Kiwi’s darkest day

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KiwiPlantGuy

KiwiPlantGuy

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I make this post not to get any likes, or to get sympathy, just to hopefully share my emotions of sadness and shock that this happened here in my home town.
I have lived my whole life in Christchurch, New Zealand. All the normal stuff, school, marriage, kids, divorce, re-marriage (lol me), and now this.
Hopefully it made it to your news bulletins, as NZ has not had a massacre of any kind close to this. 49 killed via semi-automatic gun, and the sad man who did this , said on his “live” blog thing, that he is proving this can happen anywhere in the world, even safe and green NZ.
Unsure if this is relatable as I have seen many shootings from the US, and still guns/semi-automatic guns are still allowed to be sold. Apparently Christchurch has made to #9 of the world’s worst mass shootings.
After the earthquakes of 2011 in Christchurch, where 161 died from building collapses, now this and my children and many others of this generation have to live with these tragic events going forward.
It won’t make any worldly difference, whether 1 person or 1000’s read this, just venting, so thank you for reading and your support.
Attached is one person who might have made it more relevant to the world.
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Wow, such a tragedy for sure...One life lost is to many. 49 unheard of...my prayers cover all involved. But...the comparison of how small your country is...and the effect of the loss. Staggering! Though...again just one life lost is a devistating blow. Yes, My family heard of this deranged man...and the horror. It's hard to wrap ones brain around. Sorry it touched home to you. It's more than a news story...
 
I've had my share of tragedies of large scale. They weigh on you, change your perspective in life, and stay with you forever.

I wish you well my Kiwi friend.
 
It's horrible that such things happen anywhere, and a sad state that it's happening with such regularity now, that some people have become hardened to news like this.
I really have no words, but wanted to pass along my sadness to join yours.
 
Terrible event, sends waves of sadness through the globe. My apprentice is from Tonga, lots of family and friends in Christchurch. We tried to stay busy yesterday, but definetly had a long coffee break to try and talk about positive stories.
 
This dreadful event has been covered extensively by news media in the USA. There is nothing I can say that will make this better for you or your country. There will be lots of talk about this, but words without actions mean nothing.
 
Sad,very sad and it truly sucks.
That powerless,frustrated,angry feeling you get when something like this happens is all too familiar.


This "man" is a terrorist.
White nationalism is a rising disease that is on the upswing no matter what any piece of trash in power says.
 
That's a terribly sad stuff. The murderer came from abroad to kill people in NZ... Right like something what he doesn't like... strangers. Hopefully you'll get over it. I wish we could prevent things like this from happening.
 
Thank you to all who have made comments. Yep, nothing can change this, nothing can stop these terrorists, so just hoping my gun laws will get strengthened further.
Like a saying I heard from someone - “a locked house keeps a honest man out”
Charles
 
Yes, we have heard/seen the sad news on TV.
I only second what Judy said above :
JudyB said:
It's horrible that such things happen anywhere, and a sad state that it's happening with such regularity now, that some people have become hardened to news like this.
I really have no words, but wanted to pass along my sadness to join yours.
Click to expand...
 
KiwiPlantGuy said:
I make this post not to get any likes, or to get sympathy, just to hopefully share my emotions of sadness and shock that this happened here in my home town.
Click to expand...

I refuse to believe this is Kiwi's darkest day, because I do not believe that the actions of one crack-pot individual represent the views of an entire country. I have met numerous New Zealanders over the years, and have been favorably impressed by all. In fact, were I to want to move anywhere else in this world, New Zealand would be high on the list, if not #1. I certainly hope that I, as one citizen in a country of 350 million, am not judged by the actions of another - just because they happen to live in the same country.

When you have 7.5 billion people in the world, there are bound to be some outliers. It is almost a statistical certainty. The only crime in my opinion, is that mass media (in order to make money) gives these human turds recognition that they DON'T deserve. Stop publicizing their names, or their views. WE DON'T CARE. Toss them in a dark hole never to be heard from again. It is time we start judging people by their ACTIONS... and we really don't care about their words.
 
KiwiPlantGuy said:
gun laws will get strengthened further.
Click to expand...

At least in the US, gun laws only harm people willing to follow gun laws.

Over 50% of gun crime committed in the US is committed using illegal guns. Even in California, with the strictest gun laws in the country, there is plenty of gun crime.
 
Bonsai Nut said:
At least in the US, gun laws only harm people willing to follow gun laws.

Over 50% of gun crime committed in the US is committed using illegal guns. Even in California, with the strictest gun laws in the country, there is plenty of gun crime.
Click to expand...

So, I am not trying to muddy the water here, and to qualify, I totally agree with you regarding gun crime committed by illegal guns. But sadly, he bought all the guns and gear through a reputable and legal seller, with a firearm’s licence. It is not illegal to own a semi-automatic here, but within 10 days the law probably will change to ban them. Doesn’t stop the illegal sales though.
This guy had 1 semi-automatic gun modified (illegal to modify), a shotgun, and 2 hand guns. It was modified to carry a different cartridge thingy, I guess to carry more ammo.
He arrived a first mosque and killed 40 people praying mostly men. He then drove to the second mosque 7 minutes away and tried the same plan. He killed 10 there, but a courageous, selfless hero grabbed one of the gunman’s handgun which he dropped trying to reload the semi-automatic, and had a shooting match, which stopped more getting killed. Gunman drove away. Also 40 more people are in hospital, 11 critical.

There is a couple of amazing stats from this ugly day. Emergency response (police, ambulance) was in action after 5 minutes, and the gunman apprehended/arrested after 36 minutes of the original shooting.

NZ population is 4.5 million, and I was never trying to accuse the USA as being a bad place because of gun violence. I have travelled to the US twice on holiday and would like to return to see more.
 
KiwiPlantGuy said:
So, I am not trying to muddy the water here, and to qualify, I totally agree with you regarding gun crime committed by illegal guns. But sadly, he bought all the guns and gear through a reputable and legal seller, with a firearm’s licence. It is not illegal to own a semi-automatic here, but within 10 days the law probably will change to ban them. Doesn’t stop the illegal sales though.
Click to expand...

Just a couple of years ago we had a crack-pot millionaire who opened fire at a concert of people in Las Vegas. Even though all the weapons were legally purchased and transported, not sure that making them all illegal would have prevented a guy who makes $5 million per year from obtaining them - particularly when he was planning to die. It is illegal to own a firearm in Mexico... plenty of gun crime there.

People who can't obtain firearms just drive their cars into groups of pedestrians. First occurrence of this happened in 1973... but now it occurs commonly (14 times in 2018 alone). Just like suicides - the more coverage these actions get, the more commonly they occur.

The common theme in all of these events is the coverage the Press gives the criminal/terrorist. Millions of dollars of free attention - which is why they were killing people in the first place. Sure they have all kinds of sociopathic issues... but more than anything else they want a stage, and the only way to get one is to kill enough people because otherwise people dismiss them as the crack-pots that they are.
 
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From what I've seen on TV and read from the web, New Zealanders are reacting in a very dignified manner, and Jacinda Ardern can be praised for her handling of the situation.

I think this page is worth reading : https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-strong-are-australia-s-gun-laws

The Australian who committed these horrible murders couldn't have owned these weapons in his home country, or at least it wouldn't have been so easy for him to get them.

Excerpt:

(...) These laws were initially accompanied by a large-scale gun buyback program.
New Zealand comparison
As a result of the measures, there is now about one weapon for every eight people in Australia and there has been a reduction of more than 50 per cent in the number of gunshot victims since 1996. (...)

Food for thought...
 
Yesterday a fanatic opened fire on innocent travelers in public transportation, killing 3 and wounding 9 more.
It seems to be a response to what happened in NZ. Like NZ was a response to what happened in Europe and other places.
Exactly what I was afraid of: retaliations on retaliations on retaliations.
Like they have been doing in the older parts of the world for the past 2000 years..

I know both sides, both the kids that left to Syria as well as the kids that turned right wing. There used to be some impasse going on.. But the pendulum has momentum now. And I'm pretty worried about that.
 
And our leader is still ignoring this tragedy. But he had time to tweet about all his enemies. And he and Steve King made the rounds making veiled threats towards people that don't agree with them.
 
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