The 'Americans Getting Shot' Thread

[Norton]

Associating mental illness and related medication with gun violence is too much of an over simplification. It is nothing more than a convenient way to account for the tragedies that have occurred.

Of course it is but the die hard gun advocates like Drump and his ilk will use it as a red herring to quiet any discussion of gun control. Add violent movies and computer games to the list of culprits. Never mind the only difference between countries with strict gun control and virtually no mass shootings also have same stuff.

When it comes to gun control, logic is thrown out the door by our fine political leaders.

Clearly the right to buy an assault rifle trumps "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". None of which those dead kids will ever experience.

[Norton]

Predictably 45 blames FBI for the shooting cuz they are spending too much time investigating Russians. More bullshit logic to avoid using the evil "gun control" phrase.

[harrybarracuda]

No doubt the NRA will have some private dicks looking for a hatchet job on this young lady.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. ― Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez refuted President Donald Trump’s suggestion that her community didn’t take action to prevent a shooter from killing 17 at the school in a fiery Saturday speech. Politicians who take money from the NRA should feel ashamed, Gonzalez said, ending her address with “we call BS.”

“There’s one tweet that I would like to call attention to,” Gonzalez said at a rally at Ft. Lauderdale Federal Courthouse before reading the president’s Feb. 15 Twitter post that stressed people should’ve reported “bad and erratic behavior” to authorities.

“We did. Time and time again. Since [the accused shooter] was in middle school,” she replied. The accused gunman, Nikolas Cruz, 19, had been reported previously to the FBI.

“Those talking about how we should have not ostracized him, you didn’t know this kid! OK?” she shouted. “We did. We know that they are claiming that there are mental health issues, and I am not a psychologist, but we need to pay attention to the fact that this is not just a mental health issue.”

“He wouldn’t have harmed that many students with a knife,” Gonzalez added.

More than 1,000 community members gathered at the courthouse to speak about the importance of gun control. Speakers included students and teachers from Marjory Stonemason Douglas. The rally was sponsored by groups including Moms Demand Action, the Broward Teachers Union, and the League of Women Voters.

Gonzalez also criticized the family that Cruz had been living with before the shooting. With both parents dead, Cruz moved in with the family of a classmate, who knew about his fascination with guns. She then called out Trump’s February 2017 decision to repeal a gun law that blocked the sale of firearms to people with certain mental illnesses.

“If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy, and how it should never have happened, and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association,” Gonzalez said, sparking cheers and applause.

“To every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!” she added. A chant started up among those gathered: “Shame on you!”

Conservative politicians who have taken money from gun rights groups drew criticism in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting. The NRA spent $30.3 million supporting Trump’s campaign in the 2016 election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

“Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this: We call BS!” Gonzalez said.

Shooting Survivor To Trump: Shame Lawmakers Who Take NRA Money, Not Florida Community

[AntRobertson]

Associating mental illness and related medication with gun violence is too much of an over simplification. It is nothing more than a convenient way to account for the tragedies that have occurred.

The most dangerous part of this is that it will lead to even more fear of loners and the mentally disturbed, ostracising them from society, when in many cases the opposite may benefit them more.

Apart from the fact that mentally ill patients account for less than 5%of the crimes in the USA, several of the mass killing shooters were not diagnosed as mentally ill until after their crime.

To reduce these types of mass killings to negligible levels the only action that can be taken is to reduce the number of guns in circulation. That is not an easy task and has to be carried out in a controlled manner, phasing out certain classes of gun immediately. Banning concealed carry and guns in public places would be next on the list with further limitations added, based on the reduction achieved.

It's just a massive red herring: 'Oh let's talk about how it's the fault of mental illness / education / video games / whatever blah blah blah...'



Meanwhile, people can still go and buy an arsenal of military style weapons and ammunition.

[Thailandbound]

^Yes... but.. the whole society is in decay which makes for troubled individuals.. so having easy access to guns makes the issues double magnified.

[harrybarracuda]

^Yes... but.. the whole society is in decay which makes for troubled individuals.. so having easy access to guns makes the issues double magnified.

Pretty well every society has troubled individuals. It's just that the US is unique in that they are allowed to go out and by an AR15 and ammo and take it out on everyone else.

THAT is the issue. The rest is NRA-sponsored bullshit.

[uncle junior]

Something new...people getting fed up with being shot at.....


Florida students turn to activism in wake of shooting

Thousands gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday to mourn the victims of a deadly school shooting and demand action from politicians amid a renewed debate over the nation's gun laws.
The rally was the culmination of three days of grief and anger that followed the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, roughly 25 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, which left 17 people dead and 14 others injured.

But amid speeches from elected officials and school administrators, it was students — the survivors of the shooting — who led calls to restrict access to firearms.

The aftermath of mass shootings in America have become familiar. Democrats call for gun control, hashtags in solidarity with survivors trend on social media and many call for thoughts and prayers.
But following this week's shooting in Parkland, the students who survived are not content with thoughts and prayers.

"The people in the government who are voted into power are lying to us. And us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and our parents to call 'B.S.,' " Emma Gonzalez, a student at the school, said. "We are prepared to call 'B.S.

Florida students turn to activism in wake of shooting | TheHill

[Norton]

But following this week's shooting in Parkland, the students who survived are not content with thoughts and prayers.

Good for them. Always the young have the good sense to bring change. Get enough of them protesting and they have been known to stop wars.

[raycarey]

if the absurd gun laws in the US were going to change, it would have happened after twenty, 6 year olds were slaughtered at sandy hook elementary school.

it didn't happen.

[Troy]

^ Well, it won't happen until it happens. There's been plenty of triggers (pun intended), one of them will change things for the better.

[harrybarracuda]

Let's see how many kids walk out of school on the 14th March.

They're all potential voters in their formative years, so if they grow up hating the NRA that can only be a good thing.

[cyrille]

There's been plenty of triggers (pun intended)

That could well be worth a cap in the ass.

[uncle junior]

Rush and Fox news have it all worked out.....

Rush: We Need Concealed-Carry in Schools - 'Bashing the NRA Isn't Going to Do It'

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/02/1...oncealed-carry

[AntRobertson]

We Need Concealed-Carry in Schools

AKA. More guns!

Problems with drink driving? More cars and alcohol!

[Grampa]

Rush and Fox news have it all worked out.....

Rush: We Need Concealed-Carry in Schools - 'Bashing the NRA Isn't Going to Do It'

Rush: We Need Concealed-Carry in Schools - 'Bashing the NRA Isn't Going to Do It' | Fox News Insider

I went to your link and read the article.

This CC is recommended by....Rush Limbaugh...the ultimate hypocrite and loud-mouth.

So, concealed carry for the students, I assume?

Have 15, 16, and 17 year-olds conceal carry pistols to school?

IMO, this absurdity is just a deflection of the source of the problem.

[AntRobertson]

I went to your link and read the article.

Did you really though?

Because the article isn't an article.

It's a brief three paragraph precis of a short video interview with Limbaugh, in which the answers to the 'questions' you've posed are apparent in his own words.

[raycarey]

Well, it won't happen until it happens.

i admire your optimism and hope that i'm wrong....but it's not going to happen. if it was going to happen it would have happened after sandy hook.....i'm probably tempting fate, but how could it be worse than that?

after the mass shooting in las vegas everyone was supposedly in agreement that the so-called 'bump stocks' would be outlawed.

it never came up for a vote in congress and they're still legal.





IMO the best we can hope for is that there will be a generational shift in 15 years or so and voters make changes.

btw, from what i've read, no one has ever lost a seat in congress for being anti-gun control....plenty of people have lost for supporting gun control....but not a single one for opposing it.

[Grampa]

IMO the best we can hope for is that there will be a generational shift in 15 years or so and voters make changes.

This will be the only way, IMO.

[Maanaam]

after the mass shooting in las vegas everyone was supposedly in agreement that the so-called 'bump stocks' would be outlawed.

it never came up for a vote in congress and they're still legal.

It never came to a vote.
It says it all; The majority of politicians, on both sides of the House, are more beholden to the dollar than to citizens' lives.
Crazy.

IMO the best we can hope for is that there will be a generational shift in 15 years or so and voters make changes.

The best you can hope for. Yes, hope. But the NRA will be targetting that generation and the politicians of that next generation, so don't hold out too much hope.

[cisco999]

There is already a natural picking order throughout this forum.
And it's not European/Western.

Not European/Brit?

[tomcat]

Not European/Brit?

...no: mostly rusbots stirring up the silt...

[Maanaam]

^ I thought you'd have picked up on "picking order".
Wait....Cyrille!!!

[toslti]

Let's see how many kids walk out of school on the 14th March.

They're all potential voters in their formative years, so if they grow up hating the NRA that can only be a good thing.

It will depend on whether it is pizza day in the canteen or not.

[harrybarracuda]

This is seriously fucked up.

[Hugh Cow]

The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a hydrogen bomb is a good guy with a hydrogen bomb.