[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?

I just ordered this on Richard Fierro (the good guy without a gun)'s brewery site.

Diversity T-Shirt

Prederick wrote:

Y'know, the king of thing Elon's bud's at the Babylon Bee, LibsOfTikTok, Matt Walsh and this piece of garbage have been whipping people into a frenzy about:

Liquid human sh*t.

They know what they're doing.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/us/ch...

Didn't have to wait a month for the next one.

It's the 40th mass shooting* this year so we're really on pace for one every 10 days or so.

* Defined as at least four people killed, not including the shooter.

According to CNN, there have been over 600.

From the article:

Tuesday’s shooting happened as the US has recorded more than 600 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive and CNN tally a mass shooting as one involving at least four killed or injured, not including the shooter.

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/r...

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot or killed, not including the shooter. It includes wounded people in its count.

The four or more people killed definition is from the FBI, though it technically only refers to mass killings in general and not shootings specifically.

Or, to put it another way, even though the problem is endemic our prime national law enforcement agency doesn't have an official definition of what is a mass shooting which makes it incredibly difficult to talk about the issue in ways that don't confuse people.

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

farley3k wrote:

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

Nahh.. kids died.. if we didnt do sh*t when kids got shot up nothing will ever get done.

N=1, but in my area a couple years ago a pastor shot and killed an active shooter in a Wal Mart parking lot and it didn't faze the gun crew at all.

Why a pastor is walking around with a weapon is...something.

TheGameguru wrote:

Nahh.. kids died.. if we didnt do sh*t when kids got shot up nothing will ever get done.

Apparently, kids only need protecting until they're born, and after that they're on their own.

Top_Shelf wrote:

N=1, but in my area a couple years ago a pastor shot and killed an active shooter in a Wal Mart parking lot and it didn't faze the gun crew at all.

It probably emboldened them because good guy with a gun something something something.

farley3k wrote:

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

Short answer: No.
Long Answer: Not now, not ever.

Mixolyde wrote:
farley3k wrote:

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

Short answer: No.
Long Answer: Not now, not ever.

But it would help them justify shooting an innocent black dude.

Mixolyde wrote:
farley3k wrote:

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

Short answer: No.
Long Answer: Not now, not ever.

So we will never have gun reform. Ok lets take that as accurate. What is the most logical course of action? It would seem that arming myself and carrying at all times is a logical response.
Perhaps setting up and going to stores that have barricades and search each customer as they go in?
If that seems unfeasible then perhaps armoring my home, arming myself and only ordering things - never leaving the house.
Or just accept it as unstoppable and go about my daily life hoping it isn't my "turn" yet?

farley3k wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:
farley3k wrote:

This is a bit heartless but will a mass killing at a Walmart shake people up a bit more? It is kind of easy to brush off a shooting at a LGBTQ night club because "I am not LGBTQ so I am safe" , or a school "tragic but I don't have kids" Etc.

But shopping at Walmart is something a huge majority of people do.

Short answer: No.
Long Answer: Not now, not ever.

So we will never have gun reform. Ok lets take that as accurate. What is the most logical course of action? It would seem that arming myself and carrying at all times is a logical response.
Perhaps setting up and going to stores that have barricades and search each customer as they go in?
If that seems unfeasible then perhaps armoring my home, arming myself and only ordering things - never leaving the house.
Or just accept it as unstoppable and go about my daily life hoping it isn't my "turn" yet?

I do the last one.

Unsurprisingly, the bio dad of the Colorado shooter is an absolute piece of sh*t. When interviewed by a local news station he recounted how his first concern when he found out his son had shot up an LGBTQ+ nightclub was "Oh my god! Is he gay!" and was immensely relieved to find out he wasn't because, according to him, "I'm a Mormon, a conservative Republican, and we don't do gay. We don't do gay."

He then recounted how he promoted violence as an effective solution when the shooter was a child, saying "I praised him for violent behavior really early. I told him it works, it's instant, and you'll get immediate results. And you'll always get what you want if you're good a fighting." He then continued with an anti-gay rant.

Mind you the dude was clearly high as f*ck during the interview, you know, as all Mormons and conservative Republicans typically are.

So did he just open himself up to a civil lawsuit for grooming a murderer?

Nevin73 wrote:

So did he just open himself up to a civil lawsuit for grooming a murderer?

Hopefully. The dude is a piece of sh*t.

farley3k wrote:

Or just accept it as unstoppable and go about my daily life hoping it isn't my "turn" yet?

This plus get a passport and try to leave this sh*thole.

Mixolyde wrote:
farley3k wrote:

Or just accept it as unstoppable and go about my daily life hoping it isn't my "turn" yet?

This plus get a passport and try to leave this sh*thole.

The passport is easy. Earning a living on the other hand...

The Walmart shooter bought the gun the morning of the shooting.

Can't have things like basic safety and wellness checks get in the way of people getting their bang-bangs right the f*ck now.

They make take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.

Homer Simpson wrote:

Two week wait? But I’m mad now!

Top_Shelf wrote:

They make take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.

William Wallace wrote:

All men die... so, yeah.

Top_Shelf wrote:

They make take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.

The Right-wing's goal is to take both.

Mixolyde wrote:
Top_Shelf wrote:

They make take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.

The Right-wing's goal is to take both.

No my parents told me the left wants to take our freedom. They can’t be wrong they are old.

When "only in America does this happen" meets "only in America does this happen":

Mass shooting victims grapple with mounting hospital bills

CNN wrote:

So far in 2022, there have been at least 623 mass shootings nationwide, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Though there’s no national database tracking the financial aftermath of mass shootings and it’s hard to estimate the total cost that can follow survivors for decades, one study published in the JAMA Network Open in May 2022 found that the average of initial hospital charges for patients injured during a mass shooting between 2012 and 2019 was more than $64,900 per person.

But those who survive the carnage are faced with not just hospital bills but the lifelong costs of an altered lifestyle: many are unable to return to work because of disabilities and may need follow-up surgeries, rehabilitation for months or years, mental health treatment and home care.

It’s a costly recovery that no one can ever prepare for – but one that is becoming a reality for a growing number of Americans as mass shootings pervade everyday life.

I research mass shootings, but I never believed one would happen in my own condo in Vaughan

‘We are in absolute shock’: Family of Vaughan condo gunman says he was ‘controlling and abusive’ husband, father

Again, how insane have things gotten that my genuine response to this news was "Well, it was only five people."

Like, not only have we memory-holed a mass shooting that killed SIXTY PEOPLE five years ago, it's not even notable enough to make the main page of the Wikipedia entry for Las Vegas!

My company’s annual product rollout conference was at the grand on that day. Folks I worked with were locked in while it was happening. A few of them were at the concert. Several of our customers were victims.

The very next year, I attended the conference and had dinner at the top floor restaurant that sits adjacent to the death room.

Memory hole or no, I’ll never forget that day

U.S. appeals court strikes down ban on bump stocks

A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a Trump administration rule banning bump stocks, which are devices that allow people to rapidly fire multiple rounds from semi-automatic guns.

In a 13-3 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said that despite "tremendous" public pressure to impose a ban, it was up to the U.S. Congress rather than the president to take action.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod also said for the majority that federal gun control laws did not unambiguously prohibit the devices, or give "fair warning that possession of a non-mechanical bump stock is a crime."

McHenry County sheriff calls ‘assault weapons’ ban unconstitutional, says his office will not enforce it

Sometimes I fantasize about anyone coming out in favor of the 4th and 5th amendments.