Yet another US shooting

[Shotgun]

I was in the Post Office yesterday, here in rural Colorado. Two customers in the queue were discussing the Nashville shooting.

They were both in agreement that these tragedies weren’t going to stop as long as the damned libs keep taking away our 2nd Amendment rights. If there had been a good guy with a gun the shooter wouldn’t have stood a chance but liberals would rather see kids dead than allow teachers to be armed. 

Those are sentiments I’ve heard many times and it just makes me despair. . 

[SweeperDee]

1 hour ago, Shotgun said:

I was in the Post Office yesterday, here in rural Colorado. Two customers in the queue were discussing the Nashville shooting.

They were both in agreement that these tragedies weren’t going to stop as long as the damned libs keep taking away our 2nd Amendment rights. If there had been a good guy with a gun the shooter wouldn’t have stood a chance but liberals would rather see kids dead than allow teachers to be armed. 

Those are sentiments I’ve heard many times and it just makes me despair. . 

I’m seeing constant mental gymnastics about how they should be arming teachers/school security/janitors with AR’s to combat it. They don’t know how to respond when asking “what if one of the armed teachers has a really bad day?”

[TxRover]

5 hours ago, carpetmonster said:

44% of Americans households now have a gun, but those households own about 7 or 8 on average. So, much like everything else, a bit over half of folk are normal and then the other lot are a shower of c***s. Correlates almost exactly to the Tory vote at the last General Election (43.8%), interestingly enough. 

Not are generally correct, but a wee bit misleading. Total guns in circulation are 365 millions, more than enough to give everyone in the U.S. one.

Best numbers:

30% of adults own a gun.

Of gun owners; 32% own one, 37% own 2-4, 29% own 5 or more.

Republican; 41% own a gun, and another 15% are in a household where someone else owns a gun.

Democratic; 16% own a gun, and another 9% are in a household where someone else owns a gun.

Independent; 36% own a gun, and another 12% are in a household where some else owns a gun.

Men own guns at nearly twice the rate of women…rural households at twice the rate of urban…72% of Americans have fired a gun.

[Boo Khaki]

4 hours ago, SweeperDee said:

I’m seeing constant mental gymnastics about how they should be arming teachers/school security/janitors with AR’s to combat it. They don’t know how to respond when asking “what if one of the armed teachers has a really bad day?”

The logical endpoint of their argument, is that when you hand teachers assault rifles to combat school shooters, the school shooters will start turning up with even more deadly gear, so eventually you have Mrs Perkins the elementary school teacher in her Apache gunship v's the latest angry incel type in his privately owned and maintained M60 tank.

[Boo Khaki]

8 hours ago, BillyAnchor said:

The American right led by the loathsome Marjorie Green are trying their best to spin this into a, guns don't kill trans people kill.

Makes a change from 'mental illness'.

People all over the world experience episodes of poor mental health, yet there is only one country that is going through an epidemic of school shootings. That country is notorious for having next to no free/affordable mental health care provision right enough, but it's clear as day that it isn't 'mental illness' that is killing schoolchildren otherwise every single country on the planet would be experiencing the same phenomenon.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Boo Khaki

[TxRover]

53 minutes ago, Boo Khaki said:

Makes a change from 'mental illness'.

People all over the world experience episodes of poor mental health, yet there is only one country that is going through an epidemic of school shootings. That country is notorious for having next to no free/affordable mental health care provision right enough, but it's clear as day that it isn't 'mental illness' that is killing schoolchildren otherwise every single country on the planet would be experiencing the same phenomenon.

Wrong, to the Reich Wing anything other than one man and one woman IS mental illness, and needs outlawed. Of course, the number of them done for affairs, kiddie porn, sexual crimes or being outed makes it all a bit interesting.

[TxRover]

On 27/03/2023 at 13:53, Mackie The Staggie said:

What chance do they have of ever getting this under control, when these are the leaders.  America does know that this shit is not normal, right?

According to CBS congressional reporter Ellis Kim on Tuesday, Ogles was asked if he regrets posting the photo. 

“Why would I regret a photograph with my family exercising my rights to bear arms?” he reportedly replied.

[TxRover]

And another Tenn Congressman:
 

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) managed to shock even the most jaded social media users on Monday with his candid remark on school shootings.

“We’re not going to fix it,” he told reporters just hours after a shooter wielding two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville.

Burchett, who voted against a bill expanding background checks on gun salesin 2021, called Monday’s shooting “a horrible, horrible situation,” but insisted nothing could be done to prevent future tragedies because, “criminals are gonna be criminals.”

He added that his philosophy was influenced by his father, who told him, “Buddy, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.”

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

He added that his philosophy was influenced by his father, who told him, “Buddy, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.”

Not letting your would-be killer have a gun would be a good start.

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

11 hours ago, Fullerene said:

If you were to photoshop this picture replacing the guns with machetes or knives or knuckle dusters or maces, the police would be calling round to take them all away.  Bizarre that guns are not seen in the same way.

Guns for show, knives for a pro.

[Boo Khaki]

"Shit happens ", "Meh, f**k them kids", and "My kids are fine, Yours are fucked", is something else coming from an elected official in the aftermath of a school shooting, but this is 'Murica, so I suspect there will be as many absolute roasters agreeing with him as there will be normal human beings completely appalled.

[Jacksgranda]

9 hours ago, TxRover said:

Not are generally correct, but a wee bit misleading. Total guns in circulation are 365 millions, more than enough to give everyone in the U.S. one.

Best numbers:

30% of adults own a gun.

Of gun owners; 32% own one, 37% own 2-4, 29% own 5 or more.

Republican; 41% own a gun, and another 15% are in a household where someone else owns a gun.

Democratic; 16% own a gun, and another 9% are in a household where someone else owns a gun.

Independent; 36% own a gun, and another 12% are in a household where some else owns a gun.

Men own guns at nearly twice the rate of women…rural households at twice the rate of urban…72% of Americans have fired a gun.

That's about 22,000,000 people.

That can't be right, surely?

Edited March 29, 2023 by Jacksgranda

[TxRover]

4 hours ago, Jacksgranda said:

That's about 22,000,000 people.

That can't be right, surely?

Well, U.S. population is about 330 million…30% is 99 million, 29% of that is about 29 million…with 5 guns each, that’s “only” 145 millions guns of an estimated* 365 million in circulation. Note estimated*, it could be higher or lower. So that leaves 220 million…take away 32 million for the solo gun owners plus at least 74 million for the two plus owners, and you still have 114 million guns…so, yes, that’s correct.

As a note, I used to work with a group of people, of whom easily 50% owned at least a shotgun, a hunting rifle, a .22, an AR of some sort and a couple of pistols…or five or more guns. The most common viewpoint seemed to be; short barrel shotgun for home defence, shotgun for hunting, scoped rifle for hunting, an AR for fun shooting and for if things go bad, a small pistol for concealed carry, a small lower caliber pistol for the old lady to carry in the purse, a full sized pistol for additional home defence and open carry, plus a revolver because because. That’s eight to start with.

[TxRover]

11 hours ago, Boo Khaki said:

The logical endpoint of their argument, is that when you hand teachers assault rifles to combat school shooters, the school shooters will start turning up with even more deadly gear, so eventually you have Mrs Perkins the elementary school teacher in her Apache gunship v's the latest angry incel type in his privately owned and maintained M60 tank.

No, it’s close public schools and provide vouchers so you can chose the fortified private school (means the opposite here) of you choice, or I expect the vouchers will be expanded to support paying for home schooling curriculum and materials. Public schools will be left to wither and die with only the poor sending their kids…segregation reestablished.

Edited March 29, 2023 by TxRover

[Lofarl]

 

[TxRover]

A fun link with over 100 in school gun incidents, including more than a few mishandling by Resource Officers (Cops assigned to the school) and teachers/administrators allowed to carry…plus various stupid tricks over the last five years, but now almost a year old, so there’s bound to be more. Reading it is a rabbit hole of despair and disgust:

https://giffords.org/lawcenter/report/every-incident-of-mishandled-guns-in-schools/

[Guest]

On 28/03/2023 at 16:57, FreedomFarter said:

Because it was marketed to them by the plutocrats who run their society. Already wealthy men saw an opportunity to become even wealthier, to open a new market. Selling guns to random fuckers. Sell them in Wallmart. Tell Americans they need guns. Americans will oblige because they're a thoroughly obedient people, even forced as children to recite a pledge of allegiance/obedience. Implant in their their mind a mythical notion of "freedom" then use that association to sell them all the crap you can. Guns = freedom. Even though guns have the sole purpose of enacting violence and violence is the ultimate tyranny.

As Fullerene pointed out above, this philosophical argument using their constitution is a (relatively) recent development. From the 1950s, weapons companies began lobbying to get rid of the laws standing between them and profit. One trick they used was to reimagine the meaning of the second ammendment.

Better explained in the above clip. Americans have very little democratic control over their society. Then many are so brainwashed they go on to waste what tiny democratic opportunities they are given, responding with aggressive support for the status quo.

Edited March 30, 2023 by FreedomFarter

[Guest]

On 29/03/2023 at 16:18, Lofarl said:

 

What John Stewart does here is noble and great. He should keep doing it and is rightly lauded for it. However, while not in any way diminishing the excellent work he is already doing, folk like him need to go deeper in their analysis.

Destroying the philosophical arguments of US conservatives is great but those philosophical arguments are mere window dressing to conservatives, which is why they don't care when pulled up on it, like the one in Stewart's clip there. US conservative politicians know that the philosophical arguments for their policies are a pile of shit used just for selling the policy to their idiot electorate. Specifically on guns, that's the nonsense about constitutions, self-defence and so on.

Why conservative politicians really push these policies is because they're paid to. Financial elites pay the politicians to be their representatives in government. The NRA is wrongly perceived as the lobbying group for individual gun owners. It's not. The NRA is the lobbying group for the gun industry - manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail gun dealers. Stewart needs to press this point but it's a common US liberal failing to not question economic arrangements.

[TxRover]

9 hours ago, FreedomFarter said:

What John Stewart does here is noble and great. He should keep doing it and is rightly lauded for it. However, while not in any way diminishing the excellent work he is already doing, folk like him need to go deeper in their analysis.

Destroying the philosophical arguments of US conservatives is great but those philosophical arguments are mere window dressing to conservatives, which is why they don't care when pulled up on it, like the one in Stewart's clip there. US conservative politicians know that the philosophical arguments for their policies are a pile of shit used just for selling the policy to their idiot electorate. Specifically on guns, that's the nonsense about constitutions, self-defence and so on.

Why conservative politicians really push these policies is because they're paid to. Financial elites pay the politicians to be their representatives in government. The NRA is wrongly perceived as the lobbying group for individual gun owners. It's not. The NRA is the lobbying group for the gun industry - manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail gun dealers. Stewart needs to press this point but it's a common US liberal failing to not question economic arrangements.

I understand the argument, but I think you overestimate the intelligence of the U.S. electorate as  a whole. You can tell a wall that a fact is true, but the wall won’t respond. The Republican Party is now the party of the poorly educated masses, people who won’t believe anything you tell them unless it’s Laura Ingraham or such telling them what to think. Jon Stewart has a chance because he’s white and looks like a lot of them, but then he talks funny and uses big words. 70%+ of Fox News viewers have at most some college education, and 40% are high school graduate or less. Critical thinking is not a skill possessed of these demographic groups, and a vast majority of these people believe that businesses are out to help them, not hurt them.

[printer]

On 01/04/2023 at 17:31, TxRover said:

I understand the argument, but I think you overestimate the intelligence of the U.S. electorate as  a whole. You can tell a wall that a fact is true, but the wall won’t respond. The Republican Party is now the party of the poorly educated masses, people who won’t believe anything you tell them unless it’s Laura Ingraham or such telling them what to think. Jon Stewart has a chance because he’s white and looks like a lot of them, but then he talks funny and uses big words. 70%+ of Fox News viewers have at most some college education, and 40% are high school graduate or less. Critical thinking is not a skill possessed of these demographic groups, and a vast majority of these people believe that businesses are out to help them, not hurt them.

Easily done tbf.