Another fucking spree shooting. Great.

also ROFL

Rubio scores an own goal when he says the assault weapons ban "would literally ban every semi-automatic rifle that's sold in America" and the crowd erupts in cheers pic.twitter.com/VfIqxCloyo

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 22, 2018

fair enough!

the danger of the "we can't tackle gun legislation bc we are afraid we'll end up banning all guns" argument is that ppl might decide that's a good thing

"we need guns"

"why?"

"to protect ourselves from tyrannical government..."

"well you guys ARE the government now"

"ok but also law enforcement that abuses power...."

"so you agree that the cop that shot Michael Brown..."

"NO, the officer was justified, he was a thug!"

i love these Parkland survivors. taking the fight to them all head on.

"to protect ourselves from tyrannical government..."

I always find this argument a little charming in its hubris, like people are genuinely convinced they will be able to take on the armed forces of the United States with their handguns. Legalize nukes plz.

the folks who claim to be the most rebellious seem to be the quickest to defend the rank and file these days

I saw one on some social media the other day talking about how easy it would be because there are only however many tens of thousands of active duty troops vs 100 million gun owners and had to laugh. you keep believing that, Cletus.

That’s not an own goal, it’s an image that millions upon millions of law-abiding gun-owners will see and rightly react against. Those are cheers for the revocation of a civil liberty that’s essential to our constitutional republic. https://t.co/8uErGRDCd6

— David French (@DavidAFrench) February 22, 2018

Loesch also says that she “speaks for the NRA” when she says she supports “stronger background checks.” Quoting from the NRA website: “NRA opposes expanding firearm background check systems.” pic.twitter.com/8pZ6tgCP7U

— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) February 22, 2018

the civil liberty of being able to shoot a bazillion rounds in 3 seconds, this thing that our forefathers obviously intended

daaaaaaamn, Sheriff Israel

This CNN thing is intense.

AP history teacher: "Define a term for me: what is your definition of a well-regulated militia as stated in the second amendment? USING SUPPORTING DETAIL, explain to me how an 18 year old with a military rifle is well regulated. And the world is going to grade your answer." pic.twitter.com/TvTzQS3ob2

— Talia Bracha Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) February 22, 2018

Oh look. https://t.co/PrGTE4bPWg

— Hillary Warned Us (@HillaryWarnedUs) February 22, 2018

she sounded on the verge of getting booed off when she went back to red flags again.

It's extremely nourishing and cool to see Marco Rubio getting wrecked by local teens and parents but also shout out to Florida Democrats for nominating the Moderate Yacht Dipshits that he easily defeats every six years.

— David Roth (@david_j_roth) February 22, 2018

kids making me cry my guts out

the thing about kids who are bullied of course is that generally they're pissed at their tormentors and the tormentors friends, but as w/all these shooters they will kill everyone who comes across their path. they shoot babies and toddlers point blank, if they're unfortunate enough to be in the same place at the same time. that's where i just don't understand it at all. i just don't get it. they want to kill everyone. it goes beyond fantasizing about revenge and into complete blankness and just dropping every single living thing.

― omar little, Tuesday, February 20, 2018 1:14 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the people who tend to do this are mentally ill

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/politics/fact-check-parkland-gun-violence-mental-illness.html

I want the AP government teacher(s) at Stoneman Douglas HS to get some recognition. Apples, flowers, grants, PhD admissions....

this is a very confused article, and I would be happy to go into its deficiencies, but it is a bit of an academic point and maybe this is not the correct forum for that discussion. suffice it to say that the people who decide to indiscriminately kill multiple human beings are not, generally, those who are fully capable of making rational decisions. I would hope that this is common sense.

xp

yes. and the solution is obviously to find all the people who make poorly considered and emotionally reckless decisions which might hurt others, and stop them before they know what hit them.

the solution is to restrict the supply of guns, period

I just bristle when these sorts of discussions inevitably, even in left-leaning circles, focus on what is essentially personal responsibility, as if this clearly unwell child should have somehow known better. the issue isn’t good guys and bad guys (as conservatives like to pretend they believe) — it’s that any dumbassoff the street can buy a fuckin AR-15

The most succinct response to the 'we just need to keep guns out of the hands of crazy people!' argument is that the mental health infrastructure in the US is just as much of an ineffectual shitshow as gun control. Also, I feel like legislation preventing the mentally ill from possessing firearms would disproportionately impact NRA leadership and membership.

the mentally ill are far far faaaar more likely to hurt themselves than others. also - every country has mentally ill people. every country has violent video games. every country has angry men. every country has depressed disaffected young people. every country does not have access to guns. i don't think i even saw a gun in real life until i went to america.

"Well actually, a gun merely being discharged in a school is not a 'shooting'." Thanks for clarifying that.

Also also, what's even the standard for what constitutes 'mental illness' in this context? We've gotta be down to a single-digit percentage of US citizens at this point who don't at least suffer from depression or anxiety.

suffice it to say that the people who decide to indiscriminately kill multiple human beings are not, generally, those who are fully capable of making rational decisions. I would hope that this is common sense.

meanwhile the president is considering a nuclear strike on north korea iirc

indeed. there's such a vast stigma against any sort of mental illness that it allows pro-gun people to put 'Mentally ill' people in a nice convenient box completely disconnected from *cough* "normal automatic weapon owners"

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) says most mass shooters are Democrats

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/politics/claudia-tenney-mass-shooter-democrats/index.html

yeah that's the fucked up thing. where do you draw the line? wouldn't loesch's batshit monologues in those nra psas count as an indication of her being "mentally ill"? paranoia, violence...

No one who's passionate about their right to own and actively wield murder machines could possibly be unstable, come on.

Can we all just agree to start calling them 'murder machines' btw? Or similar? Let's stop pussyfooting.

indeed. there's such a vast stigma against any sort of mental illness that it allows pro-gun people to put 'Mentally ill' people in a nice convenient box completely disconnected from *cough* "normal automatic weapon owners"

this. exactly. almost any attempt to make this about anything other than the widespread accessibility of guns *first and foremost*, at the end of the day, serves the NRA's interests. as if they give a fuckin hoot about helping the mentally ill (or victims of toxic masculinity or...)

*cough* "normal automatic weapon owners"

normal SEMI-automatic weapon owners. A distinction without a difference, but I like to cede this point to the NRA because it makes them look even more batshit.

What's insane to me is that owning a semi-automatic assault rifle and several high capacity magazines is apparently not a red flag in and of itself.

Let's not call them shootings, let's call them post-natal abortions.

I know this is the absolute minimum but I kind of give props for Rubio for doing that last night, knowing that he was likely to get slaughtered like that, since most Republicans are just avoiding their constituents at all costs these days

he's so weak he couldn't extricate himself from the immediate political situation is all

Dana Loesch at @CPAC: "Many in legacy media love mass shootings," says NRA spox, saying "crying white mothers are ratings gold"

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) February 22, 2018

i suspect that's probably true in some sense but the 'legacy media' aren't the ones out there spending millions in lobbying to keep mass shootings happening

i really like the "personal responsibility" angle mentioned upthread because it's a language that the nutty libertarian contingent understands

i.e. who is capable of taking personal responsibility for an assault weapon or a handgun? how do we make that decision? what are some models for dangerous equipment?

i.e. it shouldn't be on schools, or on foster families, it should be on the individual. how can we ensure that individual is capable of taking responsibility?

by arming every other individual so that potential bad actors are persuaded to stay in line, obv

https://i.imgur.com/Hzsdx0C.jpg

In my opinion the main reason these shootings occur is the media coverage and instant fame they bring (Dear hero imprisoned...)

Is it too much to hope that, at some point, someone will shoot Wayne LaPierre in the face?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/22/nra-wayne-lapierre-gun-control-cpac-speech-2018

How are we supposed to neutralize the terrifying threat of a seven-year-old nibbling his Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun if we don't grant that child's teacher the ability to neutralize said threat with extreme prejudice. How.