Nothing will change.

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26/5/2022 4 Comments

Nothing will change.

"The profound outrage and horror expressed around the latest killings will bring no resolution even after this slaughter of 19 infants and two teachers."

Nothing will change despite all the anguished laments and handwringing following the latest US mass shooting. The sheer number of guns and powerful political forces mean that the killing will continue.

Ponder for a moment that the US has more guns than citizens. Then you know why firearms are the leading cause of death for America's children. Weigh that one up. And while the mass shootings get all the headlines, these only make up three per cent of the incidents; it is the trickle of one or two shootings in disadvantaged urban areas that swell the death count. Consider that Black Americans are 14% of the US population but account for half the nation's homicide victims.

I have some professional understanding of 'active shooter' incidents, having attended training with the NYPD and units in Florida. Yet, for Hong Kong police officers, the response to such an attack requires a significant shift in mindset and training.

The counting of every shot — fire, reassess and then decide your next move, isn't going to work with an active shooter hell-bent on slaughtering as many folks as possible as quick as possible. As my NYPD instructor asserted, "You go from morning coffee to full combat mode in seconds, ready to take on the shooter, neutralise them, and save the innocent."

I don't intend to mull on the details here, except officers must act extremely fast; you can't wait for backup; you can't wait to cordon and contain. Switching into that mode is no straightforward matter. Fortunately, Hong Kong, with its robust gun controls, has avoided such incidents. Indeed that's the way to go; cut off the supply of guns, so you don't need soldier-cops, metal detectors and schools with armed guards.

The profound outrage and horror expressed around the latest killings will bring no resolution even after this slaughter of 19 infants and two teachers. Why? Well, we've been here before. Remember Sandy Hook? Remember CalTech?

You have to factor in that the politicians in the gun lobby's pocket are already working to deflect blame. Watch Senator Ted Cruz evade the issue, to then flee when confronted with a rational and polite question here.

Meanwhile, online, an ardent gun-loving lunatic fringe will stop at nothing. After Sandy Hook, grieving parents fought hard to change gun laws, only to face defamation.

A whole genre of conspiracy theories erupted, including that the parents were 'crisis actors' employed to drive through stricter gun laws. Change looks near impossible against this background and the profound US societal polarisation. Sure, the politicians will tinker, adjusting a few rules to make a great play of that charade.

And so, while our kids can travel and attend school without the fear of taking a bullet in the head, sleepy Joe Biden lectures us about 'human rights'. Give me a break.

On a more positive note, at least this tragedy proved an opportunity for that well-known gun control advocate Megan Markle to garner some much-needed publicity. No doubt we will get a chance to relive her tears in an upcoming Netflix special.

Coming to a school near you!

4 Comments

Ian McPherson

27/5/2022 10:01:23 am

I agree totally with your comments. The only thing I would add, if I may, is this. I’m absolutely sure that when the founding fathers of America made provisions under the second amendment to carry arms, they were not thinking about semi-automatic weapons with huge reload magazines and mad bastards having access to them! They were along the lines of a Colt pistol or two and perhaps a Winchester rifle.

Neil

28/5/2022 08:59:41 am

Not even that, Ian. Single shot smoothbore muskets with a maximum effective range of 100 yards (in reality 30 yards) and, more importantly, a rate of fire of 2 shots per minute (by a trained marksman). Think of the redcoats in the Sharpe series. When you were at constant loggerheads with Injuns and had no significant standing army to defend your new nation should the Brits decide to have another pop from Canada, it made perfect sense.

Willms

20/6/2022 10:03:35 pm

The US citizens needed arms to clear the land from the natives, who had only Bows and Arrows.

That spirit still prevails.

Gloria Bing

31/5/2022 11:22:45 am

The US Constitution states that there is a right to bear arms as part of a "well regulated militia". Nothing about a right to personally keep and bear arms whenever/wherever and for whatever reason you like. There being nothing new under the sun, it is couched this way because the framers of the Second Amendment were steeped in English common law, which allowed for the posse comitatus, a body of persons allowed to bear arms as long as it was as part of a lawfully constituted body.

The Texas outrage has a lot in common with the Hungerford shootings in terms of the police response: in Texas the police hung around, allegedly for an hour or so, handcuffing parents who wanted them to go in and stop the shooter. At Hungerford the police firearms response unit went firm on the outskirts of the town for some considerable time. In both the shooter was given time to continue killing without interference, and in both the excuse given was the same: the police did not know where the shooter was and it would have been dangerous to the officers to enter without knowing. I am not totally unsympathetic to the point made, but clearly this is prioritising the lives of police over citizens (and in the Texas case, children). At this point the only option for police is what the military call an "advance to contact"; in other words you go in and you just keep on going/move to the sound of the gunfire, screams, etc, until you encounter the gunman and deal with him. It's very dangerous, not just because the gunman may get the drop on you but also because of the chance of a blue-on-blue or mistaking a victim for a shooter (imagine being told you are going into a high school and the only information you have on the shooter is he is a teenage boy with a backpack!).

"Active shooter" tends to imply we have no need to worry about such things in Hong Kong because guns are so difficult to come by. But this is a false sense of security, which is why I never use the term "active shooter" but instead use "active assailant". We cannot discount the "active chopper" or "active bludgeoner" just because we live in Hong Kong.

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