Mass shootings and gun violence are happening way too often

[GreyhoundFan]

John Oliver's main story this week was about the NRA. It's quite interesting.

 

[GrumpyGran]

50 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

John Oliver's main story this week was about the NRA. It's quite interesting.

 

No, seriously. OH. MY. GOD!

[onekidanddone]

I want to be her when I grow up.

 

[fraurosena]

Good news. Go Oregon!

Oregon becomes first state to add new gun law since Parkland shooting

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Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed a bill into law Monday that blocks convicted domestic abusers from owning guns, making the state the first to add a new gun safety law since the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., last month, HuffPost reported.

The state had already banned those with domestic violence or stalking convictions from owning guns, but this measure closes a loophole that allowed abusers or stalkers who aren’t living with or married to or don't have children with the victim to keep the weapons.

The Oregon legislature passed the measure last month.

“I’m proud to sign this bill, making Oregon the first state to take action to prevent senseless gun violence since the tragedy in Parkland, Florida,” Brown said in a statement, according to HuffPost.

“Today marks an important milestone, but we know we have more to do. It’s long past time we hold the White House and Congress accountable. Now’s the time to enact real change and federal gun safety legislation.”

Survivors of last month's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have emerged as vocal advocates for gun control in the weeks since the shooting.

The Florida Senate passed a bill Monday that allows some teachers to be armed and raises the minimum age to purchase rifles from 18 to 21. The state's House has not yet taken up the legislation.

Florida senators on Saturday had briefly banned the sale of AR-15 assault rifles, the same gun used in the school shooting, but rescinded the ban 15 minutes later.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have called for action on gun laws, but efforts seem to have slowed in the weeks since the shooting.

 

[fraurosena]

What the fuck?

Sometimes I think these are troll-postings... but no, it really is this idiotic. 

[fraurosena]

These kids really know how to make their voices heard, and I don't think anyone will be able to shut them up.

 

[fraurosena]

This happened yesterday in my country. 

School attack in The Netherlands

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A mentally disturbed 44 year old tried to attack students and faculty with two knives.

A ‘school attack in The Netherlands’ is not exactly the most common headline you see in the news. You expect to see that sort of news in other countries *cough* USA *cough*. But we are living in strange times… This last Tuesday a mentally-ill 44-year-old man went to a school wielding two knives. Obviously posing a threat, the students used their backpacks to scare off the attacker. The man, after being barraged by a volley of backpacks filled with heavy science books, promptly walked away from the school.

School attack Dutch style

I think it’s pretty obvious that fending off an attacker with Scholastic backpacks is only possible in this surreal country. With no ridiculously easy access to guns, the attacker had no option but to attack using knives. And although objectively scary, it’s easier (and apparently possible) to stop this sort of attacks with something as mundane as backpacks.

Also, despite the potential gravity that this situation could have entailed, so far no ludicrous proposals to arm teachers have come up. These tweets summarises this fact:

All in all we are just happy that no one got hurt in this school attack in The Netherlands. Also, really hope that this doesn’t start a trend of students putting rocks and heavy objects in their backpacks. Just in case.

This is what happens when guns aren't readily available.

[Howl]

12 hours ago, fraurosena said:

What the fuck?

Sometimes I think these are troll-postings... but no, it really is this idiotic. 

SRSLY, I can't believe y'all just don't get it.  Concealed handgun license holders will vote Republican.  University of Texas students are bleeding heart liberal snowflakes-in-training who are extremely likely to vote for Democrats.  Duh. 

But yes, it gets worse.   Everyone *with certain exceptions* who enters the Texas state house/capitol building in Austin goes through screening, for guns and other dangerous stuff.  Ya go through the little structure that beeps if you have anything metal and x-rays your personal possessions.  If you have a concealed carry license, you don't go through screening, you just flash your ID and zip on through.  No, I'm not making this up.  

[fraurosena]

Damn it. Another one.

 

[GrumpyGran]

16 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Damn it. Another one.

 

Please tell me this wasn't a kid who brought a gun to school and pulled it out to impress or intimidate a girl and accidentally shot her and then himself while he was trying to conceal the gun. There is just so much WRONG in all of that. He should at the least be removed from his parents' home if he is under 18.

[GreyhoundFan]

[fraurosena]

 

[hoipolloi]

Another magnificent smackdown of Dana Loesch:

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The point of all of this is that you don’t scare me, and nor do your crazed fans. You’re real used to being the armed one in a conversation, and that’s a reasonable assumption. Most journalists who call out your bullshit aren’t gun owners. Nor are they from an NRA family. Most journalists don’t live near the holler. Most of us didn’t come from the bottom. But I am, and I do, and I did. I’m not afraid of you, or your single percent of the population, or the money of the people who pay you, or your clenched fists. 

You have a couple of options here. You can pretend you didn’t see this. Or you can come for me, like you promised to. I am not Joy or Joe or Mika, but I am a journalist. The invitation to back up all your posturing and empty rhetoric does not get clearer than this. (Because I live in this world you have helped to create, I should be very clear here that I make no threat. I just don’t think you have the guts to follow through on yours, even should you search the darkest corners of your stunted mind and shriveled soul and find a shred of intellectual consistency.)

 

 

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, hoipolloi said:

Another magnificent smackdown of Dana Loesch:

 

That whore, I swear every time I see her spewing her threats and lies... 

[nausicaa]

On 3/10/2018 at 3:11 PM, GrumpyGran said:

That whore, I swear every time I see her spewing her threats and lies... 

Dana Loesch has been officially charged with trading sexual favors for money? I wasn't aware. And I believe the term is "sex worker."

But seriously, it's pretty easy to criticize plenty about Loesch without resorting to calling her a "whore." 

Misogynist slurs aren't okay just because a woman happens to do something you don't like. Respect towards women isn't some gift you choose to bestow on them because they passed your ideological test. Not too mention it degrades any point you might want to make with people who disagree with you.

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, nausicaa said:

Dana Loesch has been officially charged with trading sexual favors for money? I wasn't aware. And I believe the term is "sex worker."

But seriously, it's pretty easy to criticize plenty about Loesch without resorting to calling her a "whore." 

Misogynist slurs aren't okay just because a woman happens to do something you don't like. Respect towards women isn't some gift you choose to bestow on them because they passed your ideological test. Not too mention it degrades any point you might want to make with people who disagree with you.

Sorry I was unaware that the word could not be used here on FJ, as I don't find it offensive myself. You are also certainly entitled to your approval of her behavior, I just personally find it very distasteful and fitting of the definition of the word I used. I think there are several other words that would be much more offensive that can be used to insult women in a cruel way, but that word describes an occupation in my mind.

As I said, I did not intend to offend any of you and of course support you all in your choice to defend her.

[nausicaa]

54 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Sorry I was unaware that the word could not be used here on FJ, as I don't find it offensive myself. You are also certainly entitled to your approval of her behavior, I just personally find it very distasteful and fitting of the definition of the word I used. I think there are several other words that would be much more offensive that can be used to insult women in a cruel way, but that word describes an occupation in my mind.

As I said, I did not intend to offend any of you and of course support you all in your choice to defend her.

You seem not to have read my post very carefully. 

1. I did not say the word could not be used on Free Jinger. You are allowed to use it. And other posters are allowed to call you out for it. 

2. I never said I approved of her behavior. In fact I even said "It's pretty easy to criticize plenty about Loesch..." . 

3. If you want to criticize Loesch's actions, criticize Loesch's actions. Seriously, have at it. Calling her a whore only undermines your argument and makes it easier for people who disagree with you to dismiss what you have to say. You are actually hurting your side by resorting to slurs.

4. Just because there are more offensive words to use against a woman, doesn't mean that the word you used isn't degrading and sexist. Calling a black person a "c**n" isn't okay just because the n-word is generally considered worse. 

5. I am not defending her so much as I'm defending women against misogyny. Your apology comes off as very passive-aggressive and suggests that you seem to have trouble understanding nuance beyond simplistic tribalism. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Personally, I prefer the word "shill" for people who sell their integrity, their credibility, and their soul. Those are worth so much more than Dana Loesch can possibly have been reimbursed for them. 

[fraurosena]

We all predicted this would happen. Sadly, now it has. 

Gun-trained teacher accidentally discharges firearm in Calif. classroom, injuring student

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A teacher who is also a reserve police officer trained in firearm use accidentally discharged a gun Tuesday at Seaside High School in Monterey County, Calif., during a class devoted to public safety. A male student was reported to have sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The weapon, which was not described, was pointed at the ceiling, according to a statement from the school, and debris fell from the ceiling.

Seaside Police Chief Abdul Pridgen told the Monterey County Weekly that a male student was “struck in the neck by ‘debris or fragmentation’ from something overhead.” Pridgen said whatever hit the student was not a bullet.

However, the student’s father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW 8 that it was his understanding that fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged in the boy’s neck. The father said the teacher told the class before pointing the gun at the ceiling that he was doing so to make sure his gun wasn’t loaded, something that can be determined visually.

“It’s the craziest thing,” Gonzales told the station. “It could have been very bad.”

Gonzales said he learned about the incident when his 17-year-old son came home with blood on his shirt and bullet fragments in his neck.

“He’s shaken up, but he’s going to be okay. I’m just pretty upset that no one told us anything and we had to call the police ourselves to report it,” the father told the TV station.

The teen was treated at a hospital.

The teacher was identified by police as Dennis Alexander, who teaches math as well as a course in the administration of justice. Alexander is a reserve police officer for Sand City and a Seaside city councilman. He could not immediately be reached for comment but he has reportedly apologized for the incident. 

The Monterey County Weekly, quoting Sand City Police Chief Brian Ferrante, reported that Alexander had his last gun safety training less than a year ago. “I have concerns about why he was displaying a loaded firearm in a classroom,” Ferrante told KSBW. “We will be looking into that.”

Exactly why the teacher was displaying the weapon at all was not entirely clear. Police said he was “providing instruction related to public safety.”

The father told KSBW that the teacher was preparing to use the gun to show how to disarm someone.

Daniel “PK” Diffenbaugh, superintendent of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, told the Weekly that the incident occurred during the administration of justice class, a career track course offered by the school. “Clearly, we will revisit this incident to ensure that something like this would never happen again.”

Diffenbaugh noted that state law and school policy forbids carrying firearms on campus without authorization. Alexander, he said, was not authorized.

“I think a lot of questions are on parents’ minds are, why a teacher would be pointing a loaded firearm at the ceiling in front of students,” Diffenbaugh told KSBW. “Clearly, in this incident, protocols were not followed.”

The teacher has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation takes place, according to the school. The Sand City Police Department also placed Alexander on administrative leave.

The incident comes amid a national debate on how to protect students from mass shootings like the one that took the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. Among the proposals advanced is training and arming teachers, an approach favored by President Trump, among others but opposed by a majority of the teachers in the National Education Association, including many who said in an NEA survey that it would make them feel less safe.

 

[onekidanddone]

Well yea,

 

[LeftCoastLurker]

And on this momentous day when so many of our children showed the adults how to do the right thing, the NRA says, "I'll control my own guns" with a "beauty shot".

Spoiler

 

 

[fraurosena]

Will the GOP and NRA be calling for doctors to be armed now too?

Man Opens Fire in Alabama Hospital Then Kills Himself, Police Say

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One man is dead and another is in critical condition after a gunman opened fire at an Alabama hospital before fatally shooting himself, police said early Thursday morning.

Birmingham police Lt. Peter Williston said Wednesday police were called to UAB Highlands Hospital 6:55 p.m. Officers found two victims along with the gunman who had died of a self-inflicted gunshot, Williston said.

“One victim is in stable condition,” Williston said early Thursday morning. “Unfortunately, I have to report the second victim did not survive and was pronounced deceased during surgery,” he said.

Authorities were unsure of the shooter’s relationship to the victims and whether the victims worked at the hospital, Capt. H.R. Watson of Birmingham Fire and Rescue told news reporters Wednesday night. He added that police “still have a lot to find out.”

Police had the scene secured and authorities issued an “all clear” alert about 7:45 p.m. after ordering students to shelter-in-place.

Al.com reported that paramedics were seen entering the building through the same-day surgery entrance and being taken to the second floor where the victims were believed to be located.

UAB tweeted late Wednesday that all surgeries scheduled for Thursday where the shooting occurred were being canceled.

UAB Highlands is a campus of UAB Hospital, which is part of the medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

 

[louisa05]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Will the GOP and NRA be calling for doctors to be armed now too?

Man Opens Fire in Alabama Hospital Then Kills Himself, Police Say

 

Sure. Along with all bands/singers while they perform, teenage movie theater employees, club DJs, pastors, perfume counter employees, gift wrappers at department stores...what target did I miss? 

Oh, hell, let's just arm everyone old enough to carry a weapon. I'm thinking we start at about age 5 (not to say that we can't go as young as 3 for those toddlers/preschoolers who are big for their age and a bit stronger). We can all wander the world pointing guns at each other every time we are slightly annoyed by anything. It will be a safer place. 

[GreyhoundFan]

[onekidanddone]