Here we go again…
As an outsider it seems absolutely weird that the US as a country seems to have accepted people getting shot by other regular people daily as normal.
Oprah Winfrey once said, everybody gets a gun, you get a gun, you get a gun, we all get a gun.
😔
Actual regular people haven’t accepted it as normal. Fascists in our country continue to hamstring any efforts to fix the situation because they want the rest of us to keep being reminded that the fascists can and will murder us at will. Standard issue stochastic terrorism.
What else is there to do but accept it? It isn’t like our politicians have the will to do anything about it. Peaceful protest falls on deaf ears. The gun crazies would gladly die in a blaze of glory rather than be disarmed. The country is awash in guns and ammunition. So please do tell, oh wise outsider, what the hell a normal person is supposed to do about it?
Peaceful protests? There are less peaceful protests for gun control than shootings. Maybe start there.
But I agree the US seems beyond screwed in that regard. NRA is too powerful, the two party system is stuck on the far right and society is divided into extremist views by propaganda and social media.
So maybe leave the country? That’s what I’d do I think.
There are fewer protests these days because people are catching on that they don’t accomplish dick. As to leaving, people have families. Not just their immediate family but think aunts, uncles, cousins. It’s not trivial to leave all that behind and move somewhere where you know no one and have no support structure, and maybe you don’t even speak the language. And to even consider it, you’ve got to have the time and money to expend on moving, and your destination country has to agree to let you in. It’s not a simple undertaking.
It’s not simple at all, I absolutely agree. And leaving family behind sucks. On the other hand I know several people who left Europe and moved to Australia and Canada for example. It can work even though it won’t be easy for everyone involved. But if the alternative is having my kids get shot at school I’d still try. Plus all the social security that’s missing in the US would probably make other countries more attractive to me too.
That’s fair. I’d probably be a lot more motivated to leave if I had kids to think about.
You shouldn’t be surprised. It’s caused by the same bad actors who are responsible for most of the ways in which the US is an outlier vs its so-called peer democracies.
The guys was committed for two weeks and had threatened to shoot up a national guard base. They had the information to act on and take away his guns and they didn’t because they didn’t need to. This is even more fucked because it was probably avoidable.
There are no red flag laws in Maine. There was no legal way to take his guns even if they thought that was necessary. Also, the christofacist supreme court is set to strike down laws that prevent people convicted domestic violence from owning guns, which will chip away at the legality of red flag laws everywhere. Happy Thursday everyone!
If he was a reservist, I’m pretty sure his commander could’ve ordered him to surrender his weapons.
And the bar under the UCMJ to do deal with a suicidal/homicidal troop is way lower than what it is for a civilian.
He was a weapons instructor
So?
Almost all mass shootings were avoidable if that government really cared about solving this problem
They do care, just not as much as they care about those sweet NRA and Colt checks 😩
Fuck Reagan. He created this shithole of a situation and ruined this country. I’m happy he died of Alzheimers and simply pray he was terrified and miserable in the last moments of his life.
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Reagan wrote the second amendment?
On the off chance this question was asked in earnest:
The typical deflection from the US right is that the real problem is that we need to put more effort into addressing mental health. (and IMO there is some truth to that)
However, Reagan ® dismantled funding for our mental health infrastructure and was responsible for the closing of many mental health treatment centers, and Republicans since then have (to my knowledge) voted against every effort to resurrect it.
They won’t support restrictions on gun ownership because they say the problem is mental health, but they won’t support spending on mental health either. (Most likely because they seem to oppose anything that would actually help people who suffer.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1980
https://sociology.org/content/vol003.004/thomas.html
This last one is a ddg search - you can just pick which article you want to read about Republicans voting against mental health funding.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=republicans+vote+against+mental+health+funding
The Second Amendment is possibly one of the most frequently and wilfully misinterpreted pieces of writing in the history of humanity. Right next to the bible.
Every iteration of gun control, with few exceptions, carves out exceptions for LEOs and Military. If you want this to stop a good start would be making these guys have to follow the laws the rest of us do, because if you campaign for more of the same from your lawmakers, I guarantee there will still be exceptions for the people who protect the rich.
I’m not aware of any federal exemptions to gun laws for military/ex-military citizens.
The only ones I’ve seen relate to state gun law in e.g. AZ, where if military/ex-military want a conceal carry permit, the training requirement is waived. You still have to submit an application with fingerprints and everything to DPS. (Which is kinda moot anyway, since AZ citizens who can federally own a firearm can also open/conceal carry.)
Illinois recent AWB has carveouts for police.
https://dd214direct.com/veteran-need-guncc-permit/ has some additional details, but largely agrees with you; some states also lower the age requirement for veterans.
Louisiana recently passed a law allowing vets to concealed carry without a license https://www.audacy.com/wwl/news/local/concealed-carry-law-could-be-model-for-other-states , but this definitely seems like the exception and not the rule
Imagine if the cops had to make do with muzzle loaders like in Disco Elysium.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout
Then you end up with the criminals, 12 cops, and 8 civilians dead.
None of them were using muzzle loaders. The death toll and injury count would have been drastically lower if it took roughly 30 seconds to a minute to reload the guns per shot.
It wasn’t the cops that shot civilians, take 30 seconds to skim the page.
Excerpt from the US version of the Prayer of the Lord: “… and give us today our daily
breadmass shooting …”My Aunt and Uncle live there. I heard the news at around 11pm. Called her up to make sure they were ok. They are scared in there home with doors locked.
Yeah I mean its Maine , its not that common those things happened over there. Thanks god your family is okay!
But “facts don’t care about your feelings” or something like that…
Hmmm, so all of those “well regulated militia means the national guard, the only people who should have guns are the cops and the national guard because they’re the only ones responsible enough” people are going to finally admit that cops and weekend warriors aren’t actually all that special and the training they recieve doesn’t make them good people it only makes them more effective should they decide to be bad people?
People who say that actually want a complete and total ban on guns, but acknowledge the constitution says what it says and amendments are literally impossible in today’s political climate.
Also, one could argue a “well regulated” militia wouldn’t send guns home with its members. It could be kept at a central facility.
I know they do, I was actually specifically calling that out, as they always say “nuh uh” when you point out that they do in fact want a total ban on self defense.
One could argue anything, doesn’t make them actually correct. “The militia” is defined “as all able bodied males age 17-45,” not as “the national guard, which is a military branch not a militia.” As such, this argument says to me that “all able bodied males age 17-45” should be able to own guns and nobody else, no women, nobody in a wheelchair or with anything that would disqualify one medically from service like colorblindness, etc. Of course, that is ridiculous, but that’s why I prefer the “actually knows english” approach to that particular argument.
It’s still not necessary to qualify it that way. “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” stands on its own with the preceding sentence explaining Why.
Regardless of semantics, the Supreme Court has confirmed individual rights to bear arms in triplicate and that matter is settled.
Nothing is settled with this supreme court.
OK well go tell them about that and see what they have to say about it.
We really need to get them to review Harlow V Fitzgerald, and present them with the full text of section 1983 with the 16 missing words, as the 1871 Congress passed that law.
Wtf. I just googled that. How has that been allowed to continue foe a hund and fifty fucking years?? Jesus H. Christ.
I don’t know much about that, but if that would get rid of qualified immunity for police then I concur.
Agree 100%.
That’s an interesting idea. Maybe in situations like this, the governor should activate the militia to hunt this guy down. Allow the community to protect itself instead of relying only on the cops. Lots of things could go wrong, but still, it could show the intent of the 2a.
That’s like, horror movie levels of scary.
In a sense this is already in effect to the degree that is…necessary, or maybe the word I should use is “appropriate.” If anyone who is carrying arms runs into this guy, knows what he looks like and gets a positive ID, and knows what he’s done, while it isn’t 100% legal to draw on him unless he’s presenting an active threat (i.e he has a gun out), no DA in the country would charge you with brandishing. Then from there you say freeze, he reaches for his gun, shit happens.
The problem with deputizing the entire county for a manhunt though is giving people real authority can have some ill effects, and is pretty much guaranteeing mob justice to become a norm again. I’d say we’re at the happy medium of “nobody will question you if you do find him, but I’m not going to imbue you with the authority of the state per se.”
Maybe you should differ between those people in active service and ex-soldiers with PTSD and mental issues that makes them hear voices…
Maybe they should differ. I think that anyone who hasn’t proven themselves a danger to others should be able to own one, even people with PTSD which shouldn’t be stigmatized simply because some people with it do violent things. Most people with PTSD do not.
Unfortunately a fact that few are willing to recognize is that if you have been homeless in the US for more than 4 weeks there is a very high (like high 90s percent) chance that you have PTSD. It’s not just the military, though us vets certainly have it as well. I’ll also wager that anyone that has spent any amount of time in our jails also has PTSD. The point I’m making is that despite the common person thinking that PTSD is just exclusive to the military, it is in fact, not.
I haven’t actually looked into it, but I would wager that globally we have better than 6 billion people walking around with some form of PTSD.
That and survivors of rape, assault (sexual or otherwise,) b&e, the list of potential causes is a mile long. I’d wager your wager is not at all unreasonable.
I have seen no indication that he had left the service, every report I have seen thus far has indicated that he was an active member of the US Army reserve serving as Sergeant First Class assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiments in Saco, Maine.
Why? No one, zero people, who join the military or the police, do so without the intention of using force over others. These aren’t good people, I’m not going to concern myself with what category of shitty to put them under.
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Yes. Do you think that Nazis who weren’t soldiers were good?
Yes… Because Germany held a conscription and many Nazi soldiers weren’t Nazi idealists… but rather in the military by force with threat against family. My Great Uncle died on a train transporting Jews because he was advocating for them. A Nazi officer killed him.
You’re not talking about “Nazis” here… You’re talking about ALL SOLDIERS and equating them ALL to Nazis.
So you can fuck right off.
All the same in my eyes.
Exactly the mentality that the Nazis themselves had. You’re no better.
I sometimes think of visiting USA as tourist, but get reminded by these weekly news flashes that I might never return home if I did. Probably not a good idea to visit this third world shithole with a Gucci belt.
I think that depends where you go. I live in BC but go to Washington all the time and it feels pretty much just as safe.
It was in the news in the UK a few years ago that a doctor visited the US to see some of his family that lived there, and while he was asleep in bed a stray bullet hit him and he died. Obviously I’m sure these things are unlikely but it’s still kind of scary. That and I find the idea of walking around and having deranged psychos all around me potentially having a gun and them being able to pull it out and end my life at any moment kind of… unpleasant.
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Okay I guess. I personally like just being able to live my life without almost getting shot every couple of hours. I have a friend who basically sounds exactly like you and lives in Texas, he also told me that he hears gunshots around him like multiple times a day. Forgive me but that doesn’t sound particularly appealing.
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Eh, it’s safer now than it was 30 years ago, your odds of actually running into anyone with a gun are extremely low.
I love how people are mad that you’re right. The only technicality I’d add is that concealed carry is a thing, so you likely walk past people carrying without knowing it, but that’s the whole point of concealed carry in the first place.
Mass shooting events like this are a social problem that ends up being very complex when you start to actually try and figure out why they happen and how to prevent them. There is no short answer, but Angry White Men by Michael Kimmel is a good place to start.
I… think I am good. I will travel to any other country on earth where these risks practically do not exist. As an Indian, I know how bad it can get for me in specific white countries, considering some of the Indian refugees from Ukraine got beat up and injured on Poland border last year.
This timeline is a bad one. We need father time to make the old in power fade away so we can attempt to fix what the worst generation has broken.
I feel like there is a limitless supply of the people you are waiting to fade away.
We just need to help those people fade a little faster then.
said every young generation since the dawn of civilization
This community if half the posts weren’t political soapboxing:
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This motherfucker is slowly making his way toward my home and children. Last sighting is 35 min away or so.
I don’t have a gun and I regret that choice right now. I wouldn’t wish this feeling of helplessness and terror on anyone.
This is always a mental health issue at its core.
Humor me and pick up a copy of Susan Faludis book “stiffed”
This is the 90s all over again. Fuck.
Where was this?
Lewiston Maine. The (formerly) safest state in the union.
Dudes Twitter likes were Trump Jr, tucker Carlson and all kinds of other MAGAt fodder. Also one of two retweets mentioned mass murder.
This is some obvious pro gun propaganda.
Honestly I can’t imagine these are a real person’s thoughts.
You don’t need a gun. Just call the police. They’ll take care of you.
🤣
You think the police will come and take care of you because you feel scared when there’s an active shooter on the loose?
Ridiculous.
Oh, I don’t. I’ll protect myself. Where I live the police are about fifteen minutes away. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Where I live the police are about fifteen minutes away.
I live in a densely populated area… They’re still 15 minutes away.
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The United States of America is the best/easiest place in the world to own guns. It’s the only place you can get a gun at a convenience store. In fact, in most states, a background check isn’t required unless you’re buying from a federally licensed firearm dealer.
The above is a copypaste, but it gets the point across perfectly. It’s vey easy to get a gun in the USA, unlike in many other countries.
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If Americans weren’t buying them, they wouldn’t be coming here.
The same concept applies for illegal immigrants, too. If republicans weren’t hiring them, they wouldn’t be crossing the border.
I may or may not know where to get illegal firearms, but would’ve done something very drastic ages ago already if I could simply go get a gun within 3 days legally.
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No because I can’t get a gun in a grocery store within 3 days.
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Only because the friends that would get me to an illegal one know my mental health well enough to not give it to me. No grocery store background check would find any of that.
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Why argue and say stupid things when there are statistics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate?wprov=sfla1
Looks like gun violence isn’t in fact happening everywhere.
