America’s needless obsession with firearms

With year-end tributes, preparations for 2015 and the sad news from the Java Sea that the wreckage of the missing AirAsia plane had been found with the loss of all 162 on board, you may have missed another more tragic news story from the US.

In Idaho, as a 29-year-old mother shopped in WalMart, her toddler managed to reach into her handbag and pull the trigger on a handgun. The mother died from the gun shot — a sad and tragic event that is hard for most to fathom.

One can only imagine the guilt the young boy will face in future years, but for now at least, the blessing is that he is too young to understand the consequences of his actions. Instead, he is longing for mummy to come home.

The sad reality, though, is that so many die so needlessly in the US as a direct result of America’s obsession with firearms. There, across many states, handguns are almost like mobile phones — an essential part of the personal wardrobe, just as wallets and watches are. In the Idaho case, the mother had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, presumably for her personal safety. In southern states, it is legal to carry firearms openly.

Until such a time as Americans realise that weapons are deadly, that tragic accidents happen, and that they have too many firearms in too many homes, events such as the Idaho shooting will continue to occur. How senseless is that!