Yep. Also American individualism is an issue. I've had some disturbing conversations with friends who are gun owners and their friends where they say something to the effect of "It doesn't have anything to do with me if somebody gets shot. That's their responsibility. They should carry a gun like I do if they want to prevent gun violence."
Of course, that ignores the fact that pretty much every law on the books is a mutual shared sacrifice because some people are bad actors. I can't legally drive 90 mph on the highway because we can't trust many drivers to do it safely.
One of the many dumb things about that line of attack is that he's said he's taking a gap year. You don't think he'll get into any college he wants a year from now?
I think they're claiming he's taking a gap year because he didn't get into the schools he wanted to get into. That may be the case. Problem with that is that it's a perfectly acceptable thing for a kid to do and not worth criticizing.
Yeah, I gotta say, taking a year and building experience while improving his application strength doesn't sound dumb to me.
There’s a lot of nuts out there. Plus conservative media are portraying him sympathetically claiming that he was bullied and he wouldn’t have murdered 17 people if his classmates have been nice to him.
Headline from conservative site: Hogg can't get into college
Sailor has been supportive of the need for gun control measures on here, so I don’t want this post to be misconstrued to be about him.
I do find it odd that folks who are so insistent that we can’t infringe on their 2A rights seem so comfortable with the idea of imprisoning folks for their potential to commit crimes. I’m not saying we don’t need to institutionalize folks with these warning signs, it seems like we probably do. However, it seems to me to be a much more complicated and nuanced issue than gun control. It’s strange to me that folks who insist they need their guns to protect against tyranny seem so comfortable with imprisoning people without actual crimes being committed. You don’t think a tyrannical government would recommend insurrectionists be committed?
Listen, he was no doubt bullied by his classmates. That's probably why he tried perversely to strike back by shooting up the school. His natural mother IIRC was a drug addict, who took drugs while she was pregnant with him and then - also IIRC - after he was born sold him. His parents and the authorities failed him repeatedly. This has nothing to do with any sympathy for him. It's the reality of his life and our ineffective institutions. He should have been institutionalized because he was obviously deeply disturbed and never should have been allowed near a gun, much less to own one. The level of failure here right up to the moment of the shooting on all levels and all counts is massive.