Readers Around the World Look at Mass Shootings in the U.S. and Ask, Why Are You Surprised?

Americans are provincial in the sense that they grew up in ore militaristic gun culture and it is the only home they know. The more provincial they are the more they are susceptible to being manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and the gun lobby. It's an endless cycle, which exists only to profit politicians, gun makers and lobbyists. A pox on all of them.

I don't understand why people I wish on funds being the CAUSE of these killings. Have any of you seen a gun Betty up and aim itself

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." I'm not a lawyer, but it seems the brilliant members of the US Supreme Court forgot to read the first part of the 2nd Amendment. Excuse the pun, but it seems that ideology and myth trump common sense.

Political leaders are trapped by assumptions that have no connection to reality. What is calle in clinical terms? A kind of insanity. After mass killings they give "thoughts" and prayers. And, life continues normally mass killing after mass killing. The, they talk about criminals and mentally ill people, and people predisposed to commit such acts. They refuse to see what research has already shown. The US has so many such killing because it has so many fire arms, more than people. The political system functions on the basis of money that supports political campaigns. People's lives mean less than money: profits,(NRA), electoral campaign funds. The political system has been absorbed by a kind of predatory capitalism. And, this is supposed to be a Christian nation? What a travesty. It is mass madness. Why can't people see what is right in front of their eyes? The mentally ill people are not likely to kill, but normal Americans in possession of firearms do it.

We left the States in 2011 and have lived abroad since then; it wasn't a stand or a statement, we left for a job. Each year it gets harder and harder to visit family there, no matter which part of the country. Everyone seems angry, all the time, about everything large and small from politics to parking spaces. I think this aggression overlays profound fear and free-floating anxiety--look at the headlines on MSN sometime. Americans seem afraid of everything from financial insecurity to cooking eggs the wrong way. Whatever the cause, I am dreading our annual visit to a country I can no longer experience as Home.

It is so important to report factually, because what happens in the USA really affects everyone.. Even though you’ll always be “the failing New York Times” to Trump’s cult followers, because that’s what he tells them & they seem incapable of independent & critical thinking. All the while, around the world, people are watching in horror at what is happening in the USA under Trump. The divisions he is causing have all the indications that the Second Civil War has begun, they just haven’t declared it yet. It’s not going to end well!

as if guns were the only problem. Add to that a health care "system" in shambles, extreme social inequalities due to corporate greed, corporate takeover of the political system, politicized justice, fake news, news tunnels, news treated as entertainment, open racism, privatized colleges making good education affordable only for the rich, district gerrymandering, voter restrictions, Republican governed states deterrence of objective education curricula, etc God truly bless America for she sure needs it more than ever.

I exiled myself following the 2016 election, and will remain an expatriate while DT remains president of my country. I don’t think I am incorrect in stating that derision, not “despair”, more accurately describes how the world views the United States.

If nothing changed after Sandy Hook, nothing is going to change after these most recent atrocities. The core principles of individualism and 'survival of the fittest' (whether driven by wealth, education, social standing or whatever else) have led the US to enormous innovation, success and power over the past two hundred years and are now tearing its society apart. The short-sighted mean-spiritness of the current administration is accelerating this decline. Speaking as a friend and neighbour, it is hard to watch.

We moved to central Mexico three and a half years ago. Our friends and family were very worried that we would be living in dangerous times and places. As it turns out, the US is far more threatening and dangerous than this corner of the world. We watch, aghast, as more and more mass killings dominate the US news, and we will not soon return to such a self destructive nation. White supremacy, irrational fear of immigration, and unfettered access to high-volume weapons will not lead to a “great” America, only to an increasingly paranoid one. I miss the country I once felt was a proud and welcoming force for good in the world.

“Guns don’t kill people, people do” is an argument I keep hearing from gun advocates - Exactly I say! Couldn’t agree more, so why would you allow people to get guns so easily, since they’re going to use them? It’s unbelievable that a several hundred year old law is part of the problem, if we never changed anything nothing would be accomplished, no progress would be made. Unfortunately, even if America decided to take a completely different route and make it more or less impossible to buy guns it would take generations to make a change only because you have 300 million guns lying around. First you’d have to get rid of most of that ridiculous amount of weapons, something that won’t happen in our lifetime. When people in politics in the USA talk about “the greatest nation on earth...” they seem to forget that it’s also the most uncivilized in the western world, it’s really the Wild West. But apart from this single issue, the US is fantastic in so many other ways, but this gun-thing... it’s absolutely impossible to understand. To have the right to have a gun, why stop there? Why not let people have the right to keep bombs or chemical weapons stored at home as well or in their cars? I mean if you had to protect yourself from the government or somebody else it wouldn’t be enough with guns, would it? The whole idea is ridiculous. Or the idea that people should have guns on them only to be able to intervene and shoot someone who’s using their gun in an unlawful way. What an idea!?

The U.S. Second Amendment is subject to interpretation and the U.S. Supreme Court has chosen to permit more freedom to own weapons than most Americans want. This is totally political and driven by rural states. There are 300 million guns in the U.S. but it's never too late to start treating them as you would a vehicle you want to drive. But any confiscation of weapons could be viewed as a government power grab.

Something not yet addressed in all the wailing about public serial shooting slaughters is the gender effect. What is there about testosterone the enhances shooting tendencies and what is there about estrogen that suppresses murder reactions? Interesting research, eh?

Understandably, people around the world see our ridiculous president and chaotic politics and are like “what the heck.” Of course these latests acts of violence have people confused and angry. But it’s not like there are millions of Americans sitting around going “Oh that’s an idea, we should DO something about this. Why didn’t I think of that?” There are many Americans fighting to make a change. Since the contributors of this article seem have few complaints with their own governments, maybe they don’t know what it’s like when your government is current and simply does not have your back. It’s hard.

“Not the guns, but mental illness and white supremacy” I am a psychiatrist for over thirty years, a first generation Canadian and child of Holocaust survivors. I find this statement is totally absurd and untrue. I am shocked yet not surprised and feeling intense pain. So sorry the American people are manipulated by such obvious untruths and seem to being preparing to re-elect such an bad leader.

I believe this is a wake call for all Americans because we hear about mass shootings and people caught with guns everyday in the news. We are starting to grow numb to the pain of losing people to these shootings. This shows what kind of direction Americans are heading into compared to the rest of the world. One of the reasons why these mass shootings are so popular in America is because of the gun laws. Nobody should be able to buy a military grade weapon, all these shootings have one thing in common which is that the shooter always has a military grade weapon. Guns like ARs should be used for strictly military purposes and the general population should not have the access to obtain one.

How horrific is violence in the rest of the world; when foreigners risk their lives to come here, to The Divided States of America? In America, everyone risks being shot everywhere, day and night: In bed, in church, at school, shopping, dancing, talking, walking, praying. Gun$ are America's "value$" & "priori-tie$."

I was challenged by the comments of another writer who referred to Americans fascination with self harm. This observation is correct. Workers proudly refuse to join together in unions to protect themselves, some women do not support candidates that seek to enlarge women's rights, employees become workaholics, people take opiods to deal with medical pain instead of demanding health care, and vote for people giving tax cuts to the rich. We are self destructive.

These international commenters are absolutely right. Our country is mired in inaction by factions, which is what some of the founders said could happen. The GOP faction is so afraid of progress and change that it’s willing to let us die. The Democrats must win both houses of Congress and the White House in order to get gun control done.

Yes. It makes sense. Why are we even surprised at this point? Maybe there is a room for action and change now that we are emotionally drained.