Saftey Fears In Ecuador? Tragedy in US

The President had a very hard time addressing the nation. Tears were wiped away. The ages of the children were from 5 years old to 10 years old.
Prayers Sent

The gun debate has been on this forum before, and all we learned is that an international forum about living in Ecuador isn't really the place for discussing gun laws in the USA.

Updated to 26 total dead, 20 of them students.
I served in the ARMY, and know what these weapons are capable of. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason for these weapons to be in the hands of civilians.
Neil
PS. 2 MORE BODIES JUST FOUND.... This is going to go on and on. Now the punks Dad is missing also.

jm141302 wrote:

The gun debate has been on this forum before, and all we learned is that an international forum about living in Ecuador isn't really the place for discussing gun laws in the USA.

You are correct Sir, but, sometimes emotions run high. I do not attempt to offend, yet, it is somewhat pertinent to a question that is often posed regarding safety issues in Ecuador, vs. the US.
I apologize to you, and all, if this were taken in the wrong light.
Stay Well,
Neil

Between the bad economy, the progressive stripping of freedoms and what seem like a staged violence (army weapons in civilians hands?!) things are getting sad..this is heart breaking..children from 5-10 years old? just walking into a school? sure another reason to move.. out of US.  The country of choice is irrelevant. Everyone has rights to good quality of life and a safe community to live in. Life is short and happens only once.

jm141302: what is expressed here is about the idea that Ecuador is an unsafe place to live compared to US. It is not about gun laws in US...make sense?

I think it is a disgrace that the political left would use the tragedy in Connecticut as an oportunity to push the anti-gun agenda. No gun control laws could have prevented what happened today. In fact I contend that anti-gun laws facilitated it. If someone in the school had a concealed carry permit and was allowed to carry on school property then it's possible that some lives could have been saved. But gun restrictions on school grounds just make it easier for those who wish to commit murder. In fact with very few exceptions most mass shootings happen in so called gun free zones. The tragedy that happened in Aurora Colorado was at a theater that had a no guns sign on the front door. But what good did it do?  "No Gun" zones are like a golden invitation extended to those that want to do us harm. It makes the people sitting ducks unable to defend themselves.

The guns used by the shooter in yesterday's tragedy were not even his guns. He stole them from his mother before killing her. He was underage to legally own a handgun yet he broke the law in taking possession of them. Several laws were broken . The law didn't prevent what happened.

The problem is not guns but the state of society and not just in the USA.  Remember what happened in Norway where gun ownership is rare. A lone gunman was able to kill on a rampage with impunity. The victims were sitting ducks and no one was armed. The law there doesnt allow concealed carry . Plenty of laws were broken there as well. Criminals by definition do not obey laws.

The most horrific attack on America was accomplished by evil men with only box cutters. No guns were used!
Yet nearly three thousand Americans  lost their lives on 9/11

The Oklahoma City bombing by Tim Mcveigh was done with a homemade fertilizer bomb. Not a single gun was used.

The point is that evil people will come up with innovative ways to accomplish their evil designs with or without guns. No gun laws will eliminate or stop evil.  Only the law abiding citizens will actually obey them.

Exactly the case here again this week in Minnesota. A Grandfather shot his Granddaughter, that was living with him and his wife. The victim had gone to bed, but then evidently snuck out for a smoke. The grandparents heard her at the door, thinking she was in bed.... he shot her as an intruder. The Grandfather was not equipped to handle the situation. He made the single most obvious error. HE DID NOT IDENTIFY HIS TARGET!!!
As for an armed civilian population? That's the answer of gun zealots. My biggest problem with that is this: They are not trained professionals. They go to a day class for a CC license. They have absolutely no experience or training on how to react in an emergency. Case in point. A week ago, we had a police office shot in the face and killed. He was backed up by a "part time " officer. Instead of assisting and apprehending the suspect, the part time officer actually fled the scene. I mean, he ran away... got in his squad, and backed out of harms way, while the suspect was still in sight.
Unless you have hours and hours of experience and training, in stressful situations, you are more danger to society with a gun than without. And no, none of us know how we will react in one of those situations until we've been in one.
I agree with you Mug. We also had a child last week shot to death by a sibling. ( 4 years old the shooter/ brother )
Don't know if any of this is getting through to the gun lobby's? Seem a lot of incidents, in a very short period of time.
Neil

Sure gun accidents happen , so do auto accidents involving drunk drivers. But no one is trying to ban cars or alcohol . Thousands die each year on our highways . Far more than die from accidental shootings. There inherent risks in every human activity. It's impossible to eliminate all risk.

By some estimates there areu over 200 million guns in America . It would be impossible to eliminate them and any attempt confiscate them would likely result in civil war. I can just imagine someone going into Texas trying to confiscate Texas boys' guns.
 
I'm afraid the toothpaste is already out of the tube. Can't put it back in.

Wow! What an introduction to a website that I was expecting to find some valuable info about Ecuador.  Just a lot of back and forth about gun violence in the US and that was apparently enough to kill any more exchanges almost 3 months. 

If there's anyone out there that can help me learn something valuable about life in Ecuador that would be great.

I suppose if there are mass shootings there I'd like to know that too.  But let's try to stay on task here. 

I know that there are thinking ex-pats out there, or travelers who can share some fun, exciting, boring etc etc experience about Ecuador.  Do's and don't would be useful too.

thanx,

So right Mawolk,,,how did this forum become a blog for US gun control is beyond me,,,

Sometimes a particular thread simply runs out of steam due to waning interest in the subject.

Initially this post was to address an issue that has been much talked about on this site: The safety of Ecuador, and relating it to safety in the US.
Emotions of course were running high, and I must admit, the gun issue came into the dialogue. For that, I apologize. This is certainly not the forum for that. Again, the emotions ran high, on both sides of the issue.
I shuddered to see this post rise to the top again. I had hoped, we as a forum had moved past it. I apologize for where it went. It was not my intent to be  inflamatory.
This will be my last post to this issue. Lets let it die and move on.
Peace!
Neil

Good comment Neil.