“I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)”
May 9, 2023 10:36 AM Subscribe
Profile of Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of Uvalde victim Lexi Rubio's mother: “Is this never going to come to an end?”
South Dallas-raised Karen Attiah on witnessing in real time the variety of social deaths that don’t get captured in victim counts or statistics, in the aftermath of the Allen TX mall shooting.
For months, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action (including families from Uvalde) have descended on the Texas State Capitol, demanding lawmakers take action on a bill to #RaiseTheAge for gun purchases. The bill advanced out of committee yesterday, finally, but still may stall before being brought to the full chamber.
“We don’t light fires in the hallway to practice fire drills, and we seem to teach that protocol pretty well,” said Melissa Reeves, the past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. “We can prepare for an active-shooter situation without the need for these super intense and potentially traumatizing drills.”
Texas school districts are now required to have bleeding control stations on each of their campuses as part of the state’s new “Stop the Bleed” law.
The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021.
South Dallas-raised Karen Attiah on witnessing in real time the variety of social deaths that don’t get captured in victim counts or statistics, in the aftermath of the Allen TX mall shooting.
For months, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action (including families from Uvalde) have descended on the Texas State Capitol, demanding lawmakers take action on a bill to #RaiseTheAge for gun purchases. The bill advanced out of committee yesterday, finally, but still may stall before being brought to the full chamber.
“We don’t light fires in the hallway to practice fire drills, and we seem to teach that protocol pretty well,” said Melissa Reeves, the past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. “We can prepare for an active-shooter situation without the need for these super intense and potentially traumatizing drills.”
Texas school districts are now required to have bleeding control stations on each of their campuses as part of the state’s new “Stop the Bleed” law.
The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021.
And just like that, another shooting: 14-year-old girl shot in head by neighbor after playing hide-and-seek on his property (The girl was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.)
*sighs*
I'm glad that we're seeing some movement and pushback against these ghoulish politicians who only want to support the gun manufacturers who donate to their campaigns, but I don't have a lot of faith in much being done. There's just too many guns available in too many places.
posted by Fizz at 10:42 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
*sighs*
I'm glad that we're seeing some movement and pushback against these ghoulish politicians who only want to support the gun manufacturers who donate to their campaigns, but I don't have a lot of faith in much being done. There's just too many guns available in too many places.
posted by Fizz at 10:42 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
In what kind of fucked-up country is a video like this something a law enforcement body produces as a "public service"?
My wife traveled to Denver last month for a conference, and part of me didn't stop holding my breath until she was safely out of the U.S..
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:50 AM on May 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
My wife traveled to Denver last month for a conference, and part of me didn't stop holding my breath until she was safely out of the U.S..
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:50 AM on May 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
My wife traveled to Denver last month for a conference, and part of me didn't stop holding my breath until she was safely out of the U.S..
Same. My sister was recently in Boston and I spent the entire time just thinking, "what if something happens, that shit happens ALL the time now and in basically any space".
My wife and I both have family in the US (we're in Canada) and we find ourselves both avoiding going back to visit family more and more, it just doesn't feel good to be in the US. I know that this kind of hesitation to visit the US is not unique and its likely a feeling that is going to continue to intensify.
posted by Fizz at 10:57 AM on May 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
Same. My sister was recently in Boston and I spent the entire time just thinking, "what if something happens, that shit happens ALL the time now and in basically any space".
My wife and I both have family in the US (we're in Canada) and we find ourselves both avoiding going back to visit family more and more, it just doesn't feel good to be in the US. I know that this kind of hesitation to visit the US is not unique and its likely a feeling that is going to continue to intensify.
posted by Fizz at 10:57 AM on May 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
Require assault weapon insurance as a mental health guarantee of the owner.
posted by Brian B. at 11:02 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Brian B. at 11:02 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
That video is really traumatic. And yes, if someone thinks making and showing a video like that is necessary then we truly live in a very fucked up country.
posted by njohnson23 at 11:06 AM on May 9, 2023
posted by njohnson23 at 11:06 AM on May 9, 2023
.
.
Wylie ISD [Independent School District] has confirmed 4th grader Daniela Mendoza and 2nd grader Sofia Mendoza were killed in the Allen shooting. The sisters attended Cox Elementary in Sachse.
The school district says their mother, Ilda Mendoza, is in critical condition.
.
.
.
Kyu Cho. Cindy Cho. And their 3 year old James Cho. Only the 6 year old William survived.
.
Aishwarya Thatikonda.
.
Christian LaCour.
.
Elio Cumana-Rivas.
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:07 AM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
.
Wylie ISD [Independent School District] has confirmed 4th grader Daniela Mendoza and 2nd grader Sofia Mendoza were killed in the Allen shooting. The sisters attended Cox Elementary in Sachse.
The school district says their mother, Ilda Mendoza, is in critical condition.
.
.
.
Kyu Cho. Cindy Cho. And their 3 year old James Cho. Only the 6 year old William survived.
.
Aishwarya Thatikonda.
.
Christian LaCour.
.
Elio Cumana-Rivas.
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:07 AM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Raise the age indeed. To about 150 years old.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:11 AM on May 9, 2023 [15 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:11 AM on May 9, 2023 [15 favorites]
And from March For Our Lives cofounder (and survivor of the Parkland FL mass shooting)@delaneytarr
Perhaps my most controversial take is that I don't think we need to see graphic videos of shooting victims, actually. The reason shootings keep happening isn't because people don't know about the horrors of gun violence. It's because politicians don't care.posted by spamandkimchi at 11:12 AM on May 9, 2023 [11 favorites]
I get the reply a lot in my social media: people say we should show photos of dead children, of wounded victims. Why? Who is it serving? Certainly not an already terrified and traumatized population.
I guess the logic is photos and videos will be so harrowing that politicians can't help but jump into action. But they won't. The truth is, there is a group of people who have already decided these deaths are an acceptable cost for their politics.
Another country suffered mass shootings in early May.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić promised on Friday, just hours after the second shooting, that the government will make urgent changes to the country’s firearm legislation.posted by spamandkimchi at 11:14 AM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
He proposed tougher conditions for people who wish to purchase weapons and a national gun buyback program for those who can’t fulfill those conditions.
“Great nations managed to find solutions after big tragedies,” Vučić said during a news conference on Friday.
The government is also proposing a two-year moratorium on the issuing of new gun permits and a review of existing permits within the next three months.
If school-age children are supposed to be too young to be reading certain books, HOW IN THE HOLY BLUE FUCK are they not too young to be expected to do combat-level FIRST AID?
Advocating for child labor, teaching combat first aid instead of literacy in schools and military service being the only full-employment program the state offers are all part of the same story.
posted by mhoye at 11:21 AM on May 9, 2023 [24 favorites]
Advocating for child labor, teaching combat first aid instead of literacy in schools and military service being the only full-employment program the state offers are all part of the same story.
posted by mhoye at 11:21 AM on May 9, 2023 [24 favorites]
Verhoeven's film adaptation of Starship Troopers was meant to be a satiric parody of the fascist aspects of the novel that Heinlein wrote. It was NOT meant to be a fucking script. But here we are.
posted by Fizz at 11:25 AM on May 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 11:25 AM on May 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
Just start taking guns away.
You can't tell me that it's easier to criminalize everything from abortion to being trans than it is to place restrictions on who can own weapons that were only designed to commit mass murder.
How fucked up is it that school libraries are being emptied of books and laws are being passed that erase entire groups of people but when it comes to gun control everyone's hands are tied by the Second Amendment?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:33 AM on May 9, 2023 [22 favorites]
You can't tell me that it's easier to criminalize everything from abortion to being trans than it is to place restrictions on who can own weapons that were only designed to commit mass murder.
How fucked up is it that school libraries are being emptied of books and laws are being passed that erase entire groups of people but when it comes to gun control everyone's hands are tied by the Second Amendment?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:33 AM on May 9, 2023 [22 favorites]
People killed in school shootings in 2019/2020/2021 combined: 67.
US soldiers killed via hostile action, 2019/2020/2021 combined: 43.
I could not readily locate the number of hostile-action-related deaths of US military in 2022, but the school shooting deaths for 2022 numbered 40, while the US military hasn't lost 40 or more soldiers to hostile action in any single year since 2013.
This is not to say US soldiers have it easy, though. After all 1,107 of them committed suicide during the aforementioned three year span.
Since 2021, gun violence is the leading cause of death for US children.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:36 AM on May 9, 2023 [12 favorites]
US soldiers killed via hostile action, 2019/2020/2021 combined: 43.
I could not readily locate the number of hostile-action-related deaths of US military in 2022, but the school shooting deaths for 2022 numbered 40, while the US military hasn't lost 40 or more soldiers to hostile action in any single year since 2013.
This is not to say US soldiers have it easy, though. After all 1,107 of them committed suicide during the aforementioned three year span.
Since 2021, gun violence is the leading cause of death for US children.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:36 AM on May 9, 2023 [12 favorites]
Advocating for child labor, teaching combat first aid instead of literacy in schools and military service being the only full-employment program the state offers are all part of the same story.
I don't know why this reminded me of this (well, I kinda do), but...
In the film Dragonslayer, there's a medieval kingdom which has been terrorized by a dragon. The king has set up a twice-a-year sacrifice - every six months, a virgin girl is chosen by lottery and sacrificed to the dragon. But he's also been fixing the lottery so that his daughter, the Princess Elspeth, is never entered into it; he's also accepted bribes from other rich townsmen to exclude their own daughters. Princess Elspeth finds this out - and then secretly re-rigs the lottery next time around so that her name is the only name on all the tickets. And she bravely sets out for the dragons' lair like all the young women before her did....and that's what finally motivates the king to find some other solution to the dragon invasions.
Somehow I feel like the children of GOP politicians need to do something like that. Don't know what, but....something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:39 AM on May 9, 2023 [12 favorites]
I don't know why this reminded me of this (well, I kinda do), but...
In the film Dragonslayer, there's a medieval kingdom which has been terrorized by a dragon. The king has set up a twice-a-year sacrifice - every six months, a virgin girl is chosen by lottery and sacrificed to the dragon. But he's also been fixing the lottery so that his daughter, the Princess Elspeth, is never entered into it; he's also accepted bribes from other rich townsmen to exclude their own daughters. Princess Elspeth finds this out - and then secretly re-rigs the lottery next time around so that her name is the only name on all the tickets. And she bravely sets out for the dragons' lair like all the young women before her did....and that's what finally motivates the king to find some other solution to the dragon invasions.
Somehow I feel like the children of GOP politicians need to do something like that. Don't know what, but....something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:39 AM on May 9, 2023 [12 favorites]
Require assault weapon insurance as a mental health guarantee of the owner.
National gunshot medical insurance funded by a surtax on bullets. All bullet wound care funded 100% by those purchasing bullets.
posted by fings at 11:43 AM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
National gunshot medical insurance funded by a surtax on bullets. All bullet wound care funded 100% by those purchasing bullets.
posted by fings at 11:43 AM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart
An extremely upsetting but must-see 3D visualization of what AR-15 bullets did to the bodies of two children killed in Newtown and Parkland, based on autopsy reports & done with their families' consent. No fucking way these things should be allowed.
(via Kottke.org)
posted by chavenet at 11:49 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
An extremely upsetting but must-see 3D visualization of what AR-15 bullets did to the bodies of two children killed in Newtown and Parkland, based on autopsy reports & done with their families' consent. No fucking way these things should be allowed.
(via Kottke.org)
posted by chavenet at 11:49 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah so maybe I shouldn't have read that in public, but I did, because.
I do not know how to help moms and their good cause. I wish it would involve changing the world in much more mundane ways than Lexi, via her mom.
posted by flamewise at 12:04 PM on May 9, 2023
I do not know how to help moms and their good cause. I wish it would involve changing the world in much more mundane ways than Lexi, via her mom.
posted by flamewise at 12:04 PM on May 9, 2023
Just start taking guns away.
This comes to us needing to figure out how to get ostensibly-our people-with-guns, who are on the side of the people we're talking about taking the guns from and have rejected reforms such as "don't let domestic abusers have guns" because too many of them would be out of a job, to take those guns.
If we can solve that, we can get to "figuring out how to disarm a population that's spent decades convinced that we're coming for their guns & that violence in protecting those guns is justified".
But right now, we don't even have "make sure we've got bigger and more guns on our side" answered.
posted by CrystalDave at 12:09 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
This comes to us needing to figure out how to get ostensibly-our people-with-guns, who are on the side of the people we're talking about taking the guns from and have rejected reforms such as "don't let domestic abusers have guns" because too many of them would be out of a job, to take those guns.
If we can solve that, we can get to "figuring out how to disarm a population that's spent decades convinced that we're coming for their guns & that violence in protecting those guns is justified".
But right now, we don't even have "make sure we've got bigger and more guns on our side" answered.
posted by CrystalDave at 12:09 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
The truth is, there is a group of people who have already decided these deaths are an acceptable cost for their politics.
Bravo to this young person, having their experience and also the restraint to phrase it this way, and not "sacrifices on the altar of the Republican gun fetish," as I tend to.
posted by Gelatin at 12:35 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Bravo to this young person, having their experience and also the restraint to phrase it this way, and not "sacrifices on the altar of the Republican gun fetish," as I tend to.
posted by Gelatin at 12:35 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Somehow I feel like the children of GOP politicians need to do something like that. Don't know what, but....something.
Other than "pose for the family Xmas card with an AR-15," of course.
posted by Gelatin at 12:37 PM on May 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
Other than "pose for the family Xmas card with an AR-15," of course.
posted by Gelatin at 12:37 PM on May 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
I live in Dallas and I cannot express how upset (angry and sad) the Allen shooting in particular has made me feel. On top of the usual, I had to learn to use the "I wasn't murdered in a mass shooting" interface on Facebook to relieve all my distant friends' worries, and then my dumbass governor ran to put his face on Fox "news" to reassure all the gun gropers that he wouldn't allow any gun-control legislation in the biennial legislative session that ends in June before he bothered to issue the usual thoughts and prayers and blaming it on the lack of mental health funding that he's not willing to have taxpayers fund anyway.
It's the whole cycle compressed down to the point where we'd almost finished it before some asshole ran over a bunch of folks at a bus stop outside an immigration shelter in Brownsville so we could start all over again, the next morning.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:39 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
It's the whole cycle compressed down to the point where we'd almost finished it before some asshole ran over a bunch of folks at a bus stop outside an immigration shelter in Brownsville so we could start all over again, the next morning.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:39 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Gun advocates will respond to every single good faith, common sense gun control measure with "shall not be infringed". It's a mantra to them. It shuts down their centers of critical thinking and it ends conversations. If you push them, it's "Read Heller."
Change is possible, but it helps to know where the logjam is. Unfortunately, it's baked into current (not to say that they're correct) interpretations of this country's founding documents.
posted by vverse23 at 12:44 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Change is possible, but it helps to know where the logjam is. Unfortunately, it's baked into current (not to say that they're correct) interpretations of this country's founding documents.
posted by vverse23 at 12:44 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
I know that this kind of hesitation to visit the US is not unique and its likely a feeling that is going to continue to intensify.
My wife and I moved out of the US last summer (sadly it's only temporary - just for the next couple of years for work) and the added perspective has really made it clear just how far the US has slid into chaos and fear. Honestly, this is going to sound defeatist but I don't think there IS a solution. Fear and paranoia is as American as apple pie, it's baked into our cultural milieu at such a fundamental level I'm not convinced it could ever be removed. The gun fetish is just a symptom of a far deeper rot.
I'm seriously looking at possible long-term/permanent paths to emigration to a more sane country just for my own sanity. As difficult as it would be (and as much of a strain as it would be on relations with our entirely US-based family), it seems more and more like a worthwhile tradeoff every day.
posted by photo guy at 1:36 PM on May 9, 2023
My wife and I moved out of the US last summer (sadly it's only temporary - just for the next couple of years for work) and the added perspective has really made it clear just how far the US has slid into chaos and fear. Honestly, this is going to sound defeatist but I don't think there IS a solution. Fear and paranoia is as American as apple pie, it's baked into our cultural milieu at such a fundamental level I'm not convinced it could ever be removed. The gun fetish is just a symptom of a far deeper rot.
I'm seriously looking at possible long-term/permanent paths to emigration to a more sane country just for my own sanity. As difficult as it would be (and as much of a strain as it would be on relations with our entirely US-based family), it seems more and more like a worthwhile tradeoff every day.
posted by photo guy at 1:36 PM on May 9, 2023
My brother told me the other day that literally everywhere he goes now: theaters, restaurants, the pharmacy, his kid's school... he's always looking for exits, likely choke points, thinking about what everyone else might do in an emergency. Sadly my response wasn't, that's kind of overdoing it, it was wait, why am I not doing that?
And we call this civilization.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 1:48 PM on May 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
And we call this civilization.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 1:48 PM on May 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
Change is possible, but it helps to know where the logjam is. Unfortunately, it's baked into current (not to say that they're correct) interpretations of this country's founding documents.
Interpretations aside, I think the only reason guns occupy such a special legal position is because we've done fuck-all for decades to enshrine other rights into the Constitution. We may not be able to repeal the second amendment, but we can dilute it by elevating other rights. The failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment combined with a general failure to codify additional rights ala Roosevelt's Four Freedoms is what got us into this mess where we have One Very Special Right Which Trumps All Others.
Even if it's our current political and legal reality, it's still an absolute outrage that it's far easier to roll back individual freedoms of people who just want the right to be themselves than it is to infringe upon someone's right to own a phallic murder stick. And advocating for "sensible" gun reform isn't ever going to fix that. We need fundamental reforms that reflect how much progress we've made as a society and how much more work needs to be done in order to form a more perfect union.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:10 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Interpretations aside, I think the only reason guns occupy such a special legal position is because we've done fuck-all for decades to enshrine other rights into the Constitution. We may not be able to repeal the second amendment, but we can dilute it by elevating other rights. The failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment combined with a general failure to codify additional rights ala Roosevelt's Four Freedoms is what got us into this mess where we have One Very Special Right Which Trumps All Others.
Even if it's our current political and legal reality, it's still an absolute outrage that it's far easier to roll back individual freedoms of people who just want the right to be themselves than it is to infringe upon someone's right to own a phallic murder stick. And advocating for "sensible" gun reform isn't ever going to fix that. We need fundamental reforms that reflect how much progress we've made as a society and how much more work needs to be done in order to form a more perfect union.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:10 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
> he's always looking for exits, likely choke points, thinking about what everyone else might do in an emergency.
You mean he doesn’t have a plan to kill everyone he meets?
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:22 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
You mean he doesn’t have a plan to kill everyone he meets?
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:22 PM on May 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’m ok with just outlawing all guns, even hunting rifles, at this point. People with a valid hunting license can go rent one from a ranger station for 48 hours or something. Let those fuckers feel some inconvenience . The sane people will be like, yeah whatever I don’t really need that I guess. The ones that want to hole up against the ATF can go out in a blaze of glory and make room for hardworking immigrants. If I think about when guns have protected American freedom, it’s basically the Revolutionary War and maybe the Union in the Civil War. That’s about it. Otherwise guns are mostly used to keep the little guy down. Every time I see a truck with an NRA sticker I flip them the bird … if I stop posting here it’s because I got shot by a Real American.
I don’t even want to be friends with gun owners. Pretty sure I’m not actually.
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:37 PM on May 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
I don’t even want to be friends with gun owners. Pretty sure I’m not actually.
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:37 PM on May 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
Like let’s hear some more about how Texas or Montana or wherever has a “strong tradition of responsible gun ownership”. Like the racist Montana ranchers freeloading off public land? Or the Texans who bravely stole Texas from Mexico because they wanted to keep slaves after Mexico outlawed slavery? I’m so sick of white dudes passing down their stupid traditions to the next generation of stupid white dudes. And shit, I AM a white dude.
Look how well things go when not-white people try to use guns to protect their rights (hint: not very). Guns are more often than not a tool of the oppressor.
posted by caviar2d2 at 4:24 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Look how well things go when not-white people try to use guns to protect their rights (hint: not very). Guns are more often than not a tool of the oppressor.
posted by caviar2d2 at 4:24 PM on May 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
The shooter had large tattoos of a swastika and the SS insignia, wore an RWDS badge - Right Wing Death Squad. The Extreme Right loves guns and violence. It increasingly feels like war, with the Right amassing guns. Yes, I am being dramatic, but things are badly out of control.
Thanks for the post title, referencing the 1st linked article. I'm not inured to mass shootings, I hope I never am, but this is taking a horrific toll on this country.
posted by theora55 at 6:05 PM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Thanks for the post title, referencing the 1st linked article. I'm not inured to mass shootings, I hope I never am, but this is taking a horrific toll on this country.
posted by theora55 at 6:05 PM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
I saw a comment somewhere (Twitter I think) suggesting that maybe people should just start boycotting all the public spaces where shootings have taken place, since nobody can be kept safe. I know the idea is not practical for a million reasons, but it would affect a lot of capitalist activity, and that is the only thing the gun lobby and a particular kind of politician seems to care about.
It's got me thinking: if children's lives are not the centre of gravity for decision-makers, what is, and what can affect it?
posted by rpfields at 7:34 PM on May 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's got me thinking: if children's lives are not the centre of gravity for decision-makers, what is, and what can affect it?
posted by rpfields at 7:34 PM on May 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
Saw this clip from the Texas Legislature:
Carrie Isaac defends against Californi-zation she doesn't make much sense, but you can see that is not the point anyway.
Which made me think of this episode of this episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour where Jacob Grumbach talks about the radicalisation of state legislatures. It's kind of fascinating, as well as succinct and, sadly, very plausible.
A relative who teaches in Texas public schools is looking actively for a way out of the US. Twice in the last six months they have been in 'Active shooter lockdown' and they have taken that as 'the universe' shouting to them to get their family out.
Until this gun violence hits the politicians and lobbyists and manufacturers who are responsible I'm not betting on any change. The other alternative (as alluded to in the podcast linked above) is a new way to get the residents of states to understand what their legislatures are up to and how to address it (as traditional newspapers have collapsed in the last couple decades.)
posted by From Bklyn at 2:11 AM on May 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Carrie Isaac defends against Californi-zation she doesn't make much sense, but you can see that is not the point anyway.
Which made me think of this episode of this episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour where Jacob Grumbach talks about the radicalisation of state legislatures. It's kind of fascinating, as well as succinct and, sadly, very plausible.
A relative who teaches in Texas public schools is looking actively for a way out of the US. Twice in the last six months they have been in 'Active shooter lockdown' and they have taken that as 'the universe' shouting to them to get their family out.
Until this gun violence hits the politicians and lobbyists and manufacturers who are responsible I'm not betting on any change. The other alternative (as alluded to in the podcast linked above) is a new way to get the residents of states to understand what their legislatures are up to and how to address it (as traditional newspapers have collapsed in the last couple decades.)
posted by From Bklyn at 2:11 AM on May 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’m ok with just outlawing all guns, even hunting rifles, at this point. People with a valid hunting license can go rent one from a ranger station for 48 hours or something. Let those fuckers feel some inconvenience . The sane people will be like, yeah whatever I don’t really need that I guess. The ones that want to hole up against the ATF can go out in a blaze of glory and make room for hardworking immigrants. If I think about when guns have protected American freedom, it’s basically the Revolutionary War and maybe the Union in the Civil War. That’s about it. Otherwise guns are mostly used to keep the little guy down. Every time I see a truck with an NRA sticker I flip them the bird … if I stop posting here it’s because I got shot by a Real American.
I don’t even want to be friends with gun owners. Pretty sure I’m not actually.
Americans, as usual, just cannot fathom actually looking at other countries and what they do if they can indulge their favourite hobby of turning literally everything into a new fun identity to bisect the population with.
Fact: other countries have reacted to mass shootings in a proportionate way by removing and restricting the right to own weapons suitable for carrying them out. Restricting or banning handguns, restricting or banning ownership of semi-automatic weapons, in some places heavily restricting non-breach-loading shotguns (e.g. pump actions are widely much more heavily restricted than double barrel breach loaders.
Other countries also introduce speed-bumps into weapon ownership. You can get a shotgun at 16 in England and Wales, but not without showing adequate storage for it. How many of the (quite large number!) of rural teenagers who own shotguns use them to shoot up their schools? Basically none.
We don't have to speculate on the effect - these restrictions work, countries which have introduced them do not have a regular calendar of mass shootings.
Gun advocates will respond to every single good faith, common sense gun control measure with "shall not be infringed". It's a mantra to them. It shuts down their centers of critical thinking and it ends conversations. If you push them, it's "Read Heller."
Unfortunately, the way American governance has evolved has turned the whole country into a bunch of (third rate) constitutional lawyers. Endless conversations about what that comma is meant to mean and barely a word on what a sensible gun ownership policy might look like.
Interpretations aside, I think the only reason guns occupy such a special legal position is because we've done fuck-all for decades to enshrine other rights into the Constitution. We may not be able to repeal the second amendment, but we can dilute it by elevating other rights. The failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment combined with a general failure to codify additional rights ala Roosevelt's Four Freedoms is what got us into this mess where we have One Very Special Right Which Trumps All Others.
This reflects a fundamentally different theory of rights between the US and most other places.
In the US, you have the double-edged blade of early legal recognition of rights through the bill of rights. That was good in that it embedded rights into a legal and not just a moral framework from very early on but it has led to a slightly constipated national conversation on rights which often turns into minute Scholasticism focused on the Holy Texts of the Found Fathers rather than anything fundamental. The American approach has also been to have a small number of rights, explicitly enumerated and *theoretically* that isn't remotely exhaustive but well... in practice it maybe kind of is exhaustive in that things not on the magic list do not get treated in the same way that rights which are on the list. Americans also view rights as negative space where governments are not permitted to act. That combination: rights as negative space and a short list leads to a certain compactness in American rights discourse. Specifically - there is basically never a need for a court or anyone else to balance different rights, each right is taken as an absolute. It happens to be the case that rights in the bill of rights and subsequent amendments do not "clash" in way that requires that balance.
Adding other rights like the ERA or the four freedoms would expand the space for rights, including into positive space and lead to a situation more akin to the rest of the world where there are potential clashes which must be resolved.
For example freedom of association and equal rights amendments have a meeting point - am I permitted to run a society which is restricted to all men or all women (or to Cis AFAB women...) only? Someone either legislatively or in a court needs to resolve that.
The way that this works in this particular case is *not* that there is no right to own guns in other countries. There is no absolute right to own guns or any other item and therefore the rights to participate in hobbies, own property (guns in this case), or just exercise an un-enumerated right are balanced against other people's rights not to be shot in the street. That balance leads us to our set of (relatively tight) controls on guns.
posted by atrazine at 3:01 AM on May 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
I don’t even want to be friends with gun owners. Pretty sure I’m not actually.
Americans, as usual, just cannot fathom actually looking at other countries and what they do if they can indulge their favourite hobby of turning literally everything into a new fun identity to bisect the population with.
Fact: other countries have reacted to mass shootings in a proportionate way by removing and restricting the right to own weapons suitable for carrying them out. Restricting or banning handguns, restricting or banning ownership of semi-automatic weapons, in some places heavily restricting non-breach-loading shotguns (e.g. pump actions are widely much more heavily restricted than double barrel breach loaders.
Other countries also introduce speed-bumps into weapon ownership. You can get a shotgun at 16 in England and Wales, but not without showing adequate storage for it. How many of the (quite large number!) of rural teenagers who own shotguns use them to shoot up their schools? Basically none.
We don't have to speculate on the effect - these restrictions work, countries which have introduced them do not have a regular calendar of mass shootings.
Gun advocates will respond to every single good faith, common sense gun control measure with "shall not be infringed". It's a mantra to them. It shuts down their centers of critical thinking and it ends conversations. If you push them, it's "Read Heller."
Unfortunately, the way American governance has evolved has turned the whole country into a bunch of (third rate) constitutional lawyers. Endless conversations about what that comma is meant to mean and barely a word on what a sensible gun ownership policy might look like.
Interpretations aside, I think the only reason guns occupy such a special legal position is because we've done fuck-all for decades to enshrine other rights into the Constitution. We may not be able to repeal the second amendment, but we can dilute it by elevating other rights. The failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment combined with a general failure to codify additional rights ala Roosevelt's Four Freedoms is what got us into this mess where we have One Very Special Right Which Trumps All Others.
This reflects a fundamentally different theory of rights between the US and most other places.
In the US, you have the double-edged blade of early legal recognition of rights through the bill of rights. That was good in that it embedded rights into a legal and not just a moral framework from very early on but it has led to a slightly constipated national conversation on rights which often turns into minute Scholasticism focused on the Holy Texts of the Found Fathers rather than anything fundamental. The American approach has also been to have a small number of rights, explicitly enumerated and *theoretically* that isn't remotely exhaustive but well... in practice it maybe kind of is exhaustive in that things not on the magic list do not get treated in the same way that rights which are on the list. Americans also view rights as negative space where governments are not permitted to act. That combination: rights as negative space and a short list leads to a certain compactness in American rights discourse. Specifically - there is basically never a need for a court or anyone else to balance different rights, each right is taken as an absolute. It happens to be the case that rights in the bill of rights and subsequent amendments do not "clash" in way that requires that balance.
Adding other rights like the ERA or the four freedoms would expand the space for rights, including into positive space and lead to a situation more akin to the rest of the world where there are potential clashes which must be resolved.
For example freedom of association and equal rights amendments have a meeting point - am I permitted to run a society which is restricted to all men or all women (or to Cis AFAB women...) only? Someone either legislatively or in a court needs to resolve that.
The way that this works in this particular case is *not* that there is no right to own guns in other countries. There is no absolute right to own guns or any other item and therefore the rights to participate in hobbies, own property (guns in this case), or just exercise an un-enumerated right are balanced against other people's rights not to be shot in the street. That balance leads us to our set of (relatively tight) controls on guns.
posted by atrazine at 3:01 AM on May 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
If you push them, it's "Read Heller."
The thing with Scalia's op. in Heller is...
Licensing and registration do not infringe on the 2nd Amendment. That's because according to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 16, Congress regulates the "well regulated" militia referred to in the 2nd Amendment.
THEN the assholes will say, "Back then, regulate didn't mean what it does today", and link to an infographic, to which I would reply,
"This here mid-18th Century dictionary says you're full of shit."
posted by mikelieman at 4:13 AM on May 10, 2023 [7 favorites]
The thing with Scalia's op. in Heller is...
Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.(emphasis mine)
Licensing and registration do not infringe on the 2nd Amendment. That's because according to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 16, Congress regulates the "well regulated" militia referred to in the 2nd Amendment.
THEN the assholes will say, "Back then, regulate didn't mean what it does today", and link to an infographic, to which I would reply,
"This here mid-18th Century dictionary says you're full of shit."
A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, 1755But it's important to keep in mind that you cannot expect rational thought from irrational people. And 2nd Amendment Fetishists are wholly invested in ignoring reality if it conflict with their beliefs.
To Régulate. v.a. [regula, Lat.]
1) To adjust by rule or method.
"Nature, in the production of things, always designs them to partake of certain, regulated, established essences, which are to be the models of all things to be produced: this, in that crude sense, would need some better explication." -- Locke.
2) To direct.
"Regulate the patient in his manner of living." -- Wiseman.
"Ev'n goddesses are women; and no wife
Has pow'r to regulate her husband's life." -- Dryden.
posted by mikelieman at 4:13 AM on May 10, 2023 [7 favorites]
The U.S. military is upgrading their standard weapons this year. Compared with the current rifle, the new rifle will be more accurate, more lethal, with greater range, better body armor penetration, and better target acquisition. Civilian versions will be available.
Sig Announces Consumer Model Of Army Next Gen Rifle
Next Generation Squad Weapon on target for 2023
The Army’s M4, M16 and SAW replacement is on its way
posted by llc at 5:51 PM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sig Announces Consumer Model Of Army Next Gen Rifle
Next Generation Squad Weapon on target for 2023
The Army’s M4, M16 and SAW replacement is on its way
posted by llc at 5:51 PM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
F*ck Brunch! Give Moms Want They Want for Mothers Day - Ban Assault Weapons.
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:21 PM on May 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:21 PM on May 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
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If school-age children are supposed to be too young to be reading certain books, HOW IN THE HOLY BLUE FUCK are they not too young to be expected to do combat-level FIRST AID?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:41 AM on May 9, 2023 [31 favorites]