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So we are just getting the horrific details about another school shooting, this one in an elementary school in Ulvade, Texas.
So far, 14 elementary students and 1 teacher are confirmed dead, but the suggestion is that count may increase.
The shooter, an 18 yr old high school student that attended Ulvade High School is also dead, apparently shot by law enforcement.
First, just to shut some people up, THIS is why we have police.
But the main question is WHY?. What could have possibly brought this about? And to lay another possible argument to rest: the availability or nonavailability of guns had nothing to do with this. The pistol/rifle did not shoot these people. They are inanimate chunks of metal, they are incapable of firing themselves.
No, this was a 18yr old that pulled the trigger and killed those 15 people, and may well have wounded or killed others. Word coming out now has it that he may have also shot and killed his grandmother. Nothing further has been released at this time.
WHY? It's times like this the make me doubt the existence of ANY diety of any shape or belief. If you try to tell me that any diety, any all-knowing, all-loving being allowed this to happen, then all just say that he/she is a nasty, cold-hearted liar and sadist, and I'm not going to spend a penny's worth of time worshipping it. You seem to have gotten the Donald Trump of gods.
WHY?
Comments
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/// nevermind
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU
They are inanimate chunks of metal,
They are machines designed to kill. They make killers much more effective than they would be without them. Used properly for hunting or law enforcement they are good tools. When we allow them to be abused by young people and or mentally ill people they multiply the harm done exponentially. We require less training and screening to buy a killing machine than we do to get a driver's license. We don't let minors or mentally challenged people run manufacturing machinery but the NRA says we have to let them have a gun. In my state you can get a concealed carry license after taking a one day/$100 class that no one fails. The same state requires a written test and a probationary period to get a fork lift operators license. I doubt ten people a year are killed by fork lifts. I'm a life-long hunter and gun owner and I say we have to get serious about gun control.
You're wrong
Your argument would be stronger if your facts were correct. The NRA does NOT advocate for the mentally ill (your word was "challenged" whatever that means) to be able to buy guns. And, at least in California, it is far easier to get a driver's license than it is to buy a gun. There is no background check or waiting period to get a driver's license. You can get a full driver's license at 18, but have to be 21 to buy a handgun.
According to news reports, the shooter in Uvalde, Texas, had previously made threats and was cleared as not dangerous after a psychological evaluation. Clearly that evaluation was incorrect. I rarely agree with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott about anything, but here I agree that it is a mental health issue. I just wish those Republicans who oppose gun control would support more spending on mental health services.
Too Close
I won't go into details, but I have too many connections with too many school shootings. Going back to high school when I had friends at Columbine. Today one of my childhood friends kids go to school at that elementary school. Thank God they are okay! Tonight 19 families are grieving children who should not be gone.
I am all for having the ability to go hunting. I am against people having the right to have a handgun on them with no training (new law in Texas).
The much bigger thing that appears in this case is it looks like the weapon(s) in question were AR15 assault rifles. Seriously, what real purpose does having that many rounds have? If you're hunting - learn to shoot, the animal is going to be gone by the time you shoot that many rounds and miss. There is no legitimate use for such a weapon. You can claim that people kill, not guns, but the truth is you have to have a license to drive a car for a reason. The same should be true for guns.
This suspect was 18. In Texas he was legally able to own any firearm he wanted and carry without a permit. I'll agree that guns are not the only problem here, but to say they're not the problem at all is shortsighted.
I am so over seeing school shootings left and right. My heart aches every damn time one of these happens!
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Why is it okay to keep having mass shootings? Note that while these happen elsewhere, the US is by far the worst offender in the 'Industrialized nations.'
Not an assault rifle
In spite of the news media and politicians frequently misusing the language, the AR15 is not an assault rifle. From Wikipedia "An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine." While the AR15 uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine, it does not feature selective fire. The military version, the M16, does feature selective fire, is an assault rifle, and is regulated under the National Firearms Act. No one, even in Texas, can legally purchase an M16 (or any other assault rifle) without a permit from the Federal government.
Removed from front page
It's not that this isn't an important topic, or that I disagree with anyone's expressed viewpoint but discussing it here serves no effective purpose. There are tons of other places where expressing opinions on this subject could really matter, like letter to congress.
This is a site for reading, writing and discussing TG fiction. It would be better to spend the efforts to change the world somewhere that it might actually have that effect.
My heart hurts with the wounding of us all.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
People kill people, not guns
I'd be interested to read the past history of the shooter. What was his home life? Was he mentally ill. Was he being treated?
I used to have a BIG gun. I never shot a soul.
Gwen
Some wingnut congressman in AZ claimed the shooter was trans
Or more specifically a "leftist transsexul illegal alien"
https://news.yahoo.com/rep-paul-gosar-spreads-lie-074356886....
This claim was based on no evidence whatsoever,
he just pulled it out of his ass...
I wonder what else he's got up there.
~hugs, Veronica
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU
sarcastic
That particular tweet was a sarcastic reply to another tweet that suggested that the killer was a right wing conservative. So far I don't believe there is any evidence of his motive or his politics. I really don't care who he supported or if he was apolitical. Even those I disagree with the most do not advocate slaughtering children.
Sarcasm meets idiocy
With a bunch that says such stupid shit it's hard to tell if they're joking or not. I often give them the benefit of the doubt---thinking nobody could actually believe something as absurd as that!---only to find out they're deadly serious. And the Congressman might have been facetious but there's all too many willing to take any baseless claim at face value, and to disbelieve any mainstream "fake news" trying to correct their misconceptions. This "the killer was a tranny" story is spreading like wildfire among the Tinfoil hat/QAnon crowd and has even been echoed by elected officials and Fox News commentators:
https://news.yahoo.com/trans-womans-photo-used-spread-200849...
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU
I thank god they make you
I thank god they make you jump through hoops to own a firearm in the UK. It still happens though. but rarely.
Last year a gunman has killed five people, including a three-year-old child, in Plymouth, in Britain’s worst mass shooting in more than a decade.
The way it s reported here it seems anyone can go out and buy an assault rifle in the US. Surely that isn't the case?
Leeanna
It Depends
Each State has its own laws regarding what firearms one may purchase based on age, criminal history, history of violence, etc. Some States like California are very strict while others like Arizona are very lenient. Regardless though, anyone who wants to buy a firearm anywhere in the US has to pass a NICS FBI Background Check showing that they have no felony convictions or other impediments that prevent firearm purchase.
"Assault Rifle" is a media buzzword to make a weapon sound scarier. What they are is a Semiautomatic Rifle... which is an actual weapon classification. That simply means a rifle that reloads itself after each shot. Other markers of an "assault rifle" are weapon accessory rails, magazine capacity, and ridiculously enough, its color. (which has no effect on its use outside of nighttime) The same can be said of any number of weapons. I own a blued Remington 870 12-guage shotgun with a recoil suppressor and a Picatinny accessory rail and extended tube magazine... so by some people's line of thinking it's an "assault rifle". (which is ridiculous since it's a pump-action shotgun and not even rifled)
It's estimated that there are around 20 million "assault rifles" owned by US citizens. The number used in the commission of a crime, any crime, including mass shootings, are around 300 per year. That means that 0.0015% of US-owned "assault rifles" are used criminally. Why is it that we need to punish 99.9985% of lawful owners by taking away their rights? Gun ownership in the US is a constitutional right that can only be taken away by due process of law... i.e. by an individual being convicted of a felony in a court of law. If the public sentiment were strong enough to change that, amendments to the Constitution would be proposed to eliminate this right... but nobody ever has. Instead they try to get around this by proposing legislation that infringes on a right that the Constitution says, "shall not be infringed."
I carry a revolver. I carry it everywhere I go... openly and in plain sight. My father, a retired Marine, taught me how to shoot and encouraged me to carry. Why? Because he didn't want to see his baby girl raped or worse. There are people in this world that are evil and hate people like us and would like nothing more than to do us serious harm... just for being ourselves. I couldn't hope to defend myself from any man who wanted to hurt me. I lack the body strength and my arthritis makes it impossible to change that. My revolver makes me the physical equal of a 200 pound rapist.
As much or worse damage is done by knives, clubs, and fists than is done by rifles... by over a 6-to-1 ratio. Less than 3% of all murders in the US are committed with any kind of rifle, while blades, baseball bats, and physical assault are responsible for nearly 18% of all murders. The biggest threat is actually from handguns, with almost 46% of murders committed with that choice of weapon... which pales next to the rate of people killed on the highways each year.
Should we outlaw cars? They kill 3.5x as many people as firearms do. Just looking at preventable accidents, deaths caused by drunk driving, almost 28x as many people are killed each year by drunk drivers than by rifles. If saving lives is the goal, we can do more by stopping drunk driving... but we've always been lenient when it comes to people committing murder on the highway. No one I know has ever been affected by gun violence, but I've lost 2 family members to vehicular deaths... and that's not an uncommon statistic.
Just some thoughts to consider.
Hugs,
Roberta
Source data:
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-...
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/813060