Gun Violence Part 2: Thoughts and Prayers STILL Don't Work

[WiseGirl]

Who will protect us??? Children and teachers should not be getting shot at on a weekly basis!

What the fuck is it going to take to change this? I honestly love my job as a teacher, but to say there isn't fear at times..

This has to change! 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

Another prime example of the power of peaceful protest.

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by fraurosena

[AmazonGrace]

NRA Mike sends his thoughts and prayers 

 

[fraurosena]

6 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

NRA Mike sends his thoughts and prayers 

 

Oh, for fucks sake, shut up with your thoughts and prayers already! Nobody needs or wants them. Hollow words from hollow politicians.

[SilverBeach]

If the constant killing in schools doesn't make Congress understand that the problem at the root is uncontrolled gun proliferation, and children are facing a health crisis because of it, then this country is hopeless. They worry about North Korea's nuclear weapons, while ignoring the gun bomb at home. Sometimes I really dislike this nation. 

[Howl]

I was floored by this HuffPo article, There Were 2 Mass Shootings In Texas Last Week, But Only 1 On TV,  because I'm in Texas and have NOT heard about this shooting.  A man murdered his estranged wife, their three children, her boyfriend and then shot himself.  He allowed her to live specifically so she could suffer the pain of losing her children.  And the gun? It was his gun. He had  threatened to use it to kill himself earlier in the year when she was moving out.   She got the gun, put it in her trunk and at some point returned it to his family; he threatened that he  would accuse her of theft if she didn't return it.  The family at some point returned it to him, because of course they did, even though, the morning that Amanda moved out

Quote

According to a police report obtained by HuffPost, Justin’s stepfather called 911 that morning to request a welfare check on his son, and an ambulance was called. Police confirmed to HuffPost that Justin was voluntarily admitted into a mental health facility.

Apparently, this situation did not fall under the current laws restricting fire arm ownership.  The  Domestic Violence & Firearms section of The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence website summarizes Federal law as well as the patchwork of state laws, along with mortality stats. 

But back to the HuffPo article: 

Quote

There’s no place worse than Texas when it comes to mass shootings. Since 2009, the state has experienced 20 incidents, the most of any state. In 65 percent of cases, the victims included a romantic partner or family member of the shooter, just like what happened to Amanda.

So in addition to thoughts and prayers, every state needs to suck it up and pass stringent state laws to cover loopholes in Federal law. 

[Ozlsn]

13 hours ago, Howl said:

I was floored by this HuffPo article, There Were 2 Mass Shootings In Texas Last Week, But Only 1 On TV,  because I'm in Texas and have NOT heard about this shooting.  A man murdered his estranged wife, their three children, her boyfriend and then shot himself.  He allowed her to live specifically so she could suffer the pain of losing her children.  And the gun? It was his gun. He had  threatened to use it to kill himself earlier in the year when she was moving out.   She got the gun, put it in her trunk and at some point returned it to his family; he threatened that he  would accuse her of theft if she didn't return it.  The family at some point returned it to him, because of course they did, even though, the morning that Amanda moved out

Apparently, this situation did not fall under the current laws restricting fire arm ownership.  The  Domestic Violence & Firearms section of The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence website summarizes Federal law as well as the patchwork of state laws, along with mortality stats. 

But back to the HuffPo article: 

So in addition to thoughts and prayers, every state needs to suck it up and pass stringent state laws to cover loopholes in Federal law. 

Shootings where the shooter is related to the victims, i.e. family violence shootings, haven't been traditionally included as mass shootings (neither are gang-related shootings apparently). It was a surprise that the Australian media included the one that happened a month ago as a mass shooting when they pretty emphatically refused to describe a similar event in 2014 as one because it was "domestic". There's still not really a consensus on a definition of "mass shooting".

[Howl]

One definition of a mass shooting is four or more people; this case sadly crossed that threshold.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

This is great. Here's someone who knows what he's talking about! 

 

 

[fraurosena]

A true hero.

 

[JMarie]

I saw this on CBS Sunday Morning:

After the school shooting in (Santa Fe) Texas,  there have now been more students and teachers killed by gunfire in America's schools than active military deaths in 2018:

• 31 students and teachers
• 29 service members

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus, the things they come up with to shift the blame. 
Here's the next desperate iteration of the It's anything but the guns-theory...

 

[formergothardite]

What grocery store is she shopping at? 

[fraurosena]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

You couldn't make this up: "‘Active Shooter’ video game lets players shoot up a school. Parkland parents are horrified."

Spoiler

The gunman, armed with an AK-47, is in a second-story window of a school, prepared to make a final, bloody stand.

SWAT officers rush into an entrance below. Two are struck by gunfire and are instantly killed. As fleeing civilians prepare to breach a door, the gunman turns his rifle toward them and shoots one in the back.

A digital counter keeps a helpful tally: CIV KILLED: 1. COPS KILLED: 2.

If your PC meets the minimum requirements, and you have a few dollars, you, too, can be a school shooter — in pixelated form.

Game company Valve is set to release “Active Shooter” on its online platform Steam on June 6 and charge between $5 and $10. The game, touted as a police-response simulator, will allow players to move through a school as either a SWAT officer or a gunman terrorizing civilians and police.

Concerns about the link between violent video games and real acts of violence have percolated for decades. But scrutiny has been renewed in the wake of school shootings in Florida and Texas, drawing responses from President Trump and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R). They have said simulated violence inspires killers.

“Active Shooter,” then, is the game of the moment, at the nexus of a heated public debate about why and how gunmen storm public places to indiscriminately kill, although recent research has found that school shooters actually tend to lack interest in violent games.

The game, although not yet released, has touched off strong reactions from parents of students killed in a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14.

“It’s disgusting that Valve Corp. is trying to profit from the glamorization of tragedies affecting our schools across the country,” Ryan Petty, father of slain 14-year-old Alaina, wrote on Facebook. “Keeping our kids safe is a real issue affecting our communities and is in no way a ‘game.’”

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was among the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, blasted the game.

“I have seen and heard many horrific things over the past few months since my daughter was the victim of a school shooting and is now dead in real life. This game may be one of the worst,” he wrote on Twitter.

In follow-up messages, he asked his followers to call Valve chief executive Gabe Newell to demand that the game be removed from his platform.

Michael Casserly, the chief executive Council of the Great City Schools, an urban school system coalition, said Tuesday the game “violates every sense of decency a civilized nation should hold dear.”

Valve and the game’s developer, Revived, did not respond to a request for comment. The publisher, Acid, could not be reached.

Amid the intense criticism, Acid said on its Steam page Thursday that the developer considered removing the option to play as the mass shooter and had consulted Valve for advice. It also said that child characters won’t be used in the game.

The Parkland massacre and a May 18 shooting that left 10 people dead at Santa Fe High School outside Houston have reignited calls for restricted access to violent games for minors as Trump, Patrick and others decry their social role among teenagers.

Trump said in the wake of the Parkland shooting that violent games are “shaping young people’s thoughts.” After the Santa Fe shooting, Patrick cited everything from too many doors in schools to violent video games as factors that contribute to mass killings.

“We have incredible, heinous violence as a game, two hours a day in front of their eyes. And we stand here and we wonder why this happens to certain students,” Patrick said.

But some recent research has challenged the popular consensus that mass killers are fueled, inspired or otherwise desensitized to violence by playing violent games.

And even more surprising to some, limited data points to school shooters as being less interested in violent video games than most of their adolescent male peers.

An analysis of 10 school shooters between 2005 and 2012, including the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook gunmen, showed that only two played violent video games with any regularity.

That is much lower than the 70 percent of male high school students who show interest in those types of games, said Patrick Markey, a Villanova University psychology professor and co-author of “Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong.”

While there is no clear reason that there is a disparity between the groups, researchers say video games are so culturally ingrained that avoiding the often-communal ritual of playing games with friends can point to the antisocial behavior sometimes associated with killers.

“Kids who are psychologically healthy tend to do things their peers do,” Markey told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “It’s a sign of health and normal for kids to play violent video games whether parents like it or not.”

... < chart >

For instance, Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho had no history of playing video games, violent or otherwise, before he killed 32 students and teachers, and then himself, in a horrifying 2007 mass murder. In remarks to authorities, a roommate said it was strange that Cho did not play games with his peers, Markey said.

Research and interest on links between violent games and real-world violence spiked after it was revealed that the Columbine gunmen played “Doom,” the first blockbuster first-person shooter game, released six years before their 1999 attack.

But Markey said research initially focused on the effects on behavior immediately after playing games, showing some links between spikes in aggression.

Although research has shown that players can be more aggressive immediately after playing a violent game, it does not have long-term effects, much like watching sad movies does not cause clinical depression, he said.

Markey turned to crime data and built on a 2004 study from the U.S. Secret Service that found similar numbers of school shooters showing disinterest in violent games.

Desensitization to violence does not appear to be permanent, either, he found. When players of violent games were shown execution videos and clips of surgeries, the gamers were “just as horrified” as non-gamers, he said.

But Markey said his research does not mean that he condones games such as “Active Shooter,” which he condemned as “extremely objectionable” and clearly created to stir controversy.

The game also inflames another point of recent social discussion: violence against women.

In the promotional trailer, both police and the gunman encounter civilians. All 16 shown on screen are scantily clad women. Some of them are dead on the floor. No male civilians are shown.

At the trailer’s closing, the gunman pulls a pin on a grenade and tosses it at a group of three women appearing to run away. He kills one with a shotgun, with the counter ticking to 10 civilians killed. The grenade’s explosion makes it 11.

Maybe such games don't inspire shooters, but they are incredibly tone-deaf given all the school shootings.

[formergothardite]

http://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/2-year-old-Virginia-toddler-dead-after-4-year-old-brother-shot-him-while-playing-483373211.html

Quote

The two-year-old boy, identified by the sheriff’s office as Tyler Aponte, was fatally shot in the chest when his four-year-old brother picked up a gun and fired it, 

Of course, the neighbors say they are good Christians and would have never left a loaded gun out even though that is what they did.

Quote

There’s no way they would leave a loaded gun out,” she said. “They’re good people, good Christians good people, they take care of their children [and] make sure they have everything they need. I know this is going to be tragic to them.”

The same day another two year old in Virginia died because a loaded gun was left out in his home.

https://www.wsls.com/news/virginia/roanoke/2-year-old-roanoke-boy-dies-after-accidentally-shooting-self-police-say

Quote

A 2-year-old boy is dead after police say he accidentally shot himself Tuesday, according to Roanoke police.

 

[fraurosena]

Note his call to ‘take action to change our leadership’...

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

I love this.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Life is cheap in America: 

 

[Ozlsn]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Life is cheap in America: 

 

Unbelievable. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Life is cheap in America: 

 

He was a black man. Of course police was scared and saw the gun that was in his back pocket! /sarcasm

[smittykins]

And besides, he might have stolen a pack of gum from the corner store when he was ten, you never know.../more sarcasm

Edited June 2, 2018 by smittykins