Allanfan20 wrote:It’s pretty devastating that people won’t budge on this issue no matter how tragic the consequences get.

Or they pivot to the argument that we need more police instead of more resources for background checks and mental health services. We then get lip service and funding for a few years a school resource officers that eventually get cut out the budget, rinse, wash, repeat. Instead of being proactive, this government will just stall and go on with business as usual.

Voting in Trump was line crossed. These issues were not caused by him but we normalized certain behavior. Supreme court got politicalized. Elections have consequences.
While Hilary was far from a perfect candidate the alternative was far worse.

Fools think Biden is the cause of inflation. Biden is the cause of gas prices. The market falling. But these things matter in elections. Abortion and gun rights are big distractions and funny they only pop up close to mid term or presidential elections.

KnickDanger wrote:Ted Cruz saying we need to arm teachers…I can see second grade teacher Mrs. Wilkins packing heat, or PE coach Mr. Brown watching over his kids with an AK-47. Maybe Cruz and his fellow bobos want to reenact the Wild West but, yeah, I’d guess it has more to do with where their money comes from and hanging on to power. Egregiously despicable in a world teeming with the despicable.

I can't get to Twitter right now to show it, but the 20 largest receivers of NRA money are all Republicans and Ted was the biggest by a country mile.

mattshaw78 wrote:This country is the only country with this many problems with shootings of this nature. We have poor gun laws and mental health. Someone that debated with me said that teachers should have guns. My response was 1)police have problems being properly trained for it can you imagine a teacher 2)what if a student gets a hold of the gun from the teacher 3)what if a teacher shot a kid in a crossfire and 4)how does a teacher with a hand gun defend from a nutcase with a semi. His response was well hire ex-military as teachers. Ummm there is so many responses I can say to that.

A lot of politicians will fall back to right to carry arms. Ok if you want to carry a hand gun that is your choice however, why would you need to carry a semi or have body armor. Even hunting there is no reason to have that kind of fire power. Politicians mostly need to the votes and funding from the NRA so they would never cause conflict to disturb that cash flow or votes.

Obviously it isn't only about guns. It's about a sick culture where priorities are imbalanced to a degree where negative acting out permeates. It can seem hopeless to address it. I think the best we can do is start at home, right?

mattshaw78 wrote:This country is the only country with this many problems with shootings of this nature. We have poor gun laws and mental health. Someone that debated with me said that teachers should have guns. My response was 1)police have problems being properly trained for it can you imagine a teacher 2)what if a student gets a hold of the gun from the teacher 3)what if a teacher shot a kid in a crossfire and 4)how does a teacher with a hand gun defend from a nutcase with a semi. His response was well hire ex-military as teachers. Ummm there is so many responses I can say to that.

A lot of politicians will fall back to right to carry arms. Ok if you want to carry a hand gun that is your choice however, why would you need to carry a semi or have body armor. Even hunting there is no reason to have that kind of fire power. Politicians mostly need to the votes and funding from the NRA so they would never cause conflict to disturb that cash flow or votes.

Teachers with guns 🤣 Even with cops stationed at schools, the response isn't fast enough to mitigate the damage. What's next, hire prison "consultants" as principals to implement the proper security protocols. Lockdowns before lunch? Regularly scheduled locker searches? The mental gymnastics done by some people to ignore the real issues is astounding. I had to flee this one lady last month because she was worried about the upcoming race war. No joke. That's why she doesn't want to give up her guns. Also, what kind of guns are you giving these teachers? Are we training them with AKs? Why stop there? Every lunch lady must undergo rocket launcher training during parent teacher meeting nights and all janitors must be required to carry tasers and pepper spray in their tool belts.

martin wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:It’s pretty devastating that people won’t budge on this issue no matter how tragic the consequences get.

Or they pivot to the argument that we need more police instead of more resources for background checks and mental health services. We then get lip service and funding for a few years a school resource officers that eventually get cut out the budget, rinse, wash, repeat. Instead of being proactive, this government will just stall and go on with business as usual.

IMHO, give or take, it's all about money in politics and the underlying grab for power. As a nation, as a country, we are on a path to a failing end right now, and depending on how the United States does over the next 6 months and then again in 2 years, will tell us a lot about the path in front of us for decades.

Citizens United was a big pillar to fall and it is only getting worse.

People got to get out and vote and vote for a party that at least has some semblance of wanting to help change that trajectory cause it's about to point in the wrong direction and who knows if we can turn that around. And yes, you can view it as 2 possibly not good/ideal choices but also recognize there is a wide chasm between those choices.

IMHO, what we are seeing at the front lines in Ukraine is only the tip of the blood end of a power grab, the United States is and has been feeling the financial end of the power grab through vehicles like the NRA which in turn and eventually manifest through to Buffalo and now this. These are the end consequences. It's ain't gonna get better only worse.

IMHO, 3 other vehicles that have been used to corrupt the United States is our Education system, Healthcare, and Religious Organizations. You can see a new vehicle list really manifest itself these days: local governing bodies - from school boards to election mechanisms all the way through state gov't positions get attached. Add that to the corrupted vehicle list cause we got a taste of it this past January.

IMHO, women via Roe v Wade are about to lose power.

The way to start fixing this is Term Limits (including the Supreme Court), reversal of Citizens United and limitations on PAC and Dark Money donations. Unfortunately these things will likely never happen as the people who need to make these changes are the same ones caught up in the Power/Money/Politics cycle.

It's becoming less and less of a stretch to say that we are really not very far off from the world portrayed in a Handmaid's Tail.

One side has recognized that the demographics are ever against them in terms of percentage of voters. Instead of changing policy to broaden their base - they have instead chosen a path to try and control the voting process at a state by state level. Very scary stuff indeed.

KnickDanger wrote:

fishmike wrote:

KnickDanger wrote:

mattshaw78 wrote:This country is the only country with this many problems with shootings of this nature. We have poor gun laws and mental health. Someone that debated with me said that teachers should have guns. My response was 1)police have problems being properly trained for it can you imagine a teacher 2)what if a student gets a hold of the gun from the teacher 3)what if a teacher shot a kid in a crossfire and 4)how does a teacher with a hand gun defend from a nutcase with a semi. His response was well hire ex-military as teachers. Ummm there is so many responses I can say to that.

A lot of politicians will fall back to right to carry arms. Ok if you want to carry a hand gun that is your choice however, why would you need to carry a semi or have body armor. Even hunting there is no reason to have that kind of fire power. Politicians mostly need to the votes and funding from the NRA so they would never cause conflict to disturb that cash flow or votes.

My father was military and gave me a gun (hunting rifle -- 22/410 over/under) for my 8th birthday. I was taught to shoot and clean the gun, but also how to store it safely, respect it and others, never point it at anyone even if unloaded (or even a toy gun). Above all he told me "don't carry a gun unless you are prepared to use it." That advice has kept me from ever getting a gun again or even carrying any kind of weapon (I live in Brooklyn ). Nut jobs walking around like they're f@%king Rambo -- something is bound to go wrong. And some sick kid can buy multiple assault rifles on his 18th birthday just like that...and so on....

Obviously it isn't only about guns. It's about a sick culture where priorities are imbalanced to a degree where negative acting out permeates. It can seem hopeless to address it. I think the best we can do is start at home, right?

you mean deflect responsibility from guns?

Fuck no. Thats the NRA answer.

Guns are tools of violence that allow the user to have a very loose emotional response to pulling the trigger. The make suicide incredibly easy. They make killing children easy. They make killing animals easy. They make killing people you are uncomfortable with easy. Nah man... lets start with the phucking guns. Maybe "home" will be better without firearms looming over every conversation.

They are a cancer to our culture and any attempt to protect them is antiquated, obsolete and unwelcome

But I am totally open to discussion.

The bolded comment you jumped on follows my saying "it isn't only about guns -- it's about a sick culture." I'm addressing what to do about that which feels overwhelming. I can only start in my own sphere. You know, principles like kindness, accountability, communication, respect, and so on.

Its literally against the law of the land for the CDC or government health body to say "guns are dangerous"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Amendment

Its just so phucked and phucked so deep to its core.

So while our good republican Briggs is sick of guns and folks are looking at home we will just carry on with more of this because its only getting to get worse.