The Mass Shooting Epidemic...how do we stop it?

[Cootie Brown]

I agree Ivy.

[Sean]

Wow, so it is a culture thing, a mental health thing, and an access to weapons thing. Cool. I saw in the news there was another mass stabbing in California. And rental trucks still drive over crowds on the sidewalks.

[Ivy]

Wow, so it is a culture thing, a mental health thing, and an access to weapons thing.

All of that, yes.

I heard this afternoon on the Mark Levin show that the mother of the Dayton shooter had apparently contacted law enforcement at some point (not sure when, recently?) to tell them she was concerned her son had a gun. Supposedly the call came in on an anonymous reporting line, so the police claimed they would not have a recording of the call. So talk radio guy pointed the finger at law enforcement and the schools regarding why this guy slipped through the cracks. It's always something to divert from the whole picture, which includes easy access of people with mental illness to high powered guns.

[Sean]

I heard the guy was an avid Antifa supporter and he chose to murder as many people as could and then die. He could have rented a truck and run over people on the sidewalk. Are we going to have psychiatric tests for rental cars now? I don't see why the MSNBC people are always trying to put attention on the weapon when it is a gun but they look the other way when it is a pickup driven by a drunk illegal or an illegal shooting a woman in San Francisco.

[Ivy]

I heard the guy was an avid Antifa supporter and he chose to murder as many people as could and then die. He could have rented a truck and run over people on the sidewalk. Are we going to have psychiatric tests for rental cars now? I don't see why the MSNBC people are always trying to put attention on the weapon when it is a gun but they look the other way when it is a pickup driven by a drunk illegal or an illegal shooting a woman in San Francisco.

I know you want to play with your guns in the woods, and that's fine -- just do it safely and don't point them at me.

Be part of the solution, Sean. What do you suggest we do to stop the killing?

[flawed]

My solution, which will probably be unpopular here, is I am a legally licensed gun carrying citizen. Hopefully I will never have to use it, but if I ever do find myself in that situation my family and I will not be easy victims. My kids school also proudly displays on every entry door that there are multiple concealed carry staff prepared to use deadly force if needed. That sweet kindergarten teacher is trained and prepared to meet your attack with a 9mm head shot.

[Ivy]

My solution, which will probably be unpopular here, is I am a legally licensed gun carrying citizen. Hopefully I will never have to use it, but if I ever do find myself in that situation my family and I will not be easy victims. My kids school also proudly displays on every entry door that there are multiple concealed carry staff prepared to use deadly force if needed. That sweet kindergarten teacher is trained and prepared to meet your attack with a 9mm head shot.

I like the signs on the doors. No one will know who is armed and who isn’t.

I have no problem with legally licensed gun carriers, and I agree with you that I hope you never have to use it. I do have a problem with semi-automatic weapons and believe these should be phased out as quickly as possible.

[Sean]

Howard Kunstler has some interesting comments. His point is that it is surprising we don't have more of these shootings.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08- ... ng-matters

He argues essentially that "the local" is what is needed to restore culture. Local family, local school, local govt, local church, local everything to give people a connection to a set of values and a place and way to fit in and be a part and be useful and have purpose. Or at least his point is that the un-mooring of these anchors of mores and behaviors is what had lead to young men turning to such homicidal fits of rage and lashing out. I agree with his point somewhat.

But this means that taking away guns does not do anything about the mental state and behavior of young people as they are raised in this culture. It seeks to remove their weapon so maybe they cannot kill so many so fast, but it does nothing to address the underlying issues that cause the rage and desire to lash out.

But good luck putting the genie back in the bottle. Gun control is at best about treating the symptom.

If anyone talks about such things as two parent families, stay at home mothers, church attendance, working entry level jobs as just "entry level", and a host of other topics...then one is called a hater and wants to go back to the 1950's and on and on. So as I say...good luck in putting the genie back in the bottle.

[Ivy]

So as I say...good luck in putting the genie back in the bottle.

We have to try, though. Enough is enough, and our kids are watching to see if anyone is going to do anything.

You're right, we can't go back to the 1950s and the Ozzie / Harriet world. But, remember people were smoking like chimneys back then.
The genie went back into the bottle with tobacco; I think it can be done with the semi-automatic weapons. It seems to me that every idea that is floated is shot down by the NRA lobby. it's complicated.

[B.H.]

Stop pissing off the people who are likely to do mass shootings. I am going to do something very unpopular and say that a lot of times these people have legitimate grievances. I am not saying they should have gone and shot up folks but lots of times especially workplace shootings the victims did something they probably shouldn't have. Again let it be understood BH is not saying go shoot up places. I am saying don't do stuff that provokes it.

I have been in a situation twice where I or fellow students or workers were in danger from violence. One was at school in eighth grade. A boy came to school with a gun and shot out some windows. I heard he was mad because a much larger boy raped him or tried to rape him and school did nothing. I do know that the person who was the suspect rapist did serve time for rape later after graduating high school

Concerning the workplace violence incident. the police stopped the guy before he came back after getting fired to shoot the boss. His wife called them to stop him. The guy was fired and the boss handled it cruelly. He mocked the man and even cursed at him. I would not have felt sorry for that boss if the guy had got him. He was arrogant and cruel and enjoyed hurting folks.