My visual take on the Orlando tragedy. I can’t help but think of Mahatma Gandhi’s wisdom: “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

In the same way people will argue global warming is not real because on page 374 there was a typo.

Auckland is increasingly a millstone around New Zealand’s neck: “its economy is inwardly focussed, driven by consumption, real estate and domestic services”; “measured internationally it’s performance is…

Perhaps we're not that different. I believe that Federal…

Law enforcement often throws out these cases.

For me, if he was a self hating gay man, that actually…

I think it's a little more serious than that, John. While I normally balk at using them as a source, the Daily Mail reports one Georgia gun dealer as saying, "We normally sell two (AR-15s) a day, today we are selling up…

In all seriousness, when I first saw that I thought it was a sick bloody joke.

Add "people who wonder why abused women don't go to the authorities" to the rapidly expanding list of…

The share prices of US gun manufacturers have surged since the Florida shootings. Apparently this happens after every US gun massacre as the good ol’ boys stockpile weapons in anticipation of a crackdown on gun sales.

Further to my earlier post about…

This doesn't really correlate with the fact that 59% Americans have never moved from their birth state.

As of 2011, even this was slowing.

Surely the 'melting pot' only ever really referred to white folks. In the era of economic expansion in which it served as a convenient label, Jim Crow laws still governed much of the South.

They might be better…

Closer to home, many New Zealanders* (including myself) live a very long way from the places we were born, and few of us are psychopathic killers.

*(25%)

Some sociological thoughts/studies on why America stands out in this regard;

https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2015/12/31/mass-shootings-in-the-u-s-what-makes-so-many-american-men-dangerous/

And for an interesting analysis of stats, there is this (as linked in the above);
http://www.charlespetzold.com/blog/2015/07/De-Obfuscating-the-Statistics-of-Mass-Shootings.html

My hunch is that the US, as an advanced democracy/economy…

Orlando said he never looked Mr. Mateen in the eye, but recalled his calm voice. At one point, after noticing that some of the hostages in the bathroom were texting, the gunman ordered them…

This is probably the most sensible comment I have read on this topic anywhere on the internet.

It’s a very long time. Lateen’s former…

It's also equally plausible that he was…

Yes, but......even if not actively directed, still involved enough to pop up on the FBI's radar as someone who needed to be interviewed twice. A toxic mix of self-hate and…

A bit of Jared Loughner, Man Haron Manis, Clayton Weatherston, Andrew Cunanan... who else would Omar Mateen have taken after?

root causes

Same way any town regulates things like parking and traffic rules. 2nd amendment has failed to stop University campuses becoming gun-free as well. Supreme court has…

yup, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-panthers-california-1967_us_568accfce4b014efe0db2f40

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/01/after-cologne-we-cant-let-bigots-steal-feminism

As Katharine Moody & Tussock have…

California has tried to control guns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_California

And yet it's still nowhere near sufficient to 'overthrow a tyrannical government', as those who think they…

How does that work? Given the constitutional stuff, to what extent can a town or municipality in the USA get away with regulating guns?

must be helluva confusing for people who travel around the country, figuring out and complying with local regs

It's also worth remembering that the US is really really diverse. Sure the gun nuts make good TV – but there are thousands of towns with strong gun control regulations – they don't make the news because they are…

Is it reasonable to say that when suitably inadequate gun controls meet a suitably…

Well, it's something he could do specifically. A change of political tactics is clearly required, but if I knew what that involved I wouldn't be running a little PR company in NZ.

And of course the NRA is culpable. But it…

Like, they see news like that and imagine themselves being trapped in a shootout in a public building, like it's totally going to…

A friend was inheriting an old family heirloom and applying for a gun permit…

Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said on Twitter that Howell told an officer during his arrest on weapons charges that he wanted "to harm Gay Pride event."

But she provided no specifics and at a press conference three hours later, Lt. Saul Rodriguez…

Dude, with all due and insincere respect, I’m happy to give you a one-on-one seminar on how the Constitution of the United States was constructed to separate the…

I meant more to hold a seminar or two with gun reform lobbyists.

Sadly you are almost certainly right. But still, leadership is essential. Obama repeating the same "isn't this terrible" speech hasn't been that. And I doubt Clinton will dare do anything much on any topic. Her comments today were quite carefully worded to not…

Upper house only, much like Fred Nile and the onetime dregs of Pauline Hanson's One Nation. I'd…

With all due credit to Howard's actions in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, the idea that he carries some kind of charismatic influence with the residue of his natural US allies is a joke.…

You might note that while they're still small, they have members in NSW parliament so we have allowed "recreational shooting" in state parks and there is fighting about allowing it in national parks. The restrictions are laughable, and there are problems with idiots…

Of course the NRA could be shown to be a paper tiger if your hypothetical US equivalent of John Howard called its bluff, but you don't provide…

Our guns laws didn't stop Aramoana. They just stopped the dozens of similar incidents that didn't happen in the 27 years since.

And I think John Howard needs to pay a…

It started properly more than a year ago when the MSC decided to drop a comprehensive programme of outdoor safety courses. It ditched nearly all of its volunteer…

I mean that the police have no way to know that a person holding a firearms license may no longer be a "fit and…

While the NRA is disgusting the problem is not the NRA. The problem is that US politicians are corrupt and take money from the NRA to…

No such list exists.

It is entirely possible to be on an FBI "no-fly" list because of perceived terrorist threat in the US and still be able to buy assault weapons.

Here's Obama from a week ago complaining about how they lack the power to do that:

https://twitter.com/rickyftw/status/742069085253468160

It seems…

All too believably because the National Rifle Association may be contemptible shit-weasels, but they’re brutally efficient lobbyists and when they put money into your campaign you tend to…

Uh, say what? The Police can revoke anyone's firearms licence at any time if they believe the "fit and proper person" requirement is no longer met.

Or do you mean no statutory…

*shudder* As I've pointed out elsewhere today, more than once, this is shit my father didn't have access to when he was a solider fighting honest…

I'm guessing not on the same scale as it's reasonably difficult to purchase assault rifles in NZ. You need to be a registered collector to obtain one legally.

That said, I…

The guts have just been pulled from the Mountain Safety Council run safety training and license testing process,…

Predictably, Trump tweeted "Thanks for all the congrats" as if mass murder somehow vindicates his racism. It's becoming increasingly difficult to believe that this dim-witted, orange cartoon character is actually in the running for the office of…

Auckland too: 6pm at Western Park on Ponsonby Road.

"No data yet on the correlation between “thoughts and prayers” and gun violence, but I did find these."

Who needs an Assault rifle for anything?

And its depressing what doesn't happen when a heavily-armed white man is arrested intending to commit a violent…