Oh that the worst mass-killing problem in the U.S. were stabbings instead of shootings. Can we please trade universes please?
11 Likes
There are still bullets, you just have to fling them at people underhand.
8 Likes
7 Likes
This happened at the number one US retailer of fire arms. Regardless if anyone was carrying there was a small arsenal (at least) of easily accessible fire arms and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition in the back of that store. Many of them functionally identical to what was used in the attack.
That’s an order of magnitude above “good guy with a gun”. Outside of a military base or survivalist bunker you’re unlikely to run into a location with the amount of fire arms that were likely in that store.
More over the primary bar to access to mental health care is the expense and lack of access to healthcare in general, the large number of uninsured Americans and the lack of inclusion of comprehensive mental health coverage in most private health plans and shit like medicare/caid and subsidized Obama care plans.
If you want “better mental health care” for any reason the pathway on that is single payer with comprehensive mental health coverage.
Which is the cause of most gun deaths in this country, by a vast amount. Unfortunately that’s not what these people mean by mental health. Because acknowledging and dealing with that leads inexorably to restrictions on access/ease of purchase, safe storage requirements, more comprehensive and universal background checks, bans on “quick access” locks and safes, and pathways to seizing firearms from at risk individuals. Among other things.
As does acknowledging that the vast majority of criminal shootings in the US take place within households with a history of domestic violence. Not from roving bands of “urban thugs” and immigrants looking to destroy White America.
Mental health has a limited ability to prevent even the classic spree shooter. Cause shit like sociopathy isn’t exactly treatable or easy to detect. And its got precisely zero association with political attacks and terror modalities.
But better mental healthcare alone is considered unlikely to impact fire arm suicides. Because the biggest proportion of those are associated with intoxication (especially alcohol) and “moment of crisis” actions by people who are otherwise mentally healthy. These are mostly people experiencing routine periods of clinical depression, or with substance abuse problems. And the precise dynamic with fire arms suicides makes this pretty hard to predict, since the first major warning sign is often a previous suicide attempt, and attempts with fire arms are almost always successful on the first go. So while a better mental health environment might bring down the total suicide rate. It’s considered unlikely to shift the proportion of fire arms suicides in either suicides overall or gun deaths and injuries.
Seems to me “mental health” is as much an attempt to coopt that element of the pro restriction discussion. To give the impression of action. As it’s an attempt to dodge or hide the increasing presence of right wing ideological motives as a driver in these mass shootings.
6 Likes
And on it goes…
12 Likes
16 Likes
Hell, the US government has probably done more to combat harm from Buckyballs than firearms, and Buckyballs never even killed anyone.
11 Likes
Right? Not to mention…clackers!
17 Likes
I remember those! Damn, i am old…
14 Likes
It really is…something!
“Those things could put your eye out!”
“Yeah, let’s ban em!”
“Guns KILL people. LOTS of them!”
“Why do you hate my freedoms?!”
18 Likes
I dont know if it can be found online, but there is a panel discussion on Nicole Wallace’s show right now that should be required viewing. Eddie Glaude jr had a very emotional rant that pretty well summed up how this shit got where it is.
9 Likes
Way too brief summary: it is easy to blame all of this on Trump, but he is just a manifestation. This is on us, and if we want to change it, we need to change us.
Worth watching, I thought it was very moving.
10 Likes
But it sure is useful if you’re trying to find a way to pin gun violence on “the other” even when the vast majority of mass shooters look like your peers.
13 Likes
Good on Bedoya! And Audi Field is close enough to the Mall that it’s likely one could hear his statement from the steps of Congress. Unfortunately, it was a weekend game. Still, the symbolism of shouting it within hearing range of both Congress and the White House is important.
5 Likes
12 Likes
Uh…
https://taskandpurpose.com/el-paso-shooting-glendon-oakley
A 22-year-old Army automated logistics specialist assigned to the 504th Composite Supply Company, 142nd Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas, Oakley had been shopping at a sporting goods store inside the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso when a young child burst into the store shouting about an active shooter at the nearby Walmart. …
The threat was very real. At least 20 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a gunman opened fire at the Walmart, sending terrified bystanders fleeing through the neighboring mall.
When Oakley exited the store minutes later and headed to the neighboring Footlocker, he finally heard the sound of gunfire echoing across the mall. He immediately pulled the Glock 9mm he occasionally carries under Texas’s concealed carry laws. While he had just returned from an incident-free deployment to Kuwait, this was not his first firefight.
“That’s what you do,” he told Task & Purpose. “You pull your gun, you find cover, and you figure out what to do next.”
I hear you.
I hear the logic of your argument.
But in Texas, that’s just not something people who concealed-carry do.
[The Sutherland Springs shooter] was then confronted by and traded fire with Stephen Willeford, a local resident and former NRA firearms instructor[13] who was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Willeford had taken cover behind a truck across the street from the church and shot [The Sutherland Springs shooter] twice, once in the leg and in the upper left torso under his tactical gear.[14][15][16] Kelley, who had dropped his rifle upon the initial fire with Willeford, fired back with a handgun before fleeing in his Ford Explorer. Willeford fired one more round as [The Sutherland Springs shooter] sped north on FM 539.[17][18]
2 Likes
Of course they can sue. Anybody can sue.
“The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.”
— L. Ron Hubbard, A MANUAL ON THE DISSEMINATION OF MATERIAL, 1955
4 Likes
5 Likes
