America’s Dealing With Gun Violence Like a Lazy College Student
Yesterday, another school shooting happened and I had the nerve not to be immediately enraged and disheartened by it. It’s either I’ve become a robot, I’m suffering from Acute Outrage Fatigue Syndrome or these tragedies happen too often to punch me in the chest like they used to. I think I’ll go with number 3.
36 school shootings have happened in 2014 alone and we’re only half way through the year. That means we’re averaging more than 1 shooting a week at places we send our kids to learn. We have failed so bad that the word “fail” is currently holding a grudge against us for giving it a bad name.
Comic by Rob Rogers (June 3, 2014)
It really makes no sense that we won’t do anything related to gun control on a federal level with all these shootings happening. Meanwhile, I gotta go through airport security in socks and bring only 3oz of lotion because THAT ONE TIME THE DUDE TRIED AND FAILED. O__o How many shootings will happen before something changes? It’s like America skipped Logic & Reasoning 101 in college.
This lead to the exchange below between me and Ama McKinley of YouAretheTruth.com on Facebook.
Ama: [cocks head to side like a Collie] It’s almost like… America doesn’t give any s*its about Children. Shootings make for good speeches. And memorials. And sad communities. But not legislation, unless it’s No Child Left Behind.
Luvvie: Maybe we took the Logic & Reasoning class but we slept through all the discussions and only went to lecture on the first day of the semester.
Ama: Maybe we just asked some other country for the notes. Or were to busy taking self-righteous selfies in class, talmbout #scholar.
Luvvie: We were playing ultimate frisbee on the quad the entire semester.
Ama: Planning homecoming step show outfits in August, when that refund check came out. Gtfoh ‘Merica.
Luvvie: America went and bought hella pajama pants so when it did show up, it was with minimal effort. America was the kid who thought dress pants were all black yoga pants. Chile…
Ama: ‘Merica remembers every probate for the last 7 yrs…but no one knows his major. Are you even enrolled here, sir?
Luvvie: America’s a super super senior getting a Leisure Studies degree but on academic probation. Please explain yourself.
Ama: America says he’s a student of life and can’t stand the university structure. But lives on campus and has a meal plan. O_O
Luvvie: But he wants to be president of the Student Council and everyone’s all “how about you get your shit together first?”
Ama: It isn’t clear if America ever graduated, but he got a job in Student Activities as the Greek adviser. You like it here, huh?
We ALL knew America in college. Seriously.
Ama: The one at my school was named Frog. I never knew that buddy was NOT enrolled, but he and his friends formed a Snap Team and would battle folks. And when “Party Like a Rockstar” came out, this young man was on campus with an electric guitar and no amp. I can’t make this ish up. …Somehow all of those id’jots got jobs in DC talmbout #WhoRunIt.
LMAO!!! Ama had me howling!
But for real, get it together U.S. of A.! We can’t keep standing around twiddling our thumbs like this.
Chart from the Huffington Post.
I can’t even.
Related readings:
* Australia Has Eliminated Gun Massacres By Doing What the U.S. Doesn’t Have the Guts For – PolicyMic
* All 74 School Shootings Since Newtown, In One Depressing Map – Huffington Post
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24 Comments
This probably makes me the most horrible person that ever horribled but I’m to the point now where whenever there’s a mass shooting I pray that the victims and their families have healing/strength/comfort/peaceful journey to the next world and keep it moving.
After an entire classroom of first graders were slaughtered in the amount of time it takes to microwave a bag of Orville Redenbachers, and Congress still couldn’t be arsed to do anything about it because most of them are the NRA’s bottom bishes, that told me everything I needed to know.
We live in a country where even Jesus Christ himself has to take a backseat to Smith & Wesson, so that’s the price we’ve all been forced to pay. You always hear cops talking about it being in the back of their minds when they leave home for the day, whether it will be for the last time. Safe to say it’s not just cops who have those thoughts anymore.
You took my words and used them far better then I could have.
Well said.
You people are fooling yourselves. You don’t blame cars for all the drunk drivers, everyday killing innocent men, women and children. Deadly weapons have been around for hundreds of years…that hasn’t changed. What has changed in recent years is kids acting out this violent crimes. You have to ask yourself why?
I agree with what you are saying Doctor in that guns don’t kill people, people kill people…with guns, knives, big rocks etc etc.
But fighting the psychological element of what is making these teens and adults so disturbed and angry that they want to go into schools and other public places and shoot as many innocent people as possible, is gonna take far longer than putting stricter laws in place to minimize the possibility of these weapons falling into the wrong hands.
You won’t be able to prevent all of the tragedies, but guaranteed you will protect more lives than you are now.
Terrible. So glad my youth was spent worrying about pop quizzes and hoping we were going to see a movie after lunch when we got back to class. We’re Benjamin Buttoning. Society as a whole is Benjamin Buttoning. During the Cold War there were drills for possible nuclear events. And again, now there are drills for gunplay in schools. Terrible.
I think we are all disillusioned since NOTHING was done after Newtown. I mean if Congress couldn’t get this ish together after kids were kill then there is no hope for the rest of us. Many others have commented on other sites speculating about who needs to get shot before something is done, and it’s sad that they are probably correct in their assumptions. We need to vote everyone out of Congress and start all over.
Most of these guns are made in the US of A. Most, if not all, have politicians that they heavily fund. These politicians KNOW what the right thing to do it but that extra money is worth more to them.
Now, the SWAT teams of police departments that are meant to “serve and protect” are now getting military grade weapons to combat this “epidemic” smh
Gun control will probably happen if shootings directly affect the families of the NRA and Congress. Other than that, they can’t be bothered with the rest of us. And this post explained my feelings accurately, I’m too tired and pissed to get appropriately outraged anymore. And that’s a shame.
The United States is going backwards. Now, in addition to gun violence, a Republican has said, in public, that we need to start stoning gay people. The Washington Post, a trashcan line if ever one existed, has dust rag writers blaming women for being raped and beaten because they aren’t married (because no one has raped or beaten a spouse) and that being a rape survivor is a social badge of honor. Now, as school shootings increase, we still have people claiming that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is good guys with guns.” Well, the three victims of the Las Vegas shootings were all good guys with guns: two police officers and an armed citizen who was shot by that POS woman when he attempted to shoot her POS husband. What was most disturbing, however, is how the students didn’t seem shocked, upset, traumatized, or shaken. Why? Because now American schoolchildren seem to have accepted that this is a normal part of going to school in our country. Remember how Congress had an assault weapons ban after the nation was shocked by Columbine? Yeah, a bill didn’t even make it to the floor of the House or the Senate after Sandy Hook. How sick and rotten does a society have to be to let the situation become so dire and hopeless that children are resigned to their fate as targets.
I know one thing we need to address and that is the entitlement of white males. Everyone wants to pathologize the violence committed by black males, but no one wants to address the driving force behind these acts of domestic terrorism committed by white males. I think it would actually be worthwhile to examine the pathology of white male violence and why they feel they have a RIGHT to target innocent people. First of all, who wants to bet that had the school shooters, almost all of them white, were black or Muslim, the media would be calling this terrorism? Second of all, these shooters often have “grievances” over what they think they deserve because they are white, heterosexual, Christian white men. They’ve been told that women should always be sexually available to them regardless of how women feel because they bathe, have a job, and are “nice”. A white man flew his plane into an IRS building because he believed that if he “did the right thing” (worked), he would get all he thought he deserved. White men shoot up Sikh temples and Jewish community centers because of perceived “injustices” white men have “suffered.” I’ll toss out the same question white people do when someone of another race or religion commits a crime: when will white people address this violence from the white community? Oh, I forgot, white people are individuals and therefore aren’t implicated in the crimes almost exclusively white men commit, but black and brown people have to answer for crimes black and brown people commit. White Male Entitlement Syndrome is a pathology created by centuries of white supremacy. We need to reeducate society and correct the notion that white men have a right to ANYTHING, let alone the lives of innocent people. When Muslims lash out against American foreign policy, the solution is violent intervention and occupation of other nations. When white men lash out…*crickets*
I know of one surefire way to get gun control legislation, however. When the Black Panthers armed themselves and walked the streets of California with guns, the NRA and Ronald Reagan moved quickly to pass gun control laws as governor of California. The NRA supported gun control during Jim Crow because they didn’t want black people to arm themselves to defend themselves against the violence of white domestic terrorism. All we have to do is start getting black and brown people to arm themselves en masse. When we have huge rallies of black and brown people talking about taking up arms, the NRA, funded by the merchants of death in the gun industry, would scramble to tighten gun laws. Black people should hold a huge event claiming we have a right to attack white people because we’ve been kidnapped, murdered, terrorized, and systematically held down until the US government does right by us. The Teahadists and Talibangelists would be tripping over themselves and shoving one another out of the way to get gun control laws passed. We have seen this before, so why not try it again?
I hate everything.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Say THAT!
Come on with this speech! Speaking nothing but truth.
Wow! Just…wow.. I am in awe of everything you just said. This was 100% everything!
And yet these gun nuts want to carry their guns. When that guy in California a couple of weeks shot those people. One of the crazy gun nuts cursed the grieving father of one of the victims. That’s how i know this is sickness in America.
Where ever you live, vote. Whatever you do, vote. Stop sending NRA-backed, gun-loving arseholes to DC. Everyone “hates Congress” yet the (so called) American People keep sending the same mofos back year after year. If your candidate doesn’t win; hold the mofo who does accountable!
Agreed!
It didn’t take suburban school shootings to make me numb over gun violence. Growing up hearing about another shooting death around the corner did it for me. This has been a problem for decades. Above and beyond gun control, we have to focus on socioeconomic root causes as well as mental health issues. People still have the right to bear arms, and I don’t think it should be lost. Besides, people are going to get guns legally or illegally. Policing the purchase of guns hasn’t changed the prevalence of shootings. Yet, every instance of mass shootings or trends toward shooting deaths in ant one area are due to the mental instability of the shooter or the high correlation of poverty resulting in criminal activity. It vs way deeper than gun laws.
Absolutely true. And there was mental health legislation that went through Congress after Sandy Hook- their idea of a compromise.
Your comment is what I was looking for before posting my own. I knew someone would say it & I didn’t wanna repeat. I believe in our 2nd Amendment rights & proudly obtained my CHL; here in the state of Texas, I think even the squirrels carry guns! But the problem isn’t gun control in general, it’s gun control for specific groups of people who should never be able to get guns anyway but always can & do whether it’s legal or not. I don’t know what legislation can be passed that will keep guns out of the hands of those who least need them but most want them. Any law passed to that end will likely only succeed in keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens. And like the old saw goes, when it’s illegal for law abiding citizens to have guns, only the criminals will have guns. The solution just isn’t as simple as everyone wants to believe it is. I, for one, would gladly give up my right to bear arms if it meant no mother would ever grieve the loss of her child due to gun violence but that’s really just wishful thinking isn’t it?
When The shooting in Santa Barbara happened, that puppet Joe the Plumber, said something along the lines of your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights…. ummmm what? So children don’t have the right to go to school and learn without fearing for their lives? Not to mention that was the most awful thing you could say to someone who lost their CHILD!!!!! these politicians are more worried about losing their seats and power than they are with the safety of American children and it’s shameful.
Joe The Fake Ass Plumber isn’t even a plumber. Plumber’s are licensed and he isn’t licensed. I blame John McCain and Sarah Palin for rocketing this dullard into the national conscience.
There are so many things wrong with what he said. First of all, poking at a man who’s just lost his son, a young man who’ll always be a baby to his mom, is hideously cruel. Second, no one asked for his insight into this issue. Third, Joe The Fake Ass Plumber’s knowledge of the Second Amendment is non-existent. He knows nothing about it and I will bet my last strawberry Starburst that he hasn’t heard of District of Columbia v. Heller. Fourth, I want to see him say that bullshit to that man’s face. We aren’t meant to bury our children and person who’s lost a child, even if s/he has other kids, feels like s/he has nothing to lose. The most dangerous person on the planet is one who feels he has nothing to lose. Joe the Fake Ass Plumber would have his teeth knocked right out of his head and he’d deserve it.
And, you are right about these politicians and their bosses in the NRA. You know how we can all tell the NRA is bullshit? They are saying there should be armed policemen in every school. Let’s forget that there were armed cops at Columbine. Let’s focus on the fact that to do so would cost millions of dollars. Would Wayne LaPierre get Grover Norquist, member of the NRA board, to release Republicans from the pledge they make not to vote for tax hikes, in order to pass the legislation to acquire the money for that via legislation? I don’t think so. Those ideas were totally disingenuous or, if they were serious (you never know with them), because he knew there would never be money for it.
I guess since Republicans can’t get Obama to kill more American kids by sending them off to war, they are going to get their pound of flesh from American kids in the classroom. These sadists have actually said that only if 1,000 kids died in a school shooting would they then consider gun control. Yes, that was actually a statement. What a pity it is that there isn’t a hell for them to go to.
Having spent almost 10 years in the military, I have noticed that I have had a disturbing reaction to all these shootings. I realized about a year ago that whenever I entered a business, school, etc. I would scope out the exits and look for potential weapons. If $hit got real, how was I going deal? It was a not a deliberate act or response.
I entered a medical office one morning and paused at the door as I reviewed the layout in my head. I had been there previously about twice a year for the last seven years. I refreshed my memory about the back doors, fire escapes, cupboards to hide in, hidden stairwells. Weapons included glass carafes of hot coffee ( liquid to throw then crack the glass. Now I have slicer with a handle), and writing pens to use for shanking. It took me about 10 seconds.
After checking in, I settled into a chair that gave me a clear view of the public entrances. That’s when I realized what I had done. And I nearly started to cry. What. The. Hell?
Other veterans tell me they had similar experiences. And were equally saddened by the loss of peace of mind.
I will say though that my two children know what to do in the event of a shooting at school. We rehearse how to run away in a zig zag pattern or take cover. Or both. And how to out a shooter if you can.
Makes me sick that I have to do that. We live in an affluent suburb. It’s mostly white, but diverse. One of these days one of these little spoiled brats is going to snap. And it would be nice if my children don’t become casualties as a result.
I agree with the writer above that this is indeed terrorism. Call these acts what they are. The Vegas shooting meets the definition of terrorism. If the shooters were named Ahmed and Fatima it would have been called terrorism.
The good guy with a gun can’t do $hit—as seen in Vegas. In Seattle the shooter was stopped by pepper spray and tackling by bystanders before he could inflict more damage.
First thank you for your service. Second I may not have served in the military but I’ve been around violence in my life and I find myself doing the same thing every time I go somewhere. I’m often the person who looks to see where all the exits & hiding places are when I enter a place as well as the people in the event something happens. I’m often the person who will make my friends move so my back doesn’t face the entrance so I can see what is going on. I was never conscious about it until my mom pointed out that because we have a lot of military vets in my family I learned to mimic the things I would see my uncles do whenever I went with them somewhere plus the safety stuff they taught me. My heart breaks every time I hear about a new instance of senseless violence but it breaks even more realizing that I have lost the “safety innocence” I used to have growing up because now I can’t take my personal safety for granted.