Another mass shooting, apparently in TX.

[iris lilies]

And we had another police shooting of a black man yesterday, so on it goes. The victim was in a mall with a gun so who knows what he was planning to do, but likely he was just going about his business in the mall with a gun because that’s what he and his peer group do.

In the past two weeks St. Louis has had tons of children killed with random gunfire by the criminal element shooting up each other. The city attorney and mayor are begging for leads in these shootings but those communities are not talking. This prosecutor’s conviction rate is 20%. Her predecessor, in office for a long time and well respected, achieved an 80% prosecution rate.

[pinkytoe]

What a sad state of affairs our country has become...I DO think there is an epidemic of young males who have little impulse control and or healthy role models.

[Ultralight]

What a sad state of affairs our country has become...I DO think there is an epidemic of young males who have little impulse control and or healthy role models.

It seems like most of these shooters plan and plot out their attacks. They don't appear to be impulsive.

Like, I think two dip sh1ts at a hockey game arguing and one punches the other on impulse. That is a lack of impulse control.

If one of them plotted and planned to go to a game, find someone to argue with and subsequently punch you really wouldn't call that impulsive, would you?

As for healthy role models... I dunno. Is that a big deal?

[gimmethesimplelife]

My goal is to significantly reduce gun deaths in mass shootings. One first step is to do some impartial research on the issue. I know that is considered impossible but what the heck, just dreaming. Then we could renew the violence against women act and get a comprehensive system that works to keep legal guns out of the hands of people convicted of domestic violence (or when a protection order is served since that is the most dangerous time for women).

On another note, my daughter takes her personal time off every year on the anniversary of the shooting she survived. Her supervisors understand but they could easily turn her down. It has been 6 years. There are others with wounds that are costing them quality of life and money. Along with vets, because it is not either/or, I would like good medical care for the survivors. So awareness of the survivors and support.

That's right, ZG. I'd forgotten the shootings in Colorado and your up and close personal experience with the concept of a deranged individual just shooting out of nowhere.

I don't know the answers here. especially with the damnable 2nd Amendment so interwoven into US society and such a part of this nation's identity.

But those who have survived these situations......we need to.listen to THEM more. Their takes to me are the most valid. Rob

[bae]

But those who have survived these situations......we need to.listen to THEM more. Their takes to me are the most valid. Rob

I'm not sure that simply surviving an attack makes one an expert on public policy matters.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'm not sure that simply surviving an attack makes one an expert on public policy matters.

(Sort of) in the same vein with Holocaust Survivors - theirs are voices that need to be heard as they have been there, done that, and know from personal experience what they are talking about. Public policy experts they may not be but riddle me this? Why doesn't society elevate the importance of these survivors' voices, and does the lack of such elevation clearly state about the worth of human life in America? Rob

[iris lilies]

(Sort of)... Why doesn't society elevate the importance of these survivors' voices, and does the lack of such elevation clearly state about the worth of human life in America? Rob

uhhhhh, no.

Tangentially I would argue that Holocaust survivors don’t have exactly the same experience as survivors of random mass shootings. Certainly they share being in a horrific situation. But any more said goes into victim Olympics territory so I’ll stay away from that. It doesn’t really matter, being a victim of a mass shooting is just awful.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I just wish we'd try to figure out why everyone seems to be going nuts; why is modern life so stressful and destructive? Why is everyone so jittery and angry that they escalate to shooting each other.

My quick answer.....which does not cover all reasons by any means.....no real road map to navigate society, no sense of hope for a future, and no sense of belonging for many. Rob

[Ultralight]

I'm not sure that simply surviving an attack makes one an expert on public policy matters.

Could not agree more!

[Ultralight]

(Sort of) in the same vein with Holocaust Survivors - theirs are voices that need to be heard as they have been there, done that, and know from personal experience what they are talking about. Public policy experts they may not be but riddle me this? Why doesn't society elevate the importance of these survivors' voices, and does the lack of such elevation clearly state about the worth of human life in America? Rob

Sorry, Rob. That is not how expertise works.