As far as 'celebrity maniacs,' I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I think that, you might be referring to well-known people who don't share your views. But, I'm not sure.
What I am talking about is the uniquely american "shoot your way to infamy"
You see, the psychology of gun ownership and even typical gun violence is very different. How so?
Lets take this Vester mess. Lets say he cracks, wants revenge, and has a gun. He waits outside the station, these two walk out, he gets his "revenge" they are dead. The story floods local headlines and then maybe , MAYBE, gets a small footnote reference on national news feeds, but most likely not. No this is whats happened. Vester Flanagan was delusional, for what sees to be most his life. He was a narcissist, paranoid, angry, if he thinks the desert god was talking to him, he most likely has some schizophrenia. So what did he do?
Well he admired those who have become infamous american sociopath monsters. Household names, they insight fear and terror. They achieved "evil" celebrity status. Again I think you guys are way simplifying this that this was just some asshole that wanted revenge, again thats only a piece. This coward wanted fame. His revenge came with a desire to be known, to be a monster to achieve infamy.
Again this problem is uniquely american. Yea sure we have more guns than other places, the makes it EASIER to find one I am sure. How many countries have no guns at all? There are guns that can be got, especially illegally. Still it remains these stomach turning shooting stories remain an american problem. I have no problem associating gun violence in america with volume of guns. But these theatrical attention grabbing killings, are a deeper issue america has.
Think about Colombine, they had so sadistically planned it out, Erick and Dylan became immortal which is what they wanted. The media helped for sure. These assholes were Deified by the media, not for good but evil, but immortalized none the less. The day before Colombine they were nobodies, the day after they were all anyone was talking about. Vester Flanagan. He WAS a nobody, now we know his name, we know his life story, and we saw the monster he was capable of being.
Again these attention seeking mass murders are really an american phenomenon and the stakes get higher and higher, each one idolizes the last and tries to up the anti on savagery or shock value. In Vesters case, live TV, also he filmed it and streamed it. The church shooting, newton ct if you go back through you see these things get more and more twisted because someone wants to be the next Erick and Dylan. The pattern has been set with the gun, and yes it is an efficient killing tool. But its become a part of the theatrics, especially in the media.
So you change gun laws, ok, great. It will probably contribute to the already declining numbers of gun related crime in America that no one likes to acknowledge. Thats great. Here is a good question thought, is it going to stop the next person that wants to be the next Erick and Dylan? I highly doubt that, because their motive is not revenge, its revenge on steroids. They are determined to become and immortal monster even if they have to die doing it. Its sick. This problem is next level.
The husband of the surviving woman who was being interviewed at the time said the following about it:
Mr Gardner told Fox News that he doesn't think the gun was the issue in the attack against his wife.
'He was bound and determined to try to make a name for himself on live TV because he failed at it so many times,' Mr Gardner said. 'So no, I don’t blame the gun, I blame the guy that was holding the gun.'
Mr Gardner says if he was barred from getting a gun, Flanagan could have killed with a knife or machete.
Gun violence in America is a problem, these "Infamy" shootings, are a more complex problem.
I think the discussion about gun violence is a good one, but when newton Ct, or something like this happens, to use it as the reason WHY we need more controls, is stepping over bigger issues to get to the easy one.
There are 320 millions people in America, there is nearly 300 million guns. What do you believe is going to happen to all of those if a new law is passed? They will just magically disappear? unfortunately those are here probably to stay. An outright complete ban on guns would not stop someone bent on destruction from finding one, it may make it more difficult, but they are going to find a way.