Mass shooting du jour

[Matata]

We need to invent a new vocabulary to deal with this. Thoughts and prayers ain't workin.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/witnesses-several-people-shot-at-church-in-sutherland-springs/489260703

 

[Calliecake]

Local official was told 27 dead, more than 24 injured.

But you know, guns aren't a problem in this country. SMDH

 

[Austina]

Shocking, when will it end?

 

[AGBF]

We need to invent a new vocabulary to deal with this. Thoughts and prayers ain't workin.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/witnesses-several-people-shot-at-church-in-sutherland-springs/489260703

I was going to say, "Are you kidding me?", but I know you would not joke about something like this. It is really surreal. But I guess it is not terrorism, because I doubt some Arab could have gotten into a small Baptist church and only crimes by Arabs are terrorism according to president Trump. I bet that does not comfort the victims or their families, however.

 

[whitewave]

What? wow. Didn't hear about this...

 

[stracci2000]

"While the details of this horrific act are still under investigation, Cecilia and I want to send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by this evil act," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement Sunday. "I want to thank law enforcement for their response and ask that all Texans pray for the Sutherland Springs community during this time of mourning and loss."

Thoughts and prayers.....what a joke

 

[OreoRosies86]

Edit: oh what's the point. Nothing will change. Nothing.

 

[Bron357]

I really wish America would severely strict gun ownership. Here in Australia, yes we still have guns and yes people can own them, but it’s difficult and restricted. Accordingly we have extremely low gun related incidents. Of course we still have crime and still have mentally unstable or drug affected people doing bad things. However when our police attend crime scenes, the usual weapon is a knife, not a gun. Yes, knives kill people but you can’t kill 20 people in less than a minute and from 20 or more meters away. Americans will say “I want to feel safer in my home or out and about”. How can anyone feel “safe” when anyone and everyone could be carrying a gun? Protect yourself during a robbery? The robber has a gun and you have a gun, it’s unlikely to end well. We still have robberies but ordinary robbers firstly don’t feel emboldened by the gun they carry, making them more inclined to commit an offence and they don’t feel “very trigger nervous” because the homeowner has a gun too making them more likely to use their gun. Yes, we might have our TV stolen but no one killed or got killed in the process.

 

[lyra]

I wish I could say I was surprised and/or shocked.

 

[Maria D]

*yawn*

 

[monarch64]

I'm telling you: you can forget about anyone ever taking your guns away. So you might as well wear a bulletproof vest everywhere you go. This is legit what it's come to here. It's starting to seem not like a matter of "if," but "when."

 

[monarch64]

Bron, you can save your breath and arguments for gun control. It will NEVER ever ever ever happen here. It is literally a waste of time to bother talking about the issue anymore.

 

[Calliecake]

Guns don't kill people.... Republican congressman who continue to let this happen kill people. I'm sure there are a few democrat congressman thrown in there too.

Three, two, one ....waiting to get crucified for my comment

 

[Maria D]

Bron, you can save your breath and arguments for gun control. It will NEVER ever ever ever happen here. It is literally a waste of time to bother talking about the issue anymore.

Agreed. We should just accept deaths from mass shootings like we accept deaths from natural disasters or drunk driving. But wait, we don't actually accept that - we build more structurally sound dwellings and pass legislation to keep drunk drivers off the road.

I know - we will accept deaths from mass shootings just as we accept death from natural causes. It's the natural cause of our willful adherence to a constitutional amendment that doesn't work in the 21st century. Those people in the church or at the movies or at the club or at the concert or in the kindergarten were all going to die from natural causes eventually. So will we all, some of us in a mass shooting. Not enough to worry so much about it.

Unless you want to worry about all shooting deaths. Then you somehow have to rationalize why we are OK with the fact that more people are killed with guns than by alcohol impaired driving. Too much thinking! Too hard a problem for Americans! Let's just have thoughts and prayers and carry on.

 

[monarch64]

Maria--Yup! #thoughtsandprayers #blessed I wonder if they make gun models called "Thoughts and Prayers Special" or "Blessed"?

 

[MissGotRocks]

Isn't it such a shame when you just develop a dead spot in your soul somehow for these shootings? Just so disheartening to know and accept that they will just keep on happening and that we feel so powerless to effect any change.

 

[monarch64]

Isn't it such a shame when you just develop a dead spot in your soul somehow for these shootings? Just so disheartening to know and accept that they will just keep on happening and that we feel so powerless to effect any change.

Yes. I don't even feel anything except "well that sucks." I'm honestly indifferent. What is the point of caring about it anymore?

 

[Bron357]

My dear American friends I feel for you. I know my words are wasted, better people than me have said them longer and more often to no effect. The tragedy is that most Americans feel protecting “the right to bear arms” is more important than “the right to feel safe”.

 

[arkieb1]

If Sandy Hook and the recent Vegas shooting didn't put enough pressure on US society to introduce better stricter gun control nothing is going to.... To put it bluntly, thoughts and prayers ain't going to fix a system that is obviously broken.

 

[Snowdrop13]

People are just numb to it all- on the BBC website it's not even the headline news, the Queen's offshore account is more important, seemingly.

 

[Calliecake]

If the person who committed the crime was a terrorist we would be hearing that we need to build a wall, need stricter borders and the whole country is outraged. If it's a middle aged white guy with a gun and an anger problem it's always "thoughts and prayers" and NOTHING is done.

Many more people were killed today than on Tuesday in the NY terrorist attack. No one cares unless the killer says they are ISIS.

 

[Rhea]

From the 10 pm BBC news, "Will this alter the gun debate in America? Almost certainly not. These mass shootings never do."

As @Snowdrop13 said, it wasn't the headline news. But listening to the presenter give the details of mass shootings (4 of more deaths) in the States over the past week there's just no way they can remain the top news story. The whole attitude of British news seems to be similar to what you hear when someone is describing any own group violence (i.e., gang on gang violence, etc.), it doesn't affect us and if they won't stop why should we keep caring?

I do feel for those living in America. But my thoughts and prayers don't fix a damn thing.

 

[Maria D]

If Sandy Hook and the recent Vegas shooting didn't put enough pressure on US society to introduce better stricter gun control nothing is going to.... To put it bluntly, thoughts and prayers ain't going to fix a system that is obviously broken.

We can't even ban bump stocks! Well Massachusetts just did, but they're a bunch of liberal elitists. Thoughts and prayers makes us feel like we are doing something.

Yesterday I read that the Las Vegas sheriff thinks the Vegas shooter's girlfriend may be hiding something. He feels that she should/may have known the guy was planning something because “There is (sic) a lot of people that have hundreds and hundreds of guns, but for this individual to do it at a certain point in time and to do it all with such robust action, you would think that Ms. Danley would have some information associated with that." This is the height of ridiculousness to me. Her boyfriend did nothing illegal when he bought all those guns, in fact lots of people have that many guns. But he did it with "robust action" whatever that means. What was she supposed to do, alert law enforcement? And what would they do, take his guns away? Not in this country. Am I supposed to alert the police about the fact that my former dentist likes to talk about his gun hoarding habits while he examines teeth? I have no idea how robustly he amassed his collection. I have no idea if he is mentally stable (probably is) or if he is having money problems (probably not) or if he has any reason to snap (who the hell knows). Maybe I'll call the Las Vegas sheriff and see if he wants to take a trip up to Maine and check the guy out.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Could someone start a Go Fund Me collection to buy The USA Congress enough gonads to tell the NRA to intercourse itself? Then, perhaps there could be gun control like Australia has.

 

[arkieb1]

If the person who committed the crime was a terrorist we would be hearing that we need to build a wall, need stricter borders and the whole country is outraged. If it's a middle aged white guy with a gun and an anger problem it's always "thoughts and prayers" and NOTHING is done.

Many more people were killed today than on Tuesday in the NY terrorist attack. No one cares unless the killer says they are ISIS.

Wouldn't impact the gun control debate at all, all you would do is tighten immigration and put in place stricter surveillance of people deemed possible terrorists. Nope, the good old white boys aren't going to hand over their guns without a fight and the millions/billions that go into protecting their way of life from the NRA and others aren't going to dry up any time soon.....

 

[Calliecake]

@Maria D The Vegas shooter also had multiple homes. She probably had no idea what he had hidden and she also came back here immediately to cooperate with authorities. It seems ridiculous to me as well.


We can all rest easy. Paul Ryan just sent his prayers to those affected in today's shooting.

 

[arkieb1]

Could someone start a Go Fund Me collection to buy The USA Congress enough gonads to tell the NRA to intercourse itself? Then, perhaps there could be gun control like Australia has.

Most Aussies aren't stupid enough to even think you could do what we did here, too many guns for starters, not enough people on the ground to police a gun buy back system and gun ownership ingrained culturally as part of your civil rights. Most of the rationalists just want better stricter gun control laws and an over all reduction in the types of guns people can own, a limit to how many guns overall and better laws on who can own what. And you know what, all the pro gun people say that all that will do is create more red tape and take away their rights.

Obviously they don't get it, the people that have been shot and killed and their families have rights too - the right to live safely without the fear of randomly being shot by someone else. And that right, the right to be safe, should be a MUCH higher right on the scale of keeping people safe than the right to keep and bare arms - until America gets that, (and I'm skeptical some white gun hugging men and women ever will) NOTHING will be done.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Never fear -- Chump is on it! He is "monitoring the situation from Japan."



ETA: It's also unclear to me EXACTLY what comfort is supposed to be drawn by the FBI and law enforcement being on the scene (although one would presume nothing less) since the shooter is DEAD.

 

[Rhea]

I have a question. It's related, but not quite on topic. I'm happy to start a new thread if that's a better option.

When someone is shot and injured what happens to them medically? I know there is ACA and I'm under the impression that healthcare in the US has improved though I believe it's still insufficient and expensive. The BBC online reports a child having been shot 4 times and currently undergoing surgery. Let's say an incident like this causes life changing injuries. Who pays for the medical care and coverage required? Before the ACA would it have been considered a pre-existing condition when applying for different coverage in the future? Did the ACA change that and how?

 

[Maria D]

Excellent questions Rhea!