As the world watches in fascinated horror at America’s repeated mass shootings, President Donald Trump makes noise about tougher gun controls, then subsides into silence, fearing the loss of financial and political support of the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).

But while the president may have more to lose than most – his base is considered to be populated with gun owners – it is a common mantra for politicians to thunder about stricter firearms legislation after events like Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children aged six and seven and six adults were gunned down in 2012.

Yet the fiery rhetoric about enacting tougher gun laws after the massacre was quietly extinguished. A few months after Sandy Hook, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013and a law that would require universal background checks, were both rejected by the US Senate.

There was some action at the state level, though, with background checks initiated in four states that did not have them before, and strengthened checks in seven others. That brought the total to 18 states out of 50 participating in background checks

But a stumbling block to enact tougher gun laws is the American Constitution, bestowing the right to bear arms upon Americans. The provision is used time and again as a shield to limit legislation.

One group has taken substantive action with the NRA dead in its sights.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors – an 11-member body that oversees the county government – was so disturbed by recent mass shootings that members voted unanimously to declare the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.”

“The NRA exists to spread pro-gun propaganda and put weapons in the hands of those who would harm and terrorize us,” Supervisor Catherine Stefani said.

While the move has no force in law, “I firmly believe that words matter and I think this is a step in fighting the negative impact of the NRA,” she said.

The NRA response was to sue San Francisco, arguing that the city declaration violated its free speech rights. The matter is in the courts.

Those against stricter gun laws, including the NRA, often say the states that beefed-up gun laws have not deterred shootings.

For example, they point to the Gilroy Food Festival shooting in California this past July. California has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but a 19-year-old armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle managed to kill three young people and wound 12 others. It was only thanks to quick action by the police who shot the assailant that prevented more deaths.

But the problem is that while California has strict firearms legislation, nearby Nevada’s laws are much less restrictive. In California, you must be 21 to purchase a rifle. The teen shooter at Gilroy bought the gun legally in Nevada, where the age to purchase a rifle is 19.

And that is a crucial factor, because guns can be legally bought in some states and the weapons can be transported to states that have stricter laws, circumventing those laws.

In other words, every state needs to get on the same page. Federally, stricter gun legislation is a non-starter, as Republicans and Trump line up with the NRA.

To say the gun culture is deeply embedded in America is an understatement.

In 2018 the Small Arms Survey found that with a population of 320 million, US citizens have about 393 million guns, almost half the world total. The AR-15 semiautomatic – the main weapon used at Sandy Hook – is the most popular gun in America. It can fire 45 rounds a minute, but modified it can dispense nine rounds per second, more than 500 bullets a minute.

Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke said during a candidate debate earlier in September, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.”

A Republican lawmaker responded with, “My AR is ready for you….”

The stricter gun law proponents only fire verbal bullets and the NRA continues to financially support politicians with pro-gun attitudes.

Meanwhile, 40,000 Americans died by the gun in 2017, about 24,000 by suicide

The mayhem continues.

L'articolo Gun Crazy America – The Carnage Continues proviene da InsideOver.

It’s back to school time in the United States and many students are sporting a new accessory – bulletproof backpacks.

Sales of the newest armament in the fight against random killings soared by 200 percent after mass shootings in early August, CNN reported. The El Paso, Texas, Walmart shooting left 22 dead, while the next day nine were killed in Dayton, Ohio. While these were not targeted at schools, the random attacks can occur anywhere and have frightened parents into taking measures to protect their children.

Small wonder, considering that since 2009, there have been 180 school shootings that have claimed 356 lives. The number of mass shootings is increasing.

The backpacks are fitted with lightweight body armour to protect a child in the case of a random school attack. However, there is a caveat to the bulletproof backpacks. Testing demonstrated that the product offered by a Florida company, named Guard Dog, cannot protect against projectiles from rifles and assault weapons favoured by killers. Plus of course they do not protect children from a frontal assault.

But they are just one of the safety arsenals deployed by schools.

At an expo in Florida in 2018, vendors were exhibiting products that would provide more safety at schools.

Whiteboards– mobile panels that can be linked and used as a blackboard on one side for teachers, and that contain ballistic materials to protect against bullets, were offered at $2,900 (US).

“What we want to do is just to give the kids, the teachers, a chance,” said a Whiteboard vendor. “So they can buy a few minutes.” Others offered tourniquets, pepper-ball guns and facial recognition software. Schools are upping security with metal detectors at entrances. Some schools are arming teachers while others are hiring security personnel to patrol schools.

The spate of school shootings has turned school security into a $2.7 billion market. Advocates for stricter gun control were optimistic that the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six adults were gunned down, would finally result in political action to curb guns. What it did was frighten various school officials to heighten school security, but in reality little else. It was passive action, rather than prevention through tougher laws.

The gun lobby quotes the 2^ndAmendment in the American Constitution that guarantees a citizen’s right to guns. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

But the muskets of the 1770s when that right was enshrined are a far cry from weapons like today’s AR-15 that can fire 400 rounds per minute.

The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) calls the AR-15 the “most popular rifle in America” and estimated that Americans own more than eight million of them. The NRA spends millions supporting politicians who resist more stringent gun controls and they fear the organisation’s power at the ballot box.

America requires strong leadership to take action on instigating more stringent background checks and prohibition of weapons like the AR-15. They are not going to get it from President Donald Trump, who is under the sway of the NRA.

Following three mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio over three weeks, the mercurial president said on Aug. 20 he supported efforts to tighten gun laws. A few days later, after being reminded by the powerful gun lobby they helped propel him into the White House, he walked back his support.

“A lot of the people who put me where I am are strong believers in the 2^ndAmendment, and I am also,” Trump said.

It is often said by gun supporters that the perpetrators of these mass murders are mentally ill, conveniently leaving out that other countries have mentally ill people and they do not have the rampant mass killings like the United States. While states that do have more stringent gun controls, like California, suffer from the fact that guns can be brought in from other states who do not have those regulations.

So for the parents, trivial matters such as whether Johnny got an ‘A’ in Geography cease to exist – the real question is whether Johnny got home in one piece.

L'articolo Bulletproof Backpacks Make Up Back to School Uniform in US proviene da InsideOver.