The world is reeling following two tragic events on separate continents, both of which are being attributed to the work of young men. Both men are in their 20’s, using firearms in a manner that has appalled millions of people across the earth. In their own way both events were entirely predictable and avoidable, yet both are destined to be repeated although in the case of one of the young men, he will not be around to see his successors take his lead and probably exceed his own headlines.

In Seoul North Korea Kim Jong Un (28 or 29) was able to shock the world with his bloodless launching of a missile into the Sea. This event was the culmination of a great deal of planning by 1000’s of people who we will never know about.  

In Sandy Hook, Connecticut Adam Lanza (20) dressed up in military attire and loaded up his backpack with three guns that he was able to steal from his first victim, the women who had given him life. After shooting her in the face, Adam travelled to the local Junior school where he proceeded to kill a further 26 people, most of whom were children before turning one of the guns on himself. This event was probably the culmination of a great deal of planning by Adam. It will in time almost certainly  inspire others who are just as disturbed as he was.

The irony is that some of the people who are most outraged by the work of the leader of Korea that did not lead to any deaths, will probably as members of the NRA act as the greatest obstacle to limiting the control of hand guns in their own nation, despite the body count in 2011 being 10,728 lives, many of which have been sacrificed on an obsession with a ‘freedom’ to bear such weapons.

Personally I would more than happy to see the destruction of all long-range missiles across the world if it helped to reduce the pressure on leaders such as Kim Jong Un and the ruling elite in Iran to develop their own arsenal. I would also like to see gun control in the USA on similar lines to the controls that operate here in the UK (we saw only 8 deaths in the same period). If we can openly debate the use of weapons in Korea and call on its leadership not to repeat their expensive proof of national virility, surely we can put pressure on the American Government to act to stop bloodshed in their many suburbs as its residents claim a right that is so obviously a wrong to so many of us!