Friday, December 21, 2012

Human rights paradox makes the US very helpless

U.S. President Barack Obama came to Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 16, to participate in the vigil in remembrance for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. In a speech, he expressed the will to use the power in hand in the effort to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. Although Obama made the promise of "change", he did not specify how to deal with the gun control. Neither has the White House convened any emergency meeting for this problem. Since the victims were mostly children six to seven years old, this major shooting tragedy in the United States draws great grief around the world and leads to a new round of debate on gun control. Currently, the United States Constitution guarantees the right of gun ownership, leaving gun control with no rules to follow. The United States again showed deep perplex and frustration in the face of the grievous murder. The legal basis for gun ownership provided by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States cannot be shaken. Brutal murders under the aegis of the sign of "human rights" are still a very tangled paradox for the American society. The gun owners think that the way to solve gun violence cases is to possess more guns, and that the crucial point in the shooting case is human and not guns. Statistics show that since 1950, except in individual cases, shooting cases with more than three casualties in the United States and Europe all took place in fatalities where guns are forbidden, such as schools. Intriguingly, the murderer Adam Lanza in this shooting case used the gun which his mother Nancy Lanza, a gun enthusiast collected. Weighed by their political interests, the politicians in Washington do not even dare to debate the issue of gun control any more. Victims in the shooting massacre were mostly children, which greatly shocked the American society. Even so, some plans under consideration are only subtle changes such as to restart a prohibition on the sale of assault rifles expired in 2004 and the prohibition on the sales of high-capacity magazines similar to that the murderer used this time. The eradication of the tragedy is but a wishful thinking. While groaning for the too many similar events the United States has experienced, the U.S. President made the gesture that "meaningful action must be taken, regardless of political persuasion" and that there must be "changes". Such gesture seems void after all. The argument whether the tragedy is caused by gun or by human will continue, but eventually the matter will be let rest. When the hot discussion gradually calm down, the blood pool drawn by any other burst of gunfire will again set off a round of waves, unable to change the helplessness of the United States.

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