Texas Elementary School Shooting, as many as 22 dead, including Children

[eschatological]

Driving's intent is not to kill people. It is to transport people from place to place. The point is you can't (or rather, shouldn't) curb drunk driving by prohibiting cars.

Guns only intent are to kill or seriously injure. You may argue about what they kill (IE guns used for hunting), or why they are used to kill (home defense), but the point is that they serve one purpose: to kill/seriously injure. And you can reduce that number massively by.......restricting access to guns.

I noticed, btw, that you used the number of "mass shooting deaths" as your "small, not statistically relevant" number. But it's something like 20k gun deaths in 2020, and those are just the homicides. Suicides push the total number to 45k. And the suicides are important because our rate of suicide is higher precisely BECAUSE of guns, because suicide is an act which can often result from a moment of desperation. The minute you have to plan your own death, suicide rates go down - but if you can grab a gun and instantly kill yourself, it's easier to give in to that singular moment. 79% of our homicides involve a gun, compared to 4% in the UK, 13% in Australia, etc. We had 16k homicides in 2018, compared to a little over 800 in the UK, for a 4x higher homicide rate. The countries above us in homicide rate are third world countries and autocratic states with little to no gun regulation.

Like, this isn't difficult.

[MCMLXXXII]

Must be a day ending with y. Thoughts and prayers. Hurr durr second 'mendment

[jonnysensible]

couldn't imagine living in a country were this happens a few times a year. Imagine its your kid and you get to the school and they are asking you for DNA samples to ID the your kid because the shooter has turned your baby into such carnage they can't visually ID the body. And ICE are there making sure you aren't illegal.

[jeezusisacasual]

Man the thoughts and prayers are really not working at all.

[cubby]

Because Americans, and that goes for both political parties and their bases, have been consistently indoctrinated with the idea that gun violence is a fundamental component of American life and that you can't even discuss the issue or the relevant laws without becoming deeply unAmerican.

Which is, obviously, nonsense. The USA is a failing state, and this is one of the fail factors, right here.

This is essentially the fundamental problem. Tomorrow the same tropes will start up - Democrats calling for gun reform, and GQP'ers saying the Dems are politicalizing a tragedy. Round and round we go. And this is just one of three pillars of our continued failing state.

#2 - individual rights (ironically) being decimated

#3 - failing medical care and infrastructure

[XDurionX]

See you all again next week.

[Makabreska]

And I heard recently that there will be a new rifle for the army (and it's commercial variant, Americans like to have what military is using) that can pierce body vests no problem. So there is potential for even more stories like this, now with dead officers who try to stop the dude.

[Masark]

like schools that are built and treated like other government buildings, where armed grounds are stationed inside and out. If politicians and court rooms get this kind of protection, so should our kids.

The school in this incident has it's own fucking police department.

All evidence shows that their sole purpose is to act as pumps on the school-to-prison pipeline, because they sure as fuck did nothing useful today.

[Skulltaker]

I am not making light of the shooting because it's horrible and I would not wish this on anyone... however... fearmongering is overpowering logic.

Allow me to explain in the simplest of terms...

There have been 202 mass shootings in the States this year with 221 Deaths as a result from them.

On average from year to year anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 people die from drunk drivers every year.
In 2021, well over 78,000 people died from prescribed medication drug overdoses and we are set to be over 100,000 this year.

That being said it's still wrong and it sucks but it's fearmongering and emotion overpowering logic. Logically we should be working on prohibition and vastly overhauling prescription drugs and the doctors who prescribe them... but here I am seeing a thread of people blaming this and that while ignoring the elephant in the room.

This is bullshit on so many levels, dude.

First of all, it is well within the realm of possibility to deal with more than one problem at the same time.

And second of all; Cars are a method of transportation. Drugs help with health issues. Guns, on the other hand, are designed, specifically, to kill humans. You can achieve that with almost everything you can find, but guns (and many more weapons, like swords or crossbows) were designed for warfare. The difference between a sword and a gun is that is incredibly easy to handle, which is one aspect that made it revolutionize warfare.

And it's not just the deaths. The psychological damage to survivors is immense. I've read that 95% of public schools in the US practice hiding from a gunman. I mean, how fucked up is that?

Seriously, if you don't agree that firearms, their availability and lack of control are an issue in the US, you either have an agenda or there is something wrong with you.

[PhaelixWW]

And I heard recently that there will be a new rifle for the army (and it's commercial variant, Americans like to have what military is using) that can pierce body vests no problem. So there is potential for even more stories like this, now with dead officers who try to stop the dude.

Rifle rounds, in general, are automatically considered "light armor piercing". That term is really only applied to certain types of handgun ammunition.

This new caliber has specs similar to the classic 7.62x51mm NATO round that's been in use by the military for 60+ years. People can already get an AR-10 chambered in 7.62 NATO, so this is nothing even remotely new.

Both of these calibers pale in comparison to other, far more powerful hunting rounds.

[Slant]

The simple reality is that Americans have largely said there's a certain number of violently murdered children they're perfectly willing to accept as the cost of not having an honest talk about gun violence and that maybe the 2nd Amendment is a super-fucked idea that didn't make any sense in the mid-19th century, let alone today.

Cost? Are you kidding me? Those kiddos are entertainment for them. Nothing like being righteously outraged at "somesuch tragedy blabla". If this was considered actual cost or an actual tragedy (other than the fake I-can-shine-in-my-"grief"-"tragedy"), there would be an entirely different conversation in the US.

[jonnysensible]

so wait is it confirmed that the cops who work at the school sat around waiting for backup instead of confronting the dude shooting the kids?

thin blue line looking pretty fucking thin

[PhaelixWW]

so wait is it confirmed that the cops who work at the school sat around waiting for backup instead of confronting the dude shooting the kids?

Where did you see this? Or is this just something you made up?

[Santti]

so wait is it confirmed that the cops who work at the school sat around waiting for backup instead of confronting the dude shooting the kids?

thin blue line looking pretty fucking thin

If only Trump would have been there. He would have run in, he said so himself. He is so brave.

[cubby]

I am not making light of the shooting because it's horrible and I would not wish this on anyone... however... fearmongering is overpowering logic.

Allow me to explain in the simplest of terms...

There have been 202 mass shootings in the States this year with 221 Deaths as a result from them.

On average from year to year anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 people die from drunk drivers every year.
In 2021, well over 78,000 people died from prescribed medication drug overdoses and we are set to be over 100,000 this year.

That being said it's still wrong and it sucks but it's fearmongering and emotion overpowering logic. Logically we should be working on prohibition and vastly overhauling prescription drugs and the doctors who prescribe them... but here I am seeing a thread of people blaming this and that while ignoring the elephant in the room.

I see the GQP got their talking points out early.

[Gigantique]

Driving's intent is not to kill people. It is to transport people from place to place. The point is you can't (or rather, shouldn't) curb drunk driving by prohibiting cars.

Guns only intent are to kill or seriously injure. You may argue about what they kill (IE guns used for hunting), or why they are used to kill (home defense), but the point is that they serve one purpose: to kill/seriously injure. And you can reduce that number massively by.......restricting access to guns.

I noticed, btw, that you used the number of "mass shooting deaths" as your "small, not statistically relevant" number. But it's something like 20k gun deaths in 2020, and those are just the homicides. Suicides push the total number to 45k. And the suicides are important because our rate of suicide is higher precisely BECAUSE of guns, because suicide is an act which can often result from a moment of desperation. The minute you have to plan your own death, suicide rates go down - but if you can grab a gun and instantly kill yourself, it's easier to give in to that singular moment. 79% of our homicides involve a gun, compared to 4% in the UK, 13% in Australia, etc. We had 16k homicides in 2018, compared to a little over 800 in the UK, for a 4x higher homicide rate. The countries above us in homicide rate are third world countries and autocratic states with little to no gun regulation.

Like, this isn't difficult.

To be fair there is also shooting as a sport. However I fully agree that getting your hands on a gun should be regulated to hell and I am very happy it is in Norway.

Like I have been competitively shooting since I was about 11 and when my grandfather died 14 years later he wanted me to inherit his two rifles used for that sport. I still had to provide ample documentation showing my membership in a shooting club and documented activity (i.e. results) to prove that I had an actual use for them. No payment needed since it was inheritance but if you buy one there's a fairly high cost.

I simply do not understand the US, after living there for almost a year due to education I have no need to ever return, the viewpoints of too many people there clashed with reality and hard facts..

[jonnysensible]

Where did you see this? Or is this just something you made up?

saw : https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/statu...97405363073025

the cop at parkland hid as well didnt he.

[Gigantique]

couldn't imagine living in a country were this happens a few times a year. Imagine its your kid and you get to the school and they are asking you for DNA samples to ID the your kid because the shooter has turned your baby into such carnage they can't visually ID the body. And ICE are there making sure you aren't illegal.

Yeah my firstborn is starting kindergarden this fall, no matter how important kindergarden/school is to the social development of a child I would 100% do homeschooling for my kids if I lived in the US. Which is absolutely insane.

[PhaelixWW]

saw : https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/statu...97405363073025

the cop at parkland hid as well didnt he.

That tweet doesn't say the cop hid, though, does it?

All reports are that the shooter was engaged while he was just outside the school, but was able to make it inside and barricade himself in. Then when some off-duty CBP officers showed up on the scene soon after, they went in without waiting for more backup.

You're seeing shit that ain't there.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah my firstborn is starting kindergarden this fall, no matter how important kindergarden/school is to the social development of a child I would 100% do homeschooling for my kids if I lived in the US. Which is absolutely insane.

Yeah, it is insane. It's also not fact-based reasoning. Your kids would be far more likely to die of household items than they would be at school.

[Specialka]

If those kids would have been armed, they could have defended themselves ! /s (I add the /s in case of).