RE: Pause for Thought: Independence Day in the USA
I think that there is no meaningful reason for private citizens to own and carry guns. In this respect, I find the gun laws in the USA really questionable and I don't like to attribute them to a certain culture. But I am also aware that in Germany and Austria - countries with very strict gun laws - there are an incredible number of weapons in circulation. Most of them are legal, but there are also illegal ones. So what can be done to really effectively prevent bad things from happening...?
Ich denke, daß es keinen sinnvollen Grund für Privatleute gibt, Waffen zu besitzen und zu tragen. Insofern finde ich die Waffengesetze in den USA echt fragwürdig und mag sie auch nicht einer bestimmten Kultur zuschreiben. Nun ist mir aber auch durchaus bewußt, daß in Deutschland und Österreich - Ländern mit überaus strikter Waffengesetzgebung - unglaublich viele Waffen im Umlauf sind. Legal zum großen Teil, aber auch illegale. Also was tun, um wirklich effektiv Schlimmes zu verhindern...?
It is difficult to say what can be done. Not long after I wrote this piece, there was a mass shooting in Copenhagen — I expect you heard about it? The laws on guns in Denmark are quite strict... and even so, it happened. In this case, it seems the shooter was mentally ill. Which leaves the question of whether mental illness is becoming more common in our world...
No easy answers, to be sure.
May be it's not the best world we ever had...