Mary, you covered so many good angles on this horrific subject. When I was a teenager, my Dad taught me how to shoot a rifle that he kept tucked away in the back of our linen closet. No locked safe back then, just the rifle and a box of bullets sat behind the beach towels. I was terrified of holding and firing it and almost threw up from the anxiety that manifested in my brain and my body. I get that my Dad, an Army reservist in the 1950’s, meant well and wanted me to understand how to use it if I had to defend myself (but in Boca Raton, FL?). After the lesson, I decided that I hated guns and vowed never pick one up again. Simply holding it felt wrong on so many levels. This makes me wonder about the mindset of regular folks that carry guns to the coffee shop, to the grocery store or to the mall. They think guns are necessary for everyday life and might believe they could be the “good guy with the gun” someday, which is a myth and a farce. Nothing good happens in our civil society when we pollute it with more guns.
Great article Mary. You've managed to show all views and causes of the outrageous love affair with guns in our country. I find it insane. In my youth I too went and punched holes in paper targets with a rifle. As an adult I went to that same range and every spot was taken by people shooting AR-15 style rifles. It made it abundantly clear to me that we have WAY to many guns in this country.
So much truth here, I could spend all day on it... Lobbyists, it's the freakin money the GOP gets from the gun manufacturers! If those funds dried up, it would be a whoooole other story... And yes, that list of manufacturers, fabulous. We need to start a writing campaign, or something-- a calling campaign, telling them to stop this. Start with our legislators with a list of all of the manufacturers and have them get on it. Somebody talk me into drafting the letter... 😁
Mary, thank you for your continued sanity in the midst of all the craziness. I have been fighting against guns and for gun safety laws, etc, since the late-'60s and early-'70s when I would stand on street corners with petitions and leaflets spread out on an ironing board (used like a desktop) collecting signatures and trying to convince people to join 'the cause'. My son wasn't allowed to play with guns, have a GI Joe or similar toys (much to his dad's dismay and the dismay of some friends who were convince I was 'making him gay' by not allowing it). Unfortunately, he rebelled and is now a gun enthusiast. :( But I tried and will continue trying until I can no longer fight. Thank you again!
Part of the problem is the description of the AR 15 as a super powerful weapon of war, more powerful and lethal than any other weapon.
There are literally a dozen semiautomatic rifles on the shelf currently chambered for the same cartridge as the AR. The only difference is those have a traditional wooden sporting stock.
Those who need to feel big/manly/powerful/safe because of the gun they carry are attracted to the AR the way middle aged men are attracted to a red sports car.
The gun lobby is happy while we argue endlessly about this gun, or bullet count in a magazine and never solve the problem.
If we are going to spend our energy fighting endlessly for something make it something useful: repeal the second amendment.
The only issue I have is that the middle alternative should be "freeze/hide". Some people just freeze in place like rabbits or deer in the headlights of oncoming cars. They are too scared to move and become 'sitting ducks'. Those are the people who people criticize with the nasty comments of "why didn't you run", "why didn't you scream", "why didn't you fight back". You CANNOT.
Is there anyone in this wonderful group, maybe Mary herself, who can get their hands on the number of mass shooting deaths in the U.S., in the UK, in Canada, in Germany, in France, in the Scandinavian countries, Australia and any other modern country that comes to mind last year( 2022or 2021 if 2022 has not been compiled) ? It would be great if we could compare and share the differences on Facebook, and with our elected officials. Also it would be great to have the number for deaths of any type of gun in each of the above countries, whether it be by suicide, murder, accidental killing or mass shooting.
People need to see with their own eyes how very many more killings by gun violence that there are her in the U.S. than elsewhere.
I recently read that everyone in Sweden owns a gun. Zero shootings. Their secret? They keep their ammo separately. Cultural mores do not condone violence. In the US, we need bans, plus...
Sweden, Norway, and Finland all have armed citizens because they are trained as soldiers in case of invasion by Russia. What they do NOT have is handguns. As I understand it, they are all trained in winter warfare, primarily in a guerilla style since they would be outmanned. It's something that has deterred invasion for decades.
They ALSO have strong social safety nets, allowing even the "losers" in society to take "unskilled" low pay, part time jobs and still be afforded the basics of survival and human dignity... housing, utilities, food, transportation, and even a little bit left over for a coffee or a burger.
Meanwhile, we've created multiple generations of young people who have seen the American dream put out of their reach no matter how hard they work, and the ultra wealthy who robbed them of their legacy are all too happy to offer them scapegoats to direct their anger at. Deaths of despair and killing sprees of rage are the price we all pay so that billionaire faux libertarians and late stage capitalism can siphon the last few dollars out of the system before it implodes completely.
They feel safe behind their gated houses, with their private military security. Nothing will change until the anger is directed where it belongs, or we manage to make meaningful changes to our economic system that afford average Americans something to keep living for.
So true. If I could pick up and move, I would consider those countries. Their way of life is qualitatively BETTER than what we have. This garbage of "America is the best country in the world" is for the uneducated. It isn't.
I don't know for a fact, but it sounds like the killer's Army unit did act appropriately and take him to an inpatient mental health facility. He apparently stayed there for 2 weeks. However, there is no information on whether he took meds or participated in treatment or talked with anybody. There is no information as to whether Maine has any mental health rulings on inpatient involuntary med giving. And it may be true that he would have had to be let go at the end of 2 weeks. My point is that the republican talking point that there would be no problem if the killer had only gotten proper mental health care is bogus, since there are strict limitations everywhere on what can be done with a person like the killer.
A detail not included in this column is that four of the victims of the Maine atrocity were members of the deaf community. So now America is abetting the slaughter of the disabled, and that doesn’t even matter to right-wing lawmakers. One of them interpreted vax information for the deaf community during the pandemic and ran a camp and other services for deaf children, and had four kids. This is beyond insanity that we live like this. This country is a willfully broken promise. Apparently it was always a fraud.
The guns that we live with in this country (whether we have personally chosen to bring them into our homes or just have to live in a world generally teeming with them) are objects with a purpose. That purpose is killing. So, they're all around us just waiting to serve their purpose. WE NEED PLOUGHSHARES.
From Wikipedia, regarding Chekhov's gun:
"Ernest J. Simmons, (1903–1972) writes that Chekhov repeated the same point, which may account for there being several variations.
"One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." (Here the "gun" refers to a monologue that Chekhov deemed superfluous and unrelated to the rest of the play.)
"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first act that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third act it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." — Sergius Shchukin (1911) Memoirs.
"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."
Mary, you covered so many good angles on this horrific subject. When I was a teenager, my Dad taught me how to shoot a rifle that he kept tucked away in the back of our linen closet. No locked safe back then, just the rifle and a box of bullets sat behind the beach towels. I was terrified of holding and firing it and almost threw up from the anxiety that manifested in my brain and my body. I get that my Dad, an Army reservist in the 1950’s, meant well and wanted me to understand how to use it if I had to defend myself (but in Boca Raton, FL?). After the lesson, I decided that I hated guns and vowed never pick one up again. Simply holding it felt wrong on so many levels. This makes me wonder about the mindset of regular folks that carry guns to the coffee shop, to the grocery store or to the mall. They think guns are necessary for everyday life and might believe they could be the “good guy with the gun” someday, which is a myth and a farce. Nothing good happens in our civil society when we pollute it with more guns.
Want to stop the madness? Don’t vote Republican
Great article Mary. You've managed to show all views and causes of the outrageous love affair with guns in our country. I find it insane. In my youth I too went and punched holes in paper targets with a rifle. As an adult I went to that same range and every spot was taken by people shooting AR-15 style rifles. It made it abundantly clear to me that we have WAY to many guns in this country.
4. It looks cool...my male partner thinks we should pass a law that all guns must be pink. That way none of these men would want to sport one.
So much truth here, I could spend all day on it... Lobbyists, it's the freakin money the GOP gets from the gun manufacturers! If those funds dried up, it would be a whoooole other story... And yes, that list of manufacturers, fabulous. We need to start a writing campaign, or something-- a calling campaign, telling them to stop this. Start with our legislators with a list of all of the manufacturers and have them get on it. Somebody talk me into drafting the letter... 😁
Mary, thank you for your continued sanity in the midst of all the craziness. I have been fighting against guns and for gun safety laws, etc, since the late-'60s and early-'70s when I would stand on street corners with petitions and leaflets spread out on an ironing board (used like a desktop) collecting signatures and trying to convince people to join 'the cause'. My son wasn't allowed to play with guns, have a GI Joe or similar toys (much to his dad's dismay and the dismay of some friends who were convince I was 'making him gay' by not allowing it). Unfortunately, he rebelled and is now a gun enthusiast. :( But I tried and will continue trying until I can no longer fight. Thank you again!
Part of the problem is the description of the AR 15 as a super powerful weapon of war, more powerful and lethal than any other weapon.
There are literally a dozen semiautomatic rifles on the shelf currently chambered for the same cartridge as the AR. The only difference is those have a traditional wooden sporting stock.
Those who need to feel big/manly/powerful/safe because of the gun they carry are attracted to the AR the way middle aged men are attracted to a red sports car.
The gun lobby is happy while we argue endlessly about this gun, or bullet count in a magazine and never solve the problem.
If we are going to spend our energy fighting endlessly for something make it something useful: repeal the second amendment.
Oh Mary, how right you are
The only issue I have is that the middle alternative should be "freeze/hide". Some people just freeze in place like rabbits or deer in the headlights of oncoming cars. They are too scared to move and become 'sitting ducks'. Those are the people who people criticize with the nasty comments of "why didn't you run", "why didn't you scream", "why didn't you fight back". You CANNOT.
Is there anyone in this wonderful group, maybe Mary herself, who can get their hands on the number of mass shooting deaths in the U.S., in the UK, in Canada, in Germany, in France, in the Scandinavian countries, Australia and any other modern country that comes to mind last year( 2022or 2021 if 2022 has not been compiled) ? It would be great if we could compare and share the differences on Facebook, and with our elected officials. Also it would be great to have the number for deaths of any type of gun in each of the above countries, whether it be by suicide, murder, accidental killing or mass shooting.
People need to see with their own eyes how very many more killings by gun violence that there are her in the U.S. than elsewhere.
Check with Everytown or Brady. Either one is a good bet for the information. CDC is not.
Thank you, will do.
I recently read that everyone in Sweden owns a gun. Zero shootings. Their secret? They keep their ammo separately. Cultural mores do not condone violence. In the US, we need bans, plus...
Sweden, Norway, and Finland all have armed citizens because they are trained as soldiers in case of invasion by Russia. What they do NOT have is handguns. As I understand it, they are all trained in winter warfare, primarily in a guerilla style since they would be outmanned. It's something that has deterred invasion for decades.
They ALSO have strong social safety nets, allowing even the "losers" in society to take "unskilled" low pay, part time jobs and still be afforded the basics of survival and human dignity... housing, utilities, food, transportation, and even a little bit left over for a coffee or a burger.
Meanwhile, we've created multiple generations of young people who have seen the American dream put out of their reach no matter how hard they work, and the ultra wealthy who robbed them of their legacy are all too happy to offer them scapegoats to direct their anger at. Deaths of despair and killing sprees of rage are the price we all pay so that billionaire faux libertarians and late stage capitalism can siphon the last few dollars out of the system before it implodes completely.
They feel safe behind their gated houses, with their private military security. Nothing will change until the anger is directed where it belongs, or we manage to make meaningful changes to our economic system that afford average Americans something to keep living for.
So true. If I could pick up and move, I would consider those countries. Their way of life is qualitatively BETTER than what we have. This garbage of "America is the best country in the world" is for the uneducated. It isn't.
I don't know for a fact, but it sounds like the killer's Army unit did act appropriately and take him to an inpatient mental health facility. He apparently stayed there for 2 weeks. However, there is no information on whether he took meds or participated in treatment or talked with anybody. There is no information as to whether Maine has any mental health rulings on inpatient involuntary med giving. And it may be true that he would have had to be let go at the end of 2 weeks. My point is that the republican talking point that there would be no problem if the killer had only gotten proper mental health care is bogus, since there are strict limitations everywhere on what can be done with a person like the killer.
A detail not included in this column is that four of the victims of the Maine atrocity were members of the deaf community. So now America is abetting the slaughter of the disabled, and that doesn’t even matter to right-wing lawmakers. One of them interpreted vax information for the deaf community during the pandemic and ran a camp and other services for deaf children, and had four kids. This is beyond insanity that we live like this. This country is a willfully broken promise. Apparently it was always a fraud.
Thank you, John M Pillin Jr.
Susan Collins Rationalizing Yellow Flag Laws Was pathetic Maine Needs RED flag laws I shared 5x
The guns that we live with in this country (whether we have personally chosen to bring them into our homes or just have to live in a world generally teeming with them) are objects with a purpose. That purpose is killing. So, they're all around us just waiting to serve their purpose. WE NEED PLOUGHSHARES.
From Wikipedia, regarding Chekhov's gun:
"Ernest J. Simmons, (1903–1972) writes that Chekhov repeated the same point, which may account for there being several variations.
"One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." (Here the "gun" refers to a monologue that Chekhov deemed superfluous and unrelated to the rest of the play.)
"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first act that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third act it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." — Sergius Shchukin (1911) Memoirs.
"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."