Bowling For Columbine

[Orgazmo]

dam i thought the movie was about bowling,

[PhaTz]

Of course there are Americans who take it for grant'd, but aside from them people, there's those such as Walter Disney that proves the American Dream exists.

[Sarien]

For the very next person that gets the notion of posting about American Stupidity, Americans aren't the only ones in the world that can lay claim to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3816169.stm

Beating a man nearly to death over a sarcastic comment. Fuck shooting burglars, apparently the British just lay waste to smartasses. In all seriousness though, we have a country with a high population of people, including some idiots, doesn't mean we're all gun nuts, or crazies, even those Americans like me, that believe in the right to bear arms, as well as proper gun safety/ownership.

[GoldenPlums]

It is a sad day if a Welshman can't beat up an Englishman over his national vegetable in a Chinese takeaway in Scotland. If this is what the world has come to, I want no part of it.

[TajaUk]

America does it the right way.

Give every ethnic minority / scumbag / paronoid political grp / southern anti governement, the right to have guns.

All they end up doing is shooting the fuk out of each other, why should the Jewish run middle class government be bothered about that?

The movie is cool, dont read to much into it but it provokes debate and discussion which is always a good thing in a country that believes the truth is exactly what Fox TV tells them.

[Jerome Scuggs]

LOL !! That's the weakest reply ever i think ...

#1. Your dad isn't whole America. 80% of American adults have guns. Your dad is cop and has a gun at home. My dad is cop and doesn't have a gun at home. Difference.. ? We don't all shoot eachother for nothing.

#2. We don't take a shotgun out of our closet as soon as a burglar enters. You can call 911 ya know.. and you can put an alarm on your house.. anyway, we haven't ever get robbed.

#3. Little kids ? Those 8 yrs old shooting eachother on school are adults you mean ? I think it happened twice in a month or so. Some kid who starts shooting around with a mitrailleur. But ok, if you are 8 yrs old you might see him as an adult. The jackets reply isn't even worth responding on, as it's too weak.

#4. The shops: if there are alot of places where you can buy it, you can easily get it, and you'll get a gun sooner. That's as logical as 1+1 = 2. If you have to go really far or so to get a gun, you are too lazy and won't get one.

#5. The last reply is too weak to reply on aswell. It's the same as saying 1+2 = 5. Just not right, pulling arguements out of the context.

And now I gotta shut up or some American bitch will shoot me through my head, right ?

1. Well thank you for proving your original statement (Everyone) wrong.

2. What if the burglar has a gun? gonna use yr telephone as a weapon?

3. I actually made shit up on this one, because i really do not care.

4. America is supposedly the most obese country, were too obese to get our fat asses out of chairs.

5. I'm not pulling args out of context, you're forcing me to debate multiple worlds. Now this would be normal, except this is realworld. One.

the main point is shit wont change.

uh, ill finush this later, melufa and i are going for some chick fil a

[Anduril.]

The chick wont be interested in you, unless you have a huge shotgun..
gg.
rofl

[Jerome Scuggs]

...you don't have a chick fil a

dont talk

[Liquid Blue]

It is a sad day if a Welshman can't beat up an Englishman over his national vegetable in a Chinese takeaway in Scotland. If this is what the world has come to, I want no part of it.

Sorry to sound ignorant but why is there such a "bitterness" if you will, between Welshmen and Englishmen?

[GoldenPlums]

I wouldn't say there was any bitterness between the Welsh and English, that's not really the right word. There is quite a lot of rivalry/piss-taking though as there is with most neighbours. The Welsh are very patriotic like the Scots and Irish, and Wales has the smallest population in Britain (around 2 million I think), so they're kind of protective and stick together. They're an easy target for the same reasons. I worked there for two years and most of the time everything was good natured. Although in a few places, once people realise where your from, they will stop talking in English and start talking Welsh.

[Fit of Rage]

I haven't watched the movie/documentary/fiction whatever you prefer to call it, but I still have an opinion.

I don't believe it's necessarily America's bloody history or the overabundance of guns or even the large prevelence of racial tension among minorities and the majority. I think that all these issues are reactions stemming from a single catalyst: the breakdown of the American family.

Think about it: over the past fifty years or so, American families have become far less intimate with the coming of TV dinners, video games, and other inventions that make the house less intrapersonal. Families don't eat dinner together as often as before and more and more kids get jobs and cars and spend more time away from the home. Without a strong family bond instilling moral ties among the youth, wouldn't it be natural for them to fall prey to media subjegation?

[Troll King]

Those recent changes aren't just restricted to American households though. If they caused changes that didn't happen in other societies, then there must be some other factors involved too.

[Nethila]

when a 10-year-old kid has access to a firearm, you know someone is goin to die soon.

[Jerome Scuggs]

Guns in America

For my discursive essay I have chosen "Guns in America" and will look at the licensing laws and some reasons behind all the gun-related deaths.

America is in a deadly love affair with firearms which kill nearly 35 000 people every year. Many blame the "blood soaked statistics" on the world's weakest gun laws, while others blame it on the guns, the culture or even just bad parenting.

America is one of the world's richest countries but it has the world's weakest gun laws. Some people blame this for all the gun-related deaths. Gun related deaths in Great Britain and Australia have decreased dramatically as a result of stricter gun laws following the Dunblane and Port Arthur massacres. This shows that countries not as rich and powerful as America have done something to prevent it from happening again where as one of the richest and most powerful countries has done nothing to prevent massacres happening again.

It took 12 years after President Regan narrowly escaped an assassination attempt for Congress to pass the Brady Bill (A 5-day waiting period and background checks of prospective pistol purchasers). As a result of the "Brady Bill" it has prevented some 250 000 people from purchasing handguns and probably prevented a lot of fatalities. If it took this long after the president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt to devise this law how long will it take to sort out simple everyday shootings across the nation?

Most Americans want stricter gun laws as a recent Harris poll found out that 69% of all Americans and 57% of the nations gun owners WANT stricter gun laws. With around 200 - 250 million guns in America and 10 times as many licensed gun dealers as Mc Donald's restaurants, it is no wonder, they want stricter gun laws and want to reduce the number of gun fatalities.

But all of America is not as obsessed with guns as Kennesaw in Georgia has shown, as they have done something to decrease gun related deaths as it passed a law to allow heads of households to keep at least 1 firearm, except those with criminal records and religious objections in 1982. 7 months after it took effect the residential burglary rate dropped by 89% and there have been 2 murders since 1982 and both were by knife attacks. Only if the rest of America could have the same laws as Kennesaw regarding holding guns then there would be much less gun-related deaths and also not be as many guns circulating in America.

In Texas there are 68 million guns and there are only 17 million Texans which is 4 guns for every man, woman and child. For that reason that is why America is in the mess it is in now. With this simple statistic it is no wonder the gun situation is as bad as it is at the present time.

The only solution to decrease the number of gun-related deaths is to tighten gun laws and make it harder for people to purchase guns.

The gun death toll in America is substantial compared to other countries. More Americans are killed in gun homicides in ONE DAY than in an ENTIRE YEAR in Japan, with almost 35 000 gun-related deaths every year (an average of 96 per day). As mass production of firearms in America continues then the high gun death rate will also sadly continue.

The main question everyone wants the answer to is "Would stricter gun laws help reduce America's extraordinary firearm death-rate?" I think it would as if it is harder for people to purchase guns legally with a criminal record and a past conviction, reducing illegal sales would decrease the firearms total and also reduce the firearm death rate.

Although many states in America have toughened their licensing laws, many people can purchase guns through illegal channels. To obtain a gun license is much like obtaining a driver's license, where you must pass a thorough, extensive background check. This will disqualify any potential buyer with a past conviction or any violent misdemeanor or any gun-related crime, also they have to show that they can handle and use a gun safely. When they get their licensee they must register any gun they purchase and report if their gun(s) are stolen or destroyed so they can stop any illegal sales on these guns.

The one thing I am puzzled about is how can young people get hold of lethal weapons such as rifles, machine guns etc. As we have seen on the news many school massacres that have been carried out by pupils. The most recent mass murder was in Littleton Colorado where two pupils killed 12 fellow pupils and one teacher. On any normal day on average 13 children are killed every day were 12 were killed in one day in a school. With crimes like this happening across the country and young people getting hold of these lethal weapons then sadly deaths will continue to rise and rise.

If 16 and 17 year olds can get hold of such lethal and dangerous weapons and kill 13 people then I can only wonder what the future holds for America as far as gun related-deaths are concerned. I would like to see America in 20 or 30 years time to see if the current firearm situation has got better or has got worse and I think it will probably get worse unless they change their gun laws and decrease mass production of weapons.

The one and only way I agree with the use of guns, is that they are a sense of security for people, but if people go around carrying weapons it is a disaster waiting to happen as it can make the simplest of arguments or confrontations turn into another fatality.

Bolded text mine

[Liquid Blue]

In Texas there are 68 million guns and there are only 17 million Texans which is 4 guns for every man, woman and child.

Sweet Jesus.