On May 14, an 18-year-old white supremacist traveled to Buffalo and murdered ten people at a supermarket frequented by Black folks. The next day, a Las Vegas murderer traveled to a church in Laguna Beach, California, where he targeted Taiwanese-Americans. One man was murdered and several were injured. On May 24, an 18-year-old man entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and murdered nineteen little kids and their teacher. He also wounded several more children and the resource officer in the school. Before his rampage, he murdered his grandmother.
After Sandy Hook, nothing was done. After Parkland, nothing was done. After all of the mass shootings, nothing was done. The NRA has a f–king chokehold on American politics and the Republican Party specifically. It’s about everyday people too, people who choose not to vote for candidates who talk about gun control, who talk in real terms about children being safe in their homes and their schools. President Biden made a speech:
Here is Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors.
Here is Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has spent the past decade working with Sandy Hook parents.
Barack Obama released a statement too:
“Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space. Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear. We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook—and ten days after Buffalo—our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies. It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day. May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.
Will something finally be done? Will common-sense gun control finally be legislated? I doubt it.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Washington, D.C. – US President Joe Biden speaks to the nation about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in the Roosevelt Room in Washington, D.C. Pictured: Joe Biden BACKGRID USA 24 MAY 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Washington, D.C. – US President Joe Biden speaks to the nation about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in the Roosevelt Room in Washington, D.C. Pictured: Joe Biden BACKGRID USA 24 MAY 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I’m heartbroken, and scared. I live in an open carry, red state. The republicans are ruining this country & killing our children.
i cant imagine the fear of bringing your kids to school etc with this constant threat hanging over your head. i really hope something is finally done. we have to hope it will be because to think the alternative that this will just keep happening is too awful to contemplate
My nine year old has three days of school left. I’m heartbroken for those families in Texas.
My 15 year old niece told me her biggest fear is being shot at school. No child should feel that way.
I live in Texas and I’m starting to think a protest of moms open carrying is going to be the only thing that scares Republicans into gun control.
Especially if there’s not all white moms.
I’m so angry. This did cancel the active shooter drill that my kindergartener and second grader were supposed to have today. I waa a junior in high school when Columbine happened. I can’t believe we let the Russian funded NRA turn so many men into terrorists.
The NRA is a terrorist organization.
Obama hit on that terror in his statement. Every day parents and children are terrified. Kids grow up practicing gun drills and go to school knowing the cost of their education could be a bullet. That’s terror.
All while politicians accept money from the NRA and refuse to acknowledge a gun problem. It’s not mental illness, it’s terrorism. The threat to America isn’t migrants or immigrants or Islam as some Republicans want voters to believe — the call is coming from inside the house.
Interesting enough. NRA will ban guns at their conferences with Trump. Obviously they don’t find it that onerous when it suits them.
Obama’s speech may ring true but he was president during Sandy Hook. what was he actually capable of doing? what did he do? nothing, right? it doesn’t matter if we have a Democratic president, the NRA and right-wing and right-wing aligned interests such as religion are more powerful than a president on this issue.
I’ve lived in Texas my entire freaking life. I was a sophomore when Columbine happened. I’m damn near 40 now. This has gone on for entirely too f**king long. I’ve seen my state, who I have a extreme love/hate relationship with, get worse and worse and more and more nightmare-ish. The lack of action – except to double-down on the absolute WORST things, the religious mania, the worship of guns… I saw the heads buried in the sand when I was 16, the refusal to act… and I made a fervent promise to myself that I would never bring children into this unholy mess. Every single shooting since then has only reaffirmed that promise. I couldn’t cope with it. I don’t know how parent’s now are. I worry sick about my niece.
Two weeks after Columbine, there was a rumor that ripped through my school (~3000 kids) that there was going to be a shooter that following Monday. More than 90% of the entire school population stayed home. That’s how many kids were terrified. That’s how many parents were terrified. The school punished us. Every single one of us was marked truant that day. One of my teachers, a religious misogynistic Republican gun nut who taught health, told the only 2 kids in class that day the answer to a test question he created that wasn’t in the book. That very neatly sums up my entire life experience in this god-forsaken state.
I don’t know anyone in Uvalde. I was acquainted with someone who lost her daughter in the Santa Fe shooting 4 years ago. She’s a shell of who she was back then, but how could she not be? How can these $#%&*)$% politicians, @##@% celebrities who WANT to be politicians look those people in the face and not DO something? How can they look ALL of us in the eye and proclaim to be “pro-life” while blithely ignoring what has caused hundreds – thousands – millions? – of lives to be cut short while just trying to live and breathe and exist?
The day gay marriage became legal in Ireland, I was offered a sham marriage by a friend there, so I could easily immigrate out of here. She recently re-iterated that the offer was still on the table. More and more, I think about taking her up on it. I hate this country. I hate the people in power and the sheep who bleat along with anything they say – the more outlandish the better. I used to think it was fixable. Solvable. That I just needed to put a little more effort in. Convince just a few more people. That everyone just needed to care a bit more, work a bit harder, have a little more passion, write to your congressman, vote, get involved… I don’t believe that anymore. I’m just…. I’m done. I’m numb. I don’t have anything left, except for the bereaved.
Same. I cried last night when I got back from taking my daughter to dance class to see the news of so many babies killed. I’m terrified while my kids are at school today, second to last day. I live in an ignorant red state with an astonishing amount of ignorant people who own multiple killing machines. We are also a drug pipeline. Lots of meth. We are working on moving back a couple of hours away to a deep blue progressive area where we used to live even though it’s super expensive which is the reason we moved but it’s not worth living here. I will live in a shack. That’s all we can hope to do though since we are too old to emigrate to Canada.
I have nothing to say to anyone who thinks that having more guns is the solution or enacting common sense gun laws will somehow impinge on the rights of “law abiding” citizens. If they are law abiding then they shouldn’t have an effing problem then should they? The founding fathers couldn’t imagine what types of weapons we have now. They have evolved and the fact that no one wants the laws to evolve with them because they love money more than anything else makes me physically ill and so so angry. This is not what they had in mind when they drafted 2A.
Also, I have no hope for those people that have been radicalized by the right. Not only because of what they have already been saying and the deflecting and trying to distract from the actual cause but because I have family that doubled down on gun rights and being able to obtain as many as possible even after one of them accidentally shot and killed themselves leaving being a young family. After that happened my FIL, who has a history of mental health issues was talking about buying his first gun. My husband was stunned saying that growing up they never ever talked about guns and where in fact against them. I mean, what the fuck are we doing?
Like congressmen Murphy said. We are not an outlier when it comes to mental illness, the whole mental illness argument is a red herring, the only difference is the access to fire arms.
Same. An acquaintance who works in a school posted on SM that this is why teachers and school personnel need to be able to carry in schools. NO! More guns are not the F*CKING answer!! JFC. The big lie is this idea that the NRA has sold that what Americans need to feel safe is more guns. They create a society in which guns are used to make people unsafe and make people believe that only owning more guns will make them safe again. It’s bullsh*t! And people are so ruled by their fear response, they don’t even see that’s what’s going on.
And also that video of Chris Murphy speaking to a mostly empty Senate chamber tells you everything you know about our legislators. They can’t even be bothered to show up after yet another mass shooting.
Yes, adding more guns will NOT help the situation. There were armed guards at the school yesterday, and they engaged the shooter before he went into the building. But it didn’t help.
The element of surprise is always going to the shooter during these events. There’s no “good guy with a gun” who will be able to prevent people from being shot and dying because of that.
I just read that FIREARMS are the #1 cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States. It became #1 in 2020.
As much as I hate the politicians that enable this, we really need to be holding our FELLOW CITIZENS accountable for supporting these politicians! Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, etc. only have power because they are elected. The NRA only has power because there are citizens that follow their recommendations and vote accordingly.
Homicide and suicide by gun have ALWAYS been a matter of impulsivity and opportunity.
If you’re feeling impulsive but can’t immediately access a gun, you’re literally more than 90% less likely to act on the impulse to kill yourself and others.
Meanwhile, you’re still more than 10-times likely to be shot with your own gun (via homicide or suicide) if it’s in your home.
Extremist and authoritarian politicians continue to lie to the public and promote a false sense of security in gun ownership because these cynical politicians actively undermine democracy in order to pick their voters.
We need to stand up to those cynical asshole politicians!
Just like an alcoholic- take away the booze to discover underlying issues at their inception & current beliefs. We need a moratorium on all guns until we figure out where our country went wrong, how to heal and how to be of true servic3e. Our nation needs a 12 step program!
there are just no words for this senseless violence. I really hope that America finally does something to end this gun violence. i cannot believe how little value the gun lobby puts on human life, its truly disgusting. i just ache for those parents and for all the other families who have been affected by this over the decades.
i just dont understand Americas obsession with guns and while i know its now all of American thats how it looks for the outside. i just hope enough people now start to bring pressure onto the political parties to finally make a real change
im just so sorry for anybody affected by any of these shootings
Nothing will be done, not in the slightest.
As your Canadian neighbour I hate to say the country has gone completely to hell. This is so awful.
Another Canadian here and I also doubt that anything will change, or at least not for the better.
When those poor kids were shot at Sandy Hook ten freaking years ago and nothing happened other than trite ‘thoughts and prayers’, that was the signal that many Americans apparently love their guns more than their kids.
I wish I could move to Canada. I’m old, but maybe they need therapists? We were looking to see if they would take us yesterday.
Elsa, we desperately need therapists in New Brunswick, please come
New Brunswick is also a beautiful place to live. Good luck to you Elsa!
I’m a New Yorker and I’m furious. The Supreme Court is going to rule on another gun control case later this term and will probably make matters even worse.
My child will be heading to university in Canada in the fall. They have a student permit that will allow them to live there as a full-time student for the next four years. I’m looking at the Canadian immigration laws and wondering just how hard it will be for them to legally stay once they have graduated. It looks like they will be eligible for a post-graduation work visa for at least a few years.
They can stay after they graduate if they secure work and once they have that job, that will let them apply for Permanent Residency. We want our international students to stay and contribute. In fact, we just celebrated my former co-worker from Colombia taking his citizenship last month. I’ve celebrated lots of people staying after taking this route.
I’m in Canada and I have hired tons of international students who then get citizenship. Once your child graduates, the path to citizenship is very straightforward – get a job, apply for permanent resident, and in a few years get passport. Easy peasy.
I immigrated from the US to Canada after studying here and it’s fairly straightforward! School is the best ticket in! Once they do a post-secondary degree they will be eligible for a 3 year, open work permit. No sponsorship, existing job offer or anything needed. Once they’re on the work permit they can apply for Permanent Residency (PR). There are a few pathways to PR and having done schooling and living in Canada for a while helps a lot. Once you have PR you can then apply for Citizenship!
I have a junior looking at colleges, and I’ve told her to look abroad. Would love to send her to Canada, but the tuition for international students is a LOT. I’m trying to figure out if there are cheaper options or ways to pay that don’t involve massive debt — is there debt forgiveness if she stays in Canada? — but also looking further afield. I don’t want her to go far away, but I don’t want her to live like this, either.
Fellow Canadian here. Just cancelled my planned vacation for June in Nashville . I just can’t eith the gun loving / Republican / thoughts and prayers.
Probably going to Mexico instead. No less dangerous but at least they’re not hypocrites about the violence
Canadian here living in the US. I echo your sentiments that not one damn thing will be done. I’m so mad I can’t even see straight. I’m paralyzed with anger and sadness today for those families, the families of the victims in Buffalo and the countless mass shootings that take place here on the regular. I’ve developed a fear of leaving my house – I try to get to the grocery store before 9 AM. I don’t go to the movies. I hate public spaces here and generally feel unsafe. I visited a sibling in Canada recently and we were in a restaurant. There was a loud popping sound and we all turned around to ask, what are we celebrating? Sure enough there was a champagne bottle at the next table being opened. I just assumed it had to be champagne. By the end of the meal, I noticed I had not located any exits. I sat down for an entire meal without doing that – something that NEVER happens here. And when I hear any kind of commotion here I hit the ground. I stopped going out with groups of children (my kid has friends over and we sometimes grab a bite to eat). I realize I cannot physically cover more than two kids in a mass shooting situation. So we can’t go out with 2 friends now for a total of 3 kids counting my own. We can only go out with one friend at a time. The entire time we are out – I am on edge, watching the doors. I don’t even enjoy my meal. I have just a few more years here living in a constant state of terror before I go home. These poor children. I am in tears thinking what their last few moments were like on this earth. We have completely failed these children. In every way. I am so happy that my child wants to attend university in Canada and live there afterwards. This county is in serious trouble. It’s never going to get fixed. I’m sorry to be so pessimistic today but I don’t see how this gets better.
I’m a Canadian neighbor too. I used to travel to the USA every few weeks and have many friends on the West Coast. So many smart, kind, creative friends that I adored and envied for the great opportunities they had in America. Now I fear for them. I am positively terrified for those who aren’t white men. This has been building for several years, but news like this just reconfirms it. I’m watching an astounding country self destruct. I’m so sad. It’s hard to feel hopeful. 😔
American here living in Canada past 10 years. Just obtained dual citizenship in April. Just talked to two fellow Americans who are planning to move up here. As long as you find a job or study here or apply to PR, you are welcome. I am sad that this has turned out to be the best decision of my life because it means my country really has fallen. I started the PR process in 2008 during the last great recession. My father is happy I am up here and I may sponsor him and my mom next (they are in NY).
Saying goodbye to my two kids this morning, and my husband who is a teacher at their school, sucked. I came inside and cried. I have no words for how hopeless I feel.
I don’t know how you did it. Nowhere is safe, and we all know (because we’ve seen it in the past 10 days) how motivated shooters are by other shootings. It’s terrifying. I’m praying for your family and every other family that had to send their babies off to school this morning. 😭
My husband is a teacher, too, and I’m dreading these last two and a half weeks of school for him and my kids. I told them at dinner last night that every time I hear sirens go by, I say a little prayer that they’re not headed toward the high school two blocks away (where my kids go to school). Every. Time.
I don’t want to live like this anymore, but I don’t know how to get out. We’re too old for another country to want us and not quite wealthy enough to buy our way in. I’m so angry that we’re being held hostage by these Christo-fascists and that people like my parents and my in-laws continue to vote for them.
Likewise. My husband is a school counselor and I have 16. year-old twins. Also, a niece and nephew becoming teachers next year. So fearful for all their safety.
I drove my toddler to daycare this morning and burst into tears pulling out the driveway. I just – how do people keep voting for politicians in the pocket of the gun lobby? How do 2A people not see that the bastardization of the amendment directly results in the mass murder of children? “But mah guns!” Bro, fuck your guns. No one needs an AR-15, not for hunting, not for home defense, not for anything. Ban assault weapons, now.
I did the same! I put my toddler in the car for my husband to take him to daycare and went inside and cried. I called all of my GOP representatives this morning, and ended up crying. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t take the “well if you’re scared, carry a gun on you” BS! Why do I have to carry weapon? Why do I have to feel my chest tighten every time I take my kid to daycare? So a bunch of weak men can feel powerful?? I wish I could move somewhere else because I can’t handle the thought of another 15 years of this terror….
We ARE in a chokehold, and I live in a congressional district “represented” by a rabid second amendment guy who has informed me in writing that he “WILL NEVER” vote for any legislation that inhibits gun ownership in any way. This part of Virginia is so red, people are still flying their Trump flags. I despair, but still vote in every election as one form of protest. We know these horrific mass shootings can happen here, they HAVE. Every time a school shooting happens, VA Tech is on the fucking short list.
When babies are targeted, Congress should be galvanized, but they aren’t. I’ll never understand, or accept, it. I despair.
We need to organize. No votes for any politician who won’t pledge to vote for gun control. We need an organization akin to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.
Absolutely heartbreaking. I have a fourth grader. I can’t imagine what those parents are going through.
the thing that sticks in my mind is the same thing I thought about during Sandy Hook – the moment parents arrive at the school (or here, the reunification center) and look for their child and when they dont see them, they know they are among the victims. That moment is just so impossible to me and I can’t believe that as a nation, we have decided we are okay with that.
I do think that something feels different this time around, that we are more actively calling out the Republicans who are in bed with the NRA. But will it lead to any changes? i doubt it.
A decade ago when Sandy Hook happened, I was angry and scared and upset. This time around, all that has doubled. Not only has NOTHING been done since then, but I myself have two kids in elementary school. My heart goes out to all of those families affected by this. I can’t even fathom the pain and I know I held all of my kids closer yesterday. I think it’s time for me to join the local Mom’s Demand chapter.
And if I see or hear ANY gun nut say anything about this meaning we need MORE guns? I’m going to throw something.
Governor Abbott and Atty Gen’l Paxton already have. Let’s arm all the teachers! MOAR GUNS
Seriously! On my community FB yesterday there were a lot of responses for armed ex-vets to volunteer their time outside schools. So… more guns. Not to mention the amount of mass shootings that are committed by ex-veterans. Ridiculous and embarrassing.
“yesterday there were a lot of responses for armed ex-vets to volunteer their time outside schools”
Which is totally stupid because there were armed guards there at the school that engaged the shooter BEFORE he went into the school. They already had “more guns” at the scene, and it DID.NOT.HELP.
@ Tootsie Thank you for bringing up Moms Demand. We all need to put our words into action.
My baby starts Kindergarten in August and I am so f***ing pissed off and terrified…..I’m feeling all the things this morning. Most of all I am just sad that this is the world we live in in 2022.
Horrific. Children. My heart is broken.
The families of Sandy Hook have lobbied for 10 years to get gun laws tightened up, and nothing has changed. How sad and angry they must feel.
No wonder the rest of the world thinks we’re gun nuts. We are. We have to be part of the solution somehow. More than thoughts and prayers: action.
Nothing has happened since Columbine. The Supreme Court is set to make a dangerous and deadly ruling on concealed carry this summer. It’s only going to get worse.
This is beyond heartbreaking and sadly, it will just keep happening if something isn’t done about gun control.
America has a sad and unhealthy obsession with guns. It’s a disgusting culture and the rest of the world looks in with both fear and fascination at a country that somehow wants to be pro-life, yet is also fostering a creeping civil war while incels gain easy access to f*cking machine guns!
I read that there are 400 million guns! in US.
This is a huge problem.
And even if they stopped selling guns tomorrow I just cant see any quick and easy solution. They need a solid long term plan to go about this. Scary and dangerous situation all around.
One potential solution I’ve heard is to start requiring insurance for all guns, the way insurance is required for all cars. Premiums would determined by the insurance companies, based on factors like criminal record, training and storage. Have a grace period for uninsured/uninsurable guns to be turned in without penalty (include a buy-back, if warranted). A lot of gun owners will not be able to afford insurance or will be uninsurable. And you what? I’m OK with that.
The GOP is the bitch of the NRA. Nothing will be done. If they didn’t give a f@ck about little white kids being murdered at Sandy Hook they aren’t going to care about brown kids in TX. They are already changing the subject and making it about illegal immigration and mental illness, two other things they don’t give a sh@t about either.
This right here. These gun-fetishists have the nerve to say that our President and others are politicizing this tragedy when it was mere minutes after news broke that some on the right tied this tragedy to the boarder. You could feel their sadistic glee at the thought that someone who crossed the boarder was the murderer. They don’t give a sh*t about these poor children murdered.
My heart hurts thinking about those poor parents, siblings, families, students, educators and the entire community.
My brain is on fire thinking about the unprincipled politicians, the NRA and all who DO NOTHING.
I AM SO ANGRY FOR ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LIVES TAKEN BY A MASS MURDERER HOLDING AN AR-15.
P.S. I’m so angry I misspelled border, twice!
Oh yeah, and a giant fuck you to Greg Abbott, the NRA and the 50 senators who do nothing, especially that fuckwad Ted Cruz
All of this. It really is sick, on so many levels. No matter how many times this happens or how many people are lost, it won’t change their minds. They don’t care.
Evil, sick, craven. That’s all I can say about every politician who has all but done the shooting, because they’ve made all of these murders possible. May they be recalled or voted out, because clearly they have no shame.
May those children’s and teachers’ memories be for a blessing and may their families find some small measure of whatever it takes for them to live after this.
I’ll do the only thing I can right now, which is to write Senator Ron Johnson. If you live in the US and have a US Rep who calls themselves “pro-life” while allowing this kind of carnage, please let them know what you think today and at the ballot box.
You can join @momsdemand They have already helped to get red flag laws passed in states.
@SouthernFried – thanks. will look into that as soon as I send this. (Already wrote Senator Johnson.)
When nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I lost all hope. Someday I hope Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz & other republican NRA cronies see how their actions/inactions made these events possible.
#heartbreak
I always thought this. If we couldn’t change after that the senseless murders of kindergartners … there’s no hope for us to ever change.
This is one of several reasons I don’t have children. I would be terrified to send them out in the world.
Oh, they see already.
They just. Don’t. Care.
Sad but true. They will do nothing as usual.
They should all be forced to visit the school before it’s cleaned up and then visit the morgue and the hospital to see the damage guns do to little bodies.
Absolutely heartbreaking. I just can’t even imagine the pain of the families. It’s devastating knowing this country has gotten to the point where school shootings and the killing of school children is just an accepted part of life here. I wish we’d get to a point where something could be done to stop the senseless loss of life but all anyone will get is thoughts and prayers….
I read that ICE was on the ground and most likely doing immigration checks on the families.
I lived in that area for a time and Uvalde is a small-ish town in a fairly rural area. As I understood, ICE and border patrol officers were deployed because they were fairly close geographically and they did triage for the dead and wounded to assist the first responders (limited in this area). The US has some heartless policies for undocumented people, but I think it’s a bit of an assumption to think ICE/border patrol were rushing in to sniff out undocumented families during a tragic crisis.
That sounds exactly like something ICE would do.
I live in the area and you’re right @Honey – there’s a checkpoint near Uvalde and there are Border Patrol Officers that live in the town. A friend’s dad is one of them – I believe they were there as first responders.
*Something* has to change here, I don’t know what the answer but we can’t keep doing nothing. We’ve tried it this way and look what’s happening.
Our country’s “leadership ” should be ashamed. But people like them are never ashamed. Too busy rolling in their blood money and exploiting political connections for more blood money and power. All of this while trying to stuff women back into a Victorian era state of existence. If I had the money I would be moving to another country. I cannot believe we have come to this yet here we are.
GOP, fuck your thoughts and prayers! There won’t be a thing done, though. I am disgusted with this country that I live in.
Red states are hellbent on making guns more accessible and we will soon have a SCOTUS decision that may make it easier to carry guns across this nation. These decisions are being made by people who want to erode public safety and make people feel afraid so that they can carry out their agenda, which is to ensure that the system that favors them stays in place forever. The 2022 midterms matter in a big, big way and I hope people will vote.
No person or family should ever be afraid to send their child to school or out into the community; no child or person should be afraid of being murdered at school or out in the community. Republicans have made this country unsafe.
@Enormouscoat, I completely agree. I am so sick and tired of all the guns and mass killings that are going on in this country. I live in a major city in Texas and religiously vote. I am praying enough Texans will show up at the polls in November and get rid of Abbott and the accompanying Republicans that are willing to sweep yet another gun incident under the rug.
I saw someone on Twitter said, basically, that Sandy Hook was effectively the end of the gun control debate in the US. Once we decided that it was ok to sacrifice children in the name of the 2nd Amendment, it was over.
It’s so enraging I lack the words to accurately express my feelings.
I was already upset and Obama broke me when he narrowed down the places my child or I could get killed. My son is so excited to start kindergarten in the fall and I just want to quit my job and keep him home with me and hold him. He was getting irritated with me last night just loving on him and I said “some bad things happened today and I just need to hold you” and he relented. And also used it as an excuse to sleep in the bed with me.
I feel you on this. My daughter is due to start kindergarten this fall, and the neighborhood school she is starting at me and her got robbed at knifepoint at Christmastime, I haven’t been right since mentally. Seeing this yesterday has sent me into a spiral, there’s already not a day that goes by that I don’t think of sandy hook, or parkland. Being a parent is exactly how they say, you wear your heart outside your body at all times. I couldn’t stop crying yesterday and I couldn’t tell her why because I don’t know when is the right age to say that these things happen. Having to tell a child that in of itself is absolutely ghoulish and a nightmare. I too just wanna quit my job and school her, or keep her in her daycare for as long as I can. I hate it so much.
“My son is so excited to start kindergarten in the fall and I just want to quit my job and keep him home with me and hold him.”
That is exactly what the GOP want Meghan. They want women in the home and children not exposed to the outside world or any education. All of this is part of their plan to keep white supremacy going.
+1
They would be so disappointed if I ever did decide to keep my little white boy home because he would emerge the wokest little feminist I could possibly create. He ain’t gonna be on their side.
Sadly, my father’s entire retirement “plan” is building and modifying assault weapons for people. It makes me sick. My child has never been to his grandfather’s house because he has guns EVERY WHERE. (He does all this gun stuff legally, too.)
As a Canadian I don’t fully understand the gun laws in America. Are they different state to state? And doesn’t everyone require a background check to purchase a weapon?
Not in Texas. Texas you don’t even need a license for certain weapons. Or to open carry.
For the states that do have background checks a lot of them are basic and don’t capture a lot
To add last year in Texas abbott lowered the age to buy a handgun to 18 from 21.
I’m an American and I don’t fully understand either (mainly bc I just have no desire to ever own a gun so I don’t follow the laws that much), but yes, they are different state to state, and no, not everyone is required to pass a background check at this point, I don’t think. I could be wrong about that though.
I saw a list on Twitter last night of gun laws signed by Abbott (the TX governor) and I think one of them removed the background check requirement and another made it legal to carry a gun wherever you want to in Texas.
I’m in a very red area in a very blue state so the people around me have mixed views on guns; mainly the few people I actually know who have guns don’t have a problem with gun laws. Like if a gun was required to be stored in a gun safe, they’re fine with that because they do that anyway. If ammunition and the guns are required to be stored separately, they’re fine with that because they do that anyway. If they have to pass a background check they’re fine with that. But I know very few people who own guns. I think in other states that are more red (like Texas) its probably a very different mindset.
Becks: It’s not law to properly store the weapon with minors in the home?
I honestly don’t know what the laws are, even in my state.
It’s so scary. I didn’t want to leave my kids today. I would have been perfectly happy to sit on the couch and snuggle with movies all day. It’s just sickening and I’m heartbroken for these families.
@Mary Tosti, the laws on safe storage vary from state to state.
This. Everyone I know who owns guns/bows for hunting (and I live in Wisconsin, so that’s a lot) is more than okay with gun safety laws because they do all of those things, too. Even the ones without kids at home have gun safes. What the GOP treason weasels (someone mentioned Ron Johnson, never forget he spent the Fourth of July in Moscow) never mention is that the majority of the country wants gun safety laws. But since Republicans don’t actually care about or even want democracy, they’ll keep pandering to the NRA and white supremacists instead.
I live in Texas. There are no registration requirements on guns here (I think there are in some states), so there is a lot of just private selling that goes on. Once a gun has changed hands a couple times, it’s basically impossible to know who owns it anymore.
@Mary Tosti, Yep, they are different from state to state. We need major legislation passed by congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) and signed into law by President Biden to bring gun laws in sync for the country.
Unfortunately, we have a 50/50 (Democrats/Republicans) senate. Republicans are beholding (bitches) to the NRA therefore, nothing will get done unless we elect more Democrats or we eliminate the filibuster (meaning a few Senators can hold up major legislation that benefits the entire country). 2022 mid terms can put an end to this if enough people who are concerned about this issue vote. We the citizens of the US have the power to end this. It’s takes the will do do it in this vast nation.
The NRA annual meeting is in Houston this weekend. Abbott is speaking on Friday. They’ve already said they aren’t going to cancel it.
They want to arm teachers. That’s the talking point. They disgust me
Guns are banned that NRA meeting, can you fkn believe that?
Guns are banned at the NRA meeting?! Are you fcking KIDDING ME? Cowardly pieces of shit, all of them.
Vote, vote, vote.
I know people on this website probably all are smart enough to vote, but too many don’t because they’ve been stimulated to think their vote doesn’t matter anyway (guess by what kind of people: the ones who don’t want the sane people to vote).
l live in Calif, a *very* blue state with *deep* red pockets. There are SO MANY people here who feel they don’t need to vote because “we’re blue *anyway* so eh…” Thing is, we won’t *remain* blue if this happens much longer. People seem to forget things CAN and DO change.
I always tell them to look at Orange County, where Katie Porter won. OC is, historically, a deep red pocket with blue dots. However….we made a change for the better with Katie (God bless her and her white board!).
But we can NEVER become complacent. ESP. in local elections!!! Get the ballots out and check out your candidates. Vote blue down the line. What I do is I check out the various blue candidates and vote for the one I feel is best, but I *do* vote blue. It’s SO important at local levels and for the judges that you *can* vote for!!!
Very well said and done.
The problem is indeed that Republicans do come out and vote, while other people don’t go because they think it doesn’t matter.
And then they get to decide over people.
The last time we had an active shooter drill at my rural college, while sitting with my students in a tiny studio, I learned they all had guns or access to guns. I assume the same for many of our students. Everytime I report grades, I think really hard about F’s and pissing off the wrong kid. My sister and niece both teach in an elementary school and love those babies as if they were their own. Our red state governor filmed her reelection commercial at the shooting range. I don’t expect a single thing to change.
😳 That is incomprehensible to me as a European. All my life I have never known a single person who owned a gun. That is just something you see in movies. I didn’t know it was on that sheer scale!!
Sorry to hear that.
Wishing you the best.
The Daily Show did a segment on guns in Switzerland in late 2018. Despite having fairly high gun ownership, Switzerland hasn’t had a mass shooting event for 20 years. The NRA points to Switzerland’s low murder rate to argue against additional gun rules. Having grown up in a rural family, guns and hunting were part of our lives. Everyone I knew took the NRA gun safety course; I thought that was the purpose of the NRA. As I grew older, I realized the real purpose of the NRA is to act as the marketing arm for gun manufacturers.
For a European, these abominable conditions are simply incomprehensible. My heart goes out to the victims and the many people who live in fear on a daily basis.
When I opened the newspaper on my phone this morning, I nearly cried on the subway platform. What a terrible day.
I’m not American but we’ve had school shootings here as well (not many thank the universe). At some point we should discuss why it is ALWAYS men and boys who go on these rampages. I know stricter gun laws are necessary and they work. But they won’t fix the root causes. So many of these shooters seem to have had severe issues in school, in life, their mental health was not good, and it’s always given as a kind of explanation. Some are racist. Sometimes we never find out what drove them to it. But women deal with/are all those things, they never just walk into a building and kill people. I’m not saying we’re better humans, I’m saying we’re not and therefore the reasons should be addressed. Or found to begin with. This is absolute insanity.
I think it’s critically important to understand that puberty and adolescence equal surges of testosterone combined with the anger about school attendance or adult advice. Death is not really real to these numb nuts. They feel victimized. They lash back. The consequences are devastating.
We need to stop arming them. We need to understand that this is a volatile period in any person’s life. They cannot terrorize us if there are serious changes made to how we treat big kids/miniature adults.
My daughter is a first year fourth grade teacher….I cried all the way to work listening to the news today. I’m so tired of all this crap and I’m so scared for this country.
I’m so tired of the NRA padding the sleazy politicians pockets. No one needs an assault rifle and body armor unless you’re in the military. Attn gun owners: no one is coming for your small stupid little pistols and your hunting firearms, you don’t need your AR-45’s (or whatever the f#$K they are)….I just don’t understand how people can’t see that and think it’s reasonable, anyone, Republican or not.
How can you not look at those pictures of those kids and think that it’s ok to continue to support owning these items?
And now let’s cue all the meme’s showing the picture of a gun by itself and the ‘guns alone don’t kill, people do’ statement, blah blah blah…I’m over that bullshit too.
I’m from Connecticut, on the opposite side of the state from Newtown. When Sandy Hook happened it took me awhile to find out the name of the town so I just panicked, thinking about all my little cousins who were around that age. And the feeling of guilty relief when I knew they were safe. But in Connecticut, it feels like Sandy Hook still hangs over us all, and it always will. Because the republicans care more about getting their money and power than they do about actually protecting life.
I can’t imagine how this feels for parents, it’s just devastating. I’m 32, and for years now I haven’t been sure about having children. When news of the shooting in Uvalde broke yesterday I texted my mom and said “today’s tragedy is a pretty key factor in why I’m unsure about having children.” And her response shocked me: my parents aren’t even sure they want grandchildren anymore! For years, my mom has been openly sad about my lack of interest in having children, and now she thinks I have the right mindset after all. This country just isn’t safe.
I’m so sorry for the parents who lost their little ones yesterday, and to the families who lost loved ones in California, and in Buffalo last week. And I’m so angry that so many politicians refuse to acknowledge that there ARE solutions we could implement. Watching Chris Murphy yesterday broke my heart, but his colleagues won’t give a shit. And that’s the problem.
I am a Texan and I’m so heartbroken over the senseless loss of these precious lives. I hope and pray that others will join me in a pledge to not vote for any candidate who won’t support gun control. I want to make the 2022 election a single issue elections.,,m’
Will it make any difference? Abbott lowered the age for purchasing a gun after El Paso. This gunman was 18. There is blood on Abbott’s hands and he doesn’t give a f*ck. Nothing is going to change. Babies lives mean less than gun rights. I hate this world and I especially hate the state I live in. Knowing my brothers stand behind Abbott makes me nauseous. How did we get here?
It’s absolutely heartbreaking, my heart goes out to all Americans who are affected by this senseless violence, while your political representatives choose to turn their backs. If I were American I would feel so so angry.
Since Trump was elected I have been making some efforts to understand your political system, and the one thing that really shocked me was to realise how the Senate is composed, and that it’s just two senators from each state regardless of population. To an outsider like me it seems anti-democratic that a voter from Wyoming (population 580,000) gets so much more voice that a voter from California (population 40 million), and the states that benefit are mostly Republican. With all those red states getting a disproportionate voice no wonder you can’t get any traction on gun control, or women’s reproductive rights.
Let’s start a conversation about the woeful lack of mental health treatment facilities in this country and the lack of health insurance the parents face when trying to access mental health services for their child. Yes it’s a gun problem but also a social services and mental health problem. Rarely does a horrible event like this happen without there being multiple failures in society.
It would be great if it were that easy. As a counselor, I can tell you it is not. All countries have mental health issues with varied levels of response. It’s guns. It’s all guns.
I read we are 4.4% of the world’s pop., yet own 47% of the world’s guns. There you go.
You know, in my country we also have a significant issue with the availability of mental health treatment, it’s completely inadequate. We also haven’t had a significant shooting incident for many years. America has a gun problem, not a mental health problem.
Do Americans ever look to other countries and see that there aren’t mass shootings every day (or at all)? The obstinate refusal to do anything meaningful about the gun problem is baffling to the rest of the world. But then again, the election of Trump was baffling to the rest of the world so…
This time will be looked at historically as the end of American world dominance.
some Americans do.
I would kind of say there are three camps – the Americans who look at other countries and realize that we have a gun problem (other problems as well, but the reason 19 children are dead today is because an 18 year old had access to a gun); Americans who think we have a gun problem but think we have other problems and that if we fix those other problems then the gun problem wont be as “big” a problem; and americans who think the answer is more guns.
I’m in the first camp, but I know a lot of people who are in the second camp and its frustrating because it involves a certain amount of…I don’t know, I dont want to say cognitive dissonance, but something like that. Like its easier to think of the other problems and solutions for them bc we know that 50 senators are holding the nation hostage, like Steve Kerr said.
I will add in general that American “exceptionalism” is so ingrained in many from a young age that we don’t like to look at other countries to see what they are doing; there’s a reason our healthcare system is a mess and people are just like “oh well, any kind of socialized medicine would never work, its a failure in other countries.” or “oh well, we don’t need any kind of federally mandated paid maternity leave, that’s just so socialist, we don’t care that almost every other country in the world has it.”
So its not “just” guns where we have this issue, unfortunately.
It’s sad and depressing that (some) people seem to think gun violence and school shootings are just something that the population have to live with. This will be generational trauma – I know the Columbine era kids (and those who directly experienced that tragedy) suffer as a result and grew up to be fearful and overly protective parents.
I was already a nervous child, I can’t imagine what regular “active shooter drills” would have done to my psyche growing up and forming my view of the world.
yes, there are multiple failures in our society for this to happen. And yes, our mental health services here are dismal, as is our health system in general (if you don’t have good health insurance.)
But its not like every other country has the best mental health treatment or no other country has issues with mental health etc and yet they dont have the regular mass shootings that we have.
It’s a gun problem.
One of the first things Trump did was to roll back an Obama billl which kept guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. The GOP is not about gun safety or services for the mentally ill.
Americans, even those who are unwell, have access to guns that can fire very rapidly, with such a high velocity that they explode organs like water balloons.
It’s not just mental health, it’s not just guns, it’s not just the type of guns, it’s not just the amount of ammunition, it’s not just how fast they can shoot….it’s ALL of it. But at the root, you fill find access to GUNS. How can people suggest that GUNS are not the cause of mass SHOOTINGS????? Their very definition requires a gun, even when the shooters are very different.
If mentally unwell people did not have access to guns, they would not be committing mass shootings. It is the unfettered access that is the cause. Additionally, there are no accepted mental health diagnoses for “racist” and “hateful”, so that’s not a mental health issue.
Anyone who claims that mental illness, or lack of access to mental health services, is a leading cause of mass shootings in the U.S.A. has become a tool of the NRA. A key NRA talking point to deflect attention away from the guns they are marketing is to blame mental illness. It’s a great advertising strategy to use on people dumb enough to accept it without any critical thinking.
We have rights to health privacy through HIPPAA; but there are instances where limited information can be shared with National Instant Criminal Background Check System if individuals’ mental health determination disqualifies them from having a firearm or if their State designates reporting to NICBCS. Despite efforts to tailor the exceptions as narrowly as possible, people who are involuntarily committed (e.g. Britney Spears) are stuck. HHS does not want to discourage anyone from seeking mental health treatment, and readily acknowledges that the vast majority of people with mental health problems are more likely to be victims, than perpetrators. HHS rule regarding HIPPAA and NICBCS can be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/nics/index.html
NRA, being the premier marketers that they are, has funneled $$$ into politicians’ pockets to prevent unwelcome funding of research into the poor health outcomes associated with guns – this successfully prevented CDC from funding any ‘gun control’ activity for over twenty years. Unfortunately, when another mass shooting occurs, the NRA has trained enough stooges to talk ‘mental illness’ to deflect the attention away from the guns that did the killing. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has pointed out that whenever there’s mass shooting event, mentally ill people are unfairly drawn into the conversation, and according to the CDC 60% of all gun deaths are suicides.
NAMI statement on gun violence research and funding: https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Stopping-Harmful-Practices/Gun-Violence-Research
ABC report on gun violence and mental health: https://abcnews.go.com/US/gun-violence-america-mental-health/story?id=79101219
Don’t kid yourself about the purpose of the NRA – their job is to market guns in US for all gun manufacturers. So whenever, you see some proposal that teachers in the classroom should be armed, remember the impetus for that is to sell more guns.
People in canada have mental health issues as well. But I can tell you what it takes to get a gun license for a hunting rifle. First you need to take a two day course. One of the days is a school time course with an exam at the end of the day. The next day is a practical course with a test at the end of the day.
Then you need to provide references to vouch for your character.
And that is just a hunting rifle. To get a handgun you need further tests and searches and you can only use your gun at a shooting range. And you need to give the local police your planned route to go to that shooting range. If you deviate from it then you can get charged.
There are different rules for police officers but they can’t bring their weapons all over while off duty.
And there are certain guns unavailable to Canadians altogether. But hunters and farmers manage to do quite well with what they have.
And the other guns that show up illegally in canada… they come from the US.
So until there are serious restrictions like what happens in canada, the US is not serious about guns at all.
A woman making decisions about her own body with her Dr, should be policed but any lunatic can get their hands on a gun. I just can’t…..
Republicans know what the optics are and the tragedy of their lax stance on guns and do not care. The NRA convention is in Texas this week and Cruz, Abbott and (I think) Trump all still plan to attend. They want campaign money from the gun lobby more than they want to protect people. They want to give guns more rights than they do women. I can only hope the boiling rage of parents carries them to the polls in November to vote these terrible people out of office for good.
I am a blue dot in Texas. I have a granddaughter on the way and beloved nieces and nephews. My sister is a teacher and I am a counselor in a high school. I’m heading to school this morning where my beloved students are about to take their second day of finals. I can’t imagine the fear and trauma in the sweet souls. I can barely breathe and am just sick.
My thoughts are with Elsa, I thank God for Teachers. I am also in a blue dot in Texas and I am also sad and sick.
It’s quite sad to say but doesn’t even shock me anymore and all these “thoughts and prayers” don’t help. It’ll be “thoughts and prayers” for a couple months then will happen again. And ppl ask me why I don’t want kids
I’ve been crying off and on since the news broke. Once the numbness of “again?” Went away, I just cannot keep them in anymore. This country hates its people and I really don’t understand why! Most people I’ve met in my life have been nice, helpful, welcoming people. But then stuff like this happens more than once a day and I wonder if I’ve just been ignorant of people’s true personalities my whole life. Most days I’m truly ambivalent about having kids- I honestly don’t know if I want them or not. But it’s weeks like these, when an abuse victim is being mocked across the internet, our rights are being stripped with a smile, and children can’t safely go to school, that I’m incredibly glad I don’t have any kids. Then I realize there are kids I care about, and I fear my sister or my friends going through what all the parents in TX are experiencing, and the tears start again. There are no words.
This keeps happening for the very simple – and incredibly evil – reason that the people in power care about money and power. As long as they can get money from the gun lobby to line their pockets and keep themselves in power, they don’t give a damn about kids getting killed in schools, elders getting killed in churches, their neighbors getting killed in grocery stores, or cops getting killed on the street.
The only thing these evil politicians love is their money and their power.
You know what they say- guns don’t kill people, gop congressmen’s policies of corruption kill people.
They won’t even TRY to slow down massacres of children because it may mess with gun manufacturers profit margins.
And offend frightened men who “need” multiple guns to not feel inadequate.
I’m giving up on humanity.
Texas Mom here, I had to send my kids off to school this morning with a sick stomach. I hate this so much and the fact that NRA is having their National Convention in Houston with our Governor and Senators who get tons of money from them are key note speakers make me want to vomit. All I can hope is that Beta gets more votes to help us all here.
It’s just makes me so mad that this keeps happening and nothing is changing. In the uk we had the Dunblane shooting in 1996 in Scotland, where a local man walked into a primary school and shot the class at their teacher. The children were the youngest in the school, around aged 5-6 years old. At the time I was in my last year at primary school, and security measures were stepped up round my school as a result.
After that happened, guns were banned in the uk and we now have the lowest rates of gun crime in the world. If there was ever anything the UK did right, it was that. they listened to the public pleas to ban guns, and they banned them. Literally no one in the uk complains about how much they miss their gun, it’s just not apart of our culture.
Why can’t America see how effective the guns ban has been in the uk?
The US constitution literally starts with the words ‘We the people’, something that the Supreme Court and the Republicans have forgotten – they are wilfully ignoring the will of the majority of the people who want access to safe abortions and sensible gun laws.
The only care about the 30 pieces of silver in their pocket – given to them by the NRA and Evangelical lobbyists.
I have never understood the downright obsession with the constitution. It can be amended but God forbid someone thinks about actually changing it. It’s a piece of paper that continues to to rule over a people centuries after it was written, that’s not democracy. The way it is studied and interpreted by the SC like there is no answer to modern problem and issues outside of it. Why? It’s crazy to me. Times change and so should laws etc. It’s not the Bible. Maybe the reason for this is that a set of rules that benefited a few white dudes centuries ago still benefits white dudes today. Was it really written for anyone else?
The sad reality is these gun nuts are the ones least at risk of being shot. It’s school kids that are being shot at, not them. I think if women loved guns as much as men and actually used them towards any man who tried to rape or abuse them, I wonder how much these gun nuts would love them then.
These gun fanatics love guns especially when others detest them, because I guess it makes them feel more powerful being in possession of one. They cling to the constitution because it’s the only excuse they can think of to justify why they need to own an object that serves no purpose, other than injure or kill people.
Actually, studies show that gun owners, particularly ones that practice open carry, are at higher risk of getting killed or assaulted by another gun owner. But therein lies the problem: we are not doing enough to talk about thousands of individual cases of gun violence that demonstrates the “good guy with a gun” is a false narrative. And there are the cases of death by gun negligence or by suicide. Mass shootings, especially involving school children, get media attention for brief moment before people collectively move on and forget them. The reality is gun violence at all levels is pervasive in our society. But the narrative to push reform and possibly amend the Constitution has been stymied greatly by the gun lobby. There is a reason the CDC has not been able to treat gun violence like a public health problem and study it further — the gun lobby had a hand in that.
Australia also brought in strong gun control after a 1996 mass shooting that completely shocked the country, and was actually ‘inspired’ by Dunblane. (Unfortunately evidence suggests these sorts of things inspire others to do the same). Mass shootings in the 26 years since then? Zero. None. Nada.
Worth noting that a conservative government in Australia brought in new laws, not a left wing government. It had bipartisan support among politicians and, of course, huge public support.
But neither the UK nor Australia had the powerful NRA lobby to contend with.
I despair of the US doing anything. It seems to go round and round in circles …
@msd yes- I’m Australian and it’s one of the things I am so grateful for – that our government had the guts to do this all those years ago. The PM at the time was very conservative, but it’s something I still admire him for despite not sharing his politics. Every time this happens my heart breaks for the innocent victims and their loved ones. It makes me angry and frustrated and so incredibly sad. Sending love to our US celebitches.
Banning guns has been so effective in other countries and the US still turns a blind eye to that. It’s so frustrating because this will keep happening. Literally no one cares about guns in the uk or misses being able to own one, they serve no purpose other than to kill.
When the Montreal massacre happened in 1989 the government at the time was conservative and they brought in better laws, and the liberals in the early 90s brought in the long gun registry.
My dad had some shotguns he didn’t use but had since he was a kid on a farm and since he didn’t want the bother of having to pay for them to be registered, he returned them to the police, which was one of the options.
Handguns in canada have always been restricted so that was not as much of an issue.
I’m sorry for the losses of these poor kids and teachers, and their families suffering.
I don’t understand the USA, I really don’t. This amendement on the rights to own guns is totally inconceivable to me. The Is the senator of Texas (I think it was him) insane? Train teachers to shoot guns to defend the schools??? So, let’s get rid of mass shooting by giving people more guns??
It’s too insane….
I’m an American and sickened by this. I don’t understand why nothing is ever done. We have had three Presidents and 6 versions of Congress since Sandy Hook and nothing. Nothing. Joe Biden was VP during Sandy Hook and was made the gun legislation guru at that time. The children that died at Sandy Hook would be graduating from high school this year. Think about that. And it just happened again. This is the second time since Sandy Hook we have had a democratic president and congress and nothing. What will it take???
This makes me angry. My heart breaks for the victims and their families, and with the feeling of helplessness after back to back tragedies. Republicans acted so quickly to protect supreme court justices (or should I say injustices) from peaceful protesters but refuse to act to protect citizens. How many more of us need to die before they do something? Their hands are stained with the blood of victims lost to terrorists they enable.
America has problems, let me say that first. I’m not trying to foist off our issues on another entity, but it feels like there’s a sinister thread running through American life these days, fed by homegrown billionaire dark money and foreign money. Never forget the extent to which Russia was funding GOP politicians via the NRA, or their involvement in hacking people’s brains via algorithm with Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and the GOP’s fervent assistance.
Clearly America was founded in racism and misogyny, but we had been making fits and starts of progress. Why has so much of that progress been undone? Why are we actively going backwards? It’s the organized effort of secret and semi-secret anti-democracy and anti-liberty elements within our country. Like the Federalist Society, for example, who owns the Supreme Court.
I have been veering back and forth between rage and sobs ever since this happened. Rage has won, and I’m not someone who rages very often. I nearly threw something through my tv when that ass**** Ted Cruz was interviewed. I literally had to leave the room or I would have.
We are under attack by the GOP, and, like so many others, I have had it. There was a huge upsurge on Twitter last night of people saying that this is an Emmit Till moment. His mother insisted on an open casket so the country could see what had been done to him. Maybe it’s time this country sees the carnage that happens when tiny little bodies are decimated by military weapons designed to kill adults. There’s a reason the parents had to provide DNA samples, and the media tiptoed around that fact. It’s because their babies were unidentifiable without it. At the very least, Abbott and Paxton and the Republican senators holding this country hostage should have had to go right into that murder scene, and then face the parents. They should have to help clean it up. The blood of countless Americans, especially children, is on their hands. They are drenched in it. Having said all that, maybe it wouldn’t matter anyway if we saw the results of what happened. We have become so desensitized to these horrors, that we rage and weep and then go on. Until the next one. And there will be a next one.
If we don’t fight back, if we stay complacent, if we don’t fight to vote in every single election – despite their efforts to stop us – we cede this country to them. I’m two weeks shy of 69. I am horrified at what’s become of us. My plan is to rage and weep when it comes over me, and then I’m going to start pummeling these senators with phone calls and emails. I’m going to use my scant finances to donate to candidates who will fight this monstrous assault by the right wing. Otherwise, I won’t be able to look myself in the mirror again.
As the icing on this particularly bitter cake, Donald Trump is going to be at the NRA rally in Houston this weekend. I I am so disgusted and heart sick and ANGRY.
I’ve said it before I’ll say it again. Republicans WON’T sign any gun control bills until their OWN children and grandchildren get killed in mass shootings. This is how the are, on the wrong side until it happens to them. They were against stem cell research until Reagan needed it in his fight against Alzheimer’s. Against gay marriage until Cheney’s daughter came out.
In the meantime, corporations COULD withhold funding Republican candidates till they pass gun control and codify Roe v Wade. And…you know voters could ….vote for Democrats. If 78% of the population believes in pro choice and 83% believe in gun control, how is the GOP getting 47% of votes. And interestingly no mention of mental health when black kids are shooters in their neighborhood, but with white kids…Omg their mental health
That’s exactly what I was thinking. As long as is isn’t THEIR children or grandchildren. It’s absolutely revolting.
Those poor kids and families. No words. When is America going to learn and actually do something about this? We’ll all move on and forget about it until the next one. It’s so wrong. Don’t make these kids die in vain.
The damage the American constitution has done on modern American society is devastating. Just rip up the damn peice of paper and move on and maybe more children will live to be adults.
a poem, by me, on seeing 19 babies being unnecessarily taken by stupid f**king guns:
We’re pro life-
One nation under the NRA
Even if our children pay
and die at school each day
It’s okay we’ll say
We took abortion rights away.
We’re saving babies
I am both angry and full of despair over this. I have a forth grader and was feeling nervous sending them to school today. At the same time, Texas as a state enacted legislation to make it possible for this to happen. They have removed all gun restrictions and lowered the purchase age to 18. I don’t think that state’s leadership really care that much about people, even school kids, being massacred because they are beholden to the gun lobby and it’s money. Their voters who elect them don’t care enough either and find masks in schools more dangerous. They will continue to punish and restrict the rights of women, while dangerous men and boys will get more excuses for their abuse of women and girls. The shooter shot his grandmother before going to the school. The Newtown shooter killed his mother before killing all those children. There is a pattern of misogyny and violence towards women, and the policies of Texas further fuel it. Remember they basically out a bounty on women’s head who want abortions and reproductive care. There is just this refusal to take real action and responsibility from those who can actually do something. They’re gonna go to Houston this weekend to appease the gun lobby and arrest protesters and blame the left and immigrants, so I’m just pessimistic.
All I can say, as your Canadian neighbour, is I am so, so sorry for all the rational, thoughtful and intelligent Americans who have to suffer another senseless and horrific catastrophe…whose Republican representatives have a stranglehold on society. Their craven greed controls their actions or lack thereof and has caused them to sell out to the dark side. I cannot imagine how parents must feel sending their little ones off to school today. How hard it must be to see the fear in your children’s eyes. I cannot fathom a country where kids have to routinely go through active shooter exercises at their schools. What in the name of living hell is happening to America?
What’s happened is Republicans in their eternal quest for power and money. We have to vote every single one out. We have to campaign constantly. Trump didn’t start this hell, he’s a consequence of low down dirty Republicans.
I think we need considerably more work on preparing parents, children, and society on how to deal with adolescents. The age of puberty is decreasing steadily and we have a lot of testosterone and anger floating around in the air. There must be a better way of evaluating how much early puberty and hate outlets combine to entice kids to be angry.
Bottom line is easy access to guns.
Quoting Sherrilyn Ifill
“ there’s a concerted effort right now to convince you that “nothing can be done.” It’s designed to make you give in to the exhaustion of this moment. Don’t believe it. It’s a lie. We have power if we mobilize.” Moms Demand has been very effective resulting in states passing Red Flag laws. If theyre more of us more can be done. Check into it. Also check into Shannon R Watts.
I don’t want to hear one f**king word about “thoughts and prayers” from the GOP members who literally allow these incidents to keep happening BY refusing to agree to gun reform!!! And then they just want to blame it on mental illness!! The majority of people with mental health issues are NOT violent (Reuters, Psychology Today). That stereotype only perpetuates another dangerous narrative and does this discussion no favors! Stigmatizing mental health is NOT going to help prevent/lessen the number of mass shootings in America. The people who carry out these murderous mass shootings, are basically evil. Plotting and planning their attack; most leave a trail of evidence of this.
The U.S. has more guns, access to guns and less restrictive laws regarding obtaining one. YET, the United States also has more mass shootings than any other country. Coincidence? F**K NO! The fact that the funding and donations the GOP gets from the NRA is more important to them, and their political careers, versus the lives of children and Americans is pure selfishness and greed, and utterly disgusting. They are more concerned about the lives of a pre-born fetus, then they are with the living, breathing Americans in this country.
Pro-life? But they are pro-gun, pro-military, pro-death penalty, anti-healthcare, anti-food stamps/welfare programs. Talk about some cognitive dissonance???!!!
Beto O’Rourke FTW! I sincerely, fervently hope he’s the next governor of Texas.
I literally just saw this clip and it was amazing. Beto actually said something to those loser hasbeens’. I can’t watch or go on the news anymore tho. It makes extremely angry. And that one idiot calling him an ass****?!?! GTFO
My oldest starts kindergarten next year, and I’m terrified. My husband and I have been having serious conversations about moving out of the US. If any non-US-living people have any suggestions of specific countries and cities they love, let me know. I’m so exhausted and tired from worrying.
You have my sympathy! Canada has some great places to live — both the east and west coasts are wonderful. Vancouver Island is amazing, Halifax is amazing, St. John’s Newfoundland is amazing, PEI is lovely. Our Maritime provinces have some of the most friendly, welcoming and warm people you’ll ever meet.
As a Canadian, it is insane to watch the direction the US is heading. The US has the resources to fund education, healthcare and infrastructure. They could have the highest standard of living in the world. Instead it is choosing the path of corruption for personal gain. The US is choosing to leave people behind. It is like your government does not even see that the world is leaving the US behind.
It was their last day of school. Kids emptying out their desks and lockers. Talking about summer plans. Teachers getting little gifts piled up on their desks, thank-yous for a year.
They were going to sleep-in today. No early wake-up. The stress of school gone for a time. Hot days of slow exploration. Camp, swimming, trips, fireworks on the 4th of July. Unrestricted freedom took their summer. It took everything. It turned that exciting last day of school into an empty forever.
Doing nothing in the face of this is obscene.
How did Ronald Reagan, the most openly racist, republican, pro-NRA president (prior to the aberration known as tRump) gain the rep as: “the most consequential president for gun control legislation in the past century” as one researcher/writer labeled him?
Heres how:….when members of the Black Panther began to exercise their right to openly carry loaded firearms in California, as was the law back then up to 1967, it suddenly occurred to white supremacist legislators that perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
That was the beginning of some of the most sweeping gun control legislation ever signed into law by a president. They included:
1. Ban on open carry in California.
2. Ban on the sale of machine guns and other automatic weapons.
3. Mandated background checks for handgun purchases.
4. Ban on assault weapons.
Caveat: even tho some of these laws hv been weakened, they remain on the books to this day.
Perhaps we need today’s equivalent of the Black Panthers…..like…….lets ask ourselves: who are the children being murdered in these mass shootings? Theyre from ordinary working families of all races, right?
Not rich, right? Not politicians’ kids, right?
What if the victims of these mass shootings weren’t the children of ordinary working class americans? What if they..…..weren’t poor……
Would those legislators who hv been blocking commonsense gun control laws still hold out?
Ive never thought more about leaving this country and renouncing my citizenship than I have in recent months. I dont want to live in a place where women are hated and people seem be to be ok with people being massacred while just living their lives. Ugh. Get me out of here!
The other thing I want to add is about the laws in Switzerland. I have a good friend who loves there and have discussed it with him. This is often misrepresented in the US media. Yes, all Swiss residents are issued a firearm when they serve in the military (which is a requirement like many other small countries like Israel). They are expected to keep this weapon once they are discharged from the military. They, however, cannot buy bullets. The thought process is: If they ever go to war and need them, the government will supply ammunition to every resident because they know what gun they have. So they have a completely unusable piece of weaponry (unless as a paper weight??) until the government calls them to war. My friend is well into his 50s and has never taken it out of its box since leaving the military.
This is a great commentary on the massive amount of support the Republican party gets from the NFL and their support of the 2nd amendment. https://jezebel.com/conservative-nfl-owners-dont-get-to-hide-behind-thought-1848976147
The Democrats have control of both houses. So what’s stopping them from changing the gun legislation?
Do you know anything about our government? You need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome the fillibuster.
So……….a 50-50 division (the Senate) means someone is in control?
NEWSFLASH: Even with VP Harris casting a tie vote, there are at least 2 so-called Dem senators that the Dems CANNOT COUNT ON TO DO THE RIGHT THING: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
The Democrats need to have a floor vote to see where members stand and then primary Democrats and run against Republicans who obstruct gun reform at the next election.
I realize my comment is a little biting. I apologize for that, but I am so tired of people looking for the cause of this problem, and focusing anywhere else than the GOP, who have blocked sensible gun legislation my ENTIRE LIFE. At state level, at the federal level, they rally against even the most basic legislation when it comes to guns. So I don’t have patience when it comes to people saying “what about the Dems”, because it isn’t the dems that have been the problem for the last 40 years.
Firearms are the #1 cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States. And it is absolutely the fault of the Republican party and their voters.
The Senate has a number of options for curtailing the use of the filibuster, including by setting a new precedent, changing the rule itself, or placing restrictions on its use.
Yes, let’s focus on totally re-writing the rules of the Senate and ignore the party that is USING the filibuster to block legislation.
The Democrats are in power at the moment and therefore best placed to make the necessary changes.
CC I will say no
Not really
Hey Ed, Love your contribution. It’s swell.
Can we change the headline photo to be a rotating face of every member of the Senate who has not acted on the House bill introduced over a year ago?!?!?!
Here is a disgusting quote from the Washington Post 5/24/22 : Twitter users resurrected a tweet from Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.), who represents Uvalde, in which the congressman boasted about voting against the two bills, noting in the tweet that he remained “a proud supporter of the Second Amendment and will do everything I can to oppose gun grabs from the far Left.”