Lots of shootings...

[evade]

If you're American, how does it feel to risk your life getting shot when you shop at a grocery store now more than ever?

If you're a parent, even more relevant, what are some thoughts you have around sending your child to a public school that could potentially be shot up due to the culture?

Any thoughts of what should be done or if anything should be done at all?

There definitely appears to be an increase in mass shootings and I'm interested in hearing different thoughts.

 

[MFB]

If you're American, how does it feel to risk your life getting shot when you shop at a grocery store now more than ever?

Well, I'm white and avoid country music festivals and schools (easy when you're not allowed within 100 ft of them! *insert canned laugh here*) so I'm not really too worried. Plus, even if I do get shot, I'm fine with my ticket gets punched early, I feel like I've been on borrowed time for about ...12 years now.

 

[evade]

Well, I'm white and avoid country music festivals and schools (easy when you're not allowed within 100 ft of them! *insert canned laugh here*) so I'm not really too worried. Plus, even if I do get shot, I'm fine with my ticket gets punched early, I feel like I've been on borrowed time for about ...12 years now.

Word brother. That's how I feel too.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

how to not get murdered at *insert location*

1. actually having situational awareness
2. always know where the closest exits are
3. run and hide if you can't easily escape
4. stay strapped or get clapped* (also train with your gat)


1 and 2 are wayyyyyyy more important.

 

[evade]

how to not get murdered at *insert location*

1. actually having situational awareness
2. always know where the closest exits are
3. stay strapped or get clapped* (also train with your gat)

Imagine that being the mindset when sending a child to school.

 

[mbardu]

Imagine that being the mindset when sending a child to school.

Silly you.
No, the mindset for children in school is armed teachers, tactical blankets and bulletproof backpacks

 

[DarrellM5]

I carry protection and have a lot of training, plus I maintain situational awareness at all times. It's not like the U.S. is a shooting gallery. There are sick people in every country that do really bad things with whatever tools they can get their hands on. For the most part, we have very little of these types of incidents in the states where people can concealed carry. An armed society is a polite society.

BTW, there will always be an uptick in shootings when the politicians are trying to pass gun control restrictions. It seems like as soon as they start pushing their anti-gun agenda someone says "cue the shootings in the gun free zones". Also, the media is in on it. They go all out to exploit any shooting and will rarely ever show when a good person with a gun stops a bad situation (which happens a lot).

Our highest violent crime rates are in our cities and states with the most restrictions on firearms ownership.

 

[evade]

I carry protection and have a lot of training, plus I maintain situational awareness at all times. It's not like the U.S. is a shooting gallery. There are sick people in every country that do really bad things with whatever tools they can get their hands on. For the most part, we have very little of these types of incidents in the states where people can concealed carry. An armed society is a polite society.

BTW, there will always be an uptick in shootings when the politicians are trying to pass gun control restrictions. It seems like as soon as they start pushing their anti-gun agenda someone says "cue the shootings in the gun free zones". Also, the media is in on it. They go all out to exploit any shooting and will rarely ever show when a good person with a gun stops a bad situation (which happens a lot).

Our highest violent crime rates are in our cities and states with the most restrictions on firearms ownership.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm not also saying you're right. Mass shootings is a culture that is uniquely American. Yes, there are sick people in every country. We have a lot of people. We do a lot of nothing about it.

But yes, since it's most likely impossible to disarm everyone, I agree that arming everyone is the right idea.

Kinder Guardians | Who Is America? | Sacha Baron Cohen SHOWTIME Series ​

 

[mbardu]

I carry protection and have a lot of training, plus I maintain situational awareness at all times. It's not like the U.S. is a shooting gallery. There are sick people in every country that do really bad things with whatever tools they can get their hands on. For the most part, we have very little of these types of incidents in the states where people can concealed carry. An armed society is a polite society.

BTW, there will always be an uptick in shootings when the politicians are trying to pass gun control restrictions. It seems like as soon as they start pushing their anti-gun agenda someone says "cue the shootings in the gun free zones". Also, the media is in on it. They go all out to exploit any shooting and will rarely ever show when a good person with a gun stops a bad situation (which happens a lot).

Our highest violent crime rates are in our cities and states with the most restrictions on firearms ownership.

And here's the reason why this only happens in America

 

[bostjan]

I grew up in Detroit in the 80's. I now live in rural VT. I feel safer now than ever before. There were school shootings in Detroit way back before it was the popular thing to do, just no one talked about them in the national forum.

Violence here in the USA is a huge problem. Guns are a huge problem, because you hand out guns to a bunch of people and a large portion of those people have violent tendencies, well, guess what happens. But, take their guns away and they'll stop shooting (which is good and I don't want to sound like it's a bad idea), and they'll still be violent people.

So, the root cause of the problem is the violent people, and those people are supercharged with powerful killing tools. There might not be any way to mitigate the root cause in any case, and there may not be any way to keep those tools designed for mass killing out of their hands as long as the NRA has it's hand up the government's ass, so, what can you do?

I predict that this never gets properly addressed in the USA. We'll just keep getting crazier and crazier until we are a third world country.

 

[MFB]

I carry protection and have a lot of training, plus I maintain situational awareness at all times.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Imagine that being the mindset when sending a child to school.

situational awareness and knowing where the closest exit is are just basic survival skills. They apply to other issues like fires, other environmental hazards, etc. It's a lot harder to get caught in bad situations when you pay attention to your surroundings and avoid getting trapped. They're useful skills at any age.

I'm not advocating for kids or untrained dipshits carrying weapons. Tools are useless without proper training.

 

[sleewell]

schools
hospitals
concerts
places of worship
busy intersections
movie theatres


i think all of these places and more need to have a strong police presence and fort knox level security at all times. this is the only way we are going to be safe and feel free. just a total and complete police and military presence everywhere we go and we should get mexico to pay for it. the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have more good guys with guns who wait around for at least an hour while kids are getting killed. send in the gravy seals!!!!

 

[evade]

situational awareness and knowing where the closest exit is are just basic survival skills. They apply to other issues like fires, other environmental hazards, etc. It's a lot harder to get caught in bad situations when you pay attention to your surroundings and avoid getting trapped.

I'm not advocating for kids or untrained dipshits carrying weapons. Tools are useless without proper training.

Take a moment and watch that video I linked.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Take a moment and watch that video I linked.

lmao

 

[jaxadam]

Hey god - Funny

20,998 points • 241 comments

9gag.com

 

[mbardu]

Hey god - Funny

20,998 points • 241 comments

9gag.com

Hey don't post stuff like that, you're going to bruise some egos.
Everyone thinks they're secretly a self-defense-expert sharpshooting-uberman and that they'd be the good guy with a gun that easily wins against any assailant.

 

[bostjan]

That's the thing. It's good to have a laugh, but the comedy hits because it's got a pound of truth in it.

A gun is a very powerful tool for killing things. It doesn't protect you in any situation where being able to kill something could protect you. For example, against a person with a gun who intends to kill you, you are already necessarily at a disadvantage in that, by the time you go for your gun, you are already dead by the other person's gun. This is a logical problem with the NRA's interpretation of the Second Amendment.

People aren't storming schools or nightclubs or churches with a musket or a revolver or even a semi-automatic pistol, these people are coming in with multiple shotguns and semi-auto rifles and sometimes bombs, too. Sometimes they buy these guns legally, sometimes not. So some people in congress are trying to pass legislation banning magazines that hold large amounts of ammo, which is a step, but those high capacity magazines are already out there and there's no way they will suddenly stop being used in mass shootings.

It's like early 90's congress (Bill Clinton era) saw the cat coming out of the bag and shoved him back in there, and put a sticker over the bag saying "Do not open until Christmas," assuming that, by Christmas, people would wise up. But, instead, someone opened the bag and let the cat out and now the mice are standing around going "Hmm, how do we get the cat back into this ripped-open bag and seal him in there?"

Except it's way worse than that, because the cat is crazed murders, the bag is them not having guns, and the mice are ourselves, our family, and our children. Except we can't even agree to stop the bad people from getting guns because, well, what if that means that some of the good people who want guns can no longer get them conveniently anymore...

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I work in public schools. I don't worry about it beyond a baseline level of awareness.

As for what should be done, the history of gun control is inextricably connected to cis-hetero-white-supremacy. All of the suggested gun control measures will disproportionately effect trans/queer/POC, the very populations at high risk for being victims of gun violence.

The only people I'd be happy seeing guns taken from is cops, there's no way to take or keep guns away from anyone else without disenfranchising already-marginalized populations even further.

In other words, what I think should be done looks a lot like Black Panthers at polling places and:

EDIT: I'd drop the obligatory "mental health" too, but I'm taking a realistic view, and the amount of shit that needs reformed or just burnt down and the earth around it salted in order to prevent these problems via mental health counseling is too damn high.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I have absolutely zero fear of getting shot at any time that I'm out in public. I'd venture a guess that everyone around me at the grocery or wherever feels the same way. I live in a conservative town just outside Austin and at least here, most of us go about our daily lives without fear. But I'm not a minority either... I'm not gay, nor Jewish, nor Asian so it's hard to say if I was anything other than an ugly white male, that I'd feel the same way. And that's not to say that a lot of us aren't living with a heightened awareness about what's going on in the world as well as here at home, but I think that people in general are mostly just trying to get by the best that they can while they raise their kids, work, and enjoy their leisure time.

It's a much different world now as opposed to a couple years ago but I have to say that the majority of people that I know well or that I simply shoot the shit with, are not at all consumed with the news headlines. I'd guess that many of them don't watch or listen to much news at all in fact. I dunno if that's a good or bad thing... the whole "ignorance is bliss" mentality. But I know that most people don't want to be stressed or agitated... likely because that negativity takes so much out of them. They just want to get through their day the best that they can and for better or for worse, that's partly how they do it. They stay away from the news and the hot-button topics for the most part. I'm not defending anyone nor am I wagging my finger at them as if they should care more about current events and world issues. It's just how they are and if nothing else, I do understand that perspective.

Even my wife doesn't wish to hear about all the negativity and infuriating or heart-breaking news stories because she ( like so many others) works long hours and just wants to come home and relax/ decompress. And although I'm different because I have more free time and more of an interest in what's going on in the world, I certainly don't wish to bring her down with a lot of "Oh you'll never believe what happened today" because it's not what she wants to hear and I respect that. She's a very upbeat and positive person and she deserves to live her life that way despite that I wish she would take more of an interest in some of what may ultimately affect her at some point down the road.

I do think that we've reached a point though, where more needs to be done in the context of a society that has become seriously divided and compromised in regards to gun violence. Sadly though, there is no simple nor assured solution at this point. I'm afraid that this country, already divided... will only become more so with one side constantly "infringing" upon the "rights" of the other side.. That seems to be the perception anyway. So anger and tension rise... then fall... and nothing really changes.

I wasn't much of an advocate of gun reform until a few years ago... Honestly it wasn't really on my radar much because it didn't directly affect me. But now as I'm able to step back and look at things from a broader view, I realize that there is a lot wrong with the way that state and federal govt addresses ( or ignores) gun issues. And I don't think as long as we live in a country that is so helpless of government, religion, and corporate interest being so intertwined, we will ever be able to get a handle on bipartisan legislation. Add into that our "patriotic" citizen's nauseating interpretation of "freedom" and we just have one hell of an uphill battle to stem the tide.

I think that responsible consciousness starts at home and in our schools... education, selflessness, and social awareness. And I think that it starts with our health and welfare system which is absolutely broken ( maybe beyond repair at this point). It incenses me and breaks my heart at the same time, that physical and mental healthcare is so far out of reach of those that need it in the US. And I feel that prison reform and drug rehabilitation comes into play here as well. We desperately need and deserve to have a government that is level-headed and able to come together for the benefit and safety of its citizens... leaders mindful of accountability and steadfast in resolution. But as long as our US government continues to engage in such depths of corruption and dirty greedy politics as they do, I think that we can kiss that prospect goodbye.

Sadly, I really doubt it at this point that anything can or will be done to make a significant impact on gun violence in the US. We are again heading for quite a tumultuous and potentially dangerous time as we move into the next few years and I unfortunately feel that very little will be done nor that any effectiveness may be long-lived. We have the tools to make changes but I don't believe that between our corruptible government and strongly divided citizens, that we will ever be able to change things for the better in this country.