Gun Violence 3: Thoughts and Prayers Continue to be Insufficient

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Reports from the assassination of Prime Minister Abe in Japan are that his murderer's homemade gun was put together by watching videos online.  I shudder to think of how many of those videos have United States origins. 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Update on Cooper, the 8 year old who was shot by the mass murderer on July 4 in Highland Park, IL. It turns out his twin brother, Luke, had also been hit by shrapnel so that makes three people in one family directly injured by the ammosexuals’ and NRA’s gun love and the countless others who love these people indirectly injured. I again note that Cooper’s mother insisted on being discharged AMA to be by his bedside. Godspeed to Cooper and all who have been hit, directly or indirectly, by gun violence. 
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/us/cooper-roberts-surgery-highland-park-attack/index.html

I sincerely want to thank all of you who are part of this thread. I don’t know any of you in real life but I say with no hyperbole that right now you are keeping me grounded. So many around me- not all, but many- seem to just be going along as though everything is fine, business as usual. I can’t stop crying over the constant gun violence (and the other dismal news.) I am actually relieved to find out I am not alone and there are other people who are truly angry, furious, pissed off, but also just grief stricken over these people who died or are maimed for no reason over and over. Thank you all for letting me vent and for being people willing to fight against the gun regime. 

[Xan]

8 hours ago, AlmostSavedAtTacoBell said:

I am actually relieved to find out I am not alone and there are other people who are truly angry, furious, pissed off, but also just grief stricken over these people who died or are maimed for no reason over and over.

I'm sad, sick, and furious.  I just want someone to be held responsible.  I don't just mean the shooter.  Why aren't the parents charged for enabling their teens to have guns?  What about the gun manufacturers?  What about the lawmakers who decided we needed even fewer gun laws?  I want the public to rise up and start demanding accountability.  How many more children have to die because  of the gun lobby?  How many more families have to plan for funerals because we have politicians yammering about the second amendment to build support?

Edited July 13, 2022 by Xan

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

I am not going to link anything because it's just all too atrocious to comprehend but the released Uvalde footage is truly horrific.  My heart aches for the children, personnel of the school, and their families- both the survivors and the dead- having concrete proof that while a monster was murdering children and teachers armed officers did nothing.  Fuck that whole "good guy with a gun" bullshit.  There were multiple "good guys" with multiple guns and they. just. stood. there.  Ever single one of those people should be fired and never have the ability to work in law enforcement ever again.  If I had my way every single one of them would be also denied the ability to ever possess a firearm again because clearly they know fuckall about how to properly use one when it is critically needed and literally life-saving.  I don't want to hear one fucking apologist try to excuse their conduct or say anything about how they didn't know what to do because there was confusion.  They had fucking guns and were inside the school.  When I think of how parents were BEGGING to go in unarmed and were treated like criminals while those fuckheads were inside with guns standing around doing nothing I just have such difficulty making the mental connection because it is just so truly unbelievable.  Every single person who failed the people inside the school, failed their families, and failed that community should live every day for the rest of their lives waking up in absolute shame.  I generally try to be a pretty forgiving person and try not to throw that kind of curse on others but this abomination is just too much. 

[GreyhoundFan]

And of course Matt has to demonstrate his stupidity:

 

[libgirl2]

18 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

And of course Matt has to demonstrate his stupidity:

 

He is a prick that needs to crawl back in the slime hole he came from. 

That 8 year old boy who's spinal cord was severed and is paralyzed took a turn for the worst and they don't know if he is going to make it. Then you have the keystone kops in Uvalde sanitizing their hands and running from the gunman while baby's heads were exploding. 

Sorry this just pisses me off to no end. That slime isn't worth the pile of excrement at a goat farm. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by libgirl2

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

And of course Matt has to demonstrate his stupidity:

 

One of these days that shitstain is going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and it's going to be a very big shock to him.  He is so used to saying whatever he wants and getting away with it but that kind of rhetoric is so inflammatory that he's almost begging for a major dose of karma.  Let's remember that it was the young employees at the Capitol who stayed calm and were able to guide the members of Congress-including that asshat- how to best stay safe on Jan. 6th because they had to go through active shooter drills as schoolchildren.  My guess is either he was willing to take their assistance (and likely quite relieved by it) OR he wasn't too concerned because he himself was in on the plot.  

He needs to fuck all the way off and after he fucks all the way off he needs to fuck off again. 

[47of74]

Tops in Buffalo has reopened 

Quote

Two months after a white teenager allegedly killed 10 Black people in what authorities described as a racially motivated mass shooting, the renovated Buffalo, New York, supermarket where the rampage occurred was rededicated Thursday afternoon in an emotional ceremony.

The Jefferson Avenue store's official reopening on Friday comes after a moment of silence and prayer service on Thursday in which the names of the victims were read out loud. A firefighter rang a silver bell after the name of each victim was read.

The moment of silence was lead by Buffalo City Councilman Ulysees O. Wingo Sr. at 2:30 p.m., marking the time the mass shooting began on May 14.

The ceremony also included an emotionally stirring dance performance by a member of the African American Cultural Center in Buffalo.

 

[47of74]

A shooting victim’s father arranged this

Quote

A fleet of 52 yellow school buses formed a mile-long procession to Sen. Ted Cruz’s house in Houston on Thursday morning — 4,368 empty seats to honor the number of children killed by gun violence since 2020.

The first bus carried items from school shooting victims, including a pair of worn-out checkered Vans from 15-year-old Gracie Muehlberger, killed at her Santa Clarita high school in 2019; a kindergarten graduation card with a smiling teddy bear on it, awarded to Sandy Hook victim Chase Kowalski; and a LeBron James Miami Heat jersey adored by Joaquin Oliver, who died in the Parkland school shooting in 2018.

Named “The NRA Children’s Museum,” this project is the latest by artist Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin.

“It’s partially with the intention that some people will think this is truly an NRA museum,” Oliver told BuzzFeed News.

Course Teddy wasn’t there.  A staffer told them he was in DC. More likely he was in Cancún at the time. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by 47of74

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

7 hours ago, 47of74 said:

A shooting victim’s father arranged this

Course Teddy wasn’t there.  A staffer told them he was in DC. More likely he was in Cancún at the time. 

Thank you for this post. What an incredible and poignant way to represent these young children with such potential whose lives were cut short by guns. The thought to have personal belongings of the children was truly beautiful but it must have been so difficult for the people who love them to allow those belongings to leave their hands and entrust that others will understand the importance and significance. I cannot fathom the depths of pain and grief one must go through to be able to organize and arrange such an amazing tribute.  Again, thank you for posting this information. 

[Ozlsn]

I hope they drive to DC and park outside Congress.

[47of74]

Jesus, fucking again

Quote

Three people are dead and two others hospitalized after a shooter opened fire in the food court of a Greenwood, Indiana, shopping mall Sunday evening, police say.

Around 6:00 p.m. local time, multiple people called 911 to report an active shooter at the Greenwood Park Mall, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison told reporters.

The shooter was killed by someone else there. 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Shooting today in Greenwood, Indiana at a mall food court. Three confirmed dead (I am not sure if that is including the killer, who was shot by another mall patron.) Get ready for the “good guy with a gun” comments. I just keep answering, “Yeah, like Uvalde, where children and two women were killed while several supposed ‘good guys’ armed with plenty of guns cowered in fear unless it was to rough up unarmed parents trying to get to the kids.”

[GreyhoundFan]

[47of74]

Yesterday at Maquoketa Caves State Park near Maquoketa, Iowa there was a triple murder and suicide which was discovered when law enforcement responded to reports of shots fired at the park.

Quote

Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the three victims in the shooting Friday at the Maquoketa Caves State Park.

Iowa officials say 42-year-old Tyler Schmidt, 42-year-old Sarah Schmidt, and 6-year-old Lulu Schmidt of Cedar Falls were identified as the victims of the triple homicide. Autopsies will be conducted on all three as well as on the suspect, Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23, according to a press release.

Local law enforcement officers say they are thanking the public for their help with the investigation and concern for the Schmidt family. DCI said there is no danger to the public.

It is unclear if there is a connection between the suspect and the victims at this time.

I used to live not too far from that park and went on a field trip through there back in elementary school.

Ugh.  Thanks to the GQP gun fetish even our parks aren't safe anymore.   

[47of74]

A gofundme has been set up for the surviving child.  
 

https://gofund.me/39901c4c

 

Fuckfornicate you Republicans. 

[Zebedee]

I learned about this shooting on reddit, and thought, “not again, ffs”, then I was on facebook and saw the GFM on a friend’s page. The family was from MO, and the mother was good friends with a friend of mine from college. They grew up together, played in the marching band, and went to the same church. It is somehow shocking to me that the world is so small that, living in Germany, I have a friend in England who is personally devastated about this. but also it is not at all surprising, with how many times this is happening. Just despicable. 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is unreal. This ad is a "safety advertisement" according to the manufacturer:

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

10 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

This is unreal. This ad is a "safety advertisement" according to the manufacturer:

 

“It’s a yes or no”

”Here is my canned answer that works on the white guys in Congress who are in my back pocket but they usually softball the questions, little missy, so …..”

”It’s a yes or no question (repeats question).”

”Wait, are you challenging me, you WOC? I am repeating what I just said because you shall bow down to my white mansplaining….”

”Reclaiming my time (because I am finished chewing up and spitting out this bozo and have made my point quite well.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is a definite step in the right direction. It's unfortunate that it won't pass the senate:

 

[47of74]

Ugh

Quote

Mall of America was on lockdown for almost two hours Thursday after police say "shots were fired" inside the massive shopping complex.

Bloomington police say this was "an isolated incident," and that the suspect fled the mall, and there are no reported injuries.

Mall of America officials say the lockdown ended at 6:10 p.m., and the mall will be closed for the rest of Thursday evening.   

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Just came here to post on it. I am relieved there were no injuries. Cue the tots and pears. 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Shooting at a hotel in Vegas. At least one person dead. 

[GreyhoundFan]

What the actual fuck? "North Carolina school district planning to put AR-15 in every school in the event of another school shooting"

Quote

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Madison County school system in North Carolina says it plans to put AR-15 rifles in emergency safes in all of its six schools as part of a new incentive for increased security in the wake of the deadly Uvalde, Texas, school shooting earlier this year when 19 children and two teachers were killed in a fourth-grade classroom. 

"We were able to put an AR-15 rifle and safes in all of our schools in the county," Sheriff Buddy Harwood told the Asheville Citizen-Times. "We’ve also got breaching tools to go into those safes. We’ve got extra magazines with ammo in those safes."

Harwood said the rifles will ideally allow police to quickly defend against a school shooting. Harwood criticized the police that responded to the Uvalde shooting saying the time they took to respond to the shooting cost lives. 

"Those officers were in that building for so long, and that suspect was able to infiltrate that building and injure and kill so many kids," said Harwood.

"I do not want to have to run back out to the car to grab an AR, because that’s time lost. Hopefully we’ll never need it, but I want my guys to be as prepared as prepared can be," he added.

Gun makers have taken in more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style guns over the past decade, according to a House investigation unveiled last month. 

The weapons have been used in massacres that have horrified the nation, including one that left 10 people dead at a grocery store in Buffalo and another where 19 children and two teachers were shot to death in Uvalde, Texas.

The Committee on Oversight and Reform said some ads mimic popular first-person shooter video games or tout the weapons' military pedigree while others claim the guns will put buyers "at the top of the testosterone food chain."

Those sales tactics are "deeply disturbing, exploitative and reckless," said Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. "In short, the gun industry is profiting off the blood of innocent Americans."

Gun makers, on the other hand, said AR-15-style rifles are responsible for a small portion of gun homicides and the blame must go to the shooters rather than their weapons.

"What we saw in Uvalde, Buffalo and Highland Park was pure evil," said Marty Daniels, the CEO of Daniel Defense, the company that made the weapon used in Texas. "The cruelty of the murderers who committed these acts is unfathomable and deeply disturbs me, my family, my employees and millions of Americans across this country."

However, he added later in testimony before the committee, "I believe that these murders are local problems that have to be solved locally."

Gun violence overall spiked in 2020, but recent statistics indicate it is coming down this year in many cities.

 

[Audrey2]

Remember, to these gun nuts, more guns is how they feel safer. Never mind the logistics of someone would actually have to get to the gun safe open it up take out these AR-15s and then go after someone who's an active shooter at the school. I think in their wildest dreams every teacher would be wearing an ar-15 at all times.