Florida High School Shooting

[new espadrille]

Nothing will ever happen because the Republicans are deepthroating LaPierre like their lives depend on it. Insane amounts of Americans get shot and killed each year, and it's just getting worse. Sandy Hook wasn't enough. The Pulse wasn't enough. Las Vegas wasn't enough. It will never be enough.

I strongly believe that the mass shootings will continue to get worse every year and it'll make the Vegas shooting seem like no big thing. 

If there's a Hell, there's a special place in it for Wayneybear.

[BlessaYourHeart]

3 hours ago, Seahorse Wrangler said:

I can remember having a school assembly at the start of every term talking about "if the IRA bombed our town" . I still find it hard to be around unattended bags even though at the time I lived in a small town which didn't have any real targets.

That contributed to one of  the reasons I didn't want to move to the US. I didn't want my children to live in fear of a shooting at school.

 

I was sent home from primary school so many times because of IRA bomb scares. Even though I’m 22, I’ve lived through so many IRA bombs (which have actually exploded) in my city. I can remember laying in bed at 13/14 and my windows shaking after a bomb exploded across the river. 

You’re comment really hit me because to me IRA threats were normal, bomb scares were part of life. I have never even connected that if I did move to the States, my future kids would likely have the same view of school shootings as I do of IRA bomb, just part of life. I always just thought of my own fear as a teacher, I wouldn’t be able to cope with the fear. That’s a scary thought. 

[Dandruff]

We had shelter drills when I was in elementary school (in the 60s).  We'd sit against a wall in the hallway with our heads down and our arms over them.  When I got around to asking what the drills were for, the answer was in case the Russians drop a bomb.

The teacher used to wonder why I was anxious.

[Ais]

Like a few others on here I grew up during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Shootings and bombs were a routine part of my childhood, whether they happened in my town or we heard about them on the news while we eating dinner. I went to school with people who lost family members and with people who had family in prison for being “involved”. I walked to school past hi-jacked buses and the rubble of riots from the night before. Despite all this I simply can not get my head around the fact that in one of the worlds most developed nations children are not safe in school. 

This is not a political or paramilitary movement. This is not fighting for survival or to protect your family. This is not an organised group acting as a unit. (To be clear, none of these would make the situation right). This is a society where gun ownership and use is so pervasive that all these individuals came to the conclusion that they had the right to murder children and traumatise the survivors both mentally and physically. And sadly they are correct. They DO have that right. Those in power are only interested and invested in protecting that right, not the right of children to receive an education in safety. It honestly makes me feel a bit sick. 

 

[purplepeony]

These two tweets which were adjacent on my timeline seem to me to sum up the horrible situation which the diagram above explains perfectly. How you can call school shootings horrible and senseless then go around showing of and posing with  your gun like Lawson does is beyond me

 

[ViolaSebastian]

It’s beyond my comprehension that most of the political candidates receive somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000-$2,000 from the NRA. Some as little as $50.  They’re selling our kids’ lives for chump change. 

[HurricaneBells]

Absolutely heartbreaking. Again. The US government and co have so much blood on their hands. 18 shootings in 46 days and they can do nothing except pray and polish their godamn rifles. Trotting out the same useless shit everytime. Im not even American and Im furious. How can they not be? I cant understand. I remember watching the statement Obama made after Sandy Hook and the sheer frustration, anger and sadness he displayed will stay with me forever... Im so sad for you guys that reasonable change is so hard to obtain. Although every death is horrible, pointless and sad, they were just babies. As I think someone else said, if that wasnt enough then what will be? Let Trump spend his millions on fucking the NRA off if he cannot act! And as for these damn fundies, you weak bastards can protest against abortion which is none of your damn business but cant do anything but offer a prayer on twitter for these kids. Righteous assholes. Sorry, this whole effing situation really makes me mad. Rant over, going to sneak a midnight cuddle with my kid and be bloody well grateful to have what so many others are now missing. Peace and love!

[HarleyQuinn]

I hate when I read comments that say "arm your teachers!" like that's going to solve it. 

Also Trump essentially blamed his friends and neighbors for not reporting him. 

[defraudingjezebel]

13 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I hate when I read comments that say "arm your teachers!" like that's going to solve it. 

Also Trump essentially blamed his friends and neighbors for not reporting him. 

Also, I know that many schools and institutions don't really do anything even when worrying behavior is reported. 

My mother teaches at a community college and one of her students wrote some really disturbing things in a paper he turned in (about how he hates everyone, doesn't see the point in life, stuff with violent imagery). She reported it to her boss and they had the student talk to a counselor who ended up saying, ultimately, that there was nothing they could do. Turns out the student had been reported for disturbing behavior twice before and supposedly promised to change his attitude. Clearly that didn't happen, but the college administration did absolutely jack shit. 

I doubt that is an isolated incident. 

[HarleyQuinn]

2 minutes ago, defraudingjezebel said:

Also, I know that many schools and institutions don't really do anything even when worrying behavior is reported. 

My mother teaches at a community college and one of her students wrote some really disturbing things in a paper he turned in (about how he hates everyone, doesn't see the point in life, stuff with violent imagery). She reported it to her boss and they had the student talk to a counselor who ended up saying, ultimately, that there was nothing they could do. Turns out the student had been reported for disturbing behavior twice before and supposedly promised to change his attitude. Clearly that didn't happen, but the college administration did absolutely jack shit. 

I doubt that is an isolated incident. 

Someone threatened to shoot up my high school by leaving a note and the next day we had police officers in every hallway. The point is, our trash fire of a president shouldn't be blaming victims. He should be looking at serious gun control, but he won't. 

[defraudingjezebel]

35 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

Someone threatened to shoot up my high school by leaving a note and the next day we had police officers in every hallway. The point is, our trash fire of a president shouldn't be blaming victims. He should be looking at serious gun control, but he won't. 

I totally agree-I was just pointing out that even reporting things doesn't necessarily solve all the issues either. Its a lot easier for him (and other republicans) to blame those around him than consider gun control. But seeing the hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations they get from the NRA, I doubt any of them breathe a word about gun control. At this point I'm so jaded that I don't even think most Democrats will speak up (besides a few with nothing to lose). 

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I hate when I read comments that say "arm your teachers!" like that's going to solve it. 

Also Trump essentially blamed his friends and neighbors for not reporting him. 

There was an armed police officer at Columbine when the shooting occurred. He didn’t fire because the chaos in the halls was such that it was impossible to ascertain who was doing the shooting and who was a victim. In this case, the shooter tried to blend in with fleeing students, essentially using them as human shields. I don’t know how he was apprehended, but having multiple people with guns firing into a scene of mass panic, even to help would make a bad situation worse. 

[new espadrille]

I've been doing lockdown drills since PRESCHOOL. I'm college-aged.

That's what I get for growing up post-Columbine.

[LilMissMetaphor]

This is so sad, and I absolutely agree that prayer (especially if mentioned sanctimoniously by the higher-ups who are taking no actual practical steps to increase gun safety) is not going to solve such things; however, I AM going to leave this here.

[HarleyQuinn]

1 hour ago, Cleopatra7 said:

There was an armed police officer at Columbine when the shooting occurred. He didn’t fire because the chaos in the halls was such that it was impossible to ascertain who was doing the shooting and who was a victim. In this case, the shooter tried to blend in with fleeing students, essentially using them as human shields. I don’t know how he was apprehended, but having multiple people with guns firing into a scene of mass panic, even to help would make a bad situation worse. 

I don't recall that at Columbine? (I was young when that happened though) I know the shooters killed themselves. 

The thing I think of first when people cry "arm your teachers!" is how easy would it be for a student to either 1) Find where they hide the gun, take it, and shoot people. or 2) Overpower said teacher, take the gun, and shoot people. Just bringing a gun to a school to begin with is going to put kids in danger. 

[Cleopatra7]

6 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I don't recall that at Columbine? (I was young when that happened though) I know the shooters killed themselves. 

The thing I think of first when people cry "arm your teachers!" is how easy would it be for a student to either 1) Find where they hide the gun, take it, and shoot people. or 2) Overpower said teacher, take the gun, and shoot people. Just bringing a gun to a school to begin with is going to put kids in danger. 

Here’s an article about the presence of LEO during Columbine:

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2347096

[luv2laugh]

We need gun control instead of making every mentally ill person out to be someone that’s going to shoot up a school.

You can’t prevent evil but you can try to regulate the guns.

I’m tired of Fox News stigmatizing mental illness and stereotyping introverts.

[Snowless]

I can only hope that once enough of my generation (Millennials) finally make up our government (state and federal level), there will finally be some meaningful change in our gun laws.  Our own unique sets of beliefs can be shaped by life experiences and significant events.  The ones in power right now don’t have nearly as many mass shootings or mass-casualty tragedies that had taken place in their childhood and teenage years as there were for us Millennials.  One relevant event that many of my generation have ingrained in their memories is the horror that was Columbine.  I was only 12 years old when that shooting happened.  While it occurred all the way on the other side of the country, I still vividly remember the effect it had on my sixth grade class.  Foolish people would start to spread copycat rumors of a shooting occurring at our school and I remember the fear and terror that came across the faces of me and my classmates, and our math teacher trying to calm us down and assure us that we were going to be okay.  One teacher had us play a game of “Telephone” to illustrate how rumors can be distorted.  When something so tragic occurs when you’re at such a vulnerable age, it can really affect how you see the world or certain issues.  I think that’s why I’m so opinionated about gun control now (despite my own father having been a card-carrying member of the NRA).

I hope when my generation finally has meaningful political power, that we remember the effect that tragedies like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las Vegas, and now Parkland have had on us and we can finally be able to do something about it without the gun lobby brainwashing us to bend to their will.  One can only hope.

[47of74]

And of course fuck face had to give a useless address about the shooting;

Quote

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called for healing and peace one day after a gunman killed at least 17 people at a Florida high school, saying his administration would work to improve school safety and address mental illness.

Trump said he was making plans to meet with families in Parkland, Florida.

In televised remarks from the White House, Trump, who has an 11-year-old son, said he wanted to address America's children with the message they are "never alone and you never will be."

Democrats have said the shooting underscores the need for tougher gun laws, but Trump did not mention the issue in his brief address, delivered from the White House.

He should take his platitudes and stick up where his three piece suit don't reach. 

[louisa05]

I hate when I read comments that say "arm your teachers!" like that's going to solve it. 
Also Trump essentially blamed his friends and neighbors for not reporting him. 

If I’m expected to be armed, I’m done.

I saw the suggestion today that we have five armed guards per 100 students in every school. This small preK-12 building would have over 40 armed guards. That’s not a learning community. It’s a prison camp. And never mind how we pay for it. When asked, the person said “parents and grandparents who love their children will pay for it”. I’m currently sitting in a tiny classroom in a “temporary structure “ because those same parents and grandparents won’t approve a bond issue to build adequate facilities.

But the damn second amendment is more important to these assholes than logic or children and teachers’s lives.

[Nikedagain?]

5 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I hate when I read comments that say "arm your teachers!" like that's going to solve it. 

Also Trump essentially blamed his friends and neighbors for not reporting him. 

I just had a contentious argument on FB with a "friend" who was raving about how safe her child's school is because the admin and teachers are armed. She feels "SO MUCH BETTER" y'all. 

I finally just said **thoughts and prayers bitches**

 ( and I hate using that word )

2 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

I’m tired of Fox News stigmatizing mental illness and stereotyping introverts.

Now it's being called HFA. Because every kid with maladaptive behavior has autism, ya know. 

[HarleyQuinn]

The shooter was part of a white nationalist group called Republic of Florida because of course he was. 

[Gemini]

I’m so sorry, 

sorry for the children and families involved and sorry for all of you who live in fear when your children go to school.

I can’t even comprehend that, there’s blood on so many politician’s hands. 

[Jinder Roles]

23 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

The shooter was part of a white nationalist group called Republic of Florida because of course he was. 

Of course he was. And of course, nothing will be done because he's a "lone-wolf" and so this incident is completely unique and not indicative of several larger societal issues in America at all. *sarcasm*

Also, I HATE, that we don't define this as a form of terrorism. How is going into a person going into a school and shooting a bunch of people dead not classified as terror? I guess because then it would have to be systemically combatted. 

 

I feel so bad for all those kids, and quite frankly I feel a bit numb. I was regularly paranoid for the 4 years I spent in college in the US because college campuses are are hot target. 

I'm also amazed about all the stories of teachers and students maintaining their calm and being smart. It's sad that they literally knew all the correct thing to do because its so normalized. And still, that wasn't enough for all the people that died. 

[HarleyQuinn]

It IS terrorism, but according to most republicans only brown people can be terrorists.