[Discussion] Mass Shootings - Yeah, we need a thread just for this...

This year is the deadliest year ever in terms of mass shootings. In a political climate of polarization, it becomes harder to suss out legitimate information from the misinformation propagated by those with political agendas. Complicating this more is the continual resistance of 2nd amendment advocates to allow for political talk surrounding these massacres. This will involve political discussion to see if there are ways we can all agree might be good ways to prevent mass shootings.

This discussion should involve the details of any current, or future mass shooting, and how they compare to past mass shootings. How are they the same? How are they different? Do gun laws have an impact? Does the race of the shooter affect how we treat them? What makes one a hate crime and one an act or terrorism? Are these shootings the price of freedom?

Here is MD, the "school resource officer" is a pretty common fixture even in the rich schools.

High schools more commonly seem to have them than elementary or middle schools.
Also security has been a part of schools for the rich worldwide.

Here in the city, my daughter has had metal detectors and armed guards at her school starting in 6th grade, when she started middle school.

I used to work in a middle school in a small city, and we had one armed guard hired by the district plus one police resource officer from the city who was there a few days each week.

My high school had a septuagenarian lady with a stern gaze at the front office.

Jonman wrote:

My high school had a septuagenarian lady with a stern gaze at the front office.

IMAGE(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OGC.64967fe8ea3474a183d87d736cce4852&pid=Api&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fmedia.giphy.com%2fmedia%2fW8GPIDjqsj2MM%2fgiphy.gif&ehk=OJAF%2fB2TFZMfXrDlyecO%2fQ )

Jonman wrote:

My high school had a septuagenarian lady with a stern gaze at the front office.

I am reasonably certain that was a more effective deterrent than an armed guard. <-- not sarcasm.

My high school had Coach Perkins who scared the hell out of all of us. I had him for JV football as well and he made you want to bury yourself in a hole rather than disappoint him.

Three decades later, I ran into him at my weekly run group and he didn't look like he had aged a day. We sat down for coffee and bagels after a 15 mile run and got caught up on what had transpired in the interim. I confessed that I was messed up from all kinds of issues back then and I apologized for giving him a hard time. He laughed and said "I always knew you would turn out great."

Saw this today - was gobsmacked.

2018 has been deadlier for schoolchildren than deployed service members

Not sure if it's paywalled for folks, for which I apoligize, headline pretty much says it all though. Granted, the story goes on to explain that it depends on how you definie military deaths and why that number isn't always reliable, but even stil...

Edit - just realized it's not 2018 anymore so this is over a year old.

It's continued in 2019 from what I heard the other day after the most recent school shootings, plural.

My son's middle school always has three armed police officers at the entrances to the school in the mornings and a while back one of the 8th graders made some kind of "hit list" post on facebook so for the next 3 days they had multiple police cars around the building with a couple of k-9 units always patrolling. At times like that I feel like I'm dropping my 12 year old off at a prison rather than a school. And mind you, this is one of the best schools in the state in a "nice" area.

Freedom-Wielding High Schooler Freedoms Down 16 Classmates In Latest Mass Freedoming.

When talking to a rather conservative brother in law I mentioned that we're not the good guys any more because we torture kids. When he asked me to clarify his son mentioned family separation at the border and I replied "Or maybe I meant toddlers needing to do active shooter drills? Take your pick."

Ad Firm Cuts Ties With NRA, Says ‘Chaos Led Us to Lose Faith’ After 38 Years

Bloomberg wrote:

The National Rifle Association’s longtime advertising and public relations firm ended its relationship with the group amid a legal battle that has cast a harsh light on spending and governance at the gun-rights lobby.

The firm, Ackerman McQueen Inc., said Wednesday that it would cease working with the NRA after 38 years because “the NRA’s chaos led us to lose faith” in the group.

The breakup comes after the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen in April, claiming it refused to provide details of its employment contract with Oliver North, who also served as the unpaid NRA president. North had previously raised questions about spending by the NRA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, Wayne LaPierre. North was then ousted during the NRA’s annual meeting. The ad agency has denied withholding information about North’s contract and counter-sued.

This is the culmination of several rounds of lawsuits. Last month the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen for withholding billing information and breaching their contract. Last week they filed another lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen, accusing the marketing firm of “fomenting” an “executive coup," and demanding $40 million in damages. Earlier this week, Ackerman McQueen countersued the NRA for $100 million.

This also throws the future of NRATV, the NRA's online video channel, into doubt because it was created and run by Ackerman McQueen and the leading personalities on that channel were Ackerman McQueen, not NRA, employees.

It seems kinda crazy that just a few years ago the NRA seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut and now it's basically falling apart over internal politics.

It sucks that it’s not about any important ethics but I’ll take it.

OG_slinger wrote:

It seems kinda crazy that just a few years ago the NRA seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut and now it's basically falling apart over internal politics.

Thanks, Vlad!

So sad.

The guy was using silencer or suppressor to muffle the sound of the gun. Well at least that is what CNN reported. I don't recall what the justifications were for making those legal.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

I don't recall what the justifications were for making those legal.

The NRA tried to justify suppressors by saying they protected the hearing of people who used firearms, especially children.

Of course they never recommended the easiest way for people to avoid damaging their hearing: not shooting firearms.

A silencer is a big deal for a .45 like the shooter used. Those guns are extremely loud and would have warned many of the future victims if not for the silencer.

For some reason, I find this broken record response particularly disingenuous-sounding and rage-inducing. From acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney:

“We have too many of these shootings, and every time, the first thing we talk about is politics,” Mulvaney answered. “The mourning ... period hasn’t even stopped yet, let alone the healing process. So let’s not get too deep into politics too soon.”
gewy wrote:

For some reason, I find this broken record response particularly disingenuous-sounding and rage-inducing. From acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney:

“We have too many of these shootings, and every time, the first thing we talk about is politics,” Mulvaney answered. “The mourning ... period hasn’t even stopped yet, let alone the healing process. So let’s not get too deep into politics too soon.”

So can we look back to a shooting from 2 years ago and start talking about the politics around those?

kazar wrote:

So can we look back to a shooting from 2 years ago and start talking about the politics around those?

No, it’s a constantly moving line, each new incident pushes back the line of appropriate time for everyone. We aren’t allowed to make it political until at least one full week without a mass shooting occurs.

Hey, man. We're not gonna last 5 hours with those things out there!

/hudson #aliensquoteforeveryoccasion

Just watched a episode of Bo Jack Horseman that dealt with mass shootings and for minute found that ironic. However, then I thought about it and didn't find it ironic at all since no matter when I watched the episode there probably would be a mass shooting within a few weeks of it.

I know it's luck that no one else was hurt, but that photo is hilariously scary.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

I know it's luck that no one else was hurt, but that photo is hilariously scary.

It wasn't luck. It was alert, armed security. From the video you can see that he didn't even make it into the building.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

I know it's luck that no one else was hurt, but that photo is hilariously scary.

For some reason, the shooter stopped to pick up a magazine he dropped. It sounds like it delayed him long enough for the photographer to get that picture and the security and US marshals to start shooting.

Things that stand out; for being an infantry guy, his sh*t is all f*cked up.

His sling is stupid long and his boot laces aren't tucked in. Very easy to get caught on things or trip over.

His magazine pouches are all on one side, which is fine if you train for it but I can imagine reaching that back magazine was a natural movement.

I am not sure what brand his body armor system is but it sure doesn't look like it is fitted correctly. Finally, glasses like that fog up very easily with a balaclava or mask.

I wonder if he impulsively decided to do this.

Reaper81 wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

I know it's luck that no one else was hurt, but that photo is hilariously scary.

For some reason, the shooter stopped to pick up a magazine he dropped. It sounds like it delayed him long enough for the photographer to get that picture and the security and US marshals to start shooting.

Things that stand out; for being an infantry guy, his sh*t is all f*cked up.

His sling is stupid long and his boot laces aren't tucked in. Very easy to get caught on things or trip over.

His magazine pouches are all on one side, which is fine if you train for it but I can imagine reaching that back magazine was a natural movement.

I am not sure what brand his body armor system is but it sure doesn't look like it is fitted correctly. Finally, glasses like that fog up very easily with a balaclava or mask.

I wonder if he impulsively decided to do this.

Kind of implies he wasn't military, but a military fetishist? I haven't seen any information on who this guy actually was.