Germany says gun laws adequate

[billyoc]

Germany's interior minister has said the country does not need to tighten its already tough gun laws following Wednesday's deadly school shooting rampage that left 16 people dead.

"We shouldn't think about tougher laws all the time, but think about what we can change in society," Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Reuters news agency on Thursday as more information emerged on the teen shooter.

Investigators said Tim Kretschmer, 17, was a withdrawn teenager who prematurely stopped psychiatric treatment for depression in September.

But the authorities cast doubts on the authenticity of internet warnings of the attack that were earlier attributed to Kretschmer.

...

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2009/03/200931315431302730.html

[jody]

1. "what we can change in society" Why is that so difficult for gun-grabbers in the US to understand?

In the US it is almost anathema to discuss "Racial differences exist, with blacks disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders"

"In 2005, homicide victimization rates for blacks were 6 times higher than the rates for whites."

"In 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites."

I hope Obama can openly discuss "what we can change in society" because everyone in the US lives under the same laws so we need to ask why are current gun laws 6 or 7 times more effective for one group than the other.

Two of my gym mates, both retired Army Colonels and African Americans, recently brought up the issue of higher crime rates in black communities and both hope Obama can at least focus discussion on the issue.

[aikoaiko]

2. I'm convinced that better psychiatric care would reduce gun violence

and many other problems in society without trampling over Constitutionally protected rights.


If you also stopped the asinine war on drugs, you could really reduce violent crime.

[TheWraith]

7. It would, but reducing poverty would help even more.

The people who could benefit from psychological help are the people who go on spree killings and make the news. Virginia Tech, Alabama, this kid in Germany, Columbine. But they're only a tiny fraction of the gun deaths in America. Most come out of the grueling poverty in our inner cities, and the crime and gang wars that that creates. I bet that if you could bring the inner cities up to an average standard of living and employment rate, you'd see a massive drop in murders almost overnight.

[jody]

3. Spiegel Online headline 'We Have No Grounds for Mocking the NRA'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,613182,00.html

[spin]

4. The entire article is well worth reading as it presents both sides of the debate..

Some excerpts:

The responses voiced have included: measures to tighten gun restrictions and change where privately owned weapons are stored; trying to make schools safer with measures such as electronic cardswipe devices for entry, metal detectors and more psychological counselors; and curbing youth access to violent video games.

********snip******

Meanwhile, Hermann Sheer, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) from the voting district where the massacre took place called for a complete ban on all private weapons ownership. He told the daily Die Tageszeitung that would be "the only effective means of preventing people from going on shooting sprees."

********snip*******

From Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:

"The unfortunate thing … is that each new school killing spree confirms that there have been definite opportunities for recognizing and even preventing them in time. Just like (those who have committed other school massacres in Germany, Tim. K) was reportedly a "a seemingly completely harmless and friendly young man." But now it emerges that his peers viewed him as a gun freak and that the games he played included not only ping-pong, but also openly practicing pistol firing. And he secretly acted out his murderous desires on his computer, while at the same time withdrawing more and more from the kids at his school who constantly ganged up on and harassed him. That is exactly the kind of 'inconspicuousness' that should have "set off all the alarm bells." … But, in Winnenden, there was no alarm system -- neither at school, nor in the culprit's home."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,613182,00.html

[Furyataurus]

5. IMO

it starts with the parents and education.

[jody]

6. I recognize many of my friends are not a random sample of society being either retired or active

duty military.

Without exception, they believe the family is the key including influence on education.

One friend, a retired Chief Master Sergeant has two sons who attended military academies and are now respectively Major and Lt. Colonel. The Chief is African American, just one of several dozen of my close friends who are African Americans including relatives.

Is the family the answer?

I don't know but IMO family is a major factor.

Obviously the above are my personal opinions formed from many discussions with my close friends.