Dear Poirot,

The term hoplophobe doesn't quite equate in the
instance it's being used in this thread. It
refers to someone who has an irrational fear of
firearms - and nobody from the posts I've
read thus far seems to fit into that category.
I feel that it's meant to be derogatory. And you're
right not to be interested. But
then again - one may ask - what's worse -
hoplophobe or gun-nut?

Thank you, Lexi.....(it's great to have your good self back here regularly once more:)

You last reminded of CJ and his wonderful description "wing-nut".

Yuyitsu , I would hate to see all our elderly people 'armed'. Many have poor hearing and eyesight and may well shoot innocent people who they mistakenly think are threats!.
We need to ensure our gun laws remain strict so it remains difficult to obtain guns in Australia.
If that makes me a 'hoplophobe' then I am comfortable with that.
Far better to have an 'irrational' fear of guns than to worship them as a means to take the law into your own hands...

It's all too easy to predict what will happen next.

1. The media will milk it for all it's worth.
2. Commentators will express outrage.
3. Another big news event will come along
4. It will be all forgotten - until next time.

This cycle will continue as long as Americans confuse "freedom" with guns.

They appear to love their guns more than they care about each other.

Quite sad, really.

The problem in America is immense and perhaps unsolvable.
If laws could be enforced first on hand guns, it would be a a very
dangerous exercise as Jay of Melb hinted.
He is right about the black gun culture, in their gang structure it is
close to standard equipment.
We also have seen what goes on in Mexico.
There is a lesson there if we can see it.

It would take a couple of generations to change the attitude of most Americans.
The collapse of civilisation movement in the US would never willingly
give up their guns because they are preparing for the collapse and
need weapons to ward off the hungry hordes from the cities that will have to be shot.
However it is time to make a start.
The alternative is to make schools like prisons.

Yuyutsu,
The group most vulnerable to acts of violence is young males, the elderly are quite safe in their homes, they're statistically more likely to be abused by a relative or carer.
Suse,
And again, nobody takes the law into their own hands in the U.S, that's a myth, how can the people on your side claim that private gun ownership does nothing to prevent crime and then talk about supposedly widespread vigilantism? Surely if armed vigilante action paid off it really would be widespread, but the truth is that majority White communities don't need such groups because there's little serious crime to police and minority communities have armed gangs who will defend their turf, or their block with deadly force.
You seem to be under the spell of Hollywood, perhaps it's because I never watch movies and actually read that I long ago realised that the "Wild West" on which the myth of the White vigilante gunman is based was really not so wild after all, that places such as Tombstone and Deadwood were actually pretty peaceful communities which would go years without a murder. All this wildness which has captured your imagination, the shootouts, the posses, the lynchings and all were compressed into a period of about 20 years building in the 1870's, peaking in the 1880's and then tapering off into the 20th century, Bonnie and Clyde and Dillinger were really the last of the outlaws and the old America was well and truly gone by the mid 1930's.