Robb
Robb's JournalYes. GC&RKBA has become the last place on DU
...where a DUer can go and be a conservative, victim-blaming, progressive-hating "gun rights" asshole, and 9 times out of 10 not get called on it.
Yes, it's just astounding how the most-trashed group on DU doesn't have a lot of actual progressives posting within. The pride about it is the best part. 
There was something Bartcop used to say. I'm about to totally mangle it in misremembering, I expect.
The gist of it was, if a company makes a shit-ton of money because of doing something wrong, only an idiot would expect them to put any effort into fixing the "problem."
It struck me today, in the midst of everything else, gun maker Smith & Wesson reported Q4 revenues were up 38% over the same period last year -- basically how their sales were through the roof, like most gunmakers', because of the fear of gun enthusiasts that, after the Sandy Hook school shootings, there might be some legislation in the pike that would reduce their access to guns.
And I remembered, as it were, my Bartcop. He helped me find DU all those many moons ago. 
We've all been made aware the majority of the NRA's funding comes from the gun manufacturers. That only makes sense. They're out to make a buck.
But the real money isn't made just when the NRA boosters are doing their thing for them at trade shows and expos. The real money the gun manufacturers collect comes when the fear is high -- not the fear you might expect, of someone coming to take away their lives, or their jewelry -- but the fear someone's going to take their guns. When shootings make the news in big ways, it happens every time -- the gun folks run out and stock up in the aftermath.
Everyone knows this. But here's the part that makes it important.
Even the worst business forecaster in the world could recognize it is hardly in the gun manufacturers' interests to support laws that could actually reduce the occurrence of such events. To the contrary, it would make the most sense -- from the business perspective -- to do everything possible to ensure such horrific events become as regular as possible.
This is why, amusingly, we hear so much from gun folks about how Proposed Law X "won't prevent another Columbine." Because it probably won't; it's Unproposed Law Y, the one that will never see the light of day, the one that reduces the number of guns out there and cuts into the gunmakers' profits, that actually might prevent another Sandy Hook.
But that law, we will be told over and over, "will never happen in gun-lovin' America."
The argument is framed with two choices: the ineffective vs. the impossible. That is the work the NRA does on behalf of the gun manufacturers.
And that is the false choice we must address if we ever wish to move forward and actually stop the killing.
For the third time this year, a family in Tennessee has accidentally shot their own baby.
(snip)
Otherwise, it's your usual assortment of mishaps, stupidity, bad luck, poor judgment, lack of attention to safety rules, etc. It was a week of threes, though. Three fellow patriots exercised their right to override their neighbors' decisions about guns on their property, liberating them from the projectile-free lifestyle by sheer force of American exceptionalism. Three more patriots gave their cold, dead hands a rest, leaving their guns behind in areas where well-regulated militias were sure to put them to the most efficient use, specifically, underneath a hotel room mattress, and in the restrooms of a movie theater and a salad bar-less Applebees. Still three more of our friends shot themselves cleaning and/or fixing loaded weapons, while one more did so while examining a gun he was considering buying. No word on the "you break it, you bought it" policy there. Three law enforcement officers experienced GunFAILs this week, though only one officer actually shot herself. And we count three wounds resulting from target shooting accidents this week, as well.
Oh, yes. And this week also marks the third time this year that a family in Tennessee has accidentally shot their own baby.
In the category of singular events this week, just one identified killing of a family member mistaken for an intruder, and just one child shot in the neck by celebratory gunfire following the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
Now, without further ado, this week's compilation, below the fold....
Read More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/22/1216658/-GunFAIL-XXIII
Whoopsie.
Americans, lawmakers. Us.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-newtown-shooting-gun-control-20130328,0,463365.story
Three months. And yes, Congress should be ashamed.
But so should we. We're no different.
Nine weeks ago, I took on a simple project: the Sunday Shooting Review, which became the Sunday Child Shooting Review in an effort to clarify, or perhaps to shock. Just a round-up of the week's children who were victims of gun violence.
It garnered 100 recs, 100 replies. So I decided to do them every week, to remind us all that while we're all talking about possible solutions, kids who absolutely do not deserve it are getting shot.
The next week, the Review garnered half as many recs and replies. No fewer kids killed, mind you.
Soon it was 43.
Then 40.
Then 15.
This week, right now is my usual time to compile the list. But I looked at last week.
3 recs. And that many replies.
I am not, to be clear, bemoaning the state of DU. I am bemoaning the state of all of us. The NRA and others in the gun rights movement told us we'd forget and move on. And I don't blame anyone. You're probably all as tired of reading about it as I am of putting it together. It is so, so sad. The weight of a child's death is overwhelming; in numbers like these, it's in every sense unspeakable.
But 9 weeks. I can't believe it took just 9 weeks.
OK, hear me out.
So I understand, believe me, why Meta is no more. It was a grand experiment, and you're to be commended for trying it. But it was more heat than light, and it's gone. And we're all the better for it.
I propose, in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons (or perhaps more in the spirit of Germany burning sewage to generate electricity): let's bring it back from time to time for fundraisers, and make it pay-to-play.
Imagine... pick a charity, ask DUers who want to lay into one another (and you) to drop $5 for a 24-hour Meta slug-fest. The money rolls in, good is done -- think of it as a web-based dunking tank! Morally reprehensible under normal circumstances, but wholly appropriate when raising money for good causes.
I know, brilliant, right? No need to thank me.
Sunday Child Shooting Review
Here is just some of the gun violence involving children (16 and under) from only the past week (3/0--3/17) that you should be aware of, and which will hopefully motivate you to join the American Academy of Pediatrics and others who are advocating for ways to keep our kids safe.
Also, please visit the new Gun Control Reform Activism Group for more information about how DUers are working to stop gun violence.
• An 11 year-old girl was shot in front of a clothing store.
• A 10 month-old boy was shot by his father in a hotel.
• A 10 year-old boy was shot by his 13 year-old brother in the backyard.
• A 4 year-old boy was shot by his 3 year-old brother with an unattended handgun in a vehicle.
• A 6 month-old girl was shot in a vehicle while her father was changing her diaper.
• A 3 year-old boy shot himself with an unattended handgun.
• A 5 year-old boy was shot by a 4 year-old in a friend's home.
• An 11 year-old boy was shot playing with a gun with friends in an alley.
• A 13 year-old boy was shot while walking his dog.
• A 3 year-old boy shot himself with an unattended handgun.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot in a parking lot.
• A 16 year-old girl was shot in the street.
• A 16 year-old boy and a 15 year-old boy were shot in separate incidents.
• A 15 year-old boy was shot in the street.
• A 13 year-old boy was shot in the street.
• A 15 year-old boy was shot in an apartment.
• A 13 year-old boy was shot walking to school.
• A 13 year-old boy was shot at a party.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot in a botched burglary.
• Four teenagers were shot in a park.
This week's list would be almost precisely twice as long if I'd gone as high as 17 years old.
Here's to a better week.
Bang. One thousand one. Bang.
One thousand one. One thousand two.
One thousand three. One thousand four.
One thousand five.
One thousand six. One thousand seven. One thousand eight.
One thousand nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
Here's a link, all you need is your zip code: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Thank you.
Sunday Child Shooting Review
Here is just some of the gun violence involving children (16 and under) from only the past week (3/3--3/10) that you should be aware of, and which will hopefully motivate you to join the American Academy of Pediatrics and others who are advocating for ways to keep our kids safe:
• A 5 year-old boy was shot leaving daycare.
• A 16 year-old boy and a 14 year-old girl were shot while sitting in a car.
• A 12 year-old girl was shot by her father, who then turned the gun on himself.
• A 12 year-old girl was shot by her neighbor.
• A 16 year-old girl was shot at a dance club.
• A 14 year-old girl was shot at a party.
• A 14 year-old boy was accidentally shot in a parking lot.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot in the street.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot while playing with a gun.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot in the street.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot near a school.
• A 10 year-old boy was shot as he was dropped off at school.
• A 15 year-old boy was shot at bible study.
• A 16 year-old boy was shot playing Russian Roulette.
This week's list would be half again as long if I went to age 17.
Not a great week, but seemingly shorter than last.
Here's to better weeks.
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Member since: 2001Number of posts: 39,665
