Running in the rain and further comments about shootings!

I went running in the rain this morning. Had I realised it was actually raining before I left, I might never have set out However, I was in my running gear and out of the door before I noticed the rain. Looking out of the window earlier, I had not seen signs of rain but it was that quiet, gentle rain, which possibly explains my not noticing it. So I just put the hood of my running waterproof up and ran. In fact it was probably better than running in the cold, and certainly better than running in the snizzle!

I stopped off to buy milk at the Co-op. Co-op Radio was playing a song called “Why does it always rain on me?”, sung, I am pretty sure, by Rufus Wainwright. If it wasn’t him then it was someone with an equally mournful voice. Sometimes I really like listening to him. At others, he just sounds like a dirge! Today, I thought the song and the voice were very appropriate.

On to other matters. Much has been said and written about gun-ownership over the last couple of days. Examples have given of countries that banned handguns after shooting incidents such as the Florida school shooting and never had another such incident in their country. Here, for example, is a link to a video clip about why Japan has no mass shootings.

Much has also been said about the gun being a part of the American identity. It is interesting that there is a large difference in gun ownership between city dwellers and non-city dwellers. The BBC reporters said that many of the people who live in the big cities do not own guns. Small town dwellers are a different kettle of fish.

But the oddest thing I heard came from a repeat of a BBC radio news report from 2012. At the time of the Sandy Hook school shooting a BBC team investigated how easy it would be for them to purchase an assault rifle. Quite easy as it turned out. The problem was, the apologetic seller told them, that he had no ammunition to sell them. Sold out!

Apparently, in response to President Obama making noises about restricting access to guns, lots of people had been laying in stocks ... so that they could protect themselves ... against the government!!!

Further investigation and interviews led them to the conclusion that many people want to have guns for just that purpose: to protect themselves against the government!

I wonder what we have to protect us from Theresa May!