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I have not seen the video and I don't have any real desire to, but I tend to agree with Nick on this one. There are things that cannot be described with words and can only be truly understood by bearing witness to or experiencing them. Not all people can handle such a gut check, but it is sometimes an irreplaceable tool for confirming one's own humanity and morals.
Being this as it is, I do not support wholesale censorship of most things, nor do I support the video being removed from public view. If someone doesn't want to watch it, I believe the onus is on them as an individual to not watch it. I believe you end up with a weaker individual if you shelter them too much from the world (just like all the freshmen I've seen in the college towns I've lived in who get taken advantage of or end up partying their way out of school because they were too sheltered at home with mommy and daddy).
And as far as NZ's newly announced "military-style" weapons ban is concerned, I don't agree with it at all. I know there are cultural and political differences between NZ and the US, but in our case I believe it's ridiculous to think any of the other protections afforded to us in our bill of rights can stand for long without the 2nd enumerated and protected right. Don't get me wrong, a peaceful world where we'd never have to resort to violent force to defend ourselves (from any manner of threats) would be ideal, but human nature certainly makes that seem unlikely to ever be the case. This might be coming from my own slightly jaded outlook, but there are truly wicked people in this world and I don't think that will ever change. Taking away the legal right to an efficient defense of one's own life or the lives of others seems pretty backwards in the wake of events like this (and yes, I do think an armed and reasonably well trained civilian could have at least prevented so many people from being killed in Christchurch).
In summary, I suppose you could say I'm not the type to defer my responsibilities to a ruling or governing body who thinks they know what's best for me (or you)...
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