Aurora: Bloody Acts Like these ‘Cannot Be Prevented’ (Saarbruecker Zeitung, Germany)
Would stricter gun laws prevent tragedies like the Aurora massacre from happening? For Germany’s Saarbruecker Zeitung, columnist Thomas Spang writes that in the U.S., Europe, or anywhere else, while stricter gun laws may be desirable, legislation can do nothing to prevent ‘evil from showing its ugly face.’
For the Saarbruecker Zeitung, Thomas Spang writes in part:
Such events have long found a place – and not only in the United States. They are also an unfortunate reality in Europe. Whether it is during the school massacres in Erfurt and Winnenden, or in Norway almost exactly a year ago, when 77 people died in Oslo and the Island of Utøya. What may have motivated 24-year-old James Holmes in Aurora is not yet known. Whether the shooter was aware of the approaching anniversary of the massacres in Norway might indicate some type of mad ideology. Perhaps he was mentally ill. Or perhaps he was someone satisfying a personal desire for revenge. The next few days will bring more information about his motives.
But one thing can now be clearly asserted: Bloody acts like these cannot be prevented. Even less so in cases where they are planned and executed by a so-called “lone wolf.” Except for being aware of your surroundings, there is really no way to guard against such acts. That is the frustrating realization at the end of the long bloody trail that winds through various continents, time periods, and societies.
READ ON IN ENGLISH OR GERMAN AND READ MORE OF THE GLOBAL REACTION TO THE COLORADO SHOOTINGS AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.
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Not that we want the stazi in the US, but people in the weapons industry reporting odd behavior to the police could be a way to help catch these lone wolfs.
Another note… these killings are much in common with the Erfurt massacre.
young failing male student sees no future and then something clicks in the wrong way.
Read this morning that this individual was rejected from a gun club due to his behavior.
Did some research on Finlands gun control laws and they are much stricter than the US. Each gun purchased requires a permit. The possession of automatic weapons are not permitted.
This could be a start of a discussion in the US, but then 70+ individuals were killed one year ago under these same laws, so could they really make a difference?
I know that it will take much discussion and compromise between the far fringes of each party to come up with a solution.
A lot of people who favor gun control cite events like this because of the amount of attention they receive. This is understandable, but also, IMO, misplaced. I don’t think that gun control will prevent such tragedies. After all, they still occur in places where controls are stricter. When people put their mind to it, they can get the means, whether it is finding a way around gun restrictions or such methods as making improvised explosives.
However, I do support gun control. Because where it can make a difference is in all the nameless little tragedies where someone is killed because a gun was handy at the wrong time or in a minor crime that only used a gun because it wasn’t hard to get. It this that gun controls can make a difference with.