Texas school shooting angers one celebrity UK survivor
Wooden crosses are placed at a memorial at Robb Elementary School June 1, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. 19 students and two teachers were killed on May 24 after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside the school.
Our discussion was about the Texas school shooting on May 24 when 19 children and two teachers were killed by a local youth aged 18 equipped with two assault rifles.
I said I had only fired a lethal weapon on one occasion – six rounds from a 303 rifle as a National Service trainee in the Royal Artillery. A friend said he once won a plastic duck with a pellet gun at a fairground. Another said he had never seen a handgun in his life. Everybody else nodded in agreement.
Could not seeing, therefore, not having access to guns, account for the extreme rarity of weapon-related homicides in Britain, and in most other countries in Europe? That the answer must be yes seems so blindingly obvious that its denial by America’s gun-lovers, such as ex-President Donald Trump, leaves most people here dumbfounded.
Dumbfounded and angry. Someone who has good reason to speak on such matters is Britain’s leading tennis player, Andy Murray.
Andy was a nine-year-old pupil at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland in March 1966 when a man loosely connected with the school, Thomas Hamilton, shot dead 16 children and a teacher before killing himself. Murray and his brother Jamie were not hurt but the memory has never gone away.
American massacre
The latest American massacre, in Uvalde, made him angry and “incredibly upset”, he said. “I think there have been 200 mass shootings in America this year and nothing changes,” he told the BBC. “I cannot understand that.”
Dunblane was by far the largest mass shooting among only five in British history and prompted the immediate prohibition of most handguns. Hunters for game birds such as grouse and pheasants may today own sporting rifles and shotguns, subject to licensing. All weapons must be registered with police, who must also approve of the conditions of their home custody.
British police themselves mostly go unarmed except in special circumstances.
Murray referred to the practice in some schools of carrying out drills, when children aged seven or eight run and hide under tables and in cupboards for protection. “How is that normal, that children should have to go through drills in case someone comes into school with a gun?” he asked.
“I don’t get it. You have to do something different and make some changes.”
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Most of Britain is right now enjoying a weekend of jollification to mark Queen’s Elizabeth’s70 years on the throne, but not in one major city – Glasgow. No official events are taking place in Scotland’s biggest city, and the third largest in the UK.
Glasgow City Council said it had received no requests for licences for street parties but all public houses had been given a one-hour extension of drinking times.
Tristan Gray, convenor of Our Republic Scotland, said political institutions such as councils should not be involved in celebrations for the monarchy.
Graham Smith of Republic UK said spending money on an event for the queen when people were struggling to feed themselves was appalling.
However, official events were taking place in other Scottish cities such as Edinburgh and Perth.
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When Steven Gallagher’s hands seized up and doctors suggested a double transplant, Steven thought they were joking.
The 48-year-old roofer suffered from an auto-immune condition, scleroderma, which made his fingers curl into fists and caused him immense pain.
The idea of a human transplant of real flesh and bones astonished him. “I thought this was space age stuff,” he said.
Doctors were frank that the surgery might fail but Steven talked to his wife and decided to go ahead, since his hands were useless anyway.
A donor matching all physical requirements was found and doctors performed the transplants in a 12-hour operation at Leeds Teaching Hospital last year.
Said Steven, “These hands are amazing. From the moment I woke up I could move them. Life is still hard, I can’t do up buttons, but I can turn on taps and fill a glass with water.”
Thanking the family of the donor and the doctors, he said, “I now have a new lease of life.”
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A look at the world of work.
Boss to employee: “Do you believe in life after death?” Employee: “No, there is no proof for it.” Boss: “There is now.” Employee: “How come?” Boss: “You left early yesterday saying you had to go to your grandma’s funeral. Twenty minutes later, your grandma came here looking for you.”
A new employee was being questioned about his company’s safety precautions. He was asked, “What steps would you take in the event of fire?” Employee: “Quick ones.”
Asked if he ever got an award at his work place, the employee said, yes, for multi-tasking. He was able to waste time, be unproductive and procrastinate, all at the same time.
