A man in Tulsa was upset with the surgeon who performed back surgery on him, complaining of continuing pain. So he bought a handgun and assault rifle and killed him, and three other people.
This is the America that we live in.
It doesn’t have to be.
A new Economist/YouGov poll tells us that a majority of Americans thinks it’s OK to arm teachers in schools to try to prevent mass school shootings.
Next up we’ll hear about how a majority backs arming doctors and nurses.
The NRA has been selling the fallacy of a good guy with a gun is needed to stop the bad guy with a gun for 50 years now, and you’ve bought it.
That’s why this is the America we live in.
Australia, the UK, Canada and Israel each take a different approach.
Folks in those countries believe that arming everyone to the teeth in fact does not make everyone safer.
Australia, in 1996, banned semi-automatic and pump-action firearms, and put into place a buyback program and developed a centralized registry of gun owners.
Also in 1996, a mass shooting in Scotland prompted the UK to enact a ban on all handguns except for .22-caliber pistols, which themselves were later also banned.
Our neighbors to the north, Canada, responded to a 2020 mass shooting with a blanket ban on 1,500 assault-style weapons, including the AR-15 and Mini-14.
Israel requires prospective gun owners to obtain a government license, be at least 27 years old, unless they’ve served in the military or national service, and even then, they have to pass a gun-safety test and have a letter from their doctor confirming that they’re of sound mind and body.
With that government license, then, you’re limited to owning a single gun with a limit of 50 bullets.
We can’t get past debates on background checks that wouldn’t have stopped any of the last three mass shootings.
This is why we can’t go out in public anymore without thinking that we’re next.
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
