Gun Violence 3: Thoughts and Prayers Continue to be Insufficient

[47of74]

Live Nation found Georgia wouldn't allow it to restrict firearms at its upcoming September’s Music Midtown so it called off the festival altogether.

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Live Nation planned to host the festival at Piedmont Park — public land — where the festival had been held each year since 2011, with the coronavirus-related exception of 2020. And it almost certainly fell into the leasing category that would make a ban on guns illegal.

“In terms of Music Midtown, it’s virtually a no-brainer that they can’t ban guns there,” said John Monroe, an attorney who represented a gun rights group in the case before the state Supreme Court.

Cancelling the event over the gun law would make sense from Live Nation's perspective, said Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University.

A mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 that claimed more than 50 lives cost MGM Resorts International — the owner of the concert venue — and its insurers $800 million in legal claims. With no restriction on guns, Live Nation was looking at potentially “astronomical” liability exposure at Music Midtown, Lytton said.

Can't have any nice things cause these fucking gun nuts want a whole shitload of weapons at alcohol fueled events.

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Is anybody else's crush on Beto O'Rourke just going through the roof today?  

[47of74]

13 hours ago, AlmostSavedAtTacoBell said:

Is anybody else's crush on Beto O'Rourke just going through the roof today?  

Yes. If only we had some more hard pipe hitting dems like that. 

 

[47of74]

Fuck you Republicans

Quote

Before July Fourth, Cooper Roberts was almost always active and running around. He loved playing sports — including soccer, baseball and football — and riding his bike, his family has said.

Life has looked very different since the 8-year-old was shot in the Highland Park Fourth of July attack, and left paralyzed. Seven people were killed and dozens injured by the gunman who fired from a roof into the crowd.

"There are layers upon layers of cruelty with being shot by a sniper. Most people don't witness the grueling aftermath of surviving these devastating wounds," Cooper's family said in a statement Tuesday updating his condition. "He's an 8-year-old boy who feels hopeless, sad and angry as the reality of his life is setting in."

Hoping to shed light on what that new reality has looked like, Cooper's family has provided regular updates on the child's condition in the weeks since the attack, including on the numerous surgeries he underwent as doctors worked to repair injured organs and stave off infections.

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

49 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Fuck you Republicans

 

I am always sensitive to a child's privacy being exposed, but good for these parents for making his difficulties public.  People really do need to understand that he's not that cute, smiling face that we keep seeing in the media but that he's a very real little boy with very real struggles and a very long road ahead of him.  It's not some feel-good movie where he goes to the hospital physical therapy room and after a few slow starts, suddenly makes progress in leaps and bounds while the inspiration music swells up and everybody cheers.  As much as everyone in his life will put it in the best light possible, the reality is that he will watch his twin go on to do things he will not be able to do and I imagine his twin brother will also carry his own trauma and, sadly, guilt he shouldn't have to feel because he can walk and run.  All because a bunch of assholes refuse to reign in weapons that have no business being in civilian hands.  I know I am preaching to the choir but I applaud these parents for being vocal about what Cooper has and will continue to go through instead of doing the whole "Our brave little Cooper" thing.  

[47of74]

Again, fuck you Republicans 

None of this should be necessary but then you have fuck stick useless four flushing sacks of shit Republicans who won’t do a goddamn fucking thing about guns. 

[47of74]

The school year started in Uvalde amid a lot of anxiety and fear.

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There is new high fencing around the Texas community’s public school campuses that still isn’t finished, a heavy police patrol that many families don’t trust and no classes ever again at Robb Elementary School, three months after a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers inside two adjoining fourth-grade classrooms.

Students began arriving at Uvalde Elementary before dawn Tuesday, walking through newly installed 8-foot (2.4-meter) metal fencing that surrounds the campus and past a state trooper standing guard outside an entrance. Colorful flags hung inside the hallways and teachers wore turquoise shirts that read “Together We Rise & Together We Are Better” on the back. State troopers were parked on every corner outside the school.

Although school started weeks ago in many parts of Texas, officials pushed back the first day of class in Uvalde after a summer of unfathomable heartache, anger and revelations of widespread failures by law enforcement who allowed an 18-year-old gunman to fire inside the adjoining classrooms for more than 70 minutes.

Despite pushing back the start of the school year, Uvalde school officials said several enhanced security measures remain incomplete, including installing additional cameras and new locks.

Got a few observations.

1. FUCK YOU, Republicans.
2. Double FUCK YOU Greg Abott and the whole goddamn Uvlade police department.
3. Republicans, take your thoughts and prayers and stick them where the sun doesn't shine.  No student should have to learn in pretty much a jail like environment but because Republicans won't do a fucking thing about guns we have to keep doing more and more security theater.

[47of74]

Fuck you Republicans 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

16 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Fuck you Republicans 

While every life is important, this young girl right here was ready to take on the world.  How many people her age would wait in line to meet a member of Congress?  "A new member of  her student council and the only girl on her baseball team" - she was already starting to distinguish herself.  I commend Gabby Giffords for this post and thank you @47of74 for putting it here. 

[47of74]

Some people in Iowa are protesting against adding a gun fetish amendment to the Iowa Constitution.  There was a protest in Dubuque against the proposal.

Quote

About 50 people were at the rally to share their stories and voice their opposition to Public Measure One, which will be on the ballot November 8.

If passed, the measure would add the following to the Constitution to the State of Iowa:

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.

Tim Moothart, president of the Dubuque Coalition for Nonviolence, said that phrase, “strict scrutiny,” is part of what has him alarmed. He described strict scrutiny as a requirement for “the legal system to use that higher level of jurisdiction to decide whether to support a case or not.”

I hope it doesn't pass but I'm realistic too.  There's a whole bunch of Branch Trumpvidian sacks of shit in Iowa so it wouldn't surprise me if this did pass.  At least for now we're not going to see horseshit like this in Minnesota. 

[47of74]

A man who survived the Shittenhouse shooting was getting so much harassment from reich wingers that he filed a secret petition to have his name changed which some fucker promptly leaked to the press.

Quote

The man who survived a shooting by Kyle Rittenhouse that left two others dead during a Wisconsin protest in 2020 has filed a secret petition to change his legal name because of what he now says was continued harassment related to the case.

Gaige Grosskreutz has called for an investigation by the Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Court on how the sealed petition was leaked to a conservative news outlet this week.

Grosskreutz, 29, of West Allis, issued a statement after the petition became public. It said he has received death threats in the two years since he was shot in the arm during a protest in Kenosha and that he was seeking the name change to protect him and his family.

“But the real story here isn’t that I am seeking to change my name, but that a process that is supposed to protect and shield those in danger was undermined and sealed information was released to the right wing media within hours of my filing," the statement said.

 

[Ozlsn]

I posted in the Quiverful of hate about a right wing group who pretty much specialise in this crap - they track down and harrass people across borders, so name changes are probably not too hard. I wish online harassment would be taken more seriously - some of these arseholes might think twice if they ended up in a cell.

[GreyhoundFan]

A friend of mine told me that he and his wife are fighting because she wants to have guns in the house. They have a nine year old and an 18 month old. He's been able to stand his ground and nix guns in the house, but she's determined. I sent him this to help show how guns will kill.

 

[47of74]

Fuck you very much Republicans

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As the new school year swings into gear, some students carry heavier worries than keeping up with homework: Demand has been growing steadily for children’s books that address traumatic events such as school shootings.

Sales of books for young readers on violence, grief, and emotions have increased for nine straight years, with nearly six million copies sold in 2021 — more than double the amount in 2012, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks U.S. retail sales of print books.

As anxiety and depression rates have soared among young Americans, educators and advocates say children’s books can play a role in helping them cope.

“While it might be second nature to try to shield kids from the harsher realities of life and scary news, it’s proving difficult to avoid big society issues,” said Kristine Enderle, editorial director at Magination Press, the children’s publishing arm of the American Psychology Association. “Kids face these issues and challenges in their day-to-day life.”

This demand might not be so high if Republicans would actually fucking do something about fucking guns.

[47of74]

A clock running backwards at least once a day.

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The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from Dylann Roof over his 2015 death sentence conviction for killing nine people in a South Carolina church.

The big picture: Roof was found guilty of murder for killing nine members of a Black congregation in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. He had asked the court to decide how to handle evidence related to mental illness, challenging his conviction, per AP. The court upheld his death sentence.

Details: Roof asked for the Supreme Court to review his case after a lower federal appeals court denied a request to overturn his conviction and death sentence.

I hope all his other appeals get denied. 

[47of74]

Cruz is going to prison for life. 

Quote

The Parkland school shooter has avoided the death penalty after a jury recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the February 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – a move that stunned the families of his victims.

The jury’s recommendation Thursday, coming after a monthslong trial to decide Nikolas Cruz’s fate, is not an official sentence; Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer still is expected to issue the gunman’s formal sentence on November 1. Under Florida law, however, she cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life.

Families of the gunman’s victims bowed or shook their heads as the verdict forms for each of the 17 people he killed were read in court Thursday morning. The jury found the aggravating factors presented by state prosecutors did not outweigh the mitigating circumstances – aspects of Cruz’s life and upbringing his defense attorneys said warranted only a life sentence. 

None of the jurors looked in the direction of the victims’ families as their verdicts were read, but instead looked down or straight ahead. Cruz – flanked by his attorneys, wearing a blue and gray sweater over a collared shirt and eyeglasses – sat expressionless, looking down at the table in front of him.

Some of the families aren’t too happy with the jury because they wanted him sentenced to death. I’ll take the life sentence but yeah, he should have to face execution for his crimes. 

[noseybutt]

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

Cruz is going to prison for life. 

Some of the families aren’t too happy with the jury because they wanted him sentenced to death. I’ll take the life sentence but yeah, he should have to face execution for his crimes. 

Why should the opinions of some families matter more than the opinions of other families? I am asking seriously because the victims’ families were not united in wanting the death penalty.

From a practical perspective, the death penalty route carries its own trauma because of the appeals process. 
 

[fundiewatch]

I think the whole trial was unnecessary. He plead guilty and they could have locked him up for life without parole years ago if our country could just get over the death penalty. We are NOT in good company keeping it in place. It’s our country’s arcane laws that made those families sit through months of trauma because they hinged some idea of justice, as if there is justice with children gunned down, to the execution of this fucking hateful little idiot who had the deck stacked against him in every possible way. It’s on us. 

[47of74]

I'm actually against the death penalty in most cases because it's pretty fucking hard to set things right if the state has made a mistake.  When I was young I was pretty much fry 'em till they glow but as I grew up I came to understand just how flawed capital punishment is.  Most of my adult life I opposed it in just about all cases.

But over the past few years though as we've had more and more of these shootings along with acts of treason, terrorism, and an attempted coup my views have changed a bit.  I still think life imprisonment is a far worse punishment than getting the easy way out through death but there are some crimes that are so awful and where the person or persons are so evil that capital punishment is the only appropriate response.  Maybe it's all the trauma talking that I and the rest of this country been through.  I don't know.

[noseybutt]

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

I'm actually against the death penalty in most cases because it's pretty fucking hard to set things right if the state has made a mistake.  When I was young I was pretty much fry 'em till they glow but as I grew up I came to understand just how flawed capital punishment is.  Most of my adult life I opposed it in just about all cases.

But over the past few years though as we've had more and more of these shootings along with acts of treason, terrorism, and an attempted coup my views have changed a bit.  I still think life imprisonment is a far worse punishment than getting the easy way out through death but there are some crimes that are so awful and where the person or persons are so evil that capital punishment is the only appropriate response.  Maybe it's all the trauma talking that I and the rest of this country been through.  I don't know.

I actually agree that if we are going to have the death penalty, this one would be the case that it would fit.

But, it didn’t happen. I’m guessing the requirement for an anonymous jury is why. In Florida it takes just one hold out. (In my jurisdiction, a hung penalty phase jury means the DA gets to redo the penalty phase.)

IDK. I have really complicated feelings around the death penalty too.

[Xan]

I have mixed feeling about the death penalty as well.  I think it was used too much in the past and we know of innocent people who have been killed by the state because their appeals were not heard.  On the other hand, I don't like the fame that some of our crazier killers have gotten lately.  There ought to be some sort of humiliating punishment that would deter them.  Maybe we get their named expunged from public records and refuse them standard burials and markers.  Let them become non-people.  Don't allow their names to be used in publications.

[47of74]

44 minutes ago, Xan said:

I have mixed feeling about the death penalty as well.  I think it was used too much in the past and we know of innocent people who have been killed by the state because their appeals were not heard.  On the other hand, I don't like the fame that some of our crazier killers have gotten lately.  There ought to be some sort of humiliating punishment that would deter them.  Maybe we get their named expunged from public records and refuse them standard burials and markers.  Let them become non-people.  Don't allow their names to be used in publications.

In the Star Wars: Legends novel Isard's Revenge there is what I think would be the perfect punishment for the likes of Cruz or fuck face.  The antagonist was the genocidal Imperial Intelligence head Ysanne Isard.  She had killed billions in her career.  When the New Republic caught up with her they planned to stick her in a very secure prison with no human contact and no opportunity to spew Imperial hate speech.  They were going to put her in the heart of what had been her private prison, isolated, and cared for only by droids.

Lock them up in a very secure and very isolated prison with the prisoners cared for by robots and no human contact.  Being locked up as an anonymous prisoner buried deep in a prison and totally forgotten.  In the novel it made the genocidal Isard panic and go for a sidearm, which resulted in her getting killed.

Especially for attention seekers like fuck face and Cruz the thought of them locked away and forgotten with no human contact and the media told to go fuck themselves if they express desires to interview these sacks of shit is appealing to me.  I think that's the worst punishment for people like these in that they can no longer fulfill their desires to spread fear and dominate other human beings.

Edited October 14, 2022 by 47of74

[fraurosena]

The death penalty discussion is indeed an interesting one. For me there are two factors that weigh heavily and result in my being very much against it: 1) the aforementioned irreversibility and 2) if we believe killing someone is wrong, then doing so as punishment is also wrong. Emotions and need for retaliation are very understandable, but should never lead to taking someone's life, otherwise you are no better than the original perpetrator.

Finding appropriate punishment is difficult if the perpetrator pleads not guilty. I find the solitary confinement without human contact appealing, but as it's also very psychologically damaging (often irreversibly so), and therefore I wouldn't choose it if there is any room for doubt about a suspect's guilt. If, however, a perpetrator pleads guilty... 

 

[Ozlsn]

On 10/14/2022 at 7:45 AM, fundiewatch said:

I think the whole trial was unnecessary. He plead guilty and they could have locked him up for life without parole years ago if our country could just get over the death penalty. We are NOT in good company keeping it in place. It’s our country’s arcane laws that made those families sit through months of trauma because they hinged some idea of justice, as if there is justice with children gunned down, to the execution of this fucking hateful little idiot who had the deck stacked against him in every possible way. It’s on us. 

I agree. I hope the families can now move forward, however that is possible for them. 

I will say that my feelings on the death penalty are very complicated by the often appalling prison systems, and the disproportionally high numbers of people with mental illnesses, disabilities and other factors as well as minorities who end up in them. When the death penalty starts looking more humane than a prison system I think there is an issue. 

[noseybutt]

 

Wrong thread 

Edited October 16, 2022 by noseybutt