I realise that the gun issue is sensitive in the United States. Even among us bloggies who are usually very agreeable on most things, talking about guns can cause some serious disagreements. Straddled between the people's constitutional right to bear arms and the violence that guns sometimes bring, only one thing is clear: that the United States will never be able to return to a violence-free utopia.
Cut to Singapore. I am curious to hear what Singaporeans think on the gun issue. For those unfamiliar with my sunny island state, Singapore is at the opposite end of the spectrum. We have the most kaisu gun policy in the world. Robbers use toy guns to rob banks. (And get shot by the security guard in the process, what irony.) In fact, even toy guns are illegal. Once in a long while, an antique pre-war gun shows up when an ah-pek gets drunk and starts showing off to his friends in the coffeeshop, or when a one-eyed man smuggles one in from Thailand and actually kills someone with it, and it makes the headlines for weeks.
I live in a very strange country, but I'll just about bet my bottom dollar that most of us like it the way it is, on this issue anyway. Any thoughts?
9 comments:
If I own a gun I might be tempted to pull the trigger on MM before putting one through myself...haha. That toy-gun robber, I blame it on our no-free-lunch policies.
the general rule is: the more freedom one has, the more accountable and responsible that person needs to be...
in the gun issue, the equation breaks down because the freedom arising from the constitutional right to bear arms is not balanced with the responsibility one has to bear when someone else is maimed/killed as a result of that freedom...
that's the bottom line...
americans get hot and bothered whenever anything or anyone comes between them and their freedoms granted by the so-called constitutional rights...
unfortunately, their forebears failed to include the usual "health warnings" within the constitution... so americans only focus on the rights, without paying due consideration to what their responsibilities are or should be when they are granted these rights...
they also forget that when their forebears referred to arms, they weren't talking about automatic weapons with remarkable rates of fire... when the constitution was laid down, arms referred to muskets, one shot, must load with powder and padding and ball, then can fire again... if cho was armed with a musket, he'd have been easily subdued after one shot... to kill 32 may have needed at least an hour or more... if the authorities are smart, they should tell the gun lobby that they can only carry muskets... nothing more...
Man, there are a lot of generalizations being thrown around about us Americans.
I guess we deserve it, though, considering how perfect everyone else's society is.
Yes, Singapore is puurfect. Who needs chewing gum anyway?
Hey Eric, sorry about that. Was going to stay clear about the gun issue in the US cos it is none of my business. The only trouble is that US is so prominent on the world stage that everyone seems to have an opinion.
No need to apologize; you have as much right to express your opinion as anyone else, and I respect your thoughts and ideas.
I'm intentionally steering clear of the issue since it's such a hot button for many people (as you pointed out), and the blogosphere is [generally speaking] no longer a hospitable place for the cool-headed discussion of such things.
If there were no gun control in Singapore, I would have died in school a long time ago. There are so many psychos around...
Really? Gosh I think I've lost touch with the Uni scene in Singapore. Like psycho-psycho or just pschyo in a faddish kinda way?
Not uni. JC. Practically everyone got stalked.
You must have hung out with attractive people!
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