Kun-chan wrote:

   No wonder there's so much violence over there if half the people own
   guns... Hmm... kind of reminds me of that 'Trigger Happy' song...
It's not hardly that simple.  Household gun possession is
substantially greater in Switzerland (just about every ablebodied male
has a government issued full auto capable battle or assault rifle and
ammo, and must demonstrate proficiency every year or so, or take a
boot camp refresher course).  Israel also has a high gun posession
rate and a low crime rate. 

I guess it all just depends on who is able to own guns ... it seems that
in the US any sicko can own a gun, like there is no gun laws or no 
system to check people who own guns. 

There *are* gun laws and a system.  But if you really want a gun they are
very easy to get around.  Besides, the National Rifle Association is a very
powerful lobby (read $$$ to Congressmen) in Congress, and in the past
they've gotten pretty much what they want.  (example: someone tries to pass
legislation against bullets that pierce police body armor (IMO, no real use
for these bullets except to kill people); NRA starts yelling about how that
infringes on someone's rights/ability to hunt (hunt *what* I ask?); NRA does
behind-the-scenes arm twisting on Congressmen by threatening to not
contribute to their campaign coffers next time around; legislation doesn't
pass.)


>From the news here, it seems that shootings and massacers in America

are a daily occurance ... over here, the whole country knows if someone
shoots more than 5 people in one shooting. It's a really big deal
because there are so little shootings and even less massacers compared
to what we hear of the US, and other countries.

You know the phrase 'sex sells'?  So does bad/sensational news.  A few years
ago there was a study done of the content of TV news broadcasts.  TV
stations that showed lots of "bad" news got high ratings, TV stations that
broadcast a high proportion of "good" news got poor ratings.  TV stations
that changed their format to show a higher proportion of "good" news had
their ratings drop.  TV stations that did the opposite had their ratings go
up. Somehow I suspect this ratings trend would follow in many other
countries as well.

And someone shooting "more than 5 people in one shooting" is a bit
sensational over here too.  I really doubt Australian TV (or any place
else's TV for that matter) be all that interested in news about something
good/nice/happy happening in another country.


ObFanFic:  I agree with Harold's comments about Cris Davies' SM fics.  :)


Jeanne Hedge
http://www.accsyst.com/jhedge/main.htm

                                 *   *   *

FIDDLE, n.  An instrument to tickle human ears by friction of a horse's tail
on the entrails of a cat.

                -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"