Thank you, Dr. Heather, for another easy to digest summary! I feel encouraged by the statistics of support for Biden. But one of your sentences jumped out at me, sadly:
"We have had an average of ten mass shootings a week in 2021, 194 in all. (A mass shooting is one in which four people were killed or wounded.)"
Thank you, Dr. Heather, for another easy to digest summary! I feel encouraged by the statistics of support for Biden. But one of your sentences jumped out at me, sadly:
"We have had an average of ten mass shootings a week in 2021, 194 in all. (A mass shooting is one in which four people were killed or wounded.)"
After the Sandy Hook shootings of very young children, I had a brief surge of hope that something would finally happen to change this country's gun laws, but instead it just seems like the situation has gotten worse since then.
I really hope the Biden administration can make a difference going forward.
With no meaningful gun reform after Sandy Hook, there were media folks asking, "If not 20 dead children, what will it take -- 20 dead Congressmen??" Well, I doubt even that would do it. Opponents of gun reform are quite clearly bought and sold by the arms-industry lobby. Their donors give marching orders, and so there is no way to change their minds or votes. They simply have to be voted out of office. Yet another good reason to pass For The People.
Yes, well, I hold out hope. Remember when smoking was regarded as a right? When cigarette ads showed doctors smoking as they examined children, and (almost) nobody complained?
By and large, across the U.S., our approach to smoking has reversed itself.
Says a lot about our collective American values. What if every media outlet released the crime scene photos of every school shooting in Our recent history? Could that create motivation for positive change? I’m thinking of Emmett Till and his mother’s courage and pain and how that birthed the civil rights movement.
I'd like to see a study on that. How about pictures of lungs diseased by tobacco-caused cigarette smoke?
"The findings indicate that including both graphic visual warnings, such as those used in Canada, and warning statements currently used in the United States can decrease the perceived attractiveness of the package and create higher levels of negative affect, such as fear or anxiety. The results also show that the addition of the specific visual warnings examined to the U.S. statements increases smokers’ perceived intentions of quitting smoking compared with warning statements alone. The authors offer implications for public policy and public health and provide suggestions for further research."
I'm getting emails from politicians asking me to check boxes on my topics of most concern. Many of them don't have a box to check that says Guns. If they have a box marked "other", I put GUNS there!
Since this is a thread on guns, I'll reply here. It's not the guns that are the problem, it's the ammunition! My ex had several guns and enjoyed going to a local firing range. But when bullets became too expensive and hard to find in stores, he stopped that hobby. He did fill his own bullet shells, but even that ended after a while. So, let the Republicans buy the guns, as long as the Democrats buy the ammunition and gunpowder. If bullets were $100.00 each I doubt the crazy gun owners world be so free with what and who they shoot. I know the black market would supply both, people that want it can get it, yada, yada, but it was just an idea that seemed to even things out a bit. Supply and demand. I'd buy a box of ammo to hoard before I'd ever buy a gun.
Congress members' websites have drop-down menus to select an issue when writing to them. I'm familiar with and approve those of my C-people (Ayanna, Markey, Warren). But a couple of months ago I compared theirs to several of the worst GQPs in Congress. Where MA officials have "Reproductive Rights" or "Gun Control," Repugs have "Gun Rights," "Adoption and Abortion" and "Traditional Values." It is quite revealing.
I completely agree and feel the same after Sandy Hook and can still tear up at the thought. It's my one angry go-to comment when people complain to me about the Democrats coming to take your guns...if 20 bullet ridden five year old children didn't create more fun safety laws what will? Then they shut up.
One thing I have missed during this Pandemic is music. I asked my boyfriend if he would go see an outdoor music show if they were allowed this summer now that we are fully vaccinated, however truth is I am more afraid of being shot by a crazed nut job than getting covid-19 or a variant.
First time posting, I live reading everyone's replies and comments as much as Heather's letters.
Greetings!! You will find that most of us rue the fact there isn't an edit function! Nothing scares me more about the US than the thought that someone I know will be gunned down; randomly, for their political or religious beliefs, their color, ethnicity, or sexual identity.
Why apologize? When you said “fun” safety I thought you were making a sarcastic dig at gun enthusiasts. Everyone here is smart and deep, so when I see a comment, I assume smart and deep. Keep posting! In my book anyway you’ll always get the benefit of the doubt.
I find it sad that the gun owners and 2nd amendment proponents always seem to interpret any attempt at gun reform to mean the extreme of taking people's guns away entirely and violating the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment has taken on a gospel quality like it is one of the 10 Commandments
I believe he means those who oppose any gun safety regulations arguing they might lead to more and more restrictions. Ergo the slippery slope. It stokes fear in gun rights advocates and they dig in their heels.
Colorado is talking about gun control. The biggest issue is that no one knows what actually would reduce killing and pass muster with the Supreme Court.
Lots of feel good ideas but no proof they will actually accomplish anything.
A few feel good laws were recently passed with a few more being considered.
No real progress but the liberal Democrats base is happy.
It depends on whether one means gun control or unlimited access to guns. It depends on which party is in control of the States. Here in NH, the R majority has been working on a bill that says guns can be allowed ANYWHERE, (including schools!) and that NH law enforcement can basically ignore ANY Federal gun control laws/measures. I haven't read/seen any info if the same is happening in other Republican majority states.
Unfortunately, what that statistic says is that the other side is getting ready to declare war on us, regardless of what anyone on our side thinks. The Republicans are talking openly of the fact that if they take the House in 2022, they can deny Biden victory if he wins in 2024. Everything they are saying and doing points to their decision to delare war. Given that situation, people on our side are going to have to rethink their attitude about guns and violence. Some things are worth defending, and I think this country as a democracy is one of them.
And in conclusion, let me say SUBSTACK NEEDS A GODDAMN EDIT FUNCTION!!!!!!!!!!
I think you are wrong about needing to arm ourselves, though. Anyone who rises up against the United States government will deal with the most lethal fighting force ever assembled. If the military remains on the side of the Constitution, the insurrectionists don't stand a chance. If they somehow go over to the insurrection, then all is lost in any case; having a 38 special or even an AK-47 will not help me in the least.
I believe that the military's greater mission and control over its personnel gives me that confidence. My faith in the rank and file of police officers generally has taken a huge tumble in recent years, based on their collective reactions to police violence.
Oh, no doubt. My point, however, to be perfectly blunt, is that if things break that way, we are totally f****d and no level of personal armament will change that fact.
Did you know the US Navy intercepted communications coming out of Rwanda before their civil war. Someone ordered a million machetes from China before the killing began. The pattern of stockpiling weapons is a repeated one.
And frankly, they are grinding way too slowly. I'm concerned that those in Congress who abetted the insurrectionists haven't been named and charged. IF no one in Congress is guilty of providing info/ingress, etc., to the insurrectionists that needs to be stated as well. Letting this drag on while more lies and subterfuge percolate is dangerous as it gives the QTs more fodder to chew on.
As I have said before, that's one of the many advantages of having Merrick Garland as AG. I absolutely trust that he is moving with all deliberate speed.
OTOH, it's a small minority of Americans that possess guns. I expect very few people own ONE gun, with the vast majority having either none or a small arsenal.
A minority of Americans own guns, but it's a large one.
As a lifelong nonviolent pacifist, I am proud to say that I've never owned a gun, and fired one only once, at a tree (sincere apologies to the tree). My father and uncles were issued firearms in WW2. Dad never used his; not sure about the uncles. As far as I know, that is my immediate family's entire history with guns.
I went to high school with a guy who owned guns. He took me out shooting once and I have to admit I LOVED it. I definitely understand the appeal. As a puny, weak human animal, it made me feel so powerful to be able to pull a trigger and absolutely obliterate that bottle. Which is precisely why I think most private gun ownership is a terrible idea--too much power in the hands of those with too little judgment. If all gun owners could be Ally House--well-trained, respectful, thoughtful--I would be much less concerned.
In my "framily" (5 households) there are 15 handguns, 5 shotguns, and 9+ hunting rifles. We have a retired USCG Gunners Mate (rangemaster) Deputy Sheriff (use of force expert), and 4 hunters among us.
I personally own 3; two small concealable handguns, and a large-capacity semi-automatic pistol. I can no longer fire a shoulder-fired weapon except for a rifle chambered in a .22 or a .223 (missing lymph nodes on my dominant shoulder).
Exactly! Since I don't own any, that means that someone else owns 2.4 guns! (OK, I know that's not really how statistics work, but you know what I mean). If half a dozen of us are completely unarmed, some joker has to have 7.2 guns! And for a lot of these loons, that's 7.5 too many.
As Reid says, they believe the lies. They think having quality child care available, good schools and opportunities for their kids, good roads and bridges, readily available and affordable medical services, and support so that they can retire some day and live in dignity and comfort are "taking away their freedom."
They are deeply afraid. They have been fed lies about what the opposition (us, that is) intend. They believe what TC is advocating we believe: that the other side will take away our freedom.
So much coded language. Tough on crime means reinslavement. Pro life means oppression of women. Family values means vanilla, cis, het sexuality. And so forth.
Someone asked earlier if we felt afraid. I don’t feel any fear as I go about my day, but, I’m aware it could be because of my bubble of privilege and suspect it’s a useful illusion. We humans adapt to danger and eventually normalize it.
And in the face of political unrest, the sheer number of guns in the US feels like we’re sitting on a powder keg.
That is sad, Lynn. Even here in "liberal" Cambridge, my US Out Of North America shirt is seldom worn. I also feel vulnerable wearing a BLM shirt with police around.
I was thinking this morning of designing my own, per HCR's description: a dagger inscribed with THE BIG LIE, directly through the heart of democratic America.
Thank you, Dr. Heather, for another easy to digest summary! I feel encouraged by the statistics of support for Biden. But one of your sentences jumped out at me, sadly:
"We have had an average of ten mass shootings a week in 2021, 194 in all. (A mass shooting is one in which four people were killed or wounded.)"
After the Sandy Hook shootings of very young children, I had a brief surge of hope that something would finally happen to change this country's gun laws, but instead it just seems like the situation has gotten worse since then.
I really hope the Biden administration can make a difference going forward.
When nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I knew that nothing ever would.
With no meaningful gun reform after Sandy Hook, there were media folks asking, "If not 20 dead children, what will it take -- 20 dead Congressmen??" Well, I doubt even that would do it. Opponents of gun reform are quite clearly bought and sold by the arms-industry lobby. Their donors give marching orders, and so there is no way to change their minds or votes. They simply have to be voted out of office. Yet another good reason to pass For The People.
Yes, well, I hold out hope. Remember when smoking was regarded as a right? When cigarette ads showed doctors smoking as they examined children, and (almost) nobody complained?
By and large, across the U.S., our approach to smoking has reversed itself.
And seat belts.
We can change minds. Gradually.
Steam roller of change is very slowly overcoming inertia. Keep faith.
You’re so right. We had a seriously wounded congressman (Steve Scalise) and he is firmly still devoted to gun “rights”.
Who can forget the massacre during a congressional baseball game?
Twenty dead REPUBLICAN Congressmen might do it.
It also might make it easier to get guns.
Yes indeed TPJ.
😥
Says a lot about our collective American values. What if every media outlet released the crime scene photos of every school shooting in Our recent history? Could that create motivation for positive change? I’m thinking of Emmett Till and his mother’s courage and pain and how that birthed the civil rights movement.
Retraumatizing people is not an effective strategy.
I'd like to see a study on that. How about pictures of lungs diseased by tobacco-caused cigarette smoke?
"The findings indicate that including both graphic visual warnings, such as those used in Canada, and warning statements currently used in the United States can decrease the perceived attractiveness of the package and create higher levels of negative affect, such as fear or anxiety. The results also show that the addition of the specific visual warnings examined to the U.S. statements increases smokers’ perceived intentions of quitting smoking compared with warning statements alone. The authors offer implications for public policy and public health and provide suggestions for further research."
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jppm.25.2.212
Apparently, use of graphic images is controversial. But IMHO, some of the controversy is ginned up by the still-wealthy tobacco industry.
https://academic.oup.com/abm/article/49/5/639/4562764?login=true
Exactly.
I'm getting emails from politicians asking me to check boxes on my topics of most concern. Many of them don't have a box to check that says Guns. If they have a box marked "other", I put GUNS there!
Since this is a thread on guns, I'll reply here. It's not the guns that are the problem, it's the ammunition! My ex had several guns and enjoyed going to a local firing range. But when bullets became too expensive and hard to find in stores, he stopped that hobby. He did fill his own bullet shells, but even that ended after a while. So, let the Republicans buy the guns, as long as the Democrats buy the ammunition and gunpowder. If bullets were $100.00 each I doubt the crazy gun owners world be so free with what and who they shoot. I know the black market would supply both, people that want it can get it, yada, yada, but it was just an idea that seemed to even things out a bit. Supply and demand. I'd buy a box of ammo to hoard before I'd ever buy a gun.
Congress members' websites have drop-down menus to select an issue when writing to them. I'm familiar with and approve those of my C-people (Ayanna, Markey, Warren). But a couple of months ago I compared theirs to several of the worst GQPs in Congress. Where MA officials have "Reproductive Rights" or "Gun Control," Repugs have "Gun Rights," "Adoption and Abortion" and "Traditional Values." It is quite revealing.
WOW!
I completely agree and feel the same after Sandy Hook and can still tear up at the thought. It's my one angry go-to comment when people complain to me about the Democrats coming to take your guns...if 20 bullet ridden five year old children didn't create more fun safety laws what will? Then they shut up.
One thing I have missed during this Pandemic is music. I asked my boyfriend if he would go see an outdoor music show if they were allowed this summer now that we are fully vaccinated, however truth is I am more afraid of being shot by a crazed nut job than getting covid-19 or a variant.
First time posting, I live reading everyone's replies and comments as much as Heather's letters.
Gun safety not fun safety, ugh this is why I just enjoy reading the comments and follow the discussion.
Hey, we all saw that and (silently) made the easy correction in our heads.
Welcome aboard!
Welcome. With the most recent mass shooting in Colorado, I would say you did not err: gun safety is fun (birthday party) safety.
Greetings!! You will find that most of us rue the fact there isn't an edit function! Nothing scares me more about the US than the thought that someone I know will be gunned down; randomly, for their political or religious beliefs, their color, ethnicity, or sexual identity.
Thank you Leslie; please keep the comments coming. NB, we need fun safety laws too!
Why apologize? When you said “fun” safety I thought you were making a sarcastic dig at gun enthusiasts. Everyone here is smart and deep, so when I see a comment, I assume smart and deep. Keep posting! In my book anyway you’ll always get the benefit of the doubt.
For those who don't know, Roland actually is writing a book.
Welcome back R, you've been missed the last few days.
You’re a kind and dear man, TPJ, thank you.
welcome to the conversation!
A mentor asked. "How would we live if there were no safe space?"
Please post away! The more voices, the better!
Well said, Leslie. I feel exactly the same way about all that you wrote.
I find it sad that the gun owners and 2nd amendment proponents always seem to interpret any attempt at gun reform to mean the extreme of taking people's guns away entirely and violating the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment has taken on a gospel quality like it is one of the 10 Commandments
The reinterpretation of our 2nd Amendment is another Big Lie.
Racism and gun violence have formed an unholy alliance.
I rarely favor "slippery slope" arguments, and this may be the worst of all.
What do you mean?
Slippery slope arguments posit that any movement or concession inevitably or probably leads to drastic, often unwanted changes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope
I looked this up just now; I had no idea it was so prominent in philosophy and law.
So, can you relate that to gun reform?
I believe he means those who oppose any gun safety regulations arguing they might lead to more and more restrictions. Ergo the slippery slope. It stokes fear in gun rights advocates and they dig in their heels.
Thank you, Diane, for clarifying the gun-control connection.
TY
Colorado is talking about gun control. The biggest issue is that no one knows what actually would reduce killing and pass muster with the Supreme Court.
Lots of feel good ideas but no proof they will actually accomplish anything.
A few feel good laws were recently passed with a few more being considered.
No real progress but the liberal Democrats base is happy.
You can't prove it will actually accomplish anything without trying.
It depends on whether one means gun control or unlimited access to guns. It depends on which party is in control of the States. Here in NH, the R majority has been working on a bill that says guns can be allowed ANYWHERE, (including schools!) and that NH law enforcement can basically ignore ANY Federal gun control laws/measures. I haven't read/seen any info if the same is happening in other Republican majority states.
No giving up.
There is more than one gun for every person in the United States (121 per every 100 residents). https://www.reuters.com/world/us/more-guns-than-people-why-tighter-us-firearms-laws-are-unlikely-2021-04-14/
40 million new gun unit sales in 2020. A record. More armed per capita than Yemen.
Unfortunately, what that statistic says is that the other side is getting ready to declare war on us, regardless of what anyone on our side thinks. The Republicans are talking openly of the fact that if they take the House in 2022, they can deny Biden victory if he wins in 2024. Everything they are saying and doing points to their decision to delare war. Given that situation, people on our side are going to have to rethink their attitude about guns and violence. Some things are worth defending, and I think this country as a democracy is one of them.
And in conclusion, let me say SUBSTACK NEEDS A GODDAMN EDIT FUNCTION!!!!!!!!!!
I certainly agree with your final point!
I think you are wrong about needing to arm ourselves, though. Anyone who rises up against the United States government will deal with the most lethal fighting force ever assembled. If the military remains on the side of the Constitution, the insurrectionists don't stand a chance. If they somehow go over to the insurrection, then all is lost in any case; having a 38 special or even an AK-47 will not help me in the least.
I frankly have more confidence in the Military than I do in local Law Enforcement.
Wow, Ally, that’s quite a statement coming from you
I believe that the military's greater mission and control over its personnel gives me that confidence. My faith in the rank and file of police officers generally has taken a huge tumble in recent years, based on their collective reactions to police violence.
The US armed forces cannot necessarily be depended on. Special Ops is rife with "the enemy within" as is the Air Force.
You did notice how many veterans are among those arrested? And there were probably more there.
If I lived in a Red State, I wouldn't be depending on the armed forces to protect me from the nuts down the street.
Oh, no doubt. My point, however, to be perfectly blunt, is that if things break that way, we are totally f****d and no level of personal armament will change that fact.
Totally correct. Look to the history of the fall of the Roman Republic.
Exactly
The last thing we need is another big pile of guns and another g-d shootout.
Would America have it any other way? Will we learn from our history? Pollyanna says, I hope so.....the rest of me despairs.
Lynn honestly I’m not too hopeful either. Why can’t we learn? It’s frankly cause for despair though I do everything to avoid despair.
Did you know the US Navy intercepted communications coming out of Rwanda before their civil war. Someone ordered a million machetes from China before the killing began. The pattern of stockpiling weapons is a repeated one.
Yeah. And the Tutsis showed what happens when you don't take the threat seriously.
100%. Same in Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Bosnia, etc. stockpiling weapons always precedes the conflict.
That someone should be easily identified
The war was declared on 1/06/21. Luckily about 400 of them are dealing with legal consequences
closer to 500 now
The head of the snake, the complicit police officers AND the complicit congress critters ALL need to be AT LEAST charged. WHAT is the problem here?
the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow
And frankly, they are grinding way too slowly. I'm concerned that those in Congress who abetted the insurrectionists haven't been named and charged. IF no one in Congress is guilty of providing info/ingress, etc., to the insurrectionists that needs to be stated as well. Letting this drag on while more lies and subterfuge percolate is dangerous as it gives the QTs more fodder to chew on.
As I have said before, that's one of the many advantages of having Merrick Garland as AG. I absolutely trust that he is moving with all deliberate speed.
I agree Daria and I want the consequences to be stunning.
I can practically hear the grinding wheels and would love a little oil.
And so they should.
Thanks for the update—heartening. I’ll never forget 1/06/21.
Yeah, well, it was a dress rehearsal.
What — dress rehearsal for Armageddon?
Unfortunately, very possibly, a 2nd Civil War... As Reid posted below-it may all hinge on whether the military follows the Constitution.
This war is FAR from over.
😁
OTOH, it's a small minority of Americans that possess guns. I expect very few people own ONE gun, with the vast majority having either none or a small arsenal.
A minority of Americans own guns, but it's a large one.
As a lifelong nonviolent pacifist, I am proud to say that I've never owned a gun, and fired one only once, at a tree (sincere apologies to the tree). My father and uncles were issued firearms in WW2. Dad never used his; not sure about the uncles. As far as I know, that is my immediate family's entire history with guns.
I went to high school with a guy who owned guns. He took me out shooting once and I have to admit I LOVED it. I definitely understand the appeal. As a puny, weak human animal, it made me feel so powerful to be able to pull a trigger and absolutely obliterate that bottle. Which is precisely why I think most private gun ownership is a terrible idea--too much power in the hands of those with too little judgment. If all gun owners could be Ally House--well-trained, respectful, thoughtful--I would be much less concerned.
In my "framily" (5 households) there are 15 handguns, 5 shotguns, and 9+ hunting rifles. We have a retired USCG Gunners Mate (rangemaster) Deputy Sheriff (use of force expert), and 4 hunters among us.
I personally own 3; two small concealable handguns, and a large-capacity semi-automatic pistol. I can no longer fire a shoulder-fired weapon except for a rifle chambered in a .22 or a .223 (missing lymph nodes on my dominant shoulder).
Fortunately, we have strong evidence you are a sane person. My guess is your "framily" are, too.
Exactly! Since I don't own any, that means that someone else owns 2.4 guns! (OK, I know that's not really how statistics work, but you know what I mean). If half a dozen of us are completely unarmed, some joker has to have 7.2 guns! And for a lot of these loons, that's 7.5 too many.
Within my loose circle of say, 32 family and friends, only two own (several) guns. The rest, zero.
My circle of friends is a bit different; there are liberal former police officers/dispatchers/military. (See my post above)
Now that I think about it, I don't think I know anyone who owns a gun. Many of my cousins are conservative enough, though, so they might.
same here
According to Pew Research, 1/3 of US citizens own guns (see https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/11/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns). IMHO, that equals far too many!
Dreadful stats!
Other than climate change, nothing makes me sadder or more concerned.
As Reid says, they believe the lies. They think having quality child care available, good schools and opportunities for their kids, good roads and bridges, readily available and affordable medical services, and support so that they can retire some day and live in dignity and comfort are "taking away their freedom."
They are deeply afraid. They have been fed lies about what the opposition (us, that is) intend. They believe what TC is advocating we believe: that the other side will take away our freedom.
They say freedom, they mean white privilege.
So much coded language. Tough on crime means reinslavement. Pro life means oppression of women. Family values means vanilla, cis, het sexuality. And so forth.
Oh, absolutely. But I was speaking of coded language and that's the term they use.
Reportedly 400 people were shot last weekend. 100 of those died:
https://flipboard.com/article/weekend-violence-400-shot-in-us/f-3884c8affd%2Fcnn.com
Someone asked earlier if we felt afraid. I don’t feel any fear as I go about my day, but, I’m aware it could be because of my bubble of privilege and suspect it’s a useful illusion. We humans adapt to danger and eventually normalize it.
And in the face of political unrest, the sheer number of guns in the US feels like we’re sitting on a powder keg.
I carefully choose which t shirt I don each morning, fearful to wear my democratic shirts in my own neighborhood
That is sad, Lynn. Even here in "liberal" Cambridge, my US Out Of North America shirt is seldom worn. I also feel vulnerable wearing a BLM shirt with police around.
I recommend you go to www.fcnl.org and purchase a t shirt that reads WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER! You could wear that proudly every day.
I will have to look this up, ty.
I was thinking this morning of designing my own, per HCR's description: a dagger inscribed with THE BIG LIE, directly through the heart of democratic America.
Lynn, that’s just heartbreaking.