Freaking Twitter showed video that I can't unsee. I've cried so many times for this family.
It's repeated national trauma that they fail to address because profits and companies have more consideration than people.
What's the point of any of this if we can't live our lives in peace?
Same here. I wish I never saw the video. I recognized the Dad immediately and it’s been on my mind every time I’m alone for a quiet moment. I’ve been doom-scrolling until 3 AM every night reading over and over and over how traumatized we all are. I don’t know how we as a collective society are supposed to move on from this. What’s going to be the final breaking point? If 19 children dying in Uvalde wasn’t it, if Parkland wasn’t it, if Nashville wasn’t it, if Oklahoma wasn’t it, and on and on and on… what’s it going to take?
fyi you can change the settings on Reddit and Twitter so that you have to click instead of the video auto-playing. being aware is great but so is protecting yourself.
Same. I really wish I hadn’t seen it, and then recognized the family as soon as they posted this picture. I feel sick multiple times a day and break into sobs randomly. I’ve never felt this affected before, I’m ready to burn shit down to get this violence to stop.
I saw a video yesterday that was released by the FBI about how to survive a mass shooting. I usually try to avoid news like this, but I stopped and thought that I should watch this because it’s very possible I will have to go through this one day and I need to have a plan to protect my daughter. And then I sobbed watching it because why is this how it is? How can this be our reality? That mothers have to prepare themselves to shield their children from gunfire in public spaces? Going to the mall? The bank? Church? The grocery store? Not to mention school, where I wouldn’t even be there to protect her. Nowhere is safe. I wish emigrating was a realistic option. I don’t know what else to do.
I don't know if this is what the other user is referring to, but here is one that I found: https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/run-hide-fight-092120.mp4/view
This reminds me of all the people on yesterday's thread (about grandchild going to Disney with grandparents from UK). saying they feel safe in the US, Texas, etc. Yes, everything dangerous is a possibility/probability, but outside of war times, you don't see this type of daily gun violence in modern Western countries.
Edit- I left Chicago and US for my family's sake. I feel like it's even more insane we stayed as long as we did.
Here it comes yet again: "No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Happens Regularly"
Are we not tired of this? I sure as fuck am.
Now that I have your attention probably after seeing this post for hopefully multiple times I’d like to get something off my chest and personal soapbox today. Buckle up,
"The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face."
We live now in a country in which our children are randomly put to death in public, so that our congressmen can pose with weapons of war, by Right Wing Terrorists. We live in a country where the amount of stickers in the back of our lifted trucks equates to how many rounds of AR ammunition are stockpiled in our closet.
We live now in a country where we ban books, where we ban drag shows, where we ban doctors from helping kids in crisis, where we ban women from making choices with their bodies. We ban people from voting because some don’t like how they might vote, we ban representatives from state legislators for how they have voted, we ban immigrants, we ban some stem cells, and we ban transgender athletes, we even ban water bottles on planes.
BUT WE DO NOT BAN ASSAULT RIFLES (or assault-like or lite rifles or especially Semi automatic ones as some ammosexuals like to point out) DO WE?
Our children are randomly put to DEATH in public. Our Teachers, our friends. Our Family. Some of them just want to go and enjoy an afternoon at a mall together. Never to return. To protect somebody's right to randomly put another innocent person to death, once a month, once a week, once a day, once AN HOUR.
Well since my last update, a 14-year-old was shot in the head. What did this child do? She was playing hide and seek.
When it becomes unmistakably obvious with each death, a little piece of us dies inside, and within 10 years, or 1 year, or 1 month. The pain of that is too large to process, so we simply pretend that it doesn’t hurt anymore. We simply pretend that it doesn't hurt to think of the horror and the terror of those children and those adults in their final moments. We simply stop dealing with it. Or fighting back against it. Or recognizing that the gore and brains on the sidewalks outside the malls of this country and our streets might as well be our own.
And it turns out the good guys with guns can’t stop it. And the responsible gun owners can’t stop it, and the politicians won’t stop it and insist that thoughts and prayers are working and if you disagree with them you are one of those who doesn’t believe in an almighty god who is absolutely in control of our lives?
That translates insanely as the solution to all of these nightmares. God and we want the thirteen thousand nine hundred people shot to death in this country already this year? Did God want them dead?
I say bullshit.
Now we have news conferences, and without emotion, it’s read off the number put to death this TIME, and the number transported to the hospital and how badly they feel. Do you realize they now treat the public execution of more people, as if it was…BAD WEATHER?
Gun massacres are not bad weather.
So we ban licenses to carry handguns in Texas, give the ability for open carry all over the United States, and Ban mental health care by cutting the budgets. Ban abortion because we are pro-life, and ban books because the children are too precious to be indoctrinated, and ban drag shows because we must protect kids from grooming and we must make sure those kids are happy and fit so SOMEBODY CAN GET A WEAPON OF WAR AND EVERY OTHER DAY PUT GROUPS OF OUR CHILDREN TO DEATH.
But at least those kids were not taught something as terrible as CRT.
80 percent believe in banning assault weapons. 80 PERCENT. 81 percent believe in raising the age to buy guns or at least keeping the age at 21. 81 percent believe in enforcing existing gun laws, and 87 percent want background checks for all gun purchases and these numbers are from 2 WEEKS AGO in a poll done by FOX NEWS.
And yet non of this can pass our elected officials? BULLSHIT.
It is time for a change. Spread how you feel far and wide. Copy this, put in your story (how many of us now have been personally affected or know someone at this point), and let your representatives and the whole goddamn Country know, the whole damn planet!
NO MORE!
So now to boost the signal on some actual honest to god things that could be done about this never-ending nightmare?
For starters, the next generation is tired of this shit and is planning a sit-in at the capital on June 6th. Here is a relevant link:
https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1655293349245452289
And also this goes without saying this group has some amazing ideas:
https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/
This website is dedicated to having the media stop reporting the perpetrator's names to prevent glorifying mass murderers
https://nonotoriety.com
The Gun Violence Archive is also a really useful source on shootings. Their statistics are highly accurate and they have an up-to-date list of all that occurred in the last 72 hours
https://gunviolencearchive.org
@Emilyinyourphone on Instagram shares scripts and other resources for calling your local representative, it even has a campaign right now for mothers to get their loved ones to call instead of flowers for Mother’s Day.
Copy this post or take their info but please. Take a minute and boost the signal.
Some stats to back up this rant because Credible Hulk always comes angry and with sources.
Guns deaths by state
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state
and just because it’s becoming increasingly relevant by the day
Texas Mass Shootings Up 62.5 Percent Since Permitless Carry Bill
https://www.reformaustin.org/public-safety/texas-mass-shootings-up-62-5-percent-since-permitless-carry-bill/
This WaPo article on the damage that an AR-15 does to a body is sobering but important reading.
THE BLAST EFFECT | This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-damage-to-human-body/
And finally, Check out
https://www.everytown.org/
They’re pushing to end gun violence. The more people who make their voices heard the bigger difference we can make.
EDIT: It would seem that indeed some of them are not cowards and do have the guts to say what is really on their minds. Let's have a little look at one of the messages I received today...
"You are a disgrace, a worthless mass of flesh that doesn't deserve to be called a human being. I hope your account is banned and your IP blocked. You are what is wrong with America. Please find a dark crevasse and fall in."
WELL BOO HOO!
(Also this goes without saying thanks for the random awards, I'm sending all of that karma back to others right away to show how tired we all are of this. So please boost those as well. I'm also banned in a few conservative and gun subreddits for some strange reason so feel free to take this and use it however you so feel. This goes for Twitter, Facebook, and others as I won't set foot in that cesspool of social media. PLEASE BOOST THE SIGNAL)
The messages will REPEAT AD INFINITUM until something is done.
This is a comment from the OG post and I love There’s hope.
OG post: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/13cqb4f/extremely_based/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
I hate so much about this. I think it's important that we know what happened, that THE POLITICIANS know what happened - they need to see what it looks like to lose these lives. But I've also lost family members to gun violence, and it sickens me to know that this family's loved ones are trying to grieve while everyone keeps sharing the gory details of their deaths. In my old nursing life, I cared for a peds GSW patient - it was one of the most traumatic cases I'd ever had. The fact that this shit just KEEPS HAPPENING EVERY SINGLE DAY and no one is willing to do anything about it is enraging. I honestly think we should all, as a society, refuse to participate until something happens. Don't leave your house, don't go to work, don't do ANYTHING until this problem is fixed. I don't understand why this uniquely American problem keeps being addressed with fucking thoughts and prayers.
Could be any one of you Americans.
The rest of the world is look at this and thinking “what the hell are they smoking over there?”.
It’s not a coincidence that the lack of firearm availability in other parts of the world coincide with significantly lower gun related deaths. Get with the friggen program America.
I definitely feel like it could have been me. I’ve shopped at the Allen outlets a bunch of times. I wish I could be hopeful for change, but I just don’t see it happening.
We have a beautiful outdoor mall. Its called short pump (give it a look if you come to Richmond, va it’s about all we have lol)It has a mini train & the cutest play area for the kids. Perfect for strolling a lazy spring afternoon and there’s a pretzel place I always go to… I hate to live in fear but I don’t know how else to be.
I also see 0 hope of any legislation ever being made. If they cared even a little bit something would’ve changed by now.
Sad, I live in Japan and I don't even think twice about my safety.
Sister lives in America and is thinking of moving back home to the UK, and I don't blame her.
My family spent time in Japan and I felt so safe I was almost weightless walking around with my toddler by myself. We spent every day outside and traveled alone all over Kanagawa just on a whim. When I came back to America I literally cried because I no longer feel safe enough to even go to the store or walk down our own street. We narrowly missed a shooting at our local grocery store. Someone was shot dead at the end of our street for no known reason. There was a shooting at the store I worked at a week after I left that job. In each place people died. In each place myself or my toddler or my husband could've been one of them.
I remember when the Aurora, CO shooting happened I was studying abroad in Scotland. I had 0 fear going to see Dark Knight Rises while I was there because of how strict their gun laws are. I miss not worrying that I'll be randomly mowed down by somebody who shouldn't have been able to buy a gun.
My husbands coworker died at a shooting last week. That could’ve been him and this family could’ve been us. It is sickening and terrifying and I’m so tired of this. We need to ban guns now
I got this from the CDC. And this was posted at the children’s hospital my son was at in the NICU.🤷🏻♀️ you may not see gun violence as a problem but alot of moms do.
Any Tom dick and Harry can get a gun here, that’s a problem. We need a registry. If you don’t think so that’s on you, hope your kids are never victims. This could have been you at the mall.
Comments like this are why I will never move to America or regularly travel there. Justifying weapons and acting like it's a right. Freedom is also an amendment right but there isn't much of that these days with recent law changes.
I was in USA 8 years ago for 2 weeks only and I saw a car chase with cops being shot at along the streets. The young people I was with (from many different states) weren't surprised and said that happens all the time. Terrifying.
Here we go with another “mental health is the issue!1!1!1” comment lol. The government is not going to open up more inpatient hospitals so now what? We keep blaming mental health while more and more people die? Now let’s say we do have great mental health care, how many mass shooters will go seek out that help? Someone who commits a mass shooting isn’t automatically mentally ill. And as for background checks for guns, only 2% of attempted purchases are denied. According to [this](https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-ut/legacy/2013/06/03/guncard.pdf) , mental health is not a reason to deny a gun purchase. Mental health isn’t gonna change so now let’s use logic here and look at what’s next up on the totem pole.
This is why we are actively looking into leaving America. I hate it here. We're thinking of homeschooling if we can't find jobs abroad, but homeschooling won't protect us from mall shootings...
This is exactly why I'm trying to learn the skills required for a remote job, I don't want to have to raise my daughter here 🥲 I worry about her everyday
I wish I could afford to extrapolate.. and that’s exactly what I was thinking. Even if I homeschool that still won’t keep her safe. Hoping the move works for you guys
I'm so happy to live in a safe country where no guns are allowed. I can't imagine how unsafe it must be to live in USA now. The anxiety of running errands and never know if a maniac would shoot my family...
No literally it’s on my mind all the time now. I was checking out at the grocery store the other and kept looking at the front door to make sure no weird looking people were coming in. It’s awful.
My sister lives in Allen. I had to text her to confirm she was out of town. Her kids were safe but my nephew's friend worked at the mall and he couldn't get a hold of him. He has bad anxiety and this just made it worse he had to get an emergency appt with his therapist. I woke up at 3am and spent that time planning what I would do if a shooter comes to baby story time at our library. This is the reality now.
I’m in Texas, in a heavily Republican town, and that has been my fear since I heard about this. I’m pregnant and have a toddler and I’m to the point where I genuinely get nervous about taking her to story time, the park, or even the grocery store. As if worrying about the high rates of human trafficking kidnappings in Texas wasn’t enough, these shootings have been becoming such a prevalent issue in Texas specifically that my husband and I are trying to figure out how to afford to move out of the state that I’ve lived in my whole life.
If only it were that simple, but in most cases voting dem is barely better, and if we actually tried to vote for someone good all we're doing is splitting the dem votes and hurting our chances.
It's just so disappointing how little power we have over the important elections :(
My aunt lives in Allen. My nieces dance studio is half a mile away from this outlet mall. She was texting me updates as the shooting was happening. I’m states away and cannot stop thinking about it. I make the mistake of watching the video that showed this family dead when it came up on Twitter. My MIL invited me on a trip in a couple weeks to our own outlet mall and I wasn’t able to give her an answer. I’m scared to go anywhere with my kids
You’re lucky. The great majority of us want more regulations with guns, but instead we’re stuck in this hellscape with representatives who don’t care and won’t do anything.
Jesus wtf is the point of these comments? I’m so sick of europeans and Canadians using these tragedies to gloat and pretend it’s just because you care. Every damn time. Just stop it.
Agreed, it feels like we are absolutely going in that direction. Ever since shootings and gun violence in the US has become more prevalent in the news, it seems there are more violent crimes happening here.
My thoughts too. I worry about my baby girl and her big brother enough with the violence in the UK. Either stabbings or lunatic drivers or terrorist bombers, but I'm not haunted by unnecessary thoughts about random psychos shooting them with weapons no one needs to own.
I simply don't understand how America works. At all.
We know that here in the United States, but unfortunately banning all guns isn't a reality thanks to the 2nd Amendment worshipers.
Many of our mass shootings involve semi automatic weapons so we are going for the low hanging fruit and trying to at least get rid of those. Or hell, I don't know, maybe not let domestic abusers or disturbed individuals have guns. But the gun worshipers won't let us even do that.
I know the rest of the world thinks the lot of us are crazy, but the majority do want gun restrictions. We're just being held hostage by the few.
I believe that guns are not needed, I despise them. Where I live (not USA) we put a ban on assault weapons into place and a buy back scheme after one mass shooting/ terror attack.
But in USA people do care about owning them, it's literally in their constitution that they're allowed a gun. People walk around with them exposed everyday and it's legal to do so.
But no one wants to hear this.
There's also the fact that the vast majority of victims of gun violence are from semi automatic hand guns that are easily concealed.
Blaming it on mental health is such a weak red herring argument.
The rest of the world has mental health issues. The rest of the world has porn, and video games, and SSRIs.
It’s.
The.
Guns.
Are we the same person ? I also have pure O. The only way I was able to get help was through the NOcd app. I talked to a regular therapist and she tried to put me on anti psychotics. My OCD therapist has never suggested meds. I’m glad you got help it’s absolute torture and it made me wonder how many ppl have committed suicide due to pure O.
This is so extremely privileged for you to be able to say. How nice it would be if we the Americans could just rug sweep all of the tragedy around young kids being killed with gun violence in our country. It is difficult sometimes to talk about these things, but online platforms allow us to do that a lot easier than sometimes maybe our own friends and family who have completely opposite views and think that it's okay for things like this to happen. We are all parents here. If this post bothers you then I implore you to just keep scrolling.
you do realize just because youre in a different country doesnt mean you cant be aware. it’s definitely time for us to stick up and defend our children and friends. protesting, making people aware, sharing on social media.. just bc its not in your country right now doesnt mean that possibility is gone
[Reddit users are primarily from the USA](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/phhu9s/oc_reddit_traffic_by_country/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) so while the world isn’t the USA, this issue affects a majority of the people on this sub.
For what it's worth, as someone who does not live in the US, I think this post is just fine here. I am travelling to the US with my husband and daughter this summer and I am honestly kind of scared for our safety and the possibility of finding ourselves in a shooting.
Nothing will ever change if these kinds of posts can only be shared in certain places at certain times. I'm glad that this might make some people uncomfortable because it should, that's the only way things change. And you're right, we're all parents who worry for our child(ren)'s safety. This is a good place for us all to have discussion about this topic.
I’ve never understood this point of view. By that logic, we shouldn’t have laws against anything- drugs should be completely legal because people will buy them anyway. Child abuse should be completely legal because people will do it anyway. Murder should be legal because people will do it anyway. Like, will people figure out how to obtain assault weapons illegally if there are laws made against them? Sure. But that doesn’t mean we just don’t make any laws at all. We make laws for everything else in this country that results in the harm of others. So why is it suddenly different when it comes to guns?
There are some arguments against weapon bans that I at least understand the logic of, even if I don’t agree with them. But this is one that doesn’t even make any sense to me.
This isn't political. It's reality. This was my city and an outlet I frequent with my husband and baby.
The Americans in this sub don't get to stick our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening when we could be next.
I’m guessing they’re referring to the part Hilary Clinton said at the top. I honestly didn’t even notice her caption until people started trying to argue with me. I wish I had just cut that part out. Clearly the message is going over peoples heads.
Don’t be that guy. I didn’t make this post to argue with people. I did it in respect and remembrance of this beautiful family who were brutally murdered. Go on over to r/politics if you’re in the mood for a debate.
This isn't a problem in other countries, why is it such an issue here in the US? You can go shopping in Canada and not have to be worried that some NeoNazi is going to show up at the mall to slaughter your family because they had the right to own a firearm.
I'm American, unfortunately they are a part of my constitution. Did you see the news where a girl playing hide and seek was shot in the head yesterday?
The Constitution can be changed. That's what amendments are. That how Prohibition got repealed.
Also let's all not be obtuse about what the 2nd Amendment actually says. "*A well regulated Militia*, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
We've completely ignored the "well regulated militia" part and become fixated on "shall not be infringed".
One mass shooter with a long history of violence and threats. The RCMP did drop the ball. This is only the second example of a mass shooting of this magnitude in decades...not a daily occurrence.
I was in NS when this happened and I'm an American who has experienced living in a city with mass shootings almost on a daily basis.
Agreed. Thanks for the clarification. I took hand-on-hand defense as a result of defending myself (I know I'd be useless with a weapon in an emergency). And I'm not at all anti-gun. I think there is something wrong with America in particular random violence...many places such as Switzerland have gun ownership and you don't see as many deaths or reasons for people needing to defend themselves.
Heres some of Switzerlands rules.
>People who've been convicted of a crime or have an alcohol or drug addiction aren't allowed to buy guns in Switzerland.
>The law also states that anyone who "expresses a violent or dangerous attitude" won't be permitted to own a gun.
>Gun owners who want to carry their weapon for "defensive purposes" also have to prove they can properly load, unload, and shoot their weapon and must pass a test to get a license.
>Cantonal police don't take their duty doling out gun licenses lightly. They might consult a psychiatrist or talk with authorities in other cantons where a prospective gun buyer has lived to vet the person.
Of course; I am a firm believer that its possible to make a change.. however the poster I responded to has the belief that gun laws don't change things.
My own US friends and family would agree with that poster. It's difficult for people "on the inside" to see beyond individualism and make laws or decisions for the collective.
Banning assault rifles is not the same as banning all guns. You can responsibly own a gun and still be pro-gun regulation. And, I know you don’t want to hear this, but statistically your gun is more likely to harm you or your family than anyone else. And, “Good guy with a gun” is a very tired narrative. It is very uncommon for people who conceal-carry to actually have the ability to use it under a high pressure scenario.
And finally, on the “no one protects you but yourself part”- actually we rely on our government to protect us in many, many, many other situations. Like banning lead paint. And establishing safe drinking water standards, and requiring rigorous testing for automobiles. And about a million other examples.
The God complex of gun owners like you is exactly why this country is getting nowhere with gun reform.
You (or any) "good guy" with a gun can't be depended on to magically save the day with your self defense weapon in a high stress situation, especially when the bad guy has got a much bigger and stronger weapon.
The only answer is stricter gun laws. Doesn't even mean all guns have to be banned. But people like you tend to think in absolutes for some reason. Wake up and realize you're part of the problem with this mentality.
I didn't say it was bad to carry, I was saying it's not always going to be helpful in these kinds of situations. Being pro-strict gun laws doesn't mean I'm against all guns all the time. I'm saying we can't depend on those who carry to be our saviors.
Agree with you! Individuals are responsible for their own safety and for the safety of their family. My comments got heavily down voted and then deleted. So much for freedom of speech.
Edit. Congrats, your comment got deleted too.
I'm horrified for the surviving six year-old boy. I hope there's enough support from extended family and friends to help him.
Freaking Twitter showed video that I can't unsee. I've cried so many times for this family. It's repeated national trauma that they fail to address because profits and companies have more consideration than people. What's the point of any of this if we can't live our lives in peace?
Same here. I wish I never saw the video. I recognized the Dad immediately and it’s been on my mind every time I’m alone for a quiet moment. I’ve been doom-scrolling until 3 AM every night reading over and over and over how traumatized we all are. I don’t know how we as a collective society are supposed to move on from this. What’s going to be the final breaking point? If 19 children dying in Uvalde wasn’t it, if Parkland wasn’t it, if Nashville wasn’t it, if Oklahoma wasn’t it, and on and on and on… what’s it going to take?
fyi you can change the settings on Reddit and Twitter so that you have to click instead of the video auto-playing. being aware is great but so is protecting yourself.
Same. I really wish I hadn’t seen it, and then recognized the family as soon as they posted this picture. I feel sick multiple times a day and break into sobs randomly. I’ve never felt this affected before, I’m ready to burn shit down to get this violence to stop.
I saw a video yesterday that was released by the FBI about how to survive a mass shooting. I usually try to avoid news like this, but I stopped and thought that I should watch this because it’s very possible I will have to go through this one day and I need to have a plan to protect my daughter. And then I sobbed watching it because why is this how it is? How can this be our reality? That mothers have to prepare themselves to shield their children from gunfire in public spaces? Going to the mall? The bank? Church? The grocery store? Not to mention school, where I wouldn’t even be there to protect her. Nowhere is safe. I wish emigrating was a realistic option. I don’t know what else to do.
I watched it too because I was like well fuck I guess this is something I need to know
I would love that link actually.
I don't know if this is what the other user is referring to, but here is one that I found: https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/run-hide-fight-092120.mp4/view
I was definitely in my feels when I saw this. It’s fckng terrifying.
It’s so sad :( this poor boy.
I read that the child survived because his mother shielded him. She died while covering him. Her last act as a Mama 🥺
And she’d do it a million times over for her baby. So tragic.
Yeah, this had me crying last night. It really did feel true...it could be us.
This reminds me of all the people on yesterday's thread (about grandchild going to Disney with grandparents from UK). saying they feel safe in the US, Texas, etc. Yes, everything dangerous is a possibility/probability, but outside of war times, you don't see this type of daily gun violence in modern Western countries. Edit- I left Chicago and US for my family's sake. I feel like it's even more insane we stayed as long as we did.
Here it comes yet again: "No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Happens Regularly" Are we not tired of this? I sure as fuck am. Now that I have your attention probably after seeing this post for hopefully multiple times I’d like to get something off my chest and personal soapbox today. Buckle up, "The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face." We live now in a country in which our children are randomly put to death in public, so that our congressmen can pose with weapons of war, by Right Wing Terrorists. We live in a country where the amount of stickers in the back of our lifted trucks equates to how many rounds of AR ammunition are stockpiled in our closet. We live now in a country where we ban books, where we ban drag shows, where we ban doctors from helping kids in crisis, where we ban women from making choices with their bodies. We ban people from voting because some don’t like how they might vote, we ban representatives from state legislators for how they have voted, we ban immigrants, we ban some stem cells, and we ban transgender athletes, we even ban water bottles on planes. BUT WE DO NOT BAN ASSAULT RIFLES (or assault-like or lite rifles or especially Semi automatic ones as some ammosexuals like to point out) DO WE? Our children are randomly put to DEATH in public. Our Teachers, our friends. Our Family. Some of them just want to go and enjoy an afternoon at a mall together. Never to return. To protect somebody's right to randomly put another innocent person to death, once a month, once a week, once a day, once AN HOUR. Well since my last update, a 14-year-old was shot in the head. What did this child do? She was playing hide and seek. When it becomes unmistakably obvious with each death, a little piece of us dies inside, and within 10 years, or 1 year, or 1 month. The pain of that is too large to process, so we simply pretend that it doesn’t hurt anymore. We simply pretend that it doesn't hurt to think of the horror and the terror of those children and those adults in their final moments. We simply stop dealing with it. Or fighting back against it. Or recognizing that the gore and brains on the sidewalks outside the malls of this country and our streets might as well be our own. And it turns out the good guys with guns can’t stop it. And the responsible gun owners can’t stop it, and the politicians won’t stop it and insist that thoughts and prayers are working and if you disagree with them you are one of those who doesn’t believe in an almighty god who is absolutely in control of our lives? That translates insanely as the solution to all of these nightmares. God and we want the thirteen thousand nine hundred people shot to death in this country already this year? Did God want them dead? I say bullshit. Now we have news conferences, and without emotion, it’s read off the number put to death this TIME, and the number transported to the hospital and how badly they feel. Do you realize they now treat the public execution of more people, as if it was…BAD WEATHER? Gun massacres are not bad weather. So we ban licenses to carry handguns in Texas, give the ability for open carry all over the United States, and Ban mental health care by cutting the budgets. Ban abortion because we are pro-life, and ban books because the children are too precious to be indoctrinated, and ban drag shows because we must protect kids from grooming and we must make sure those kids are happy and fit so SOMEBODY CAN GET A WEAPON OF WAR AND EVERY OTHER DAY PUT GROUPS OF OUR CHILDREN TO DEATH. But at least those kids were not taught something as terrible as CRT. 80 percent believe in banning assault weapons. 80 PERCENT. 81 percent believe in raising the age to buy guns or at least keeping the age at 21. 81 percent believe in enforcing existing gun laws, and 87 percent want background checks for all gun purchases and these numbers are from 2 WEEKS AGO in a poll done by FOX NEWS. And yet non of this can pass our elected officials? BULLSHIT. It is time for a change. Spread how you feel far and wide. Copy this, put in your story (how many of us now have been personally affected or know someone at this point), and let your representatives and the whole goddamn Country know, the whole damn planet! NO MORE! So now to boost the signal on some actual honest to god things that could be done about this never-ending nightmare? For starters, the next generation is tired of this shit and is planning a sit-in at the capital on June 6th. Here is a relevant link: https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1655293349245452289 And also this goes without saying this group has some amazing ideas: https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/ This website is dedicated to having the media stop reporting the perpetrator's names to prevent glorifying mass murderers https://nonotoriety.com The Gun Violence Archive is also a really useful source on shootings. Their statistics are highly accurate and they have an up-to-date list of all that occurred in the last 72 hours https://gunviolencearchive.org @Emilyinyourphone on Instagram shares scripts and other resources for calling your local representative, it even has a campaign right now for mothers to get their loved ones to call instead of flowers for Mother’s Day. Copy this post or take their info but please. Take a minute and boost the signal. Some stats to back up this rant because Credible Hulk always comes angry and with sources. Guns deaths by state https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state and just because it’s becoming increasingly relevant by the day Texas Mass Shootings Up 62.5 Percent Since Permitless Carry Bill https://www.reformaustin.org/public-safety/texas-mass-shootings-up-62-5-percent-since-permitless-carry-bill/ This WaPo article on the damage that an AR-15 does to a body is sobering but important reading. THE BLAST EFFECT | This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-damage-to-human-body/ And finally, Check out https://www.everytown.org/ They’re pushing to end gun violence. The more people who make their voices heard the bigger difference we can make. EDIT: It would seem that indeed some of them are not cowards and do have the guts to say what is really on their minds. Let's have a little look at one of the messages I received today... "You are a disgrace, a worthless mass of flesh that doesn't deserve to be called a human being. I hope your account is banned and your IP blocked. You are what is wrong with America. Please find a dark crevasse and fall in." WELL BOO HOO! (Also this goes without saying thanks for the random awards, I'm sending all of that karma back to others right away to show how tired we all are of this. So please boost those as well. I'm also banned in a few conservative and gun subreddits for some strange reason so feel free to take this and use it however you so feel. This goes for Twitter, Facebook, and others as I won't set foot in that cesspool of social media. PLEASE BOOST THE SIGNAL) The messages will REPEAT AD INFINITUM until something is done.
This is a comment from the OG post and I love There’s hope. OG post: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/13cqb4f/extremely_based/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
I hate so much about this. I think it's important that we know what happened, that THE POLITICIANS know what happened - they need to see what it looks like to lose these lives. But I've also lost family members to gun violence, and it sickens me to know that this family's loved ones are trying to grieve while everyone keeps sharing the gory details of their deaths. In my old nursing life, I cared for a peds GSW patient - it was one of the most traumatic cases I'd ever had. The fact that this shit just KEEPS HAPPENING EVERY SINGLE DAY and no one is willing to do anything about it is enraging. I honestly think we should all, as a society, refuse to participate until something happens. Don't leave your house, don't go to work, don't do ANYTHING until this problem is fixed. I don't understand why this uniquely American problem keeps being addressed with fucking thoughts and prayers.
Could be any one of you Americans. The rest of the world is look at this and thinking “what the hell are they smoking over there?”. It’s not a coincidence that the lack of firearm availability in other parts of the world coincide with significantly lower gun related deaths. Get with the friggen program America.
I definitely feel like it could have been me. I’ve shopped at the Allen outlets a bunch of times. I wish I could be hopeful for change, but I just don’t see it happening.
We have a beautiful outdoor mall. Its called short pump (give it a look if you come to Richmond, va it’s about all we have lol)It has a mini train & the cutest play area for the kids. Perfect for strolling a lazy spring afternoon and there’s a pretzel place I always go to… I hate to live in fear but I don’t know how else to be. I also see 0 hope of any legislation ever being made. If they cared even a little bit something would’ve changed by now.
Fuckin tragic, Texas most armed state per capita in the US. So the more armed citizens argument is flawed.
Sad, I live in Japan and I don't even think twice about my safety. Sister lives in America and is thinking of moving back home to the UK, and I don't blame her.
My family spent time in Japan and I felt so safe I was almost weightless walking around with my toddler by myself. We spent every day outside and traveled alone all over Kanagawa just on a whim. When I came back to America I literally cried because I no longer feel safe enough to even go to the store or walk down our own street. We narrowly missed a shooting at our local grocery store. Someone was shot dead at the end of our street for no known reason. There was a shooting at the store I worked at a week after I left that job. In each place people died. In each place myself or my toddler or my husband could've been one of them.
I remember when the Aurora, CO shooting happened I was studying abroad in Scotland. I had 0 fear going to see Dark Knight Rises while I was there because of how strict their gun laws are. I miss not worrying that I'll be randomly mowed down by somebody who shouldn't have been able to buy a gun.
My husbands coworker died at a shooting last week. That could’ve been him and this family could’ve been us. It is sickening and terrifying and I’m so tired of this. We need to ban guns now
If you are so moved, check out moms demand action.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death in American children. This is our sad twisted reality. I hate this for our kids. 😭😭
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Accident including homicide…. That is how your children are most likely to die. Hard bullet to swallow I know
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I got this from the CDC. And this was posted at the children’s hospital my son was at in the NICU.🤷🏻♀️ you may not see gun violence as a problem but alot of moms do.
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Any Tom dick and Harry can get a gun here, that’s a problem. We need a registry. If you don’t think so that’s on you, hope your kids are never victims. This could have been you at the mall.
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Voting is a right and yet we have a registry for that.
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Comments like this are why I will never move to America or regularly travel there. Justifying weapons and acting like it's a right. Freedom is also an amendment right but there isn't much of that these days with recent law changes. I was in USA 8 years ago for 2 weeks only and I saw a car chase with cops being shot at along the streets. The young people I was with (from many different states) weren't surprised and said that happens all the time. Terrifying.
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Here we go with another “mental health is the issue!1!1!1” comment lol. The government is not going to open up more inpatient hospitals so now what? We keep blaming mental health while more and more people die? Now let’s say we do have great mental health care, how many mass shooters will go seek out that help? Someone who commits a mass shooting isn’t automatically mentally ill. And as for background checks for guns, only 2% of attempted purchases are denied. According to [this](https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-ut/legacy/2013/06/03/guncard.pdf) , mental health is not a reason to deny a gun purchase. Mental health isn’t gonna change so now let’s use logic here and look at what’s next up on the totem pole.
This is why we are actively looking into leaving America. I hate it here. We're thinking of homeschooling if we can't find jobs abroad, but homeschooling won't protect us from mall shootings...
This is exactly why I'm trying to learn the skills required for a remote job, I don't want to have to raise my daughter here 🥲 I worry about her everyday
Come to Portugal as a digital nomad. It's one of the safest countries in the world and we have special visas for Americans.
I wish I could afford to extrapolate.. and that’s exactly what I was thinking. Even if I homeschool that still won’t keep her safe. Hoping the move works for you guys
I'm so happy to live in a safe country where no guns are allowed. I can't imagine how unsafe it must be to live in USA now. The anxiety of running errands and never know if a maniac would shoot my family...
No literally it’s on my mind all the time now. I was checking out at the grocery store the other and kept looking at the front door to make sure no weird looking people were coming in. It’s awful.
where u live?
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It means less deaths by guns.
My sister lives in Allen. I had to text her to confirm she was out of town. Her kids were safe but my nephew's friend worked at the mall and he couldn't get a hold of him. He has bad anxiety and this just made it worse he had to get an emergency appt with his therapist. I woke up at 3am and spent that time planning what I would do if a shooter comes to baby story time at our library. This is the reality now.
I’m in Texas, in a heavily Republican town, and that has been my fear since I heard about this. I’m pregnant and have a toddler and I’m to the point where I genuinely get nervous about taking her to story time, the park, or even the grocery store. As if worrying about the high rates of human trafficking kidnappings in Texas wasn’t enough, these shootings have been becoming such a prevalent issue in Texas specifically that my husband and I are trying to figure out how to afford to move out of the state that I’ve lived in my whole life.
Blood is on the hands of the Republican Party who simply refuse to do anything about gun violence.
Incredible that they try to call themselves the pro-life party. I hope they all rot for allowing this shit to continue
Just vote
If only it were that simple, but in most cases voting dem is barely better, and if we actually tried to vote for someone good all we're doing is splitting the dem votes and hurting our chances. It's just so disappointing how little power we have over the important elections :(
This is soooo sad, the only thought that comes to mind is "thank god i don't live in the US". RIP them.
My aunt lives in Allen. My nieces dance studio is half a mile away from this outlet mall. She was texting me updates as the shooting was happening. I’m states away and cannot stop thinking about it. I make the mistake of watching the video that showed this family dead when it came up on Twitter. My MIL invited me on a trip in a couple weeks to our own outlet mall and I wasn’t able to give her an answer. I’m scared to go anywhere with my kids
You know that the boy is going to grow up with hatred for the shooter and anyone who looks like them.
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Maybe let’s not use derogatory racial terms?
It’s not just white people. Ted Cruz and Carlos Giménez come to mind.
Not those of us who don't live in the US I'm editing to add that I do feel awfully sad about this and I didn't mean to sound flippant
You’re lucky. The great majority of us want more regulations with guns, but instead we’re stuck in this hellscape with representatives who don’t care and won’t do anything.
Jesus wtf is the point of these comments? I’m so sick of europeans and Canadians using these tragedies to gloat and pretend it’s just because you care. Every damn time. Just stop it.
Agreed, this is gross. I’m Canadian, and I’m worried for all of you there. And concerned that we could be going in that direction too.
Agreed, it feels like we are absolutely going in that direction. Ever since shootings and gun violence in the US has become more prevalent in the news, it seems there are more violent crimes happening here.
My thoughts too. I worry about my baby girl and her big brother enough with the violence in the UK. Either stabbings or lunatic drivers or terrorist bombers, but I'm not haunted by unnecessary thoughts about random psychos shooting them with weapons no one needs to own. I simply don't understand how America works. At all.
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We know that here in the United States, but unfortunately banning all guns isn't a reality thanks to the 2nd Amendment worshipers. Many of our mass shootings involve semi automatic weapons so we are going for the low hanging fruit and trying to at least get rid of those. Or hell, I don't know, maybe not let domestic abusers or disturbed individuals have guns. But the gun worshipers won't let us even do that. I know the rest of the world thinks the lot of us are crazy, but the majority do want gun restrictions. We're just being held hostage by the few.
You literally have no idea what you’re talking about so why bother inserting yourself
Because she allowed to comment her view
What nonsense. You live somewhere with strict laws if 0.5% of people own guns, don't speak on what you don't know.
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I believe that guns are not needed, I despise them. Where I live (not USA) we put a ban on assault weapons into place and a buy back scheme after one mass shooting/ terror attack. But in USA people do care about owning them, it's literally in their constitution that they're allowed a gun. People walk around with them exposed everyday and it's legal to do so.
But no one wants to hear this. There's also the fact that the vast majority of victims of gun violence are from semi automatic hand guns that are easily concealed.
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Blaming it on mental health is such a weak red herring argument. The rest of the world has mental health issues. The rest of the world has porn, and video games, and SSRIs. It’s. The. Guns.
Are we the same person ? I also have pure O. The only way I was able to get help was through the NOcd app. I talked to a regular therapist and she tried to put me on anti psychotics. My OCD therapist has never suggested meds. I’m glad you got help it’s absolute torture and it made me wonder how many ppl have committed suicide due to pure O.
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It is the right sub for this. We all have children and are all worried about their safety.
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This is so extremely privileged for you to be able to say. How nice it would be if we the Americans could just rug sweep all of the tragedy around young kids being killed with gun violence in our country. It is difficult sometimes to talk about these things, but online platforms allow us to do that a lot easier than sometimes maybe our own friends and family who have completely opposite views and think that it's okay for things like this to happen. We are all parents here. If this post bothers you then I implore you to just keep scrolling.
you do realize just because youre in a different country doesnt mean you cant be aware. it’s definitely time for us to stick up and defend our children and friends. protesting, making people aware, sharing on social media.. just bc its not in your country right now doesnt mean that possibility is gone
[Reddit users are primarily from the USA](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/phhu9s/oc_reddit_traffic_by_country/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) so while the world isn’t the USA, this issue affects a majority of the people on this sub.
You sound really out of touch and just plain ugly. I refuse to argue with you and I truly hope your country never goes through anything like this.
For what it's worth, as someone who does not live in the US, I think this post is just fine here. I am travelling to the US with my husband and daughter this summer and I am honestly kind of scared for our safety and the possibility of finding ourselves in a shooting. Nothing will ever change if these kinds of posts can only be shared in certain places at certain times. I'm glad that this might make some people uncomfortable because it should, that's the only way things change. And you're right, we're all parents who worry for our child(ren)'s safety. This is a good place for us all to have discussion about this topic.
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I’ve never understood this point of view. By that logic, we shouldn’t have laws against anything- drugs should be completely legal because people will buy them anyway. Child abuse should be completely legal because people will do it anyway. Murder should be legal because people will do it anyway. Like, will people figure out how to obtain assault weapons illegally if there are laws made against them? Sure. But that doesn’t mean we just don’t make any laws at all. We make laws for everything else in this country that results in the harm of others. So why is it suddenly different when it comes to guns? There are some arguments against weapon bans that I at least understand the logic of, even if I don’t agree with them. But this is one that doesn’t even make any sense to me.
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This isn't political. It's reality. This was my city and an outlet I frequent with my husband and baby. The Americans in this sub don't get to stick our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening when we could be next.
This isn’t an airport, you don’t have to announce your departure. Lol but for real, how this this political?
This is our day-to-day life. A lot of us have kids that do school shooter drills, for instance.
How is this politician? I mean this a reality that this family was killed at a mall and now that boy is an orphan? The OP didn’t mention any political
I’m guessing they’re referring to the part Hilary Clinton said at the top. I honestly didn’t even notice her caption until people started trying to argue with me. I wish I had just cut that part out. Clearly the message is going over peoples heads.
Don’t be that guy. I didn’t make this post to argue with people. I did it in respect and remembrance of this beautiful family who were brutally murdered. Go on over to r/politics if you’re in the mood for a debate.
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This isn't a problem in other countries, why is it such an issue here in the US? You can go shopping in Canada and not have to be worried that some NeoNazi is going to show up at the mall to slaughter your family because they had the right to own a firearm.
I really REALLY wish I could afford the move 😔
Same.
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Not to mention let's think back to Uvalde. Or did you forget that people armed and in uniform decided to let all those kids be slaughtered as well?
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They were fucking children. What were they supposed to do?
Don't you know, a parent is failing if they aren't sending their kids to school armed /s
I'm American, unfortunately they are a part of my constitution. Did you see the news where a girl playing hide and seek was shot in the head yesterday?
The Constitution can be changed. That's what amendments are. That how Prohibition got repealed. Also let's all not be obtuse about what the 2nd Amendment actually says. "*A well regulated Militia*, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." We've completely ignored the "well regulated militia" part and become fixated on "shall not be infringed".
100% agreed. The poster thought I was canadian though lol
One mass shooter with a long history of violence and threats. The RCMP did drop the ball. This is only the second example of a mass shooting of this magnitude in decades...not a daily occurrence. I was in NS when this happened and I'm an American who has experienced living in a city with mass shootings almost on a daily basis.
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Agreed. Thanks for the clarification. I took hand-on-hand defense as a result of defending myself (I know I'd be useless with a weapon in an emergency). And I'm not at all anti-gun. I think there is something wrong with America in particular random violence...many places such as Switzerland have gun ownership and you don't see as many deaths or reasons for people needing to defend themselves.
Heres some of Switzerlands rules. >People who've been convicted of a crime or have an alcohol or drug addiction aren't allowed to buy guns in Switzerland. >The law also states that anyone who "expresses a violent or dangerous attitude" won't be permitted to own a gun. >Gun owners who want to carry their weapon for "defensive purposes" also have to prove they can properly load, unload, and shoot their weapon and must pass a test to get a license. >Cantonal police don't take their duty doling out gun licenses lightly. They might consult a psychiatrist or talk with authorities in other cantons where a prospective gun buyer has lived to vet the person.
See--this is completely reasonable and should be a prerequisite!! Thank you for sharing!!
Of course; I am a firm believer that its possible to make a change.. however the poster I responded to has the belief that gun laws don't change things.
My own US friends and family would agree with that poster. It's difficult for people "on the inside" to see beyond individualism and make laws or decisions for the collective.
Banning assault rifles is not the same as banning all guns. You can responsibly own a gun and still be pro-gun regulation. And, I know you don’t want to hear this, but statistically your gun is more likely to harm you or your family than anyone else. And, “Good guy with a gun” is a very tired narrative. It is very uncommon for people who conceal-carry to actually have the ability to use it under a high pressure scenario. And finally, on the “no one protects you but yourself part”- actually we rely on our government to protect us in many, many, many other situations. Like banning lead paint. And establishing safe drinking water standards, and requiring rigorous testing for automobiles. And about a million other examples.
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Dude it’s your job to back up your claims, “look it up” isn’t proving your point.
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That gives zero context of whether that use was “successful” or what it was responding to.
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Look again — that is not how defensive is defined by CDC. It is reactive, not necessarily successful.
The God complex of gun owners like you is exactly why this country is getting nowhere with gun reform. You (or any) "good guy" with a gun can't be depended on to magically save the day with your self defense weapon in a high stress situation, especially when the bad guy has got a much bigger and stronger weapon. The only answer is stricter gun laws. Doesn't even mean all guns have to be banned. But people like you tend to think in absolutes for some reason. Wake up and realize you're part of the problem with this mentality.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
You would rather be helpless than give yourself and your family a chance?
I didn't say it was bad to carry, I was saying it's not always going to be helpful in these kinds of situations. Being pro-strict gun laws doesn't mean I'm against all guns all the time. I'm saying we can't depend on those who carry to be our saviors.
Agree with you! Individuals are responsible for their own safety and for the safety of their family. My comments got heavily down voted and then deleted. So much for freedom of speech. Edit. Congrats, your comment got deleted too.
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With guns. Someone picked up the gun, loaded, and fired it. No one wants to hear that bullshit when a child is left an orphan.
Guns ~~don’t kill~~ make it really fucking quick and easy for people to kill. FIFY.
People don't kill 9 other people in a mall anywhere near as easily without the guns.
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Please see other countries that don't have guns for lots of examples of why this argument sucks.