law can be overturned by the courts for example.

This is why our courts have the power of judicial review; to overturn any law in this country that is violating the constitution and rights of Americans. While on the other hand, in Britain, legislation passed by Parliament can't be overturned by British courts, because that legislation itself is a part of the "Constitution" so to speak.

If an amendment proposing the second amendment to be stricken were to ever be able to pass Congress, it still requires ratification by three-quarters of the states (or by constitutional conventions), and that is very hard to accomplish. This by all means, in the context of banning arms or significantly restricting them like your country has taken steps toward, is nearly impossible to do in the United States, and to propose this just isn't realistic.

The United States by all means has the same level (if not more restrictive) gun control laws than many nations of the free world. It has (the last time I checked), more restrictive gun control than in Canada. Yet Canada has significantly less gun killings than the United States. I mean, while countries like Canada, Japan, Germany, and even Great Britain may rank yearly homicide by guns in the hundreds or tens; the United States ranks in the ten thousands of deaths per year.

Clearly gun control isn't doing anything. So it isn't the amount of guns on the streets that is causing these numbers as many liberals (in the US) would want you to think. And it certainly isn't violent video games, movies, or music that's doing the damage as some conservatives want you to think. Japan is the home of the most violent and graphic video games and Germany is the home of the techno and gothic underground for a couple examples, yet they have much lower gun crime rates than the United States.

And don't say that the United States has a more violent history than either of those countries; because we don't even compare, for obvious reasons, to countries like Germany, Japan, and Great Britain.

But what the United States does have and the majority of these other countries do not have, is a culture of fear, unbridled corporatism, and now militarism. One of the primary reasons why shootings like these are happening at an increasing rate has a lot to do with to continuing closing of the gap between information and entertainment. American news media used to be like the majority of media around the world that focused on informing the public. Now it's focused on entertaining the public, and instilling fear into them. Basically, if you keep the populace afraid, they will consume.

And a popular reaction in American politics to international problems isn't finding common ground or settling things peacefully, but "what can we do to have it our way with our military"? The kidnappings of the British sailors and marines by Iran for example, would have been handled completely differently if the kidnappings were of American military men and women. Probably covert (or even overt) action would have superseded negotiations. Its all a part of the culture of fear.

People are afraid, don't trust anyone, and the American environment is by nature a breeder of alienation. Obviously a direct cause of this particular incident at Virginia Tech (a 'loner' gunman).

Keeping the people from having guns isn't going to solve anything, and unlike you Brits, Americans like to be armed against tyranny, and not take it up the ass like you guys are doing with your obvious surveillance Orwell society being set up (with cameras on every street, cameras that even have speakers that tell people what to do, and all cars having tracking devices on them for just a few examples).

arent they also fingerprinting and taking DNA from all the kids over there too to "strengthen" security over there?