In the USA in 2021 over 45,000 citizens were killed by gunshots, including over 1,500 children.
In total there were 692 mass shootings in supermarkets and the like (defined as 4 or more victims).
Yet here’s the madness. Current polling shows only a tiny majority of Americans favour gun restrictions, albeit the trend is rising from 20% in favour three decades back. Ironically, but perhaps understandably, every fresh mass shooting, on average one every 4 days, sees a surge in gun sales with people viewing them as essential protection.
They have a point mind you, when one looks at New Zealand. After the mosque massacre the government brought in strict gun controls. Yet seemingly daily there are reports of shootings, mostly in Auckland involving maori gangs. So much for our vaunted gun controls.
To solve this gang problem, or at least diminish it, we could emulate El Salvador, a crazy badly governed small nation. I’ve had a few laughs there, in my younger days.
When gang members committed crimes they were jailed all together in the same prison. This resulted in them setting about murdering one another. The army, such as it is, always waited outside, pretending it was too dangerous to enter.
The last such occurrence, from memory about a year back, saw an international outcry when the death toll surged passed 130 after a few days.
In lieu, the government has substituted a highly onerous treatment of them which should ensure a desirable outcome when released, to ensure no further offending.
It will ring a bell for New Zealanders when I point out that El Salvador’s recent years growth in criminal gangs, largely comprised El Salvadorians expelled from the USA for criminal activities.
All of this is a vastly different New Zealand from my early days. Urbanisation is a factor but the most critical difference was EVERYONE worked, which is hardly the case today.
Instead our welfare society has resulted in a sponger sector sustained by a taught sense of entitlement.
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Many decades ago there was a period of grief between gangs in Invercargill. I wrote to the Southland Times, suggesting Rugby Park have the playing field fenced in with barbed wire, and all the various gang members each be issued a sharp short handled slasher and let loose inside. Spectator tickets could be sold. The letter was signed Sparticus, and gained some support, as well if I recall.
Parliament is now full of do gooders , who are largely well spoken academics with no balls or experience to lead us anywhere but backwards.
Ask yourself how china is so successful. Its lifting the masses out of poverty, yet western government is doing completely the opposite.
The reasons are the vested elite want too much for themselves, which they could never hope to spend..media has much to blame, and along with the super profiteers who continue to eat the host will be left with nothing either .
Debt and those that control it are crippling society as we know it. .we can only hope for mass debt relief as the answer, as it was after world war two….I’m not sure it will happen here however, until we have a greater population from aisa….
Pray for us, as I see it only getting worse for a while… History has shown democracies are but a passing phase in an economic lifestyle…
Your last sentence says it all….absolutely on the money.
There is a saying in parts of Asia. The first generation is a peasant, the second a merchant, the third a prince and the fourth a peasant.
I tend to believe the current crop of government woke weirdos have never known hard times.
They just dont understand the financial discipline required for people or groups to be able to succeed.
They will spend NZ back in to peasant hood.
As to the guns in the USA, its a bit like cars. Once society is geared around them its easier to just go with the herd. Tragic really.
When I moved to Wellington for work in the early 70’s I had to go out a couple of times during the week to collect the cash for the pays and to the airport to collect the internal mail.
I remember the streets being virtually empty outside of the lunch hours, 12 till 2, or around the afternoon tea “beer o’clock” for the seniors. Different world today.
Sir, I believe there is a second critical reason why the twentieth century saw a period of relative peace on the domestic front (prohibition aside).
War.
From the Boer War on the European peoples had almost permanent war, taking young men out of society, particularly young men looking for/needing an outlet for their inherent “violence”.
Only post Vietnam has this ceased to be a factor, with peace now the unnatural requirement to participate in society.
Sport only partially compensates for this lack, mainly due to the bloody silly rules preventing any ability for real release of aggression.
I don’t pretend to know the answer to the problem and I seriously hope that solution does not include a return to war but until this factor is considered I doubt we will start alleviating the problem.