Gun Control Debate

[Cenedril_Gildinaur]

I'm suggesting that while bodycount does influence coverage in a directly proportional manner, I'm also suggesting that there are other factors that can increase or decrease coverage of any specific incident. There are many factors about the YouTube shooter that discourage coverage aside from the low body count.

[yovargas]

And I think you are absolutely wrong.

[Griffon64]

I mulled this over a little bit.

Let’s see - the shooter was a female ethnic immigrant vegan Muslim in a state with very strict gun control laws from a country “on the list” and this is presented as a reason for the story to be “buried”.

What about the San Bernadino shooter? Female ethnic immigrant Muslim ( not sure if she was vegan or not ) in a state with very strict gun control laws from a country on the list and THAT story was most definitely not buried. Body count a lot higher though, and obvious terrorist connections. Made for a stronger story.

My local news contains a regular stream of shootings, often with people injured, sometimes with people dying, and none of those blip on the national news. I suspect this is true for shootings all over the country.

I think this story blipped mostly because YouTube is a big, well-known company ( now it is more nationally newsworthy than a small local business being targeted, or a domestic shooting ) and would have blipped even harder if there was a body count.

I also think that those white cis-male Christian shootings probably blip harder because it appears that there is a bit of a pattern there, mass shootings with high-powered weaponry ... white men holding the guns ... and that pattern itself is also news. Add a few more female ethnic immigrant vegan Muslim in a state with very strict gun control laws from a country “on the list” shootings and the news media will sit up and write about that trend too, because now there is a pattern, a story, something to write about.

At our cores human beings are organic pattern recognition and processing machines. In general, we as a species find patterns more interesting than isolated bits of information. We look for patterns in everything around us ( which leads to great discoveries sometimes, but at other times lead to things like conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, or thinking we can game the stock market - not all patterns are valid or wholesome ). You, Cenedril_Gildinaur, are also looking for a pattern on this topic, but I'm not sure the pattern you're aiming at is there when I compare this shooting to the coverage of many other low or no body-count shootings that I know about from my hometown. Like I said, the most obvious thing I could find that really rose this story to "national" level was the fact that the business it happened at is nationally well-known.

[RoseMorninStar]

Well stated, Griff. There are so many incidents of gun violence in this country few make headlines let alone sustained headlines. It's not a good commentary on our society. We have become desensitized by the inundation of incidents.

I've read a few stories lately (one incident in my own small town) of 'responsible' citizens with concealed carry permits absentmindedly leaving their loaded guns in public places (most often restrooms). The stories might make for a tiny blip in the news, but one of these days a child (or someone else who should not have a weapon) is going to walk into the restroom and shoot themselves or someone else. Then it will be Bigger News. *sigh*

The Parkland shooting has made sustained headlines because the victims were not content to accept the situation they found themselves in and have chosen to speak out. Sadly, however, it seems there is a price to pay for victims who push back against gun violence. Many victims, companies, or grieving families may not feel they can handle such vitriolic attacks when they are already dealing with tragedy. Like victims of rape or abuse, 'good' victims stay silent, right?

*edited for a word correction

[yovargas]

What Griffy said. I think it's fair to say that if youtube hadn't been involved, this shooting would have gotten next to zero national attention, regardless of the criminals demographic.

[Frelga]

NPR:

President Trump will appear at the NRA convention in Dallas on Friday.

I assume it will be an open carry event since guns is what makes us safe.

[RoseMorninStar]

NPR:

President Trump will appear at the NRA convention in Dallas on Friday.

I assume it will be an open carry event since guns is what makes us safe.

Um yeah... about that...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The Secret Service made sure that it was NOT an open carry event.

I was tempted to post this in the Whisky Tango Foxtrot thread, but I guess it should probably go here. A true marriage made in he... (fill in the blank).

NRA To Name Oliver North As President

[Primula Baggins]

Say it, Voronwë.

We’re all grownups here.

“H-E-double-hockey sticks.”

[Frelga]

The Secret Service made sure that it was NOT an open carry event.

And of course the NRA is vehemently protesting this heinous violation of their constitutional rights. Isn't it? No? How odd.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And of course the NRA is vehemently protesting this heinous violation of their constitutional rights.

That's as true as this statement: President Trump has lauded the unarmed African-American man who prevented the Waffle House shooting from becoming even worse than it was by tackling the shooter while he was reloading and personally called him to thank him for his heroism.

[Sunsilver]

Someone mentioned this on FB during the last week, and it has me going 'hmmmm....'

[Frelga]

Capital Gazette came out today but left the Opinions page blank, after a gunman murdered five people in their building.

Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them. But today, we are speechless. https://t.co/5HzKN2IW7Q

Once again, the shooter was a man with a history of harassing women and making threats online. The President offered his thoughts and prayers.

[RoseMorninStar]

Capital Gazette came out today but left the Opinions page blank, after a gunman murdered five people in their building.

Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them. But today, we are speechless. https://t.co/5HzKN2IW7Q

Once again, the shooter was a man with a history of harassing women and making threats online. The President offered his thoughts and prayers.

*Bolding mine.

*sigh*
We have a president who harasses (not just women, but allied leaders, businesses, individuals, judges, just about anyone but Putin) and makes threats online AND publicly, all of the time.

[Cenedril_Gildinaur]

Whenever police shoot a dog or shoot at a dog and kill or wound a citizen (victims have been as young as five years old), I take them at their word that they were soiling and wetting themselves in abject terror.

But that just means that they are cowards and sissies. But anyone with a lick of sense will tell you, "Never give a sissy a gun". This is why the police should be disarmed.

California Deputy Shoots Child while Shooting Family Dog

Another cop fearing for his life when greeted by a dog.

For at least the second time in less than a year, a law enforcement officer shot a child while trying to shoot the child's dog.

Fortunately in both cases, neither the child nor the dog died but it does raise make one wonder why are cops so afraid of family dogs, killing them on a regular basis when we never hear about mail carriers, delivery drivers and meter readers killing dogs.

The latest incident took place Tuesday in Southern California when a San Bernardino sheriff's deputy was responding to a home on a disturbance call, according to the San Bernardino Sun.

The deputy knocked on the door and an 11-year-old opened it. But they claim a German Shepard came charging at the deputy in a "threatening manner," which could easily mean the dog ran up to the deputy to sniff him as dogs tend to do.

But the deputy feared for his life and pulled out his gun, firing off a round, which struck the dog in its paw and side before ricocheting off the cement and striking the child in the leg.

[Sunsilver]

A thread in The Cottage of Lost Play led me to these two videos by folk artist, Tom Paxton. Nothing could be more appropriate to the times, though the first clip is more than 50 year old!:





A new video of “What If, No Matter” arrives in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. mass shootings.
Folk singer Tom Paxton, 80, whose songs have chronicled six decades of change and struggle, walked on stage to sing Friday (Feb. 23) in New York’s East Village and told his audience simply:

“I’d like to begin with a question.”

What if, no matter how angry he was,

How outraged he was,

How furious he was,

What if, no matter how angry he was,

He couldn't lay hands on a gun,

He couldn't lay hands on a gun?

After the massacre of 17 people at at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Paxton has reintroduced his 2011 song “What If, Not Matter” during his ongoing tour with the DonJuans, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriters Don Henry and Jon Vezner.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news ... gun-debate

[Cenedril_Gildinaur]

There's another incident that deserves attention.

Dallas officer in wrong apartment fatally shoots neighbor

There's so much wrong with this story.

First of all, I used to live in an apartment. More than once actually. Even though the floor layout is the same, if you enter a neighbor's apartment you can see right away by the furniture and decoration that it is a different apartment.

Second, he was shot for not complying with an intruder? In current year people are expected to remain calm in the face of immediate danger but a highly trained officer is allowed to panic and shoot first.

Third, after this happened, then the police got a warrant and "found" a small amount of marijuana. Okay, still not legal in Texas but killing over a joint that wasn't even known to be there is way over the top.

We do need more gun control to prevent situations like this.

[RoseMorninStar]

That the officer walked into the wrong apartment, didn't realize it, and killed someone makes me wonder who the joint truly belonged to.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The situation is so tragic, and so inexplicable. Despite the officer's claim that she was able to enter the apartment because the door was slightly ajar, witnesses have indicated that they heard knocking on the door before the shooting. She also claimed that the apartment was in darkness, which makes no sense at all. Apparently, her blood was drawn at the scene so that it could be tested for alcohol and drugs, but the results have yet to be released.

[Impenitent]

An aspect I didn't know about gun culture in the US.
The photos of kids as young as 10 with guns are unnerving to me.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/ ... 7Al8cX1zac

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.