AMERICA IS LOST.

[Unseen]

Nearly twenty mostly 10 y/o students shot dead along with two adult teachers. All of the student victims were Hispanic but we don’t know if there was a racist aspect yet. So far, news sources haven’t described the shooter much beyond his age, that his guns were legally purchased on his birthday, that he shot and seriously injured his grandmother earlier, and had a traffic accident on his way to the shooting.

We are also learning that he was bullied in school and showed signs of growing increasingly violent in his social network postings.

Here’s the problem: Despite the outrage, almost nothing can be done to stop such shootings.

1) Purchasing guns is legal for most people. A few cannot. However, they can get a gun if they want one (read on).

2) Most gun owners use their guns legally for hunting, target practice, or home protection.

3) While retail sales of guns require a background check, it’s hardly the only way to acquire one, even legally and in ways not requiring a background check.

4) To make matters worse, with the advances and increasing affordability of 3D guns, almost anyone can make a functional weapon good enough for shooting some place up. Plans for such guns are in legal limbo. Under government pressure, most known resources for 3D files don’t carry such plans. However, as with anything else, there is always another way. Plans are distributed in online forums or from one person to another, for example and it’s perfectly legal.

It’s easy to blame the gun industry and each company’s lobbyists, along with the main industry lobbyist, the NRA. However, the thirst for guns would remain even without the industry pushing them.

Sadly, the more gun crime, the more incentive for owning a gun. It’s a problem that feeds on itself. A feedback loop.

This is why I say America is lost. Lost as in lost in a forest. Lost as in…gone. Guns have killed the American Dream.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Unseen.

[Unseen]

Another reason why the gun problem isn’t fixed. BTW, this video came out literally hours before 19 school kids were killed in Texas.

[Unseen]

Just found out, the shooter’s last name is Hispanic, so we can rule out a racist motive, I think.

The demographics of gun death in the U.S.

 

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Unseen.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Unseen.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

I read somewhere that he was badly bullied in school for being poor and wearing second hand clothing. Not verified.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

I am waiting to hear from Ted Cruz to tell us that gun controls don’t work and that we need to tackle mental health problems and bullying in schools where we should also increase security. He would lose too much money if he was to change what the NRA pays him to say.

I remember attending an end of junior school party and seeing a large notice at the main entrance stating “No guns beyond this point” and thinking “what a fucking stupid sign to have to display and have kids see it every time they enter school”. Yeah, and of course it will remind adults who bring guns into school to go back and leave them in their cars.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

We can’t even agree on what is tearing us apart.

[TheEncogitationer]

Unseen, Reg, and Fellow Unbelievers,

Here is a version of the video we see at my workplace every time an incident like this takes place:

Surviving an Active Shooter Event – Civilian Response to Active Shooter

The civilians in this video showed far more bravery than the law enforcers in Uvalde, Texas:

Parents Begged Police for Upwards of 40 Minutes to Stop Texas Shooter
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/parents-begged-police-for-upwards-of-40-minutes-to-stop-texas-school-shooter-report

Avoid, Deny, Defend! The Life, Liberty, and Property You Save May Be Your Own! (And, by your very visible hands, you may save someone else’s too!)

And remember the words of The Humanist Manifesto II: “No deity can save us. We must save ourselves.”

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by TheEncogitationer. Reason: Crucial addendum
• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by TheEncogitationer. Reason: Completing the link

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Ted Cruz has responded just as the NRA expect him to.

[_Robert_]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Ted Cruz has responded just as the NRA expect him to.

Well, you know a pissed off 18-year-old with a high-capacity rifle is a “well-regulated militia”, I guess. This 2nd amendment interpretation is complete NRA payola bull shit.

[Unseen]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Ted Cruz has responded just as the NRA expect him to.

As Gordon Gecko might have put it, “Guns are good. When the killer was taken down, it wasn’t using a knife or baseball bat or stern language, it was with a gun! The main sad thing is that no one in the classroom was packing.”

[Unseen]

Police Face Questions Over Response To Texas School Shooting

The shooter wasn’t actually confronted for an hour, though it seems he did all the killing at the start of his time there.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Let me know if you can read this link from a pay-walled New York Times. I can “gift” 10 links per month but not sure if it works on this platform. It may only be “”click once”.

Many GOP reps say they don’t want to change any laws in case they lose their seats at the next election. The electorate don’t want us to is their excuse……even though a large majority of voters want more robust background checks, at a minimum. Donations from the NRA should be banned. Changes can be made without overturning 2nd amendment rights.

[jakelafort]

Yes, Reg, the link is working.

The 2nd amendment is probably misunderstood. If the drafters wanted an absolute right there would not be any “being necessary for a well regulated militia.” I think there was fear of the federal government and militias were seen as a counterbalance to central authority. In general the notion that the bill of rights is absolute is incorrect. Not sure tightening gun laws will be a panacea even if it has been a big help in Australia. But it couldn’t hurt and may help some.

If American legislators had any integrity they’d all get behind banning lobbyists. As things stand it makes more sense to substitute of the corporations, for the corporations and by the corporations and assorted billionaires.

[Unseen]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Let me know if you can read this link from a pay-walled New York Times. I can “gift” 10 links per month but not sure if it works on this platform. It may only be “”click once”. Many GOP reps say they don’t want to change any laws in case they lose their seats at the next election. The electorate don’t want us to is their excuse……even though a large majority of voters want more robust background checks, at a minimum. Donations from the NRA should be banned. Changes can be made without overturning 2nd amendment rights.

Whom is the NRA donating to?

You don’t need to get 50% or more of people to stop a gun ban. In most elections, probably 15% or 20% would be more than enough, because, other than referenda, most elections are about more than one issue. Gun control would just be part of the mix.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Who are they the NRA donating to?

While I don’t have my sources listed here, I am sure they are easy to verify.

They donate over $400K per year to Ted Cruz for his campaigning. Or I could say they buy Ted Cruz for over $400K a year to be their political mouthpiece. If he was to stop doing their bidding the NRA would immediately turn their backs on him and “sponsor” another candidate to replace him at the next election.

About 90% of the U.S. electorate supports background checks (HB2).

OK, found some references here.

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