When will it stop?
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34987697

Prayers with the victims and their families. :(

Just seen this on the news. It'll never stop if their gun laws are kept as they are. It's just the way it is unfortunately unless a big anti-gun movement forms.

Hope it stops now as Im heading to California in two weeks.

a country addicted to guns and military weaponry

a country addicted to military power

a country containing extremes of wealth & poverty

a country riven with religion, fundamentalism and science denial

an effective Oligarchy, but preaching democracy

mmm, my hopes aren't high

a really good essay by the philosopher John Gray, based on a book review of Noam Chomsky's collection of essays

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...chomsky-review

it was written some 4 years ago, but extremely prescient, especially this quote (which amazed me when I re read the article this morning)

" A condition of perpetual warfare has left the US more or less bankrupt, a state of affairs that can be sustained only as long as China chooses to fund the federal debt. Stagnant for a generation, the standard of living of the majority is falling and the country's infrastructure rotting away. Increasingly the US resembles Latin America some decades ago. The predominant response has been denial, with the Republican party degenerating into a squabbling apocalyptic cult and Obama's principal weakness seeming to be his palpable sanity. The best that can be hoped for is that voters do not opt for a kind of elective psychosis."

my bold - but in light of Donald Trump heading the US election poles - with some saying he has a real chance of becoming president, an interesting and disturbing observation

If the 'muricans do vote in Trump they deserve everything they get! That guy is a total loon!

sober reading...

http://shootingtracker.com/wiki/Mass_Shootings_in_2015

If they can vote in an ageing "B" film actor, they can vote in anyone.

And we will have our tongues firmly up his nether orifice, whoever gets in.

what the heck is the point in going abroad to combat terrorism when anybody can stockpile enough to supply a small army back home !

I think I can guess what reaction I'll get to pointing it out, but the automatic weapons these shooters used in this attack have been illegal in California for several decades (as were the ones used in Paris just two weeks ago).

All reports I've seen say all 4 of their guns were obtained legally.

Obtained legally, quite possibly, but definitely very seriously illegally modified subsequent to purchase, particularly when it comes to California law:

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2015/12...-in-california
(and yes, I appreciate the website may be a touch biased on the general subject of firearm laws, but I think the basic facts are still clear enough)

More on California's unusually strict (for the US) rules on auto/semi-auto gun ownership here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15s_in_California

In any case, it's becoming increasingly obvious this incident diverged a fair bit from the usual norm of mass killings that we see over there. Then again, I suppose you could almost say it's the exception that proves the rule.