21 Dead and Many Children Injured in Texas Elementary School Shooting

[Rorman Nockwell 53,500]

Okay maybe I'm a dumb bitch but why does that Texan guy keep saying "law-abiding citizens" need guns?

Like - why? Serious question. What kind of law-abiding situations require a gun? 

Surely the moment you use a gun, you are no longer law-abiding? Unless you're shooting bottles or animals (ew), but you don't need to carry one around in public places for that? 

[Mer 51,028]

1 hour ago, Rorman Nockwell said:

Okay maybe I'm a dumb bitch but why does that Texan guy keep saying "law-abiding citizens" need guns?

Like - why? Serious question. What kind of law-abiding situations require a gun? 

Surely the moment you use a gun, you are no longer law-abiding? Unless you're shooting bottles or animals (ew), but you don't need to carry one around in public places for that? 

In the US “law abiding citizen” = someone who turns a woman into the authorities for having a private medical procedure and receives an award. I think that should explain it…

[bluechemtrails 22,701]

not a girl from my country flopped to stop the killer 

[Cherry Blossom 19,939]

10 minutes ago, bluechemtrails said:

not a girl from my country flopped to stop the killer 

I dont think she ‘flopped’ if she tried to stop a school shooter… This is a weird post 

[Rust Dress 37,357]

1 hour ago, bluechemtrails said:

not a girl from my country flopped to stop the killer 

huh?

[bluechemtrails 22,701]

12 hours ago, cinnamongirI said:

huh?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/26/texas-shooter-texted-german-teenager-plans

Not seriously. But if I were her, I couldn't get any sleep now. Poor girl, but who could have guessed such a thing with so many crazy people out there?

[Mer 51,028]

I’ve been crying thinking about the poor husband of one of the teachers who was shot—he had a heart attack and died while planning his wife’s funeral. 
 

If my child went to school and came home in a body bag, I’d burn the entire country down. It is absurd it is unfair and it is entirely the fault of lax gun laws. In what world does an 18 year old get to buy an assault rifle with no training or license on his birthday. 
 

Also can we please update the title @Elle@NikoGo @Clampigirl  the death toll is 21 from the shooting (and now 1 from a broken heart). 

[baddisease 15,852]

46 minutes ago, Mer said:

I’ve been crying thinking about the poor husband of one of the teachers who was shot—he had a heart attack and died while planning his wife’s funeral. 
 

If my child went to school and came home in a body bag, I’d burn the entire country down. It is absurd it is unfair and it is entirely the fault of lax gun laws. In what world does an 18 year old get to buy an assault rifle with no training or license on his birthday. 
 

Also can we please update the title @Elle@NikoGo @Clampigirl  the death toll is 21 from the shooting (and now 1 from a broken heart). 

 

i'll update it

 

edit: nvm it was already done

[Mer 51,028]

6 minutes ago, baddisease said:

 

i'll update it

 

edit: nvm it was already done

o I am sorry I mistakenly thought only the mods could update the titles 

[bluechemtrails 22,701]

The faces of the victims should forever burn into the mind of all gun advocates.

[Alison by Slowdive 26,015]

5 hours ago, Mer said:

I’ve been crying thinking about the poor husband of one of the teachers who was shot—he had a heart attack and died while planning his wife’s funeral. 
 

If my child went to school and came home in a body bag, I’d burn the entire country down. It is absurd it is unfair and it is entirely the fault of lax gun laws. In what world does an 18 year old get to buy an assault rifle with no training or license on his birthday. 
 

Also can we please update the title @Elle@NikoGo @Clampigirl  the death toll is 21 from the shooting (and now 1 from a broken heart). 

love u mer :(( thinking of all u americans who desperately don't want this for ur country :((

[SalvaWHORE 32,625]

Its not my place to talk about politics & tragedies and I should feel grateful not being an American & not living in Texas & in fear. All my prayers with the victim & the innocent souls who fell down leaving their futures, their dreams forever unfulfilled.

 

Shame on you America. Shame on you. After  National Firearms Agreement in 96, its likely that no more mass-shootings took place ever again in Australia. Ban the fucking guns. That is simple & they chose not to do it.

[baddisease 15,852]

The police ignored 911 calls from children and stood around doing nothing but stopping parents from checking on their children. Fuck the police.

[Platinum Greenwich 13,536]

the fact that the US government sincerely finds it more important to enforce their illegitimate ownership of women's bodies, in the name of "good morals" or whatever the fuck , than to protect their children from being murdered because "muh ar-15," is fucking psychotic

 

I'm not anti-American by any means, or even strictly against the idea of owning firearms as a private citizen (just maybe not any fucking assault rifles), but like

 

from how fucking far were you dropped as a baby to be able to justify that to yourself

 

there are no words for the disgust I feel reading these stories one after the other, my skin crawls with fury

 

and all these ghouls can think to fucking do is introduce these so-called "active shooter drills," putting the onus on literal children to survive on their own, in a crisis situation they can't conceive of

 

the fact that this is somehow normalized makes me want to rip out my trachea and send it to someone

[COCC 29,539]

As I said, I am not an American. And therefore perhaps not the best for a hypothesis. But I think as long as the country uses a two-party system, nothing will change.

 

The Republicans are blocking any tightening of gun laws. I guess the only option is to vote for the Democrats- but very few Republicans would vote blue "just" because of this shooting. Other factors such as economic and immigration policy or identity play a much more important role. So as long as there are no more than two options for political issues, nothing will change.

 

One option, of course, would be common sense and cooperation across party lines. But given the current situation, this is unfortunately quite unlikely.

 

I enjoy reading newspaper articles about countries that interest me. Yesterday I cancelled my subscriptions about the USA- the daily reports about Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump, radical preachers, abortions, anti-lgbtq laws etc. just make me sad, even though I am not affected by them myself.

 

How do Americans on LB perceive this? I suppose everyday life goes on as normal and politics is just a distant thunderstorm that is ignored?

 

[Mer 51,028]

29 minutes ago, COCC said:

But I think as long as the country uses a two-party system, nothing will change.

 

 

The solution for this is preferential voting. Until we have that, the two party system will rule. 

[bluechemtrails 22,701]

I think that even in a two-party system, reasonable political decisions can be possible, but not when the parties are as divided as they are here. The moderate voices must regain the upper hand. In the German multi-party system, for example, it's the other way around; there are hardly any major differences in political positions between the major parties, each wants to win votes in the center, and the parties on the extreme fringes hardly play a role.

[Mer 51,028]

16 minutes ago, bluechemtrails said:

I think that even in a two-party system, reasonable political decisions can be possible, but not when the parties are as divided as they are here. The moderate voices must regain the upper hand. In the German multi-party system, for example, it's the other way around; there are hardly any major differences in political positions between the major parties, each wants to win votes in the center, and the parties on the extreme fringes hardly play a role.

 

No, sorry, but fuck the moderates. The majority of the country has consistently voted for liberalism since 1992. It's the fucked up voting laws that are keeping Republicans in power, at a federal level, and requiring "concessions" and "moderation" . 

 

All of these "wedge issues" aren't even that decisive. Take abortion, e.g.; 61% of Americans support abortion being legal in almost all cases (Pew Research, May 2022) . 53% of Americans support some form of increased strictness in gun laws (Pew Research, Sept. 2021). 

 

These "issues" are used to pander to a voter base in a key region that can give power to a certain party based on an antiquated and incompetent electoral system. 

 

At the end of the day, as much as it saddens me, I feel blessed to have both American and Canadian passports, because as of right now, I can say with 100% certainty with country I would raise my children in. 

[COCC 29,539]

9 minutes ago, Mer said:

53% of Americans support some form of increased strictness in gun laws (Pew Research, Sept. 2021). 

Well, 53% is not a clear majority. I have seen similar figures in other polls and newspapers, but unfortunately these were never broken down by region. A summed figure is not so meaningful in my view, because then the (anyway blue voting) cities and their influence on the political system are overrepresented.