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3 dead in California hospital shooting

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I'm so looking forward to my trip to LA next week.....

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Guns don't kill people, hospital workers kill people.

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but he notes the violence came amid a flurry of recent shootings in America

Yeah if recent means the last 200 years, I would also say there has been a flurry of shootings. Maybe allowing everyone to have a gun wasn't such a good idea after all?

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Maybe allowing everyone to have a gun wasn't such a good idea after all?

However, the US now has the largest armed civilian army in the world with more guns than people. Obviously, there are too many guns in the US. People in the US have guns to protect themselves from other people who have guns. The ultimate oxymoron!

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Only took about a week this time.

My sympathy to the victims and their families.

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wow..its becoming a trend now days in western country..."if you messed up your life", get out there, get a gun shoot everyone, and then the swallow final bullet...this becoming a cult much more than the kamikaze..lol..

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People in the US have guns to protect themselves from other people who have guns.

More correctly, people in the US have guns to protect themselves from criminals who have guns.

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Helter: "More correctly, people in the US have guns to protect themselves from criminals who have guns."

Nope, the line you created would be more correct, since it includes criminals, and those who do not become criminals until they pull the trigger. Your statement is far too exclusive and naive, to say the least.

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Sorry, that's 'the line you QUOTED', not "...Nope, the line you created would be more correct...". My bad.

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If you aren't American and don't like guns or the thought of America with all its guns don't visit.

It's that simple.

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And to think Candidate Obama was ridiculed by Republicans only a few months ago for saying Americans 'cling to their guns.'.....

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Some Commonwealth citizens post here up to 20 times a day, focused almost exclusively on America, but apparently they are unaware that Long Beach is about as far you can get from the 'rural' America (Pennsylvania) that Obama was attacking last year when trying to convince a group of wealthy Democrat Party bundlers that he is serious about his socialism.

Southern Cal is latte lib central.

Not only that but California has been solidly Democrat - as in filibuster-proof - since about 2002.

Thanks for the laughs!

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teleprompter: "If you aren't American and don't like guns or the thought of America with all its guns don't visit. It's that simple."

Unfortunately, the idiocy of the gun-nutters occasionally knows no borders -- as can be seen with smuggling in Mexico and what not, and the ease at which they are currently getting weapons (which Obama has vowed to change). More importantly, though, this is a forum for opinion, and people are permitted to express them regardless of nationality, or where they currently reside/plan to visit -- or did you forget the name of this site is 'Japan Today', not, 'Japan Today: but no comments on the US from 'foreigners', please'?

More to the point of the thread, though, I think these people probably WERE Americans when visiting the hospital, before being killed by another American in yet more senseless American gun crime. My not being American won't change those facts.

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teleprompter: If you aren't American and don't like guns or the thought of America with all its guns don't visit....It's that simple.

Not sure what the advice to not visit has to do with non-Americans pointing out the absurdity of America's gun sitation. I am sure that many do not visit, this being a reason, but would like to if the guns were better controlled. No surprise they keep hammering away with their opinion in the hopes that something will be done.

I am American by the way, and I try not to visit, this being a reason.

Thanks for the laughs!

Nothing funny about this at all. And SoCal might be lib central, but they cannot put the clamp on guns that needs to be without having border checks from other states. Not possible.

And what your point about this not being Penn is, I have no idea. Both are part of the United States. Also, what socialism has to do with gun control, I cannot imagine either. Socialism is an economic model, and no, guns is not an integral part of capitalism.

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SushiSake3: And to think Candidate Obama was ridiculed by Republicans only a few months ago for saying Americans 'cling to their guns.'.....

Now, now, lets not insult all Republicans here. I believe Obama was ridiculed by Americans who cling to their guns for that comment, not any particular party. And yes, some Dems do cling to their guns, and seem to be afraid they might not make the cut, should some restrictions ever be applied.

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Obama is powerless to end the right of the American citizen to bear arms.

In fact, he is powerless to even try and take away that right.

His own party won't let that happen.

I know, I know - it makes 'liberals' feel pretty and nice to think he can.

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teleprompter - "If you aren't American and don't like guns or the thought of America with all its guns don't visit. It's that simple."

This 'pull up the drawbridge' mentality simply indefinitely postpones action being taken to solve this issue.

In my country, it's called 'wimping out.'

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Man, this is getting ridiculous. Every week we hear about some nut job offing folks. Sometimes, we here about this twice a week. But, I will not damn the guns like most people for one simple fact: Taking away the guns isn't gonna change a person's state of mental health. If people want to kill each other, trust me, they find a way. We humans are relatively easy to kill. Almost all serial killers stray away from using guns in their killings. I am pretty handy with a Bow and Arrow and probably could have achieved the same results with that weapon had I not had a gun. Probably could have done better to tell the truth. Guns make things easier to kill, but they lack that power without a person to squeeze the trigger.

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"Teleprompter If you aren't American and don't like guns or the thought of America with all its guns don't visit."

We come in peace, shoot to kill,shoot to kill,shoot to kill,shoot to kill.

If Bush sucseeded in taking away basic americans right with the patriot act why would Obama not sucseed?

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More correctly, people in the US have guns to protect themselves from criminals who have guns.

Actually that is a 100% true statement. That's why Americans have guns. And then because they have the guns, they also end up accidently shooting off their body parts, blowing their brains out after a night of drinking, shooting their partner after an argument, having their kid take the family gun cause he's "angry" about something and becoming a criminal that others need to have a gun to protect themselves from, etc., etc. etc. Or even just ending up shot by that criminal who really only wanted their wallet, and had no intention of shooting them until they tried to "protect" themselves. Human beings are incredibly useless when it comes to assessing risks, and clearly Americans are at the top of the charts in terms of that kind of uselessness. But it doesn't change the facts - they have guns to protect themselves from criminals! Constitutionally protected too!!! (if you ignore that bit about militias).

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I'm keen to know whether any American pro-gun posters on this board think it might actually be a good idea to adjust gun laws in the U.S.

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Do we even have a motive behind the slayings before this turns into a pro-gun/anti-gun radical froth-fest?

Although I have to compliment Police Chief Anthony Batts for his insight when he noted "the violence came amid a flurry of recent shootings in America." I guess they must have a team of chimps working 24/7.

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Actually, I think I'll switch sides on this issue.

I do, actually, think that it's best to do nothing at all about this issue.

Americans do need guns to defend themselves against other Americans who have guns, and to hell with tourism and those European-Types who are always butting their ungrateful noses in to All-American affairs that Americans and ONLY Americans have the right to discuss.

Everyone else should just stay in their countries and admire America's ever-climbing death toll due to proud Americans who have guns and are defending themselves.

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Madverts,

Although I have to compliment Police Chief Anthony Batts for his insight when he noted "the violence came amid a flurry of recent shootings in America."

The 'non-biased' A.P didn't quite get it right on his insight (what a shocker). He actually said....

"This is becoming a national trend, probably because of the tension going on in our society today," Batts said, referring to shootings that have been linked to the troubled economy.

In California, a Porter Ranch man wiped out by the stock market plunge killed five family members and himself in October; a high-tech employee laid off in Santa Clara is suspected of killing three co-workers, including the company chief executive, and himself in November; and a Wilmington man who had just lost his job killed his wife, five children and himself in January.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hospital-shooting17-2009apr17,0,4629048.story?page=2

They left that part out as usual.

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SushiSake: I'm keen to know whether any American pro-gun posters on this board think it might actually be a good idea to adjust gun laws in the U.S.

Horrible as this is, do these laws give foreigners the right to interfere?

Moderator: Your question is meaningless. All readers -- regardless of nationality -- have the right to comment on this topic. Please lift the level of your contributions, which have shown a marked decline recently.

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SuperLib: Horrible as this is, do these laws give foreigners the right to interfere?

Come on Super, you are more intelligent than this. None here are interfering. In fact, I can't think of any who are even trying. Voicing an opinion is not interfering. Its an opinion. You can either take it or leave it, and it won't kill anyone to do that politely (ie quietly).

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Sail,

Thanks for that. A colleague of mine sadly shot himself this week after being wiped out too but I've never heard of anyone here doing the immediate family as well.....what the hell makes them shoot their own loved ones? Suicide in itself is bad enough for those around the victim.

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I have been back to the States since the media's chosen one took office.

I'm from a very liberal, pc part of the W Coast.

A lot of my lib relatives, friends and acquaintances were talking about guns - buying em, that is.

This is one of those issues that cuts across party lines.

That's just how it is...

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"since the media's chosen one took office. "

Uhm, wouldn't that be since the American People's chosen one?

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If Americans want guns let them have guns. The Supreme Court has already shot down gun bans in other parts of the country because they violate portions of the constitution. If one were to strike even one of the amendments it would render the entirety of the document, and by proxy the American political and legal system, void. Take a law class, if you break one portion of a contract the whole thing is worthless and the constitution is nothing if not a contract to the people living within its jurisdiction.

And if that contract is voided than we would all have a lot more to worry about than a few nut jobs in California (a state with some of the most stringent gun laws mind you).

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SuperLib: "Horrible as this is, do these laws give foreigners the right to interfere?"

Always love this kind of comment on the Japan Today site. Reminds me of when Japanese tell me of their trips to foreign countries and how rude 'foreigners' are there. :)

teleprompter: " And it's one that smokes out the fake Americans on threads like this."

I think your newest handle has worn itself out.

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Obama is powerless to change gun laws in Cali.

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Actually my comment to Sushi was just a cut and paste of a comment he made on the thread about the rape law in Pakistan. I was wondering if the same "foreigners shouldn't interfere" point of view would hold up when the US is the topic. Looks like I got quite a bit more attention, even from the MODS, who didn't seemed to mind Sushi originally posting it.

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Statistically, the chances of being the victim of gun violence is small. But the NRA can't make that argument; it would appear callous in the face of the very real suffering of the victims and their families. Plus, they need the fear factor which they feel will win people over to their viewpoint that we would all be safer if everyone was armed.

How the hell is a hospital orderly, nurse, or doctor supposed to discharge their professional duties while being simultaneously ready to discharge a firearm at a moment's notice? Patient care would suffer, particularly if he/she was dropped so the worker could get his gun.

This is a slam dunk workman's comp case and for that we all pay, regardless of whether you own a gun or not.

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Anyone that has taken the time to study the guns laws of the US would know that it is the lack of enforcement of the current gun laws that is the problem. It isn't the current gun control laws or the lack there of, but a lack of enforcement.

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California has been staunchly Democrat for years now. No one is surprised by this. Dems have ruined the Golden State.

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So it's the democrats fault that there was a fatal shooting spree in California.

Hmmm.....Ok.

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So it's the democrats fault that there was a fatal shooting spree in California.

Never mind Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican. Or Orange County, which Long Beach abuts, was one of of the earliest centers of "Goldwater Republicanism."

Colorado was a Republican state when Columbine occurred, should we hang that on the GOP? According to teleprompter's logic, "Yes."

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