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Ongoing gun violence/injury thread

I understand the calls for gun control, especially after horrific shootings like Uvalde when emotions are running high. I think it is absurd that it's easier to get a gun than a driver's license so common sense laws like an extensive training requirement and background checks would be welcome.

However, consider the following:

1. More people are killed by stabbing than by shooting.
2. More mass shootings (4 or more people are killed) are carried out with handguns than assault rifles.
3. School shootings are a fairly recent phenomenon.

Given the above, I think most of the legislative proposals are missing the point. When a killer reaches the point where they want to kill innocent children, it's too late.

The question becomes: what is unique about American society that produces this homicidal pathology with increasingly frequency in its young men?

I would propose the following in no particular order: the disintegration of the nuclear family (no male role models), societal atomization, glorification of sex and violence, gun culture, Big Pharma prescribing pills like candy, growing economic inequality and decreasing social/economic mobility resulting in young people feeling hopeless/anger, etc. Gun control does nothing to address these underlying issues.

People will counter that other countries have the same issues, the only difference is easy access to guns. I would counter that school shootings/stabbings and mass shootings happen elsewhere, just to a lesser degree (see: Denmark mall shooting this week, Sweden school stabbing in May, etc.), and that the US is unique amongst developed countries in reporting declining life expectancy due to diseases of despair, opioid/obesity epidemics, etc. I suspect the economic, societal, psychological, and spiritual factors that contribute to the uniquely American rise in deaths of despair overlap with the factors that contribute to American mass shootings.

It's not complicated. There are a massive number of guns in this country. Teenagers can go to store, buy an AR-15 (or a couple), and shoot up a crowd - it's an extremely easy process. The 4th of July and Uvalde shooters did just that.
 
Stabbing deaths per capital per knife per use per minute are higher than gun deaths per bullet purchased (when counting each pellet in a shot gun shell as a separate bullet).


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From the W-SJ…Our view: A deadly 4th of July

Following the Fourth of July holiday, we can now add community parades to the list.

You know: the list of venues in which we have to fear for our lives.

Schools; supermarkets; churches and synagogues; movie theaters; concert arenas; nightclubs; restaurants; parks and malls. All staging platforms for mass shootings.

The latest national tragedy occurred Monday in a well-to-do neighborhood in Highland Park, Ill., during an Independence Day parade. A gunman climbed a ladder in an alley to the rooftop of a business along the parade route. From there, he went on a killing spree that left seven people dead, 30 wounded and hundreds running for their lives. They’ve now had that quintessential American experience of shaking with fear as the sound of gunfire fills the air and blood fills the streets.

“...it was just this sea of panic, and people just falling and falling,” Zoe Pawelczak, a parade spectator, told CNN. “It looked like a battle zone.”

A “person of interest” was taken into police custody a few hours after the shooting. Online sleuths took immediate action in search of identity, ideology, motive — all the talking points that are used to try to peg and minimize the perpetrator and ignore the most pertinent fact: He easily acquired a deadly weapon and used it against innocent people.

As we go to press, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has not yet blamed the tragedy on loose, unguarded ladders. He’s not yet suggested that we need to harden the parade routes, with one entrance and one exit.

Forgive the snark, but as we see gun slaughter after gun slaughter, we’re a little tired of the way some Republican legislators rush to deflect attention from the “tool” used over and over again to kill massed groups of Americans, including children — blaming the tragedy on everything from mental illness (plenty of mentally ill people never hurt anyone) to unlocked doors.

It’s the guns. It’s the guns. It’s the easy access to guns.

And the defensive talking points do nothing but aid the next killer.

“You shouldn’t punish legal gun owners.”

The killers are usually legal gun owners — until suddenly they’re not.

“It’s Hollywood violence and video games.”

Which doesn’t create mass killers in other countries that love Hollywood and video games but have more stringent gun controls.

“It takes a good guy with a gun …”

Police were on the scene in force in Highland Park, just as they were in Uvalde, Texas.

“It’s because people are evil.”

Then make it harder for them to get their hands on guns.

“Pro-life” is an empty slogan when its proponents are not willing to make the tiniest sacrifice to save lives.

The latest senseless slaughter follows a development we hoped — and still hope — might lead to change: A bipartisan bill passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden last month to address gun safety — the most significant such bill to be passed in the last 30 years.

The bill provides $15 billion in new federal funding for mental-health programs and school security upgrades — as well as $750 million in new federal funding over five years to help states implement “red-flag” laws.

That’s something. It’s likely to save lives.

But it’s not enough. It included no ban on semi-automatic weapons; no ban on high-capacity magazines; no minimum 21-year-old age requirement to buy AR-15-style rifles; no universal background checks.

The bill passed the Senate 65 to 33, and while it may seem significant that 15 Republicans voted in its favor, their cooperation is mitigated by the fact that 13 of them are not running for reelection. They don’t have to worry about the NRA promoting a primary opponent; their lame duck status left them free to act from conscience.

Most other Republican legislators still have to worry about opposition from their own party for simply trying to do something.

Flamethrower Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, bolstered by her Freedom Caucus allies, called the 15 “sellouts” for voting for a bill that could boost President Biden’s accomplishments.

Because denying Biden a “win” is more important to them than possibly saving lives.

(Greene, for some sick reason, was also quick on Tuesday to post an altered photograph of the alleged parade shooter holding a Bible, along with some unfounded conspiracy theories.)

As long as politics are more important than people, we’re going to be stuck here, mourning senseless deaths, over and over.

As parents cry and community leaders beg for assistance, legislative solutions will continue to be scarce and weak. No serious effort to stop gun violence will be implemented until there are solid Democratic Party majorities in our legislative bodies to override Republican reluctance.

The date and setting of this latest slaughter should resonate with all reasonable people. If we can’t even celebrate freedom without the fear of being murdered in the streets, then we’re not free.
 
kinda sounds like she misspoke cause of the way she paused and how it didn't make any sense.
 

She seriously starts a sentence "can you *imagine* if you had a disgruntled ex..." and you think she's going one way, but no, her nightmare scenario is having a disgruntled ex who asks a judge to take away your guns.

Anyway, if there is a red flag law in Arizona, they should maybe look into Debbie Lesko. Someone that terrified of *not* being able to shoot their grandchildren probably shouldn't have access to guns.
 
I wear a weighted vest when I go on walks. I guess its called 'rucking". Anyway, you put metal weight plates in the front and back and the vest looks a lot like a bullet proof vest. It is black with a lot of velcro etc. Every time a walk at the local park or trails I feel like people pass me thinking i'm an insurrectionist.

A few weeks ago I was putting on my vest at my trunk and a 20 something skinny dude rolls up in is car behind me and stops and asks " Hey is that a 60 rated vest?" I said no it weighs about 30 pounds. He was confused and our back and forth didn't make any sense so I walked over to his car to try to hear him better. He thought my vest was a bullet proof vest. As I looked in is car I saw a big black bag running from his backseat over his middle console and the baq was unzipped. In it was a few rifles and what looked like an automatic rifle. The barrels were sticking out. In the backseat was several items of tactical gear - vests, goggles, etc. I guess he saw me and thought he might find a new buddy to do who knows what. It was really weird.
 
I'm headed to a funeral in 90 minutes for one of the 7 who died in Highland Park. She was more an acquaintance than a friend but she was very much part of our community. One story that hasn't yet received much media attention is that of an 8 year old boy who was shot who we're hearing is now paralyzed from the waist down. Can you imagine taking your 8 year old to the 4th July parade and him losing his ability to walk for the rest of his life?

Again, I'm not looking for sympathy. I just want to convey that the plague of mass shootings and gun violence is no longer just something I see on TV. It's real and heartbreaking.
 

How fucking stupid is the notion that owning guns mean you are protecting your children or grandchildren?

If you truly want to protect your children or grandchildren, you:

1) vote to outlaw ALL fucking guns,
2) buy an alarm system for your house and maybe a big dog,
3) get your kids vaccinated and vote to require vaccinations,
4) get them off social media or very limited,
5) teach them healthy nutrition and exercise
6) educate them in history/humanities and science

Having guns around to "protect" yourself or someone is an illusion of security sold to them by gun manufacturers and myths about the wild west.
 
How fucking stupid is the notion that owning guns mean you are protecting your children or grandchildren?

If you truly want to protect your children or grandchildren, you:

1) vote to outlaw ALL fucking guns,
2) buy an alarm system for your house and maybe a big dog,
3) get your kids vaccinated and vote to require vaccinations,
4) get them off social media or very limited,
5) teach them healthy nutrition and exercise
6) educate them in history/humanities and science

Having guns around to "protect" yourself or someone is an illusion of security sold to them by gun manufacturers and myths about the wild west.

unless you live in Ukraine. Then you're probably better off with guns.
 
She seriously starts a sentence "can you *imagine* if you had a disgruntled ex..." and you think she's going one way, but no, her nightmare scenario is having a disgruntled ex who asks a judge to take away your guns.

Anyway, if there is a red flag law in Arizona, they should maybe look into Debbie Lesko. Someone that terrified of *not* being able to shoot their grandchildren probably shouldn't have access to guns.


It doesn't do the gun lobby any good for Debbie to remind people that the most likely person to murder her is a former or current boyfriend with a legally purchased gun.
 
Things like this makes me think the Republicans are just fucking with us…

Meh, we all grew up in a society where they picked the smartest 10% of us in high school, put us all in the same advanced classes, and we all went to college and largely became liberals and made some money. This is just the rest not wanting to roll over and die having no impact whatsoever.
 
lol nearly every shithead fascist legislator & judge in this country went to an IVY and has multiple degrees, but enjoy life jacking your dick with that college degree. Elitism is so fucking cringe.
 
lol nearly every shithead fascist legislator & judge in this country went to an IVY and has multiple degrees, but enjoy life jacking your dick with that college degree. Elitism is so fucking cringe.

I don't doubt that some folks in the Ivy crowd ended up being a republican judge, but I don't get point of the rest of your post. 90% of your friends in college are fairly liberal, as are mine. Living in LA, I rarely come across a conservative in real life. But if I check back on my facebook with all the kids who got straight D's in high school, they're conservative across the board, and procreating rapidly.
 
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I don't doubt that some folks in the Ivy crowd ended up being a republican judge, but I don't get point of the rest of your post. 90% of your friends in college are fairly liberal, as are mine. Living in LA, I rarely come across a conservative in real life. But if I check back on my facebook with all the kids who got straight D's in high school, they're conservative across the board, and procreating rapidly.

Sure. And they’re easily manipulated by the 1% who had life handed to them on a platter and went to college for shits, giggles, and credentials.
 
to MDMH I'd say it's a pretty gigantic waste of time and money to go to Wake Forest University and come out of it being anti-elitist. My mom has about $500 bucks in her bank account today and I specifically went to Wake to take advantage of the elitist connections. And literally every single professional opportunity I've had in the 20 years since I've graduated can be directly traced to a handout from either Wake Forest itself, or my connections made from the University. Why didn't you go to Forsyth Community if you wanted to earn it the hard way?
 
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