They’re children, pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. Their ages are unknown at this moment, but even the sixth graders probably weighed less than 100 pounds, the younger kids as little as 50. Their fathers and mothers woke them up this morning and fixed their breakfasts and probably packed a school lunch. Then they drove their children to the Covenant School, a private Christian school associated with the Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, TN, as they’ve have most likely done every day since the school year began last August.
It will never be enough. They just don't care. They claim abortion is child murder (a cluster of brainless cells) but the real murder, the gunning down in cold blood of children and innocent adults are not.
Mass murder is acceptable. Abortion is not. Special place in hell for them.
Understand this: Gun manufacturers don't make and sell these weapons because the manufacturers are evil. Rather, they are amoral, literally without moral restraint. They make and sell these weapons because they want to make money, and they make lots of money. This illustrates the cruel heart of capitalism: it has no moral dimension. It exalts greed, a deadly sin according to the Catholics. But not all capitalists are bad people, you say? True enough, but that is because some temper their capitalism with moral restraint.
We in the USA are the most capitalist of the western democracies, so we suffer most from the absence of moral restraint. The gun manufacturer, the middle man, the gun store owner, the paid-off politicians, they all profited from the blood of those victims, as the laws of capitalism says they should.
Moral restraint -- and political courage. Not for nothing have business interests been screaming "socialist! communist! anarchist! un-American!" at anyone who tries to regulate them or curtail their power in any way. They've been doing this since at least the mid-19th century. "Moral restraint" suggests that it's primarily an individual issue. It's not. The lack of moral restraint is directly related to the failure of *political* restraint, which is to say political courage.
Don't forget these manufacturers are not only sell arms in this country but they are also supplying gangs in the Southern Hemisphere and every other conflict zone on earth. We make it easy for anyone anywhere to buy our guns.
There must be more people who are not afraid of facing these tyrants and calling them what they are: MURDERERS! Every single person in America who is traumatized by these events should be filing a class action lawsuit against gun manufacturers, the NRA, and the Republican Nationalists right this very second!
I agree that corporations are amoral. Their only purpose in our capitalist society is to make money. But the AR-15 executives and shareholders and NRA members and senators and congresspeople are humans. I don't know how they can look themselves in the mirror each morning.
This situation just brings me to tears when I think about it. In fact, every time this happens. And your point is the one that's always overlooked. What about my rights? Once a week I go to a local tobacco shop to sit for a couple of hours and smoke a cigar. I cannot tell you how many times a guy will come in to buy a few smokes and he's armed. In fact one of the clerks carries. I go there to relax and enjoy conversation with fellow smokers who are strangers. But I can never be fully comfortable because some other guy's right to carry a gun supersedes my right to just sit and relax. The whole situation is just fucked up.
If you have spent time in the military, you have undoubtedly seen film showing the damage that a tumbling, high velocity round does to flesh and body. There is only one purpose for these weapons and it ain’t hunting or recreation. It is to kill or maim.
Husband is a Vietnam Vet raumatized by that war. He is very depressed and told me it's not worth getting worked up over this because it's a daily event in the US. JFC!
Marlene, I have empathy for your husband. These occurrences will not completely stop, especially since there are 20 million of these weapons in the hands of people today. That said, measures can and should be taken to reduce the frequency.
If we were a real country of democracy, we would make every single gun shop owner reveal who they sell these assault weapons to. We should get copies of the receipts. Then, a “special force” should go to each of these residences and seize these guns/rifles. The government could do a buyback program if the gun owner kept a receipt. These people, young, middle-aged and old must be stripped of their WMDs.
Uvalde, Parkland et al -- all over again. I found Mr. T.'s way of talking about this event particularly moving: "Their ages are unknown at this moment, but even the sixth graders probably weighed less than 100 pounds, the younger kids as little as 50." Pointing out what these little people weighed proved a powerful way of causing (normal) people to face where, in the life cycle, these children were cut off: quite close to the beginning. I support a "Doctors Against Guns" group, and my mother <Ann Landers> allied herself publicly with the Bradys - in the early 90's - which is a lotta years. This suggests, of course, we'll never get it done. The gun lobby has bought too many Republicans, too many yokels think muskets and automatic rifles are the same thing, and the crackpots cannot differentiate between the freedom from and the freedom to. And Jesus wept. Then He went to drink gin from the cat dish.
I'm trying my best but sorrow AND rage has me writing this. FUCK the 2nd Amendment and MOTHER FUCK every Caveman (and now woman) who needs an AR15 to make themselves feel whole.
You are not alone in your outrage. I too have zero respect for the politicians and gun manufacturers who put greed before the lives of our children and other humans. Blood on their hands and soulless.
Clyde is also the colossal asshole who was photographed screaming in terror on 1/6, and then categorized it as a “normal tourist visit”. Dude needs a wood shampoo
Ryan Busse's book _Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America_ (PublicAffairs, 2021). I've recommended it before, and I'll recommend it again. This is a from-the-inside look at the NRA and the gun industry from a guy who was a company exec for many years. It also has plenty to say about the right-wing mindset and how money warps politics.
I live in Nashville. Our legislature, which is less than 10 miles from this school, held hearings last week on allowing open carry of this type of weapon for anyone over 18 years of age. No permitting, no training. It was expected to pass and be signed into law by our governor. You will hear a lot of crocodile tears from our state leaders. Watch their actions. Our god in this country is the gun. That will not change. This type of useless carnage is the result we will continue to live with.
We belong to nation that unfortunately harbors a number of vile, morally worthless people who shoot and kill children. And I am willing to bet that every last one of them is/was a fervent t-Rump supporter. Please don't tar everyone in this country with the same brush. It's the right-wingers who are causing these problems.
I've thought about your reply and think that by blaming the proliferation (and use) of guns on Trump supporters is misleading. We are ALL at fault. Why aren't we clamoring in the streets for gun action? Why aren't we scaring politicians into thinking they might lose in the next election? The high school students at Marjory Spellman Douglas High School were awesome after the shootings in that school. Where were we? Why weren't we actively backing them? They were trying so hard to lead the way--and we all failed them. So, I think our gun problem is far more than just blaming it on Trump supporters. I think that we, as a nation, kill our children.
Very few Americans are "clamoring in the streets" in favor of anything good-- you're correct about that. Those who do-- like BLM protestors and others on the left-- get cars rammed into them, get arrested, harassed, shot at, their families threatened. I honestly do not know what can be done to stop these evil right-wing monsters from taking over the country, short of killing them all, which isn't practical or possible. What would "actively backing" the MSD high schoolers consist of? Most extreme right-wing politicians are in power because substantial majorities in their districts PUT them there, so they can't be dislodged! Their constituents agree with their do-nothing about gun violence stance. They don't care how many kids are killed. Look at Israel-- the country is convulsing with opposition to the PM's policies, but Netanyahu goes right on with his plans, impervious to the protests. Same with right-wing politicians here. They are deaf to the pleas of those who oppose them. I don't feel personally at all responsible for what the evil, vicious people in this country do.
Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans in the Tennessee legislature and the Republican governor could spend less time protecting children from phoney threats like books and drag queens and more time protecting them from real threats like heavily armed domestic terrorists. Easy access to guns is the problem. Until Republicans finally come to the conclusion that guns are the problem, guns will be the problem. Do we have to go into the streets in the millions, shut down airports and bring the country to a halt as they just did in Israel before these tools of the NRA and their own perverse ideology get the message?
The arms makers are probably giddy with joy that a female has contributed to the mass shootings epidemic. Market expansion at the cost of only six lives. And all the free publicity. These swine long ago buried their collective consciences. In America, everything is for sale, lives definitely included.
I've never looked online at these guns (or any gun), until a few minutes ago. There's a warning that the finish on a gun could "cause cancer." Heartsick, indignant and frustrated.
I am heartbroken and angrier than hell. The repubs are despicable. They have proven to not care about children but certainly to use them in the guise of protecting them from books, drag queens, factual history or anything else that might make them “uncomfortable”. They are not protecting the children. They are using them to create the dystopian Christo fascist world they want. And they don’t care about the safety and welfare of children. They are just collateral damage from the repubs living in the NRA’s and gun manufacturers pockets. And the sick gun loving culture they helped create and support continues on. I am sick.
It will never be enough. They just don't care. They claim abortion is child murder (a cluster of brainless cells) but the real murder, the gunning down in cold blood of children and innocent adults are not.
Mass murder is acceptable. Abortion is not. Special place in hell for them.
Understand this: Gun manufacturers don't make and sell these weapons because the manufacturers are evil. Rather, they are amoral, literally without moral restraint. They make and sell these weapons because they want to make money, and they make lots of money. This illustrates the cruel heart of capitalism: it has no moral dimension. It exalts greed, a deadly sin according to the Catholics. But not all capitalists are bad people, you say? True enough, but that is because some temper their capitalism with moral restraint.
We in the USA are the most capitalist of the western democracies, so we suffer most from the absence of moral restraint. The gun manufacturer, the middle man, the gun store owner, the paid-off politicians, they all profited from the blood of those victims, as the laws of capitalism says they should.
Moral restraint -- and political courage. Not for nothing have business interests been screaming "socialist! communist! anarchist! un-American!" at anyone who tries to regulate them or curtail their power in any way. They've been doing this since at least the mid-19th century. "Moral restraint" suggests that it's primarily an individual issue. It's not. The lack of moral restraint is directly related to the failure of *political* restraint, which is to say political courage.
Don't forget these manufacturers are not only sell arms in this country but they are also supplying gangs in the Southern Hemisphere and every other conflict zone on earth. We make it easy for anyone anywhere to buy our guns.
There must be more people who are not afraid of facing these tyrants and calling them what they are: MURDERERS! Every single person in America who is traumatized by these events should be filing a class action lawsuit against gun manufacturers, the NRA, and the Republican Nationalists right this very second!
I agree that corporations are amoral. Their only purpose in our capitalist society is to make money. But the AR-15 executives and shareholders and NRA members and senators and congresspeople are humans. I don't know how they can look themselves in the mirror each morning.
Greed and control is more important than morals to them.
This situation just brings me to tears when I think about it. In fact, every time this happens. And your point is the one that's always overlooked. What about my rights? Once a week I go to a local tobacco shop to sit for a couple of hours and smoke a cigar. I cannot tell you how many times a guy will come in to buy a few smokes and he's armed. In fact one of the clerks carries. I go there to relax and enjoy conversation with fellow smokers who are strangers. But I can never be fully comfortable because some other guy's right to carry a gun supersedes my right to just sit and relax. The whole situation is just fucked up.
Only in ‘Murikkka do the guns and gun owners have more rights than children.
If you have spent time in the military, you have undoubtedly seen film showing the damage that a tumbling, high velocity round does to flesh and body. There is only one purpose for these weapons and it ain’t hunting or recreation. It is to kill or maim.
Husband is a Vietnam Vet raumatized by that war. He is very depressed and told me it's not worth getting worked up over this because it's a daily event in the US. JFC!
Marlene, I have empathy for your husband. These occurrences will not completely stop, especially since there are 20 million of these weapons in the hands of people today. That said, measures can and should be taken to reduce the frequency.
If we were a real country of democracy, we would make every single gun shop owner reveal who they sell these assault weapons to. We should get copies of the receipts. Then, a “special force” should go to each of these residences and seize these guns/rifles. The government could do a buyback program if the gun owner kept a receipt. These people, young, middle-aged and old must be stripped of their WMDs.
Uvalde, Parkland et al -- all over again. I found Mr. T.'s way of talking about this event particularly moving: "Their ages are unknown at this moment, but even the sixth graders probably weighed less than 100 pounds, the younger kids as little as 50." Pointing out what these little people weighed proved a powerful way of causing (normal) people to face where, in the life cycle, these children were cut off: quite close to the beginning. I support a "Doctors Against Guns" group, and my mother <Ann Landers> allied herself publicly with the Bradys - in the early 90's - which is a lotta years. This suggests, of course, we'll never get it done. The gun lobby has bought too many Republicans, too many yokels think muskets and automatic rifles are the same thing, and the crackpots cannot differentiate between the freedom from and the freedom to. And Jesus wept. Then He went to drink gin from the cat dish.
Bless your mom!!
I give to Brady and Moms against Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action and Everytown.org are others. It's time to take to the streets!
I'm trying my best but sorrow AND rage has me writing this. FUCK the 2nd Amendment and MOTHER FUCK every Caveman (and now woman) who needs an AR15 to make themselves feel whole.
You are not alone in your outrage. I too have zero respect for the politicians and gun manufacturers who put greed before the lives of our children and other humans. Blood on their hands and soulless.
Besides Moore there's Rep Andrew Clyde, Republithug from Georgia. He was the one passing out AR-15 lapel pins (George Santos - the Congressman of 100+ identities had one). He's made million$ selling these guns. (https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-store-congress-andrew-clyde-georgia-2022-5).
It's unbridled greed and blood money works just fine. They have no decency.
What a piece of shit!
Clyde is also the colossal asshole who was photographed screaming in terror on 1/6, and then categorized it as a “normal tourist visit”. Dude needs a wood shampoo
Ryan Busse's book _Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America_ (PublicAffairs, 2021). I've recommended it before, and I'll recommend it again. This is a from-the-inside look at the NRA and the gun industry from a guy who was a company exec for many years. It also has plenty to say about the right-wing mindset and how money warps politics.
I live in Nashville. Our legislature, which is less than 10 miles from this school, held hearings last week on allowing open carry of this type of weapon for anyone over 18 years of age. No permitting, no training. It was expected to pass and be signed into law by our governor. You will hear a lot of crocodile tears from our state leaders. Watch their actions. Our god in this country is the gun. That will not change. This type of useless carnage is the result we will continue to live with.
I'm bracing myself for yet another round of "thoughts and prayers."
Transgender female which will ignite those who hate the LGBTQ community.
I hadn't heard that. Will check it out.
We belong to a nation that kills its children. It really is that simple.
We belong to nation that unfortunately harbors a number of vile, morally worthless people who shoot and kill children. And I am willing to bet that every last one of them is/was a fervent t-Rump supporter. Please don't tar everyone in this country with the same brush. It's the right-wingers who are causing these problems.
I've thought about your reply and think that by blaming the proliferation (and use) of guns on Trump supporters is misleading. We are ALL at fault. Why aren't we clamoring in the streets for gun action? Why aren't we scaring politicians into thinking they might lose in the next election? The high school students at Marjory Spellman Douglas High School were awesome after the shootings in that school. Where were we? Why weren't we actively backing them? They were trying so hard to lead the way--and we all failed them. So, I think our gun problem is far more than just blaming it on Trump supporters. I think that we, as a nation, kill our children.
Very few Americans are "clamoring in the streets" in favor of anything good-- you're correct about that. Those who do-- like BLM protestors and others on the left-- get cars rammed into them, get arrested, harassed, shot at, their families threatened. I honestly do not know what can be done to stop these evil right-wing monsters from taking over the country, short of killing them all, which isn't practical or possible. What would "actively backing" the MSD high schoolers consist of? Most extreme right-wing politicians are in power because substantial majorities in their districts PUT them there, so they can't be dislodged! Their constituents agree with their do-nothing about gun violence stance. They don't care how many kids are killed. Look at Israel-- the country is convulsing with opposition to the PM's policies, but Netanyahu goes right on with his plans, impervious to the protests. Same with right-wing politicians here. They are deaf to the pleas of those who oppose them. I don't feel personally at all responsible for what the evil, vicious people in this country do.
Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans in the Tennessee legislature and the Republican governor could spend less time protecting children from phoney threats like books and drag queens and more time protecting them from real threats like heavily armed domestic terrorists. Easy access to guns is the problem. Until Republicans finally come to the conclusion that guns are the problem, guns will be the problem. Do we have to go into the streets in the millions, shut down airports and bring the country to a halt as they just did in Israel before these tools of the NRA and their own perverse ideology get the message?
Yes.
The arms makers are probably giddy with joy that a female has contributed to the mass shootings epidemic. Market expansion at the cost of only six lives. And all the free publicity. These swine long ago buried their collective consciences. In America, everything is for sale, lives definitely included.
It is so sick
I've never looked online at these guns (or any gun), until a few minutes ago. There's a warning that the finish on a gun could "cause cancer." Heartsick, indignant and frustrated.
Well, isn't that just swell?? It's quite an oxymoron!
I am heartbroken and angrier than hell. The repubs are despicable. They have proven to not care about children but certainly to use them in the guise of protecting them from books, drag queens, factual history or anything else that might make them “uncomfortable”. They are not protecting the children. They are using them to create the dystopian Christo fascist world they want. And they don’t care about the safety and welfare of children. They are just collateral damage from the repubs living in the NRA’s and gun manufacturers pockets. And the sick gun loving culture they helped create and support continues on. I am sick.
Update soon after: four adults dead too—including the gunwoman.