This just in: American gun culture hits new levels of stupidity, spurred by reckless idiots valuing an outdated Constitution over human life.
At the same time as the death toll for the latest mass shooting in the US climbs to 14, with dozens more injured, the FBI have confirmed Black Friday 2015 saw the most firearms sold in a single day since background checks were instituted in 1998.
The Associated Press reports that the FBI processed a record-breaking 185,345 background checks for gun owners on November 27, which is about one every 2 seconds.
WELL DONE, AMERICA, YOU’VE SET A NEW RECORD FOR ASS-HATERY.
It’s even possible that figure is underestimating the total number of weapons sold that day; firearms purchased at gun shows and from “private collections” – so a person-to-person transaction – often don’t require background checks, so it’s highly likely guns the government has no record of were also snapped up.
Other facts that will make you want to punch someone / despair for humanity:
- November 21 was also the same day a gunman killed 3 people and wounded 9 in a shooting rampage at Colorado Springs’ Planned Parenthood clinic.
- The previous record of 177,170 background checks was set in December 21, 2012, a week after the horrifying Sandy Hook massacre that left 26 people, mostly kids, dead.
You’d think 994 mass shootings in 1,004 days (The Guardian is keeping a visual tally) would be enough for an immediate rethink of America’s gun culture – at the very least the introduction of stronger gun-control measures – by the US government, but nope, still not enough.
President Obama has long been an advocate for tighter gun control in the US, but his attempts to implement change have been blocked by hostile dickheads in Congress and various gun lobbies.
Speaking to CBS after being briefed on the San Bernardino massacre, he stressed once again how desperately change is needed.
“We don’t yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is there are steps we can take to make Americans safer and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal.
“We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn’t happen with the same frequency in other countries. We have a pattern now of mass shooting in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.”
Hillary Clinton also condemned gun violence in an impassioned plea for action via Twitter:
I refuse to accept this as normal. We must take action to stop gun violence now. -H https://t.co/SkKglwQycb
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 2, 2015
Former Australian Deputy PM Tim Fischer this morning called for the Federal Government to issue a travel warning to Aussies in light of the latest spate of shootings.
Former Deputy PM Tim Fischer says Australia must immediately issue a travel warning about gun violence in the US. @BreakfastNews @abcnews
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) December 2, 2015
What’s it going to take?
Source: Associated Press.
Photo: ABC.
