What Do Asia and Africa Think About the Sandy Hook School Shooting? Comments From Around the World

The horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut has reignited the debate on gun control in America, but what does the rest of the world think? Digital Dying checked in on comments and op-ed articles from news sites across the globe to find out…

China – These are elementary school children, 10 y.o. and less, what have they done to deserve that? I see the pictures, I see them crying, frightened, distressed… There are so many unhinged, violent psychopaths in USofA, the country really needs to revisit its gun laws. Question is, why do these USAnian psychopaths all have guns. [China Daily, Commenter named cestmoi]

India – The American Youth. They got a kick on their back in Iraq, in Afghanistan, they have seen close friends die in enemy firing, ambushed by the guerrillas and so have turned frustrated and hate the world. Now they are returning back after completing aimless fighting on the foreign soil. These deeply frustrated guys, trained to handle modern Arms, killing innocent people in foreign soil simply for pleasure, are becoming a deadly burden to the American Society. Probably this ghastly incident where 20 plus children had to die, is not the end but a series of murders are in the waiting lists, nobody knows when the next one will happen! The American State Strategists have created these problems which the Society there had to bear. [Times of India, Commenter named basudev]

Other Great Reads: How to deal with grief after a terrible tragedy

South Africa – Evil visited us today ?.. well.. what did your god do to prevent it.. Flabbergasted that people flock to a church to pray to the entity that “allowed this to happen” wake up.. there IS no god.. evil is in humans.. goodness is in humans.. forget the ‘god thing’.. it just is not there! [IOL News, Commenter named Rick Meijer]

South Africa – God’s existence does not depend on what we believe about it. No one can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that God doesn’t exist. All I know is that everything that exists has a maker: a boat, a house, a human being. And you are saying: everything has a maker, except a human being. [IOL News, Commenter named Ali Gator]
 
Australia – These guns were legally registered to a private citizen. No private citizen needs that kind of firepower. What usually happens in the US is that both sides of politics, neither of which wishes to face the NRA’s well-orchestrated outrage for suggesting gun restrictions, instead say it is “distasteful” to discuss gun control in the immediate aftermath of a massacre. And then they never talk about it at all. President Barack Obama has been atrocious on this issue. He has valued his own political survival ahead of the victims of these routine massacres. He promised a national conversation after July’s massacre at the Aurora Batman screening. It never happened. (Herald Sun)

Other Great Reads: The benign childhoods of deranged gunmen

Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to President Barack Obama and the American people on Saturday, saying that “we in Israel have experienced such cruel acts of slaughter and we know the shock and agony they bring.” President Shimon Peres also sent a letter expressing his grief over the incident. “No experience with death can be likened to that of a parents’ loss of their child. No crime is more heinous than the killing of a child,” he said. “Our hearts are with the bereaved families of the victims, the mourning community in Newtown, Connecticut and the people of the United States of America.” (Haaretz)

Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to the slayings by saying, “The news from Newtown deeply saddens me. Once again we stand aghast at a deed that cannot be comprehended. The thought of the murdered pupils and teachers makes my heart grow heavy. My deepest sympathy goes out to the relatives. I wish them strength and consolation and hope that they will not be alone in their pain.” [Spiegel International]

India – In every road corner, market places, on the mountains, in the rivers, besides the public toilets, in the thickly populated busties of our country there is a temple. whereas in America in every road corner, in big market complex, and even in the multiplex, there is a gun shop. This is the actual difference between them and us. Their children die in a shootout and our children die in disease. So, prosperity is not the last word. The last word is mental peace. [Times of India, Commenter named Pallab Dey]

Ireland – It’s not unusual for people in the US – regular ordinary responsible law-abiding Joes and Janes – to own several firearms. They have the right to own a gun for self-defense in the home, to hunt game or if they just like to shoot on the target range. Any laws that are introduced to prevent people from legally buying guns simply make it harder for law-abiding people to defend themselves from criminals and psychopaths who will use fair means or foul to tool up and attack people. The US is already awash with weapons and nobody is going to be dumb enough to try and disarm the American people and leave them at the mercy of criminals. If someone in the school or some member of the public had a gun permit and was packing some heat this sick puppy might have been stopped before he could claim so many victims. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. [The Irish Independent, Commenter named Unicorn787]

Canada – There are no words that can describe the grief of a lost child. It is our children that are the future of our world, a place where we can all live together, yet so many choose not. Our spiritual beliefs are torn apart by those who’d rather wage war and rage. What is our world coming to when people are allowed to carry weapons of destruction on a whim. Gun control should not be an option, it should be mandatory everywhere. I’m thankful to be a Canadian, but even here, loose cannons exist even with gun control. Where have we lost our sense of humanity, our gift of choice, our essence of co-existence amongst all our peoples? This story not only brings tears to my eyes and sadness within my heart but sickens me to see that such a powerful nation lets their peoples carry guns for the right to protect themselves. Such a farce, one that deepens my loss of respect for a nation as powerful as this. May the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters who have suffered such a tragic loss find peace within. My heart goes out to all.
[CTV News, Commenter named Gary]

Russia – The questions that arise in the wake of the tragedy are what Barack Obama means when he promises to adopt “effective measures” and whether he will be able to do that. In the past 4 years of his presidency, the gun control laws have been softened in many U.S. States. None of the U.S. presidents has ever dared to throw an open challenge to the powerful gun lobby in the USA as well as to the National Rifle Association of America, which is its main agency. The second amendment to the Constitution guarantees U.S. citizen’s individual right to possess and keep firearms. Russia must also draw conclusions from the Newtown massacre, Director of the Strategic Planning Institute (Russia) Alexander Gusev says. “This tragedy must sober all those who defend arms possession. Mankind must learn a lesson from the past because weapons not only guarantee protection but can cause death in people around.” [The Voice of Russia Radio]

China – it’s kinda very normal for Amerikkan to do that…we heard it many times…it became normal to us to know that Amerikkan do such things~ [China Daily, Commenter named youknowhat]