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What Do We Do?
We spend years of our young kid’s lives desperately avoiding their preventable deaths. We sign up for questionable swim lessons where our babies are thrown in a pool in hopes that should they stumble in, they won’t drown. We can’t prevent all genetic diseases, for instance, but once something becomes frequent society tries to do something about it (crosswalks, helmets, tempered glass, etc.). But the so-called “randomness” of mass shootings has become so common that despite its unpredictability it feels preventable. Yesterday, parents like us, dropped off their kids at elementary school hoping for a normal day, maybe even a good one. And hours later their never-ending nightmare began. Grocery stores. Concerts. Flea Markets. Nightclubs. Churches. High Schools. Elementary schools. What do we do? At this point, in the “gun debate” we know that nothing will change. Nothing. We don’t know all of the specifics about this particular shooting yet but we can generalize enough because we are all too familiar with this story. And we live in a politicized country that can’t seem to change it, controlled by the gun lobby. Do we accept it? Of course not. But we, the citizens for common-sense gun laws, can’t seem to change it and more and more people, kids are dying.
I won’t say anything new here, except this basic idea – dangerous things should be hard to get. For example, when I was in my twenties in New York I dabbled in recreational illegal drugs (which I would not do if I were that age now with the fentanyl scare – but that’s a totally different story/fear/epidemic). But it wasn’t always that easy to get, and if it had been I would have done it a lot more. Thank goodness for me it was illegal so it never affected my life too negatively because drugs can be very dangerous (as we know more than ever). We not only have laws but parental controls, even “age gates” controlling who has access to things that are dubbed “dangerous” for our kids to prevent bad things. I recently listened to a podcast about the link between access and use – it shows that when something was common in a neighborhood it directly affected how often kids did it – illegal drugs, prescription pills, underage drinking, guns, etc. It’s not that kids who lived in neighborhoods without those things couldn’t get their hands on it, of course they could, but it was just a lot harder. So much more effort had to go into tracking it down so the overall use was greatly diminished. It’s common sense that’s backed up by two generations of geographic data through this study. It negates the whole “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” bullshit that most of us don’t believe anyway. In this country, we love to blame individuals, as we should to an extent – we all have agency and should be accountable. But when something is “around,” common, normalized, and easy to get your hands on it, you are more likely to buy it, have it, and use it. Of course, this 18-year-old was mentally ill or evil if you believe in that, obviously. But guns make it easy to kill a lot of people – they aren’t recreational drugs, they are much more dangerous.
I know I’m preaching mostly to the choir here, but our values are so upside down when you can’t get the birth control pill over the counter, forcing pregnancies for those without easy access and yet in many states, including Texas, you can go into a store and simply buy a weapon that kills other people, a gun! Without a background check or permit! You don’t even need a prescription! Riddle me this, America? What are we doing??? We all know this but the hypocrisies are sometimes too shocking to not write down again and re-read. You can’t buy birth control over the counter, but you can buy a gun.
It’s all too much. I listened to another podcast that suggested a good coping tool for dealing with the tragedy of others is to learn about it, recognize it, help where you can, and then say to yourself “Ok. That’s bad. But that’s not my weather” so you can actually function. It’s selfish, for sure, but ruminating and catastrophizing about faraway problems you can’t solve isn’t healthy – not just for you, but your kids (a growing contributor to the anxiety problem). But the grocery store in Buffalo is our weather. The elementary school in Texas feels like my weather – every parent’s weather. These aren’t natural disasters 7,000 miles away or even problems in other countries that we can’t prevent. This is America’s weather. And its a really, really bad. If we accept another Sandy Hook – another mass elementary school shooting – without changing our gun laws, what happens next? To what end? And do we want to live here, risking the “randomness” of a mass shooting every day?
This. Is. Preventable.
Four years ago I learned a lot about why many of you own guns in this post and empathy was built. But like most of you today I feel really hopeless, helpless and so unsafe. The gun lobby rules our politics in this arena and Republicans are too scared of their funders and constituents to push back. I’ll desperately settle for harder access to guns for a diminished probability of a shooting happening near my family. I will sign the petitions and donate to Every Town, of course. But then what? Voting? Marching? What?
Why don’t we file a class action suit – American parents versus NRA? Lord knows they care about money so it would hit them where it hurts and there are a million lawyers who would battle it. If the politicians are going to be too cowardly to do anything a massive suit might curb their efforts. If you trace how most mass shooters have gotten their guns, there are enough that show how easy it is to get if you are mentally ill, underage, with a record, and not to mention can purchase the totally unnecessary semi-automatic cartridges that should 100% not be legal to in the first place. The majority of Americans want common-sense laws!
Those of you in Canada and Australia I know are again horrified and baffled that we remain in this situation. Maybe the Hendersons will join you sooner than later. Until then this is my version of yelling and screaming into the ether and praying that the families of these kids and all mass shooting victims might someday see stricter gun control. I’m just so sorry that we are collectively unable to prevent these mass shootings of children because we continue to normalize the ownership and use of guns by individuals in this country. Things that are dangerous, legal or not, should be hard to get. These deaths are, in fact, “preventable”.
Here is the link to the Moms Demand Action site and you can join a local Moms Chapter by texting the word ACT to 644-33
(P.S I focused on access to guns because to me it’s a common-sense doable gate and hard to argue with. Of course its also about mental health, toxic masculinity, racism, politics, and more.)
Opening Image Credit: via Time
Yup. I am with you. Frustrated. Heartbroken. Screaming into the ether.
“The elementary school in Texas feels like my weather – every parent’s weather.” Yes.
I share your bafflement. I was a teenager when the Columbine slaughter happened and a twenty-something when the Sandy Hook slaughter happened and a new mom when the Parkland slaughter happened–just to choose a few–and I don’t want to keep learning the names of random schools in American towns because we have don’t have enough rage to stop our children from being murdered.
The Republican party is a death cult. And the Democratic party is too cautious, too varied in its aims, too loose a coalition of too many interests to stop the death cult from robbing us of our bodily autonomy and robbing our children of their futures and robbing humanity of a habitable planet. I am in despair.
What do we do? I wish I had an inkling.
I disagree with you on only one thing: it’s not just the Republican party. The USA as a nation is a death cult. American imperialism is based on torture and in sacrificing soldiers lives for economic and political purposes. The Democratic party is not just incompetent, it is complicit – because this is the very structure of the country. Add to that the greed that comes with political campaigning and you get the hypocrisy and cowardice of the Democrats, a party which would not even be on the Left in Europe. I feel sorry for American citizens, because I’ve come to truly believe that your system is broken. The filibuster, the equal weight of each state in the Senate, the fact that the Supreme Court acts as a de facto legislator, it’s all broken. I think when it gets to the point of children being massacred in school, a revolution is needed. Protests will only get you so far, the whole structure has to change. What’s interesting is how the Republican party has been steadily making all the changes they decided to do, even when they are against what the majority wants. They know how to work power, the Democratic… Read more »
More heartbreaking violence…..
I hope those politicians who are speaking at the NRA event this weekend rethink their contribution/support for the organization, and all the ones who are taking the NRA’s “hush” money (political donations) stop, and instead DO THE WORK AND REPRESENT THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED THEM and support common sense legislation to make it harder to buy and own guns. Why is it so hard to do the right thing?
I was in college in San Diego when the first mass shooting happened at the McDonalds in San Ysidro (just south of SD) in 1984 and I can’t believe it is still happening, nearly 40 years!!!
~Deborah
Sadly, that wasn’t the first. Someone on another board posted a newspaper article about a mass shooting (in Wisconsin? Minnesota? can’t remember now) in 1903! And the first mass shooting I remember was in 1966 — the Texas Bell Tower shooting where Charles Whitman shot 14 people (ncluding an 8-month fetus).
I live in Canada – we have a ton of our own problems here. You would be trading in freedom for communism. No rights to your own body. Rules on leaving and entering your country. “You will own nothing and be happy” – WEF is unfortunately in change of our future. Be happy that you have the choices you have and the freedoms you have.
(Obviously the shooting are horrific – I am commenting on the Canada is better comment)
I lived in Canada for over a year of my life. My husband and his family are Canadian. i know families with kids in Canada, and there’s no communism in Canada. You don’t know the meaning of the word. There’s pretty much a lot of freedom, you can get as rich as in the US, but you have more security nets, less expensive education and you are not a wage slave tied to an employer because of health insurance. It is easier to make money in the States, but that’s rewarding only to a point. Most parents prefer not owning a gun to having a dead child.
Canada’s public health guidelines and vaccination/isolation requirements for travel outside the country, during the Covid 19 pandemic, is not communism and is in no way a problem of equal consequence to America’s gun problem.
I’m Canadian – and have also lived in the U.S. (and the UK, Australia, and other countries), and while certainly no country is perfect, this comment is deeply inaccurate in many ways.
Found the convoy driver.
Thank you, Kira. I needed a break from my tears, even if just for a moment.
Glad to be of help, even in just a small way!
Thanks for the LOL, I needed that!
I also live in Canada and have for 40 of my 50 years. This is not a communist country. It’s a country where we have “socialized” public education, just like in the US, “socialized” medicine, just like every other weathy western country except the US, and a public health system that has not been hijaked to score political points and therefore believes in providing vaccinations to those that want it, and requires mask wearing on public transportation.
However, I wish Americans would understand that you need to commit to solving your problems. They are horrifying and terrifying, but they also contribute to making this country you want to flee to less safe. And it’s wild to me that you think it would be easier to emmigrate that to work to care for all the people you love, nevermind all the lovely people you don’t know, who do not have your resources to just flee your problems.
Thank you Emily. I saw Finns’s comment yesterday. Glad you continue to speak truth on your site.
Jessica, I heard the same statement made re: BLM. White folks need to work with their race to change things. Ugh. I feel very different from many of them but indeed. It is true. Thanks for your wisdom and honesty.
Jessica, this reads as so condescending: “I wish Americans would understand that you need to commit to solving your problems.” So many of us have been committed to fixing these problems for a long time, and they’re just getting worse. What do you suggest we do differently?
I don’t think it’s condescending. More like a hard truth. Americans could spend time working to get people like Cruz (who accepted the largest $$ contributions) out of office. People could do massive protests and school strikes. There is a lot that can be done. We could work harder to shut down the gun lobby and getting $ out of money. We could picket/protest all reps who accept $ and get them to sign pledge for background checks. We haven’t truly done much beyond opine. We think just because most of us believe we need to fix it, that should be enough, but sadly it isn’t in our system where a minority rules. I myself have not done enough, so I’m not blaming others. I just think we could do a lot more–and I’m not saying it would be easy– but we don’t.
It is tempting to think that we can simply vote these politicians out and that will fix this and other crucial issues, but the truth is that minority rule is a function of the US political system; things aren’t broken – they’re working exactly as they were designed to. As someone who tries to do a lot of GOTV initiatives and canvassing and donating and calling and postcard writing, it’s a really hard thing to grapple with, personally. How do you vote out politicians like Cruz when a state like Texas is gerrymandered within an inch of its life? How do you overcome the voting rules of the Senate when the minority party somehow still holds so much power? I’m not trying to like, come for you, these are just the rhetorical questions that I spend a lot of time thinking about (and ultimately feeling very frustrated by). I wish it were as simple as work hard, unite, and vote these f*ckers out, but the way the Senate functions, the way voter suppression and gerrymandering and propaganda functions – it really is a devastatingly hard uphill climb. A lot of the extreme dysfunction of the US gov’t could be eliminated… Read more »
Gerrymandering is obviously a bad thing in a representative democracy, but it doesn’t affect the Senate because votes are statewide. Voting Cruz (and other Senators like him) out of office would be a great first step!
I understand what you’re saying, but I actually do believe Senate outcomes in states like TX (and elsewhere) are a result of gerrymandering. The laws that govern elections are determined by Texas officials…who are the direct beneficiaries of their own gerrymandered races. So yes, while Senate races *shouldn’t* be impacted by however districts are drawn, the elected officials who write and pass the very rules that govern who is allowed to vote in TX, when they are able to vote, and how votes are counted, are determined by a rigged system. The TX legislature has imposed some of the most egregious voting laws and restrictions in the country over the years, leading to a LOT of voter disenfranchisement and suppression. We are very much in agreement though that getting Cruz and his ilk out of office would be an excellent change!
We have a REPUBLIC for the people.
Representative democracy is a Leftist
talking point.
I don’t disagree with much of what you say above, but I named a bunch of actions and you focused mostly on voting. I actually think a lot of the other actions need to come first or at least, simultaneously. For example, we could push Dems to change filibuster rules and SCOTUS. The fact that Dems allowed Manchin and Sinema to rule (or be scapegoats) is BS. Also, to back up a bit, many many Dems sabotaged –rather than build a coalition–Bernie’s campaign which strove for more equality and less $ in politics. It’s not so much complex as the fact that many Dems/libs benefit from the way the system is and don’t truly want it to change and it’s shown when Dems don’t hold their party accountable when they don’t support candidates who will work for more equality and less money in politics in the US.
You are exactly right Camille! We want change, we gotta DO more.
Well I am tired of Americans threatening to move to Canada everytime something happens that they don’t like, that is in fact their responsibility, as though Americans have some right to simply switch neighboughoods, since you know, Americans are so welcoming to immigrants fleeing genunine war & famine.
I lived in the US for a decade during the Regan/Bush years and I was very politically engaged and half my family and friends live in the US. In my experience, most people (and Canadians are not exempt from this critique) do not understand how their political system works in real life, and that voting is the most important part of participating in democracy. People need to be educated & they need to get involved. I hear people dispairing and throwing up their hands (in both countries), but I rarely hear how they volunteer to actually do anything. Pick an issue and get deeply involved, and drag everyone you know into your thing. That’s what the NRA is doing. Perhaps you are personally doing this, but so many people believe they are powerless and that is keeping them from acting.
I didn’t mean that voting is the most important thing, but that many ppl seem to think it is the begining and ending of their responsibility to the political landscape they live in, and the only place they can engage, which is frankly only the tip of the iceberg.
Unfortunately in the US the big problem is we are a country divided in half. It’s not just like we can “solve” the gun problem by voting out certain politicians because or taking down lobbyists because there is a very large and powerful “other half” that supports these ideas and ideals. It’s not like everyone agrees and we are just being held hostage by a few. It’s a very scary thing to see your country being pushed so far towards breaking itself in half and sometimes it feels like there is not a solution.
I’m sorry Jessica but.. what? Searching for a better life for their families when their homeland is broken beyond repair is precisely why people choose to immigrate, and always have done. Spare me the “solve your own problems” BS. Would you suggest that to people fleeing violence in any other country?
I am also Canadian and not a thing about this above comment is accurate. Please ignore.
You need to educate yourself on what communism is for starters. If you don’t believe in science Liz, I hope you will not burden our hospitals when you get sick.
I am Canadian and this comment is absolutely false. I am so proud to live in a country with public healthcare for everyone and a social safety net for those who need it. Canadians care deeply about one another and we want everyone to feel safe and valued. We also have a high standard of living and for those who want to pursue wealth, they can achieve their dreams too.
With respect to gun violence, as a Canadian I am most angry that many American politicians will not support common sense gun laws. It is well known that most Americans support stricter gun laws! This will never end if access to guns is not restricted.
I am so sorry to all of the parents that have to worry about their children at school. These kids deserve safety.
Canadians (many of my relatives) love to virtue signal.
You mean disagree with you?
Living in Canada with communism? I am 78 years old, have lived in Canada my entire life and in no way would I call it living with communism. You need to find out just what that means! You are using words as weapons to make people think that there is no other way to live other than what you are living with right now in the U.S. Special interess taken care of instead of government working for the people… all the people. Our Canadian government’s slogan is PEACE, ORDER and GOOD GOVERNMENT. It is not communism.
LOL Canada just signed up to give all power to the WEF! The social credit system is starting already. You must live in a different Canada. We couldn’t even go into restaurants without ‘showing our papers’. Where do you live in Canada that has true freedom? Also – out health care is soooo backed up that my dad DIED because it took them OVER A YEAR to get him an appointment and by then the stage 4 cancer was too far gone. Ya its free but its HORRIBLE.
Canada is communist country and being able to buy guns is freedom. I ‘m at a loss on what to say.
Let me clarify – Canada IS NOT a Communist country and being able to buy a gun, a semi automatic weapon of war without ANY restrictions is NOT Freedom. It is Insanity
Yup!
EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF INSANITY:
“DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT OUTCOME.”
communism[ kom-yuh-niz-uhm ]
? Middle School Level
noun
a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
(often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.
Maybe go back to school, Kate?
Kim, I think Kate was making a point about how ridiculous those beliefs are, by stating it like that to show absurd it is.
I had replied to her original statement, not her response to her own, I wish she hadn’t tried sarcasm, it doesn’t work in text. Have a good evening, Rachel.
Freedom is being able to be a kid at school and not be murdered by someone who has supposed ‘freedom’ to buy a weapon that is designed to KILL.
?
Freedom has been catch-cry for American (and other nations, we have some in Australia too, yet tgankfully the very vast minority, so mior yhat we openly laigh at their overt crazy!) numbnuts that are so scared of their fellow humans it’s berserk…. maybe because they think everyone is as shit-scared as them and has a gun?!?!?!?
LOL
This comment is laughable and completely false. I encourage this person to move to an *actual* communist country and see the difference, but I highly doubt they’ve travelled outside North America. Or perhaps talk to one of your neighbors in Canada that fled a communist country. I’m sure they could shed some light on what it’s like to live under communism.
Canada is by no means perfect but levels if health indicators are good and some of the best in the world, which includes gun violence, maternal and child health, income, education, and so on (fully recognizing there’s shameful disparities for Indigenous and people of colour). I think from a Canadian perspective, the income inequality, lack of universal healthcare and social safety nets in the US seems like such an affront to human rights. It appears the vast majority of Americans want this. The power lies with the people. Keep fighting the good fight. We’re rooting for you.
Look up WEF before you talk about how Free Canada is!
Hey Liz, fellow Canadian here. Your comments are incredibly WRONG. Go to China or Russia and see what communism really is. Sheesh. Get off the back of your truck.
Bravo! Good for you for calling it like it is, Liz. If every teacher in school had a gun (and knew how to use it), how many school shootings would we have? I’m so tired of all the drama that comes up right before the midterms… We’re being played, just like with the SC leak. Let the Hendersons run to another country where people aren’t truly free, maybe they need a life lesson in reality.
Have you ever spent any time in a school? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this idea is? In Texas, there was an armed police officer on campus (you know, someone trained to use a gun) and two police officers quickly on scene and this kid with an AR-15 style rifle got past both of them. But you think teachers, whose primary job is to teach, should also be armed and ready to take down an active shooter? Exactly how many kids must die before you realize the price of your “freedom,” which you seem to equate with ready access to military-style weapons, is too high? Please, give us a number.
Duh!
If ypu had decent modern-world gun laws, people wouldn’t need guns to defend against people wkth guns….ad infinitum!
Numbnut!!!
Rusty, be a hero and please
share with all of us, what your
decent modern-world gun laws
are? And how many are there?
I think we could use your help
so we don’t have to be called
Numbnut!!!
As a public educator, nothing is more terrifying then the statement “if every teacher had a gun.” Especially, when trying to say that it would eliminate or reduce school shootings. There is no data for this. There is clear data that common sense laws, which the majority of US citizens are in support of, would reduce these shootings. I live in Texas. The government here doesn’t supply my classroom with enough materials and targets my books on the shelf. Educators here and across this country are questioned regularly about our ability to teach. We are called babysitters. But when the idea that you may not be able to purchase a gun in one day is brought up, educators suddenly become beacons of defense. Beyond that, this would absolutely make me leave the profession. Majority of school shootings involve students who the educators on that campus know. You are asking teachers to choose to shoot and possibly kill, most likely one of their own students. I could not stomach that decision, nor should I have to, as I have a teaching degree not a military or police background. Simply put that is an outrageous idea, and it certainly is not a… Read more »
It is a ‘great idea’ for the people who have
the skills & the courage to carry out
using a gun for classroom safety, if
need be.
Failing to be one of those teachers,
who will not learn to carry, please
communicate clearly your mental
attitude of not being able to defend
yourself or others! It really is a
tough position to be put in! It is
not fair either, but today’s society
is making it necessary to discuss
such ideas and the sooner schools
figure our how to keep the sick
COWARDS out of your place of
work, the better for all. Why
don’t you share in your school
discussions, the common sense
laws data, that works, (what you
mentioned in your comments
above) and see if that might
make a difference. Keep your
fight going for better tomorrows!
Liz M, I live in Canada. What communism? Please educate yourself on what communism looks like — it’s not Canada. We have our problems here (drugs, escalating price of houses), but honest to God, every person I’ve spoken with after this shooting is absolutely grateful for our sensible gun laws and horrified/enraged that the US will not tighten their gun laws. Honestly, it’s so fucked up.
I live in Hungary, Europe. You know nothing about communism and antidemocracy. Try my country and learn how free you are…
I’m half American, half French, and have lived in Canada for 12 years now. It’s not a perfect country but any means but the notion that there is “communism” is just so ridiculous. The rules for entry and exit out of Canada where not that dissimilar to those regulating international travel into the US. And while I love a lot of things about the US, as an expecting mom, I’m breathing a little easier knowing we will raise our daughter in a world where the odds of her getting shot at school are extremely low (it’s worth mentionning there have been some school shoottings in Canada’s history, but fortunately they are extremely rare) and she is in general much less likely to be a victim of gun violence. We considered moving to the US two years ago (again, plenty to love in the US too) but in hindsight we are happy we didn’t.
Agree with everything you’ve said here. Horrified, heartbroken, and furious. What is happening to our country?
I agree that this is horrible. And far too common.
I think trying to restrict access to guns in the current political environment is futile. It hasn’t worked in decades. I think we would get more results finding common ground and addressing the things you mention in your last sentence
like “mental health, toxic masculinity, racism, politics, etc.”
I’ve told my Representative in Congress that I would like to see more violence prevention, tougher laws against perpetrators of domestic violence, more funding/research/programs for conflict resolution/de-escalation in schools and the community (and especially for reforming the police). However, the only way to get the Congress to do anything is to call or write to them and vote the bad ones out of office. Here’s where to find your Representatives and Senators.
Another thing that we can all do is complain to our media when they use the mass killer’s names. Let’s take away the attention these murderer’s crave.
I agree Blue, I think publicizing the murderers name it one kind of “fame” that they are seeking – “I’ll show them and everyone will know who I am”.
Better to attach a location and date, and keep the murderer’s name out of the media and things like Wikipedia – no fame or notoriety for the murderer. I have appreciated those media outlets that have done that in the past.
Someone on the interweb suggested naming these atrocities after the disgusting politicians who continue to support the NRA and refuse any common sense solutions. This one should be the Ted Cruz Texas Massacre of our Children. Perhaps if their names go down in history as shame then they might give a shit.
This is from 2019, but is perhaps a place to start with a list of politicians’ to call out. Make these massacres become their own personal hurricanes.
Thank you, LJ! This is a good place to start!
I totally agree with you on your last point re not giving murderers the notoriety they crave and the media has a lot to answer for there.
However, living in a country where very strict gun control was introduced after a single school shooting – the UK – I’m very dubious about your idea that it does not work. After gun control was introduced here, we have not had a single school shooting in nearly 30 years. And the UK is far from a perfect place…we have plenty of problems with the things you mention (mental health, toxic masculinity, racism, polarised politics etc). Solving those problems was not how we stopped school shootings – those problems still exist. Gun control stopped school shootings, same as it did in Australia, Canada, New Zealand. It is proven to work. I just can’t understand how anyone can argue it does not.
hi Eve, I am not arguing that gun control won’t stop some people from committing mass shootings. I believe it’s futile in the current political environment to attempt to get gun control laws passed. In the US we have the 2nd amendment and the Supreme Court has already established individuals have a right to own guns. A decision is pending in “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen”. There’s a big chance that the Supreme Court will rule against gun control in that case when their ruling is released this summer. There’s every reason to believe the current Justices will continue to rule against gun control laws that the States pass. In the legislative branch, Congress, there is a political stand-off over gun control. The last time gun control measures were passed was in the 1990s with a 10 year sunset provision, and all efforts to renew that bill in the past 20ish years have failed. The country was less political polarized in the 1990s. Our politics is severely broken. We’re subjected to toxic “culture wars” that one of our political party is waging combined with “minority rule” thanks to the 2 Senators per State and Electoral… Read more »
Um, Australia hasn’t had a mass murder in a school.
The situation that changed our (already tightly controlled, compared to those in the US) gun laws was a mass shooting murder in Tasmania at a tourist site. The cgangd happened very quickly too.
IF govts want to act (that means no $$$ from the gun lobbyists), they will.
If greed is the driver, which it clearly is, they won’t.
WHAT HAPPENED TO “BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE???????” Huh?!??
We continue to fight for “By the People,
For the People” because we are freedom
loving people in this country and the
majority DO NOT want “By the Gov’t
For the Gov’t” here. The reason for
that Rusty, is “The Bigger The Gov’t,
The Smaller The Citizen” or “The Bigger
The Citizen, The Smaller The Gov’t.” We
prefer the latter! How about you?
Hi Blue (Anon)! Just want to say “hello and peace and love!” before I state my disagreement with your thought on not restricting access. I think that when a problem comes up, this is the best time to address it, when the same problem comes up over and over it means you missed something and need to go back and readdress. It is a fact that the mind is controlled by chemicals and it is also true that firearms can and do release very powerful chemicals in our bodies when fired, EVEN HOLDING A GUN CAN can cause a release of these same chemicals and bodily response. If you read Emily’s above link to her experience with gun handling/use she explains this as well. So trying to separate a gun issue from a mental health issue just isn’t possible. While I believe it is our responsibility to call out and remove from office those in positions of power and leadership who not only encourage and support bad/unlawful behavior but who are also modeling it as well (gross), I know that this can be done in tandem with getting guns out of the hands of those who are not responsible to… Read more »
But data shows us that other countries–who share domestic violence, lack of support for schools etc but DON’T allow guns–don’t have mass shootings. So, all the other issues need addressing. But the single act that could make the most difference is tightening gun ownership. The data is incontrovertible.
My fear is that now that there are so many powerful weapons in the arsenals of the self righteously aggrieved; politicians fear not just losing their elections. It’s grim. There was a piece of journalism “Living With The Far-Right Insurgency In Idaho” published last week that explored how normal, conservative Republican leadership is being pushed out of power through intimidation. I feel the only hope is intense activism in swing states to tip the senate towards reason.
I hope sincere outreach can touch these people who think only the extremists represent the rest of the population.
To those of you who are apparently down voting my comment – you are part of the problem! I think this is a tragedy and I gave suggestions on how to take action, and you are marking my suggestions down? Wow. Just Wow!
Hey Emily and Moderators!
I did not say anything disrespectful or outrageous and tried to give positive suggestions.
Some people in your audience keep “down voting” my comments.
If this is OK with you I will stop reading/commenting at your blog.
Bye ?
Emily, I trusted you would have something worthwhile to say about this. And you did. I’m crying still reading. This morning walked my first grader up the street to his Philadelphia center city public school, cried on the walk home and wrote the principal an email double checking about locked doors and gates. I feel so enraged and so impotent. But then I remember THATS HOW THEY WANT US TO FEEL. And I will not give irrational cold dead hands gun lovers the satisfaction. It’s so much easier to take control from someone who’s too terrified to take action. But that’s why we can’t let it be that way. We need to call our congresspeople call our senators send money to the right causes. KEEP YELLING. Moms make a difference. Women make a difference. And they can’t ignore us forever. Short of this, it might be our job to become them: become the congress people and senators so we can assure that our concerns, the concerns of the rational citizens of our country are heard, acknowledged, and acted on.
If you are interested in running for political office, She Should Run, is a non-profit, bi-partisan group that mentors female candidates: Women make up 51% of the US, but less than a third of the nation’s elected leaders.
? “Women make a difference…”
Yessss!!! We had a federal election ladt weekrnd and the previous govt were ousted, (dramatically in my state of Western Australia, with a 10% swing against them!).
It was the female vote that did it! 51% of our population and we rose up and got fierce.
Oh my, “you rose up and got fierce,”
now you made your bed and
will have to lie in it!
it breaks my heart to say this, but when nothing changed in regards to making it more difficult for the acquisition of guns after Sandy Hook, i.e., the killing of innocent children, i lost all hope that it would happen. and that is a very tough thing for me to say.
Pappel, please don’t give up. Please don’t loose hope. Fred Rogers said “When there is an emergency, look for the helpers.” Now we are tasked with raising the helpers and BEING the helpers. We can do this.
I am furious. And heartbroken. Harder access to guns would be better. But why do we even have guns? I read that same post Emily talked about four years ago. I respect that people have steong attachments to guns. Lives are more important than individual owner’s guns. Lives are more important! Why do we let this continue to happen? I am so angry!!!
Still trying to figure out how/why an add-on about guns (an amendment added years after the constitution was ratified for the strength of our military) seems to be more important for those who have (gun ownership) than the actual pretense that our US constitution was FOUNDED ON: the promotion of general welfare AND our Declaration of Independence, which was written more than a decade prior to the 2nd amendment, stating as Americas we are promising to protect the right to life. And, where do gun nuts draw the line for ownership exactly? Individuals can’t own nuclear weapons or armed tanks/drones or missile launchers. Why is a handgun or rifle not enough? And, and isn’t the fact that our constitution preamble begins: “In order to form a more perfect union” actually stating that it was never perfect, it is open for change as our society changes and pushes us to continue to do better for our country???
Right on Emily!!! I’m always interested in what you have to say on design or life issues!!! Thank you for sharing both so well!! k
100 % Agreed !!! I am terrified as a parent. School shootings, Fentanyl poisonings in the school bathrooms several times a week. There is so much of it they have bathroom monitors to call 911. Then there is the homeless population that it is in desperate need of mental health/ drug treatment services. What do we do?? Voting isn’t working as all they do is focus on each other point fingers and talking trash. They don’t actually try to compromise and get something done. It’s just one big Jerry Springer show. I’m often told by people that I can’t hide my child from the real world. Really is this what we should accept as the real word for them? I’m so scared for out children. Voting and sending emails isn’t working. Seriously what do we do?? A PEACEFUL Parents march/rally/protest??
One small practical suggestion: you can text a letter to your elected reps by sending RESIST to 50409. It’ll set you all up and is super easy. I write mine 2-3 times a week using this tool, including today’s plea for action.
Oh Emily, I knew I could count on you to address this today. Thank you for putting a voice to what we are feeling. Count me in on the class action lawsuit. :(
The problem is multifaceted. One area we really need to consider is money in politics. Politicians are more beholden to their donors than they are to their constituents. American elections, even for local offices, are money-driven. And incumbents have financial advantages that challengers simply can’t match in most cases.
I also think we’re witnessing a breakdown in society. People no longer trust authority. We saw it in anti-mask protests. I see it in my community every week: Streets are taken over by hundreds of racers who block traffic and menace other drivers, and the police are outnumbered and powerless to stop it.
Add to that toxic masculinity, systemic racism, and media driven by profit over truth and reality. It’s tearing the country apart.
I havd dual citizenship and this is one reason I’ve never chosen to live there.
I like the sound of the class action lawsuit of American parents v NRA. Let’s go
Absolutely. LET’S GO. How? Any lawyers among us with advice?
This is interesting (the author is a professor of law):
brand :
LET’S GO, PARENTS FOR PEACE.
Thank you for writing this post. I am horrified, I am sad and angry and more. My children are 9, 6 and 1. How do I explain this? Thank you for creating space for the grief and the action.
hi Julie, I saw there was an interview on NPR this morning with a child psychologist on how to talk to kids about what happened. The transcript of the interview will probably be posted later in the day, and it’s a “5 minute listen”. Maybe this will help you?
Julie, have you heard of Sparkle Stories? It’s a story podcast and subscription that tells the most wonderful stories. ALL of my kids love them – ages 7,5 and 2 currently. The founder sent out an email yesterday linking to free stories they wrote over the past few years to help kids process big pain like this. It was an excellent email and I’m sorry I can’t share it here. But I CAN share the link to the a blog post they wrote in 2019 and the free stories they created to help us and our kids in gruesome times. It’s really really helpful and actually offered me tangible support yesterday when I was at my lowest. Hope it helps.
Hi Julie, I saw NPR posted an updated page on “What to say when the news is scary” along with the link to a Life Kit podcast on it.
I’m pretty sure this is the one I was originally looking for to link for you earlier. They helpfully put a link on their front page to it.
Still reeling from events of yesterday. Could not sleep last night. I fear for for my grandchildren’s’ safety, my church, political gatherings; hell, any public gathering. I’ve marched to protest the Viet Nam war, for civil rights & for women’s rights. I’m ready to do anything to stop this madness.
I will join this lawsuit. Because our elected officials do not serve us, they serve the lobbies. We feel hopeless because the actions we are supposed to have access to so clearly don’t do anything. Mitch McConnell, Joe Manchin, and all their cronies have shown us that. Steve Kerr is right. We are being governed by minority rule and something else has to be done about it. I’ve been wanting a Union for moms for various reasons – we need a lawsuit too.
To all of our law-making politicians who claim this to be a mental health issue rather than a gun issue, I would respectfully like to say “Fuck off” because as a human who understands both that our brains are controlled by chemicals (neurotransmitters) AND that firing a firearm releases a firehose of chemicals in your body and brain, I understand these things can’t be separated, only minimized through training. This can be seen as our members of military are put through rigorous training before being commissioned and then are required to continue their weapons training while serving. So if it is indeed wholly a mental health issue then why do Republicans continue to fight our Affordable Health Care Act which would help to serve those of us with mental health concerns?
So. Well. Said.
Thank you.
<3
I’m tired of living in constant grief
thanks for posting this.
I’m a psychiatrist. Even if mental illness predicted violence, or even if we as mental health professionals could identify who would become mass shooters, or intervene effectively (no evidence that we can)…. it still takes much, MUCH longer for a potential shooter to get a psychiatry appointment than it does for him to buy a gun.
Yes, it’s harder to get a driver license or register to vote than to buy a gun. THIS IS WRONG!
Everything you said. And so much more. There are all the words and feelings and emotions, and then there are no words to fully encapsulate this. As a mother to three young children, I’m horrified and scared to death. As an American, I’m sickened and embarrassed and angry. And as a human, I’m just sad and feel hopeless. Speaking to my mom this morning, she mentioned that it just wasn’t like this when she was raising children in the 70’s & 80’s. Yes, there were some problems, but nothing like it is today. Everything is hard today, and politicized, and polarizing. Stories like this that are too common (in a week alone there’s the supermarket shooting, the church shooting, and now school shooting!), to Covid, to abortion rights, inflation, housing market, gas prices, homelessness crisis, the list goes on and on and on. It’s too much. We have to do more. We have more power than we think we do… I like the idea of the lawsuit (I’m in)… marches say a lot but I don’t know if they do a lot… what about a walk-out of sorts? As in, we all don’t show up to school or work for… Read more »
Educate yourself, VOTE with the party that represents your values. There is only one party that does not want an individual to protect themselves from a psychotic teenager. What sign do you want to read at your children’s school – “GUN FREE ZONE” or “PROTECTED BY ARMED ADULTS” (It is called active citizenship.) Are you against GUNS or GUN VIOLENCE? What law is needed to be passed to take out evil in the world? It is NOT to unarm the good citizens of this country who owns a a gun and has a right to protect their family and community? As a parent, grandparent have you read Andrew Pollack, a school safety activist, book he wrote after his dtr. was killed in a school shooting? This is a step to inform yourself and NOT let emotions of helplessness run all over you. Get a grip, our country and your children need you strong! Find out what the NRA does, are you ok with it, if so, you can’t blame evil shootings an organization. What is our culture doing, or not doing, to keep the evil out of our children’s heads? The internet, TV, the games played, music lyrics, the lack… Read more »
Quick fact check: professional law enforcement officers – “good guys with guns!” – were ALREADY stationed outside of the school, and they still couldn’t take down an 18 year old kid who had just been in a car accident.
“A police officer who works at the school and then two officers from the Uvalde police department all fired at Ramos – but they could not stop him and instead called for back-up,” said Eric Estrada from the Texas department of public safety.
If three professionally trained “good guys with guns” can’t handle this…well, it’s the guns.
To answer your question in all CAPS… I’m against gun violence. Obviously. Didn’t know I needed to clarify that. If a “good guy” wants to own a gun than I would assume he/she wouldn’t mind going through the following protocols: a proper background check, a mental health assessment, waiting a probationary amount of time, being “of age” (which should be much older than 18 by the way…You can’t drink alcohol, your brain is scientifically & biologically not fully formed, nor can you rent a car, but you can buy an AR15?!!!), AND completing gun training/safety courses and continuing education. Why wouldn’t a “good guy” go through this bare minimum to have the right and freedom to own a handgun? This is common practice for so many other “rights”. I think most “good guys” would go through the proper process if put in place and made into law. No one is saying take away all gun ownership rights… we’re saying make it harder for the people who want to do harm to get their hands on a gun. Period. (And all automatic weapons need to be banned from civilians… no need to own good guy or not.)
Your cpuntry needs modern-world gun laws!? Numbnut!
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I do think (along with other tactics) that mass protest is still meaningful, but I agree with what you’re mentioning about a walk-out/general strike. Different goals, but this is an example of a women’s walk out that seemed to have been relatively successful:
I agree. The article you posted seems to be a combination of both a strike/march and walkout. Love the results. I think women are much more powerful and able to make change; if we set our minds to something there’s no stopping us. The answer and possible solution may very well start with us. I’m in.
Surely every country struggles with issues around toxic masculinity, racism, mental health and politics. But not all countries experience mass shootings the way America does (maybe no other countries?). It. Is. Not. Normal. The guns are the problem. I just want to scream and scream and scream.
You CANNOT compare other countries with our country, you have to compare ‘population’ ‘to population.’ With that being said, the U.S. has the population of about 332 million and to compare that with all Europe, you would have a close comparison AND EUROPE IS AHEAD OF OUR COUNTRY with school shootings. (Check out the data yourself.) You & I know our country we live in with all the different backgrounds and all the different cultures that come together and live in a melting pot, can do better, but is not the worse place to live. Focus on the ability to make it better so we do not have to go through a tragedy again. Jump in and do your part, you child’s school might be looking for someone to do something for the safety of the children there! Stay active Hayley and do your best to keep your children’s school safe. Read the book written by a school safety activist, might be a small step to take. It is called “Why Meadow Died” by Andrew Pollack, he lost his dtr. in the Parkland School shooting. Hayley, it is NOT the GUNS, it is about the GUN VIOLENCE! There are many… Read more »
Quick fact check: this is demonstrably false.
There have been 288 school shootings in America THIS YEAR. Conversely, there have been 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Estonia, 1 in Hungary, 1 in Greece, and 1 in Russia. That’s 7 total for a similar-sized population.
Hallelujah, Caitlin!
BB – please stop disseminating false information. If more guns kept us safer, we would be the safest country in the world. We’re not. No other industrialized country comes close per capita to the gun violence in the U.S. Your lies are not helping.
YOU CAN’T HAVE “GUN VIOLENCE” WITHOUT GUNS!!! ? Numbnut!
But you still can have murders and killings.
It is the individual who does the evil not the
firearm.
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Like your sane politician said “This doesn’t happen in other cpu tties! Only here!”
I agree with this 1000%. I am horrified by people’s “God given right to own guns”. If it were up to me they would all be gone. It’s sickening to send our kids to school and have to teach them about active shooter drills and hiding under desks. I hope more than anything there can be some kind of change.
Kristin, there are many ways an evil person can kill.
Think about it Kristin, if all guns were all gone, how
do you stop an evil person from coming into your
child’s school using a knife and slitting throats, how
about setting off bombs like at the Boston Marathon?
Kristin you NEED GOOD PEOPLE WITH GUNS TO
TAKE DOWN THE EVIL PEOPLE WITH GUNS. Don’t
ever let your stupidity show again – unless you can
make everybody to live by the Ten Commandments,
there is always going to be the ‘need’ to have the evil
and the bad removed from our society so the good
people can live safe and peacefully, got it now Kristin?
Wish you safe days the rest of your life.
As someone who was at the Boston Marathon and whose friends suffered serious injuries from the bombs – we were all surrounded by “good guys with guns,” and it didn’t prevent ANYTHING from happening.
BB, respectfully, STFU . How dare you call someone stupid when CHILDREN ARE DYING. Honestly, this attitude is disgusting and you’re part of the problem.
BB: If anyone’s stupidity is showing, it’s yours. I still stand by original comment. Get rid of the guns. All of them.
So BB has to be some sort of paid shill right?! It’s super abnormal to come into a space the day after (yet another) mass shooting and defend guns so passionately. The question is, who’s paying them?
Bingo, Hayley!!
I think you hit the nail on the head!
Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re planted on all the high-ranking influencer’s blogs.
Really Kristin, how many criminals are going to give up their guns? The places in our country with the toughest gun laws have the highest crime rates. Why is that? In Chicago you can’t buy ammunition either, how is that working for every weekend shootings in double digits there? Could it be too easy to blame it on guns and not the importance of something wrong in our society. Can respect and love for ‘life’ be missing? It is going to be a struggle to get to a better place but taking a gun away from our good citizens is not going to help to get a sick head on straight. I agree, if you don’t have your head on straight you should NOT have weapons of any kind. Machetes were the weapons used in the genocide in Rwanda…..can kill without a gun hundreds of ways, so how do you take all that stuff away? Guns are part of our society, (second amendment,) and maybe taking them all away is not going to be the ‘fix’ for anything and it could make it worse for you and me to live with all the POWER in the hands of the illegal… Read more »
BB – Get help. You clearly need it.
Demonizing others (comments here) is part of the bigger problem Nancy.
Numbnut.
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I also like the idea of some kind of a lawsuit. I’m not sure how you get standing, but emotional distress? Financial cost of practical steps you take to protect yourselves and your children from such a situation? I know/hope people smarter than me are researching and exploring options outside the legislative box, but, as far as I can tell, Congress is NEVER going to do anything about this. And if they are too scared or hog tied to do anything, they need to GET OUT OF THE F’ING WAY! So, the question for me is if not legislation, how do you make practical change? Try to put the gun companies out of business? Shut gun shows down? Boycott stores that sell guns? I recently watched a man speaking about the importance of us making mental health as high a priority as physical health. Something he said that resonated so much with me is that there is nothing more dangerous than a person who hates themselves. I can only imagine that every single person who engages in any sort of shooting like this hates themselves. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with that, but it made me think of… Read more »
Agreed. I posted this link above, but an interesting journal article:
And there have been a couple of other creative lawsuits in recent years, e.g. the Sandy Hook families lawsuit targeting gun makers: and the New York lawsuit targeting the NRA: …
Thank you, Nora! Also, I wanted to add a couple of other points (apologies if these are repetitive, I am fired up and haven’t taken the time to read through every comment). One, if a politician is pro life and opposed to gun control, that seems to me to be a difficult dichotomy to reconcile in the face of these mass shootings, particularly when children are involved. Two, the conservative movement has been working for DECADES to fill the courts with conservative judges. Movements can take years and years and discipline and commitment to agreed upon talking points by the right messengers. It is so hard, particularly in this day and technological time. But I want to be hopeful.
Thank you Emily for speaking out against the NRA and the gun nuts. I have thought that if enough people came together and sued the NRA that there might be a change.
Who in the NRA pulled any triggers
in a mass shootings? Wild thing to
say, got to blame it on someone
instead of self-reflect as to how we
are doing as a society to raise such
an evil teenager who can kill the
innocent among us. Do we need
the NRA to go into parental skills
& mental health business? (And
the first place they need to go
is Chicago with their new skills!)
BB, BJ, JJ, AJ, RJ, ZJ – please stick with one username here. Thanks.
Nice. Switching user names, cutting and pasting – hence the weird margins. Get help, BB, JJ or whatever name you’re using this time.
Quick note: Every time you mention Chicago your racism shows just a little bit more…
The topic is about the guns & tragic
shootings, most recently a TX school,
don’t understand why you went off
topic & inserted a comment about
skin color? Instead of accusing
people who mention Chicago’s
statistics as something they are
‘not’- why not jump in on topic
and give all your thoughts on
guns & gun violence? Maggie,
I care to hear your input.
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I love you more today Emily.
Today I am finding it hard to function.
I am quilting to try to sooth my mind. I am watching home reno shows to massage my mind.
But those children and teachers are still dead. So the NRA can rake in donations from scared old men.
So the politicians can rake in donations from scared voters.
I vote. I donate.
And today I’m finding it hard to see my stitches through the tears.
NRA did not pull any trigger to make your tears
fall. Look into the NRA and find out why it was
founded, what kind of education they do etc. etc.
You will have tears of happiness & gratitude falling
instead. You need some LEARNING today and
leave the quilting for another day when your
heart is not so heavy. May you find peace.
calling you out rj bb jj, get out troll
“You will have tears of happiness & gratitude falling
instead.” Ths is terrifying and I hate it here
Numbnut.
No peace with guns here. No peace with gun fetishists here. No peace with nra white knights here.
Go away, troll.
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The sad and undeniable truth is that America’s gun culture, based on minority rule in Washington with all that entails, is the cause of these horrific shootings. Every other peer nation has its share of mental health issues, poverty, drugs, and so forth, but NO other peer nation has a significant number of mass shootings. NONE. Short of getting a new constitution that truly provides for a fair and equitable representative government, it just seems hopeless. Instead, the US has a government controlled by small and rural states, with vastly inequitable representation, gerrymandering, and the electoral college. These elements make it less and less possible for the sensible majority to adequately influence government. All three branches are problematic–we can’t ignore the Supreme Court either. So yes, we must vote, but that is not nearly enough to address these issues, unfortunately.
You are a Left-wing activist trying to influence people on this blog!
Why would you NOT want to have a
“checks and balance” in our government?
Our country is founded on a REPUBLIC for the people!
Peddle your garbage somewhere else.
Your country is broken. Only in the US would a call for gun control get you branded a left wing activist.
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Your response makes me despair.
I spent the first 30 years of my life in Canada and the last 40 here. If I could take my grown children and young grandchildren with me, I’d be heading back across the border. Enough.
I’m more grateful than most days, that I live in Australia.
Last weekend, our women voted our misogynistic, right-leaning fed govt out!!!!
Women can be the difference. 51% is a majority.
I live in Mexico and my son never attended school in the U.S. I have always wondered why parents can´t do more to stop this madness. I am glad you are speaking up. As an american I pray parents can do something, a class action suit seems like the only way. I pray for all parents that have to send their kids to school, I think I would be too afraid to. Children have a right to feel safe when in school and their families have a right to feel safe sending them.
Your comment is poignant and made me have a question…
I wonder if the people that are desperate to allow guns everywhere also choose to home-school out of fear of, um, guns?
There is an elephant in the room. And it’s not the guns. What is it that makes getting and using a gun a choice for an individual to resolve a grievance? Why aren’t we asking the hard questions about why these things happen? How are we parenting, teaching, socializing our children to think this is even an option? Why aren’t we giving children and adults ways to handle anger, disappointment, frustration and life without escalating to violence of any kind but especially gun violence. Thirty years ago, incidents like this were rare. What has happened to our society in those intervening years to make this so commonplace today? There were plenty of guns around then. (And for those who say it’s about assault rifles, know that any gun can cause damage and death. It only takes one shot.) I grew up in the 1970s. Almost every family I knew had guns in the home. High school boys drove around with gun racks in their pickups. Yet, I don’t remember any gun related incidents involving high school children. School was a safe place, not because there weren’t guns. Maybe it was because we were raised and taught ways to deal with… Read more »
Scotland & Australia, etc.,’s experience makes it pretty clear it would solve a big old fraction of the mass shooting problem. Seems like a great place to start.
I agree we need to address the elephant in the room “What is it that makes getting and using a gun a choice for an individual to resolve a grievance?”. That was exactly the point I was getting at in my first comment.
Also, in a reply to another commenter I said that I think these things (mass shootings) are contagious.
At the very least, a big ol long application process would slow down someone who is mentally unstable. You shouldn’t be able to buy a gun as fast as you would a candy bar, especially if you’re in the thick of a mental problem.
For anyone of any state of mind.
Yes, any gun can cause damage. But if you have to reload a gun after each shot, the potential for mass casualty is much reduced. The fact that large capacity ammunition magazines are legal is outrageous.
Legal, unrestricted, unlicensed, and available to an 18 year old, why???? As others have said, in many states it is easier to legally purchase the gear to commit mass murder than it is to legally drive, buy a beer, hunt for game or fish, rent a car, get a campsite, get into a nightclub, apply to college, apply for financial aid, or vote. But, an 18 year old wants two assault weapons, 350 rounds of ammunition, and bulletproof gear within days of his 18th birthday… no problem. Insane. Irresponsible. Indefensible.
Amen
Yes.
If my mother said it one time, she said it 1000 times: stand up and be counted. Very brave of you to use your website as a loud speaker on this contentious subject.
To quote you, “Republicans are too scared of their funders and constituents to push back.” I am not a republican, so please don’t discount what I am about to say supposing that. But how can you blame one party, when the other one (democrats) currently has control of the presidency, the Senate and the House? If they wanted to pass common sense gun laws, they could easily do it (same for abortion access, I might add). Blaming one side without recognizing the other side is equally responsible is not helpful; it divides us further and distracts us from what must be a common goal. If we don’t work together, nothing will change.
Totally agree!!!
Talking points is not information anyone
can produce change on, it is the go-to if
you do not have any ideas!
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I’m sorry. I think you don’t understand how our government works if you think the democrats can “easily pass” anything they want. The democratic Senators cannot even bring a vote to the floor without clearing the filibuster which requires 60 VOTES! That means that every democrat and 10 republicans must agree or the law will not even be discussed! There will be no debate at all let alone a final vote. There are multiple bills that have been passed by the House that haven’t even been discussed by the Senate because they cannot overcome the filibuster because of REPUBLICANS.
Are you really blaming the republicans for the filibuster??? Democrats–and this is easily verifiable (be brave and look it up)–have historically used it much, much more often.
My point was, you cannot blame one side when both are equally responsible for not being willing to find common ground. The process determined by the constitution to pass a law (yes, including the filibuster to prevent one side from dominating, and also including required thresholds in voting) is established to demand compromise so constituents from all sides have representation.
There are many common ground gun safety laws that could be passed with compromise–mandatory waiting periods, universal background checks, limiting automatic assault rifles–that most Americans would unite behind if we could pause the vitriol and name calling long enough to come to the table. Demand your elected representatives find common ground and get to work.
Except that there two “democrats” blocking every single piece of legislation that this administration is trying to pass, including abortion protections. And why? Because of money and lobbyists and no term limits. It’s about money and power, on both sides of the aisle. It’s a messed up, broken system.
I whole-heartedly agree that it is about money and power on both sides! It’s shameful. Those two democrats won’t agree to abolish the filibuster and have blocked reconciliation legislation (which included a lot of environmental, social and safety net programs that you are referring to). But even if the gun legislation that passed the house was supported by those two, it would not make it to the floor of the Senate because of the 60 vote threshold to overcome the filibuster.
I feel that to own a gun the owner should be required to insure it though the NRA. We have to have insurance for our cars, why isn’t insurance required for guns? I bet the NRA would be more willing for gun control if they had to pay claims to the victims for the shootings. Just my thoughts…
That is an interesting idea—insurance for shooters. Money and civil suits do have an effect. The Aryan Nation was destroyed by a civil suit that bankrupted them, so it is possible to bring real change through this methodology. Please shout it out!
What can we, the frightened and the concerned, do about the fact that people, (often, young males who are feeling frightened and enraged themselves), lash out in their pain and suffering? How is it that a person can feel that there is no other way to end the emotional anguish he is in than to hurt others? How can our society grow young people who are not under threat themselves during their vulnerable years? Do we think the shooter had a life worth living? Did we miss the tell-tale signs that he was possibly abused, ridiculed, and felt hopeless? And, that it was not dealt with in a therapeutic, loving and supportive manner by the adults and teachers and neighbors who knew him? Do we create wonderful neighborhoods where every body is included in the parties, the games and the get-togethers so that no child feels excluded? Are we there to prevent him from believing that there is no way out of his loneliness and pain except by using a gun…or, for that matter, a knife, a home-made bomb, a book of matches, a bag of pills, a car, or his fists? Fellow readers, “we” are the ones who are… Read more »
Send cookies? I’m sorry but no. Ban AR-15s for a start. It’s that simple.
That would be a great start, as well as wait times and all the other things that have been mentioned here. I really don’t understand how this is not common sense. I have family who are hunters and own guns (we do too) and as far as I know none of them are opposed to implementing these laws. I have always considered myself leaning toward the conservative side of things, and this just makes, no matter what “side” you are on. I can only imagine it NOT making sense if there is some sort of ulterior motive (money in pockets, political power games, etc.). But I think what Karen is trying to say is, if it’s not guns, it’s likely going to be something else. We have a bigger problem, if that is even say-able. Someone in a previous comment called it the “elephant in the room.” What needs to be fixed (and is so much trickier than gun laws) are relationships–between people. Families, friends, strangers. If there were not so much wrong in those areas, it is much more likely individuals would never come to a point where they pick up a gun to do violence. Stronger gun laws… Read more »
Thank you for your eloquent response. The question shouldn’t we just focused on the guns. They are just a tool someone chooses. The why someone feels the need to make this choice is something we as a society need to address along with tighter gun regulations. One without the other is meaningless.
Well, sadly I worry that we’re going to be a very busy bakers if we experience a significant uptick in impoverished, malnourished, housing insecure, and tragically unwanted children. There a tragedies that can/should be avoided through legislation. Children should be wanted, and loved and fed, sheltered, and provided for medically. Education should be fun, safe, and rigorous. Mental health care should be easily accessible. 18 year olds should not be free to legally purchase equipment which makes mass murder so efficient.
The number of lifetimes that it’dtake for that kind of generational, education induced change is beyond considering.
You guys need change pronto.
As an outsider it seems like the US doesn’t care about its people. I don’t get it. I’m so sad and angry for you.
Register every gun and regulate ammunution by dispensing it in reasonable amounts to registered gun owners, prohibiting all sales outside of ammunition dispensaries made directly to registered owners. Can also sell at target practice facilities where every last piece of ammo purchased on site gets used on site. All those good guys with guns ought to be happy to register, no? And if your handgun is to protect your home, great – here’s the exact number of bullets it holds and not one more. Use one? Bring in a police report showing why and it can be replaced. Hunting? wonderful, the state fish and game agency can easily recommend the amount of ammo you’ll need, and that’s what you can have.
Great ideas – all of them.
The lack of nutrition is making our country mentally ill! That’s where it starts with. We’ve got a corrupt FDA who let companies add chemicals to our food that we all know is not at all good for our brain function. Not at 2 years old, not at 18 years old and not at 65 years old. Our food is our sustenance. We are what we eat. Dyes that are banned in Europe are still available in our country and in children’s cereal? Our health is everything.
I used to think gun control was the answer. We as a nation are feared by many counties because we are armed and will protect our country from invaders. We must protect our family from intruders. Our lives are more civilized than they were but we must have the right to protect.
You don’t need an AR-15 to protect your home. Have you ever used one? You would be more likely to kill every living thing in your home, along with the intruder. A shotgun is a better bet, particularly for those who don’t/won’t/can’t practice shooting on a regular basis. We’re not a nation feared because we’re armed – we’re a nation pitied because we sacrifice our children for the far-right’s interpretation of the second amendment.
No evidence that dyes in cereal cause or are even correlated with mental illness.
What a terrific post, thank you. I’m 72 and I live in Texas but I don’t own a gun (and never would consider it). As a mother and a grandmother, I’m horrified by this shooting, and also heartsick over it. I worry for my grandchildren, but not just for them: for every child, but also, really, for everyone. When I was young, America felt so safe to me. It no longer does. In the past 10 years, whenever I go into a store, I make sure I have my phone with me in my purse, in case some maniac comes in shooting. I’d guess I’m not alone in thinking about that. Thank you for taking the time to write this important post.
I read from Europe, from Spain. I am shocked, this never happens in our country, NEVER, and we are 45 million people. I think American society is ill…no paid maternity leave, no healthcare, too many working hours, expensive housing, no abortion rights…
By the way, i love the blog
The link between ease of access and use in Emily’s commentary… could you share the link to the podcast you referenced? Interested in this data. Thanks.
I just read a horrifying Twitter thread on Active Shooter Drills in schools and how many children are afraid to go to the bathroom in school in case they get locked out of their classroom during an incident because they *will*- get locked out of their classroom during an incident. How during drills students are appointed to rattle the door handle and cry and plead to be let in and the teachers have been trained not to let them in, in case they are with the shooter or being used by the shooter.
Emily, Active Shooter Drills are your weather, and the weather of every parent and child – and teacher – in America. And that’s if they’re lucky and don’t get caught up in a real incident. No other country in the world has to deal with this, and it can be dealt with if Americans insist that it is.
One thing to remember in this tragedy- who stopped it? Who put an end to it? A Border Patrol agent with a gun. A true hero who went in without backup. The other side of this discussion is making schools safer. Armed security guards for example! While it would be nice to prevent all evil in the world, we cannot. But we can protect the defenseless.
Australian schools don’t need or have armed security guards.
Hell, most don’t have security, purely educators, admin officers, a nurse, and maybe a gardener on occasion.
OMG. He stopped it after 19 babies died. That’s not a solution!
Hi Emily, I’ve been here for years and for the first time I’ve felt compelled to respond. I’m in the minority here because a male as well see a different side of the argument as your typical audience.
I wanted to address some of your points because they highlight a major issue in the debate, but I will leave it one point.
“… in many states, including Texas, you can go into a store and simply buy a weapon that kills other people, a gun! Without a background check or permit!”.
I challenge you go to any gun shop in this country or even your local gun shop and see if you can purchase a firearm without a background check. Seriously, instead of posting this, walk into a shop and attempt to buy a firearm. A 4473 form is required for every purchase from an FFL (firearms dealer) and that’s goes through the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS).
Your statement is factually incorrect and you’re platform is literally spreading disinformation (something we can all agree is a bad thing for our country).
CAITLIN??? FACT CHECK????
I don’t understand this to be the case, J Jones.
Please be my guest Caitlin… I’ll wait. Or you know, you could literally walk into a gun store and find out yourself
Right on! Thanks for sharing.
I have a challenge also, go into a gun store
and ask to buy an assault weapon. (The
one our president is always talking about.)
@Jib & @Rusty, Notice how the community here is incredibly misinformed about the basics of US firearms law. I’d love to see an edit where @EmilyHenderson addresses her erroenous statement after she “fact checked” by her own people.
I was making a funny!
I know the basics .
Nobody takes back their lies.
@Jib I got your joke lol. I was just making sure you saw. I’m still waiting on a “fact check” from Caitlin and for Emily to at least acknowledge that what she was false. I understand this is her platform and she can say whatever, but it is irresponsible to say what she said. I get we’re all emotional about this but emotion doesn’t solve issues that require logic, effort, and the ability to listen.
You are a good educator,
hear the bells, whistles, sirens, and
fireworks going off in the distance,
we want to thank you sir!
“CR/LJ/Rog/Jib/Santa/Wow/We/Bev/Bubba/JJ/BB/ZJ/RJ/AJ/BJ – you’re welcome to debate here, but this is the final warning to stop creating more usernames in an attempt to create drama. Pick one name and stick with it, please, or we won’t be able to welcome your comments here in the future”
“CR/LJ/Rog/Jib/Santa/Wow/We/Bev/Bubba/JJ/BB/ZJ/RJ/AJ/BJ – you’re welcome to debate here, but this is the final warning to stop creating more usernames in an attempt to create drama. Pick one name and stick with it, please, or we won’t be able to welcome your comments here in the future”
Actually, I have done this. It was easier to purchase the gun than it was to get my drivers permit when I was 15. Or register to vote when I was 18. You know what else I’ve done? Ordered an AR15 kit online, and all the FFL did when I went to pick it up was ask if I wanted to have a cup of coffee and talk about the weather. And I would gladly give up all my guns for free if it meant no one else had to die.
@AMC Absolutely CAP. So you said you bought a “kit” online, yet you didn’t fill out 4473 and pick it up at an FFL?? Explain what came in the “kit”, what parts of the firearm??? Lol, you just exposed yourself.
Thank you, for your comments here,
you are on my good boy list.
“CR/LJ/Rog/Jib/Santa/Wow/We/Bev/Bubba/JJ/BB/ZJ/RJ/AJ/BJ – you’re welcome to debate here, but this is the final warning to stop creating more usernames in an attempt to create drama. Pick one name and stick with it, please, or we won’t be able to welcome your comments here in the future”
J jones, I just went to three different websites and put different guns in my cart. I can have them delivered to a nearest dealer who will check my status and let me leave with the gun. BUT they qualify that each state has different laws regarding how the buyer takes ownership.
This is an article on exactly what the gun and carry laws in Texas look like. In your post, you’re assuming that buyers are all going to first rate stores. However, I think that’s not the case often.
The article:
Emily remains much more accurate than you in this case.
@Sara M, Wow, another FALSE comment coming from someone who clearly is misinformed. How about I present you with FACTS. Straight from from our actual Judiciary, not something you made up or don’t actually understand the process of. It’s called the “Brady Bill” and it established a federal requirement for background checks on all firearm purchases since ’93. The “Brady Bill” – “Prohibits the transfer of a firearm to an unlicensed individual after the system is established unless the transferor has verified the individual’s identity and contacted the system and either: (1) the system has provided the transferor with a unique identification number for the transfer; or (2) three business days have elapsed and the system has not notified the transferor that the transfer would violate the law. ” It also established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) on all firearms transactions from an firearms dealer (FFL). “… in many states, including Texas, you can go into a store and simply buy a weapon that kills other people, a gun! Without a background check or permit!”. – Emily Henderson Still waiting on that “fact check” from @Caitlin. Where ya at??? @Sara M, @Emily, @AMC incorrectly understand our nation’s… Read more »
Unfortunately those grieving parents will have to be a Mamie Till and let the media show the bodies of their children. Not just the happy smiling pictures, but the pictures of what happens when those babies are the victims of gun violence. When you can ignore those realties, it’s easy to “thoughts and prayers” and keep it moving. The gruesome photos of Emmet Till were a powerful catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
Class action lawsuit, sign me up! Seriously!
Regarding lawsuits against gun manufacturers, here is an article from Reuters with info on attempts to use the courts to hold manufacturers liable for mass shootings.