Now is not the time to talk about gun control (2 Viewers)

[brandon]

T&P

10 killed in Boulder shooting: Victims identified, suspect charged

Police said 10 people were killed, including an officer, after a shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

www.google.com

 

[coldseat]

Coldseat, this is what I mean by being marginalized:

"I don’t go to clubs and bars anymore. But when I was younger, queer spaces were a lifeline. They weren’t just bars; they were shelters where I could escape all the judgment of the world. All the Christians who seemed to delight in telling me that I was hell-bound. All the pressure to be a “real man.” All the pretending to be someone I wasn’t, just to fit into a social order that I didn’t understand. They were, in short, places where I felt free."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/21/colorado-springs-club-q-lgbtq-homophobia-hate/

So the point is that's certainly not fair and it should be recognized. Anyone in this society should be able to be themselves anywhere at any time.

This is certainly true. Even for me, coming out as a 40 year old, gay bars and gatherings with my gay friends were the only places I felt I could truly be myself. That's still true 7 years later. There is so much social pressure (both external and internal) to be "less gay" everywhere else, even when everybody knows your gay. Or else your thought of as a flake, weak, emotional, unreliable, irresponsible, etc.

It truly sucks. Most of it comes naturally, due to conditioning over time, but you always feel like you have to hide a part of yourself, less you be judged. One thing that does help is age, just because you're less concerned with what people think of you or how they will judge you. But it doesn't mean you stop thinking about it because you know those judgements can hurt you depending on where they're coming from.

The irony is that before I came out, going to a gay bar as a closeted man (with straight friends) was always a terrifying feeling. Like "what if I'm found out, what if my friends see me looking and make a comment, how would I react if somebody hit on me, etc."

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

This is certainly true. Even for me, coming out as a 40 year old, gay bars and gatherings with my gay friends were the only places I felt I could truly be myself. That's still true 7 years later. There is so much social pressure (both external and internal) to be "less gay" everywhere else, even when everybody knows your gay. Or else your thought of as a flake, weak, emotional, unreliable, irresponsible, etc.

It truly sucks. Most of it comes naturally, due to conditioning over time, but you always feel like you have to hide a part of yourself, less you be judged. One thing that does help is age, just because you're less concerned with what people think of you or how they will judge you. But it doesn't mean you stop thinking about it because you know those judgements can hurt you depending on where they're coming from.

The irony is that before I came out, going to a gay bar as a closeted man (with straight friends) was always a terrifying feeling. Like "what if I'm found out, what if my friends see me looking and make a comment, how would I react if somebody hit on me, etc."

Yeah, geez.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s I felt marginalized as a Vietnam vet. I walk with a limp so people would ask me why I was limping. I'd explain that I got wounded. Then the BS would start: "Did you kill anyone?" "Why'd you go?" blah blah blah. You knew they looked at you differently.

 

[SystemShock]

Drag Queens are marginalized in the same ways that LGBTQ+ people in general are marginalized. However, because the stand out so much, they definitely receive more ire from the right wing. So in that sense they are more targeted for hatred, case in point.

I'm not really sure what the point of this argument really is. There isn't a marginalization metric and those of us that belong to groups that are generally considered as marginalized don't go around constantly proclaiming how marginalized we are.

So, doing a bit of self reflection, I guess any point I make (or try to) is now influenced to an extent by me being back in MX. In MX, marginalization has a very different face. When I read about a drag queen book reading hour at a school being protested is marginalization, then I look at situations like entire villages in Chiapas not getting power, potable water, or schools, it very much sounds like drag queen reading hour being protested is a 1st world problem.

A hate crime in a gay club that kills 5 is deplorable, but then I see the 1000 or so (and counting) pink crosses in Chimalhuacan.

And it's not like similar things don't happen in the U.S. to some extent, Flint, reservations, the various 'hoods around big cities, the ever covert institutional racism, and indeed, the ways that LGBTQ+ people in general are marginalized. But then, not being allowed to marry, or being denied a mortgage, or being denied employment, that's a lot more serious than being protested while reading books in drag to children.

​

 

[Nolaswede]

And so it continues. So incredibly sad!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/us/chesapeake-virginia-walmart-shooting/index.html

 

[Simeon]

Tap the sign

 

[coldseat]

So, doing a bit of self reflection, I guess any point I make (or try to) is now influenced to an extent by me being back in MX. In MX, marginalization has a very different face. When I read about a drag queen book reading hour at a school being protested is marginalization, then I look at situations like entire villages in Chiapas not getting power, potable water, or schools, it very much sounds like drag queen reading hour being protested is a 1st world problem.

That is fair and understandable. I think most issues we have here in the US are 1st world problems outside of global issues like climate change and the war in Ukraine, so I can understand how living outside the US would effect how you see certain issues. Those problems that you mentioned above are more serious than the marginalization the vast majority of LGBTQ+ people here in the US have to face, and they happen all over the world. As a gay person, I realize that things could be better here in the US, but they could also be much worse. There are places in the world I would never travel to (that FIFA seems to love) like Qatar or Russia, because of their beliefs and polices towards LGBTQ+ people. Still, that doesn't mean I stop caring what happens here at home just because it's not as bad somewhere else.

A hate crime in a gay club that kills 5 is deplorable, but then I see the 1000 or so (and counting) pink crosses in Chimalhuacan.

And it's not like similar things don't happen in the U.S. to some extent, Flint, reservations, the various 'hoods around big cities, the ever covert institutional racism, and indeed, the ways that LGBTQ+ people in general are marginalized. But then, not being allowed to marry, or being denied a mortgage, or being denied employment, that's a lot more serious than being protested while reading books in drag to children.

I don't think there's any arguing that those other problems are more serious than being protested while reading books in drag to children, but it's the same hate/fear that drives all of those other actions. It's better to fight the hate/fear where it's at than to let it spread and build to more serious problems down the road.

 

[MT15]

 

[FullMonte]

The crazy thing....with the way Republicans love to claim that dead people always vote democrat, you'd think they wanted to keep the number of dead people down.

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

You know, she's a stupid hypocrite then. The USMC would take the gun out of the hands of a Marine that exhibited any behavior that would trigger any Red Flag Law!

 

[Optimus Prime]

A 2019 bill that allows judges in Colorado to prevent people who pose a “significant risk” to themselves or others passed the state legislature without a single Republican vote in support.

The so-called “red flag” law was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis, marking one of the most significant gun reform measures passed by state lawmakers in the years after a 2012 mass shooting inside a Colorado movie theatre that killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

But the sheriff’s office in the county where a deadly shooting at an LGBT+ club this week left five people dead, officers have not used the law once…….

Sheriff’s office where LGBT+ shooting occurred never used Colorado’s ‘red flag’ law

The state allows petitioners, including law enforcement, to seek a judge’s order to prevent guns from getting into the hands of dangerous people. El Paso County officials pledged to ‘actively resist’ the law

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

In time for Thanksgiving, a bizarre video has resurfaced of Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted last year for fatally shooting two men at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, advertising a video game he helped create where players “shoot fake news turkeys.”

In the clip, which has gotten nearly 160,000 views on Twitter, the developer behind Kyle Rittenhouse’s TURKEY SHOOT says, “When I saw how these fake news turkeys operated, I had to start coding immediately.

“Gamers will get to play as Kyle Rittenhouse using a highly specialized laser gun to strike down any turkey that spreads lies, propaganda, or liberal bias,” they add……

Bizarre Kyle Rittenhouse video game lets players shoot ‘liberal’ turkeys

The game appears intended to help pay for legal fees

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

An estimated 6 million American adults carried a loaded handgun with them daily in 2019, double the number who said they carried a gun every day in 2015, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The new estimates highlight a decades-long shift in American gun ownership, with increasing percentages of gun owners saying they own firearms for self-defense, not hunting or recreation, and choosing to carry a gun with them when they go out in public, said Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington, and the study’s lead author.

A landmark supreme court case this summer overturned a New York law that placed strict limits on public gun-carrying, ruling, for the first time, that Americans have a constitutional right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home……

Six million Americans carried guns daily in 2019, twice as many as in 2015

The trend is expected to continue, after the supreme court ruling earlier this year overturning strict limits on public gun-carrying

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Interesting article
==============

(CNN) - American travelers -- at least those of the cautious variety -- might be familiar with the US State Department's travel advisories.

The agency monitors the world for potential trouble and issues warnings from "Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions" to "Level 4: Do Not Travel," alerting would-be visitors to terrorism threats, war, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, high crime rates and other personal security issues.

But have you ever wondered how other countries' governments caution their citizens about coming to the United States? What kind of reputation does America have?

After all, the rate of gun-related deaths is the United States is going up. And mass shootings in America -- 610 as of November 25, according to Gun Violence Archive -- have become commonplace and make headlines around the world.

CNN Travel checked out what the governments of the United States' neighbors and closest allies have to tell their citizens about coming here. It's not exactly a flattering picture.

Would-be visitors aren't being warned off entirely as if America is an active war zone. Each nation has its own approach, but a general theme boils down to this: The United States is more violent than what you're used to. Learn to take precautions there that you might not have to take at home.

The other takeaway: Violent crime rarely involves tourists.

Here's more on what nine countries -- which account for a good chunk of the US international tourism traffic -- have to say:…….

Travel warnings: What other nations say about US violence

From Australia to the United Kingdom, CNN Travel looks at what other governments tell their citizens about staying safe in a United States where mass shootings and gun violence have become commonplace.

www.cnn.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The mass shootings that plague this nation are a uniquely American jumble of contradictions. Each new one horrifies, and yet fits into a depressingly familiar pattern. Communities count the dead — nearly 50 so far in November — and tally the gruesome details. The country vows to honor the lives cut short.

And then it all fades from the headlines and people move on, leaving behind thoughts and prayers but no concrete policies to stop the next bloodbath.
The United States has averaged nearly two mass shootings a day this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks when four or more people are shot. To put that another way, it’s now unusual to have a day without a mass shooting.

“We aren’t numb — we’re traumatized,” tweeted Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which has been urging action to stop gun violence in America since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six staff a decade ago.


It can happen anywhere, to anyone. Fourteen Americans mowed down this month at the University of Virginia, Club Q in Colorado Springs and a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., were doing normal activities of daily life — going to school, enjoying a performance, working. They leave behind grieving loved ones, who ask: Why?

In each case, as usually happens, there were warning signs missed — or ignored. The chilling note the Walmart shooter left in his phone railing against his co-workers and claiming his phone was hacked suggests he was a deeply disturbed 31-year-old. And yet, he was able to buy a pistol just hours before he massacred six fellow employees in a break room.

In Colorado Springs, a 22-year-old suspect who had been arrested last year for an alleged bomb threat, but never prosecuted, was not prevented from obtaining an AR-15-style weapon and a handgun. It’s eerily similar in the University of Virginia shooting: The 22-year-old suspect had multiple prior run-ins with the law, including a 2021 conviction for possessing a concealed firearm without a license.

Too often these tragedies are written off to individual cases of mental illness. That does not explain why the United States has had more than 600 mass shootings every year since 2020 and why no other country has anything close to this level of gun violence. We must confront the truth about guns in America and why it is so easy for practically anyone to get them — including some that are weapons of war……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/colorado-springs-chesapeake-shootings-gun-laws/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Two injured in drive-by shooting at funeral for gun violence victim

‘These persons have no regard for human life at all’: Nashville police angered after suspects in Honda Civic spray mourners at Terriana Johnson’s funeral with gunfire

www.independent.co.uk

 

[coldseat]

This is an absolutely heart wrenching piece on the Post today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2022/america-homicide-victim-stories/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f002

The gun violence and indiscriminate murders in some of these communities is unbearable. There needs to be a sustained, long term (20 year) and community driven approach addressing the scourge of violence. We need to have interventions at every level, from early child hood all the way to adulthood. It needs to cover everything for mental and physical health, gun ownership and violence, educational investments and outcomes, community investment and opportunity, police involvement and accountability, environmental/racial justice, reclaiming neighborhoods and safe streets, prisoner rehabilitation and opportunity after release, etc.

There isn't one solution, it's going to take many. Some will fail along the way, but there needs to be a sustained approach to show these communities that WE care and hopelessness isn't the answer.

“This is not normal. This is not normal for a city and a country to have so many shootings every day,” Susannah Tetlow said. “This is a human. This is my child. And now she’s gone.”

 

[Optimus Prime]

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday.

The increase among women — most dramatically, in Black women — is playing a tragic and under-recognized role in a tally that skews overwhelmingly male, the researchers said.

“Women can get lost in the discussion because so many of the fatalities are men,” said one the authors, Dr. Eric Fleegler of Harvard Medical School.

Among Black women, the rate of firearm-related homicides more than tripled since 2010, and the rate of gun-related suicides more than doubled since 2015, Fleegler and his co-authors wrote in the paper published by JAMA Network Open.

The research is one of the most comprehensive analyses of U.S. gun deaths in years, said David Hemenway, director of the Harvard University’s Injury Control Research Center……….

Study: U.S. gun death rates hit highest levels in decades

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday.

apnews.com