Keep writing about guns. Write about every shooting. About every stupid, senseless shooting. About the children and the co-workers and the people just living their lives. I am in a constant state of horror and anger and frustration about our gun culture, and some days I need a puppy break, but you, please, write about every single one.
And now Texas is going to have a 'no limits' hands off approach to owning a gun: no license, no training and no background check to open carry a gun. I wonder if they also will not limit it to just anyone over the age of 18? Sounds about right for them.
I tell you, if it's not the Covid that gets you, it will be the guns. Just tonight there was a report some guy got mad for people telling him not to drive under the influence and then he got a shotgun out and starting threatening them with it.
Thank goodness it didn't go off, nobody was injured and the guy is in jail on charges. This is in Maine.
There's no place safe any more. I hate guns. I hate people who love guns to the exclusion of other people.
I wouldn't necessarily categorized a paint gun as a toy. They're not toys. Neither are AirSoft. They look like real lethal weapons. The idiot taking his kid out to perform a "Drive by" in and of itself is a level of stupidity rarely equaled, all things considered. The man who shot the kid shooting the paint gun? The issue should be: was it necessary for him to be armed? No. Another idiot but one for different reasons. I'm guessing #2 could see it was a kid firing the paint balls and shot anyway. This makes him doubly stupid. Lotta stupidity going around these days exacerbated by a biased media on both sides. No getting around it, this ain't some technological breakdown, we're on the road to hell.
My thoughts exactly. Tamir Rice was shot and killed for playing with a *real* toy gun and people don't get that brandishing anything that looks remotely like a gun is dangerous? Wait, wait, don't tell me: The drive-by father and son are both white and (if they ever even heard of Tamir Rice) don't believe that anything like that could happen to them.
Thanks for this, it's thoughtful and well-written. Something that I am tired of is when the media covers a gun-related murder story, they always pivot to MOTIVE. As if this were a Hollywood movie. It makes me want to scream, "Who gives a shit about Motive, the person is DEAD, okay? When are we going to talk about preventing the NEXT bonehead homicide?" I'm sure my viewpoint is shared by sane people the world over who look at the USA with a mixture of disbelief, shock and pity.
This is Florida, plus the usual MAGAhat stupidity. That's all anyone needs to know. If you live in Florida, and your neighborhood is starting to resemble Beirut, LEAVE! Move to a state that has reasonable gun laws that are well enforced. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and California come to mind. Do it now.
Someone tell the Opa-locka police that there can be more than one "bad guy" in any scenario? That 10YO may have been "a boy with a toy," but the father who thought it was a good idea to say yes to a drive-by with a paint-ball gun . . . Jeezus.
A few years ago I was seated on a jury in DeSantistan (Florida).
A 27 year old white female was arrested for falsifying an entry on ATF form 4473, what a gun dealer has you fill out at time of purchase. You can buy up to 5 guns at one time without any further action.
Our young lady bought five AK-47's from two different dealers on 2 separate days, paid cash.
A big gun store sold her the guns.
A mom and pop store thought something was wrong, notified ATF.
She used an address that did not check out, it was a former location.
We voted guilty, and she was convicted.
Not once was the term "straw purchase" mentioned. That's when someone who can purchase and pass a background check buys guns for those who cannot. She paid cash to both dealers, the mom and pop owners blew the whistle.
This is what years of NRA donations to legislators gets.
Want to learn more, Google the ATF 4473 form to see what every gun owner responded to when purchasing.
I always share your newsletters on Twitter and on my FB page. Today, I added the following comment along with the link to your newsletter:
"Yesterday, some woman I don't know posted on the local FB hate page that she was a member of a "women's gun club" in South Austin and she wanted to start one up in Lockhart. She asked if there was any interest and literally within MINUTES, the post was flooded with local women who wanted to get together and shoot their guns...who knows at what or at whom. This is a sickness. Pure and simple. These people need treatment. And it is simply not safe anywhere these days with such crazies on the loose, heavily and happily armed and looking for people to shoot."
Now, I doubt I'll get hammered for my comment, since I've just about cleaned out every troll possible, either by blocking or reporting them or both, but the sad fact is that now in Texas almost ANYONE can easily buy and open carry a gun anywhere. I've been having nightmares lately about just going to the grocery store. (I only purchase curbside now - started with the pandemic, but now I do it so I can make a quick get-away if someone with a long gun is anywhere around.)
On May 29th, a local gun range offered lessons on how to clean, load, and effectively hit your target with an AK-47, supposedly taught by a "certified instructor." The invitation was posted on that same FB hate page. I sent it to the FBI in San Antonio.
I hate guns with every fiber of my being. Hunks of metal purchased to give a man the feeling that he is more than he is, hunks of metal that kill. I hate reading about the guns and death . . . but you have to keep writing about them and I must keep reading about them. Who will have the guts, the actual courage not the fake courage they think they get from owning guns, to fix this?
Cant quite see how this can be resolved. State and Fed legislators will not one day decide to take away all firearms from law abiding Americans. Best is to hope for better licensing. The USA has a weird gun culture and powerful. If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns is an old saying. And accurate..
"If guns are outlawed . . ." is an old saying because the NRA has been pushing it for decades. They push it hardest when better licensing, background checks, and bans on military-style firearms are being considered. No reasonably intelligent person advocates outlawing guns, so the statement is about as accurate as "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride."
Easy to find educated people who advocate confiscation of all privately owned firearms in the USA. Extremists on this issue are not hard to find- start with the NRA and Texas- which will soon allow anyone to carry a concealed firearm. What could go wrong?
Keep writing about guns. Write about every shooting. About every stupid, senseless shooting. About the children and the co-workers and the people just living their lives. I am in a constant state of horror and anger and frustration about our gun culture, and some days I need a puppy break, but you, please, write about every single one.
And now Texas is going to have a 'no limits' hands off approach to owning a gun: no license, no training and no background check to open carry a gun. I wonder if they also will not limit it to just anyone over the age of 18? Sounds about right for them.
I tell you, if it's not the Covid that gets you, it will be the guns. Just tonight there was a report some guy got mad for people telling him not to drive under the influence and then he got a shotgun out and starting threatening them with it.
Thank goodness it didn't go off, nobody was injured and the guy is in jail on charges. This is in Maine.
There's no place safe any more. I hate guns. I hate people who love guns to the exclusion of other people.
Which happens to be a lot of people.
I wouldn't necessarily categorized a paint gun as a toy. They're not toys. Neither are AirSoft. They look like real lethal weapons. The idiot taking his kid out to perform a "Drive by" in and of itself is a level of stupidity rarely equaled, all things considered. The man who shot the kid shooting the paint gun? The issue should be: was it necessary for him to be armed? No. Another idiot but one for different reasons. I'm guessing #2 could see it was a kid firing the paint balls and shot anyway. This makes him doubly stupid. Lotta stupidity going around these days exacerbated by a biased media on both sides. No getting around it, this ain't some technological breakdown, we're on the road to hell.
My thoughts exactly. Tamir Rice was shot and killed for playing with a *real* toy gun and people don't get that brandishing anything that looks remotely like a gun is dangerous? Wait, wait, don't tell me: The drive-by father and son are both white and (if they ever even heard of Tamir Rice) don't believe that anything like that could happen to them.
I don't know the race of anyone involved in the incident.
Thanks for this, it's thoughtful and well-written. Something that I am tired of is when the media covers a gun-related murder story, they always pivot to MOTIVE. As if this were a Hollywood movie. It makes me want to scream, "Who gives a shit about Motive, the person is DEAD, okay? When are we going to talk about preventing the NEXT bonehead homicide?" I'm sure my viewpoint is shared by sane people the world over who look at the USA with a mixture of disbelief, shock and pity.
This is Florida, plus the usual MAGAhat stupidity. That's all anyone needs to know. If you live in Florida, and your neighborhood is starting to resemble Beirut, LEAVE! Move to a state that has reasonable gun laws that are well enforced. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and California come to mind. Do it now.
Someone tell the Opa-locka police that there can be more than one "bad guy" in any scenario? That 10YO may have been "a boy with a toy," but the father who thought it was a good idea to say yes to a drive-by with a paint-ball gun . . . Jeezus.
I don’t recognize this country any more…I’m certainly not proud to come from AmeriKKKa, I can’t believe I once volunteered to serve…
Lucien, there are just too many guns and too much bad ammo out there. We can't stop it. It's too late.
And I am against guns.
Except that to be honest I am thinking the unthinkable to me. I am considering buying a gun for safety.
We could stop it. Make them illegal. Turn them in or get charged with a crime. Start with weapons of war.
I understand that the political will isn’t there now, but IT IS POSSIBLE, and we should work toward it.
I also understand that we’re taking baby steps. Registration is popular. We can do that. Weapons of war. We can do that.
It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible and in fact it’s necessary.
Don’t give up.
I have posted about this issue in the past.
A few years ago I was seated on a jury in DeSantistan (Florida).
A 27 year old white female was arrested for falsifying an entry on ATF form 4473, what a gun dealer has you fill out at time of purchase. You can buy up to 5 guns at one time without any further action.
Our young lady bought five AK-47's from two different dealers on 2 separate days, paid cash.
A big gun store sold her the guns.
A mom and pop store thought something was wrong, notified ATF.
She used an address that did not check out, it was a former location.
We voted guilty, and she was convicted.
Not once was the term "straw purchase" mentioned. That's when someone who can purchase and pass a background check buys guns for those who cannot. She paid cash to both dealers, the mom and pop owners blew the whistle.
This is what years of NRA donations to legislators gets.
Want to learn more, Google the ATF 4473 form to see what every gun owner responded to when purchasing.
I always share your newsletters on Twitter and on my FB page. Today, I added the following comment along with the link to your newsletter:
"Yesterday, some woman I don't know posted on the local FB hate page that she was a member of a "women's gun club" in South Austin and she wanted to start one up in Lockhart. She asked if there was any interest and literally within MINUTES, the post was flooded with local women who wanted to get together and shoot their guns...who knows at what or at whom. This is a sickness. Pure and simple. These people need treatment. And it is simply not safe anywhere these days with such crazies on the loose, heavily and happily armed and looking for people to shoot."
Now, I doubt I'll get hammered for my comment, since I've just about cleaned out every troll possible, either by blocking or reporting them or both, but the sad fact is that now in Texas almost ANYONE can easily buy and open carry a gun anywhere. I've been having nightmares lately about just going to the grocery store. (I only purchase curbside now - started with the pandemic, but now I do it so I can make a quick get-away if someone with a long gun is anywhere around.)
On May 29th, a local gun range offered lessons on how to clean, load, and effectively hit your target with an AK-47, supposedly taught by a "certified instructor." The invitation was posted on that same FB hate page. I sent it to the FBI in San Antonio.
Radio check: Anyone out there interested in spending time to try to do something about guns? If, yes, let Lucian know.
I hate guns with every fiber of my being. Hunks of metal purchased to give a man the feeling that he is more than he is, hunks of metal that kill. I hate reading about the guns and death . . . but you have to keep writing about them and I must keep reading about them. Who will have the guts, the actual courage not the fake courage they think they get from owning guns, to fix this?
Cant quite see how this can be resolved. State and Fed legislators will not one day decide to take away all firearms from law abiding Americans. Best is to hope for better licensing. The USA has a weird gun culture and powerful. If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns is an old saying. And accurate..
"If guns are outlawed . . ." is an old saying because the NRA has been pushing it for decades. They push it hardest when better licensing, background checks, and bans on military-style firearms are being considered. No reasonably intelligent person advocates outlawing guns, so the statement is about as accurate as "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride."
Easy to find educated people who advocate confiscation of all privately owned firearms in the USA. Extremists on this issue are not hard to find- start with the NRA and Texas- which will soon allow anyone to carry a concealed firearm. What could go wrong?
Chile, there’s something seriously wrong with you.