tiltbillings: [...]but the point is the real evil is what lies behind the weapons industry. Landmines, B-52s, IEDs while horrifying, are a manifestation of something a bit more primal and problematic. And you are going off topic here.
I don't think I am going off topic. I agree that the weapons themselves, and the evil industries which create such weapons, are an extension of something ubiquitous; something found in the hearts of most every human being. But we cannot assume that the presence of this
worm in the heart is somehow greater among the people of the United States; we reject this sort of argument -- although certainly the people of that country have many more weapons available at hand (speaking of guns), and also there is a certain
culture of entitlement when it comes to the ownership of such weaponry which we can't ignore.
Recently it was reported by Der Spiegel that in the year 2011 German police fired a total of 85 bullets, while in just a single altercation in Los Angeles the police fired 90 bullets at an unarmed man.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20 ... al-in-2011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Presumably Germany has at least comparable levels of crime, and presumably all or the great majority of German police are armed with guns. So these realities would seem, at a glance, to support the argument many are making that
it's not the gun -- guns are just tools -- it's the intention..., because German police clearly share very different levels of lethal
intention from their policing counterparts in the United States.
And yet the numbers tell a different story. The United States is off the charts when it comes to violence involving guns, when compared to other countries. Why?
a) Because there are simply more guns.
b) Guns and gun violence are an intrinsic part of the national mythology of the United States.
The people here who make the argument that guns are merely tools and it's all about
intention, etc. are playing a part in this tragic process of normalization of gun ownership.
As I said earlier:
In the holy life there is no place for a gun.