It was usually stated as "guns don't kill people. People kill people."
The only problem is that it is guns which uniquely kill people. Cars kill people, too- but unlike guns, are not manufactured for the purpose of killing anyone, and get most people to and from work, which is a useful function. Moreover, cars in every state must be registered, whereas there is no firearm registration requirement in 42 states.
According to Wikipedia, there are at least six definitions of the term "mass shooting" and by a very expansive definition, 272 individuals were killed in such incidents from 1/1/5 through the end of July. By contrast, the number of persons killed in mass stabbings in the same period was zero, zilch, none. The latest incident of a mass stabbing occurred on July 26 in America's heartland:
A 42-year-old man is facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after 11 shoppers were stabbed at a Walmart supermarket in the US state of Michigan.
An assailant used a folding knife to stab five men and six women, including a Walmart employee, on Saturday afternoon in Traverse City.
The victims, ranging in age from 21 to 84, are all expected to survive.
Notice something different about this, Jennings? Eleven strangers brutally attacked by a man wielding a knife with "all expected to survive." (They all had been released from the hospital as of eleven days later.) If eleven people were shot in one incident, would we expect all to survive- and how often is it that eleven individuals are even wounded by a man with a knife?
People with guns kill people. Arguably, guns themselves don't kill people. But bullets from those firearms surely do.
condemned the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling
on all Americans to denounce such "sick" violence.
The US president was quick to call for unity in the hours
after a gunman shot Trump in the ear, killed one member of the crowd and
injured two others at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman was shot dead
by Secret Service agents.
In a statement issued within an hour of the attack, Mr Biden
said there was "no place in America for this. We must unite as one nation
to condemn it. It's sick, it's sick"...
He said he was "grateful to hear that he's safe and
doing well. I'm praying for him and his family and for all those at the rally.
Jill [Biden] and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to
safety."
The White House later said Mr Biden spoke to his Republican
election rival by telephone after he had left hospital, while Biden campaign
managers said they were pulling television adverts as quickly as possible in
the wake of the attempt on Trump's life.
Nor did other prominent Democrats leave the condemnation of their political rival as Vice President and likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala
Harris said in a statement that she was
"relieved" Trump was not seriously injured in what she described as a
"senseless shooting".
"Violence such as this has no place in our
nation," she added. "We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do
our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence."
Ms Pelosi, the former House Speaker who helped impeach Trump
twice, said she was praying for him.
"As one whose family has been the victim of political
violence, I know first-hand that political violence of any kind has no place in
our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe," Ms Pelosi
wrote on X/Twitter.
Ms Pelosi's husband suffered a fractured skull and other
injuries after a man broke into her California home with a hammer trying to
find her.
Both Mr Clinton and Mr Obama echoed the comments, saying
violence had no place in politics and wishing Trump their prayers.
Days after a Minnesota state lawmaker was killed and another
injured in a "politically motivated assassination," President Donald
Trump said on Tuesday that he would not call the state's governor, eschewing a
traditional presidential response to tragedies.
"Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how
you doing?’ The guy doesn’t have a clue," Trump said, referring to Gov.
Tim Walz, D-Minn., who was the vice presidential contender facing off against
Trump's ticket in 2024. "He’s a mess. So I could be nice and call, but why
waste time?"
Presidents have historically called state and local
politicians on both sides of the aisle to lend their support in the aftermath
of violent tragedies like natural disasters or high-profile shootings.
Trump is asked if he’s called @GovTimWalz: “I’m not calling him … he’s a mess so you know, I could be nice and call him but why waste time?”
In a now-deleted post, Utah Republican senator Mile Lee had tweeted
“this is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way.” In
another, he posted a photo of the suspect in the case and captioned it,
"Nightmare on Waltz Street," an apparent reference to the state's
Democratic governor, Tim Walz.
Senatee Minority Leader (God help us!) Chuck Schumer and Minnesota senators Amy Klobuchar:and Tina Smith each appeared to have asked Senator Lee to take the post down. The Utahn did so, though removing a scurrilous post after right-wingers have digested and applauded it does not make the situation any better. Its message already has been received by supporters and its impact made. There has been no apology or concession of error and if deletion makes them feel better, there are many qualified therapists in the Washington, D.C. area.
But leave it to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin to take it one step further (backward). On the Senate floor, he declared (at 2:09 of the video below) in decrying Lee's action
Another one of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle tweeted around the shooting "the degree to which the extreme left has become radical, violent, and intolerant is stunning and terrifying." To attempt to politicize this tragedy is absolutely unsettling. This rhetoric from elected officials is beyond dangerous and incites even more violence. It is reprehensible and must be called out on both sides of the aisle- both sides of the aisle.
Say it, Durbin. Say it: Republicans. Democrats call political violence out consistently and make no attempt to defend it. Yet while a few Republicans have criticized the crime "others have used it as an opportunity to poke fun at their Democratic opponents, or suggest that they somehow instigated the violence.": Critically
on X, prominent rightwing figures were quick to promote
conspiracy theories about what happened. Elon Musk, the erstwhile Trump
sidekick who runs Tesla, shared a tweet from a pro-Trump account that read, in
part: “The left has become a full blown domestic terrorist organization.”
“The far left is murderously violent” Musk wrote in his
reply, which Lee shared, adding: “Fact check: TRUE”.
Laura Loomer, the rightwing extremist who is said to have
played a role in encouraging Trump to fire national security officials, alleged
the suspect had ties to the “No Kings” protests that took place nationwide on
Saturday, and that Walz knew him.
They do it because it works. Literally in the case of the pro-forced birth Trumpist in Minnesota and Kyle Rittenhouse (also in Minnesota), the far right brings the guns. The more responsible and respectable Republicans in public life take their cue from them, and especially from Donald Trump, fomenting a civil war. . Democrats are bringing a knife to a gunfight.
The likes of Durbin, Schumer, Klobuchar, and Smith don't understand that virtually every Republican is not their friend. These individuals- Stepfords, mostly- are more than "the other side of the aisle." They don't feel the shame you want them to, and will continue to support the fascistic authoritarian in the White House. It's not "both sides." It's yours, and Donald Trump.
In a bold, brazen, and belligerent (alliteration day!) news conference on January 7, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump boasts
We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. It covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America- what abeautiful name. And it's apppropriate. It's appropriate. And Mexico has to stop millions of people from pouring into our country. They could stop them.
Trump: We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America pic.twitter.com/s22IgcHCW8
Mexico, Panama, Canada, Denmark- there may be a nearly endless supply of countries Donald Trump would consider invading in order to satisfy President Musk's insatiable desire for world domination. By contrast, stopping "millions of people from pouring into our country" is a worthy goal. And as luck would have it, we have an opportunity to curtail illegal immigration because we have a reasonably good idea who is enhancing the power of the cartels extensively involved in the business.
human smuggling business that has exploded in recent
years, enabling a record number of migrants to reach the U.S. southern border.
At least 80 percent of unlawful border-crossers hire smugglers, according to a
2023 report by the Department of Homeland Security. Even as Donald Trump and
Kamala Harris spar over migration, each presidential candidate pledging tougher
controls on the border, smugglers are creating an ever-more-efficient pipeline
to get people there.
They guide people through treacherous jungles on the trek
from Colombia to Panama. They whisk migrants over remote Guatemalan border
crossings and up traffic-clogged Mexican highways. With revenue estimated at $4
billion to $12 billion per year, the smuggling of migrants has joined drugs and
extortion as a top income stream for groups like Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco
cartels, increasing their economic clout throughout the hemisphere.
Cartels are nothing without their guns and, fortunately, the United States knows where so many of them are coming from.CBS Newsreported in December
During one of the deadliest chapters in its history,
Mexico's government devised a new strategy to curb gun violence; it filed two
lawsuits .The first, in 2021, included U.S. gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson
and one of their wholesalers. The second, filed a year later, against five U.S.
gun stores, claimed they engaged in "reckless and unlawful business
practices" that supply dangerous criminals.
An estimated 200,000 to half million U.S. firearms are
smuggled into Mexico every year. Mexico asked American attorney Jonathan Lowy
to help cut off the gun pipeline, known as the "iron river."
"If you think fentanyl overdoses are a problem, if you
think migration across the border is a problem, if you think the spread of
organized crime is a problem in the United States, then you should care about
stopping the crime gun pipeline to Mexico," Lowy said. "And you need
to stop it at its source. Because all those problems are driven by the supply
of U.S. guns to the cartels."
Perhaps cartels could be acquiring firearms from the USA as easily- except they cannot, because
Like the U.S., Mexico's constitution grants its citizens the
right to bear arms. But unlike the U.S., that right comes with a long list of
restrictions.
There's also a big difference in the number of gun dealers.
In the U.S., there are more than 75,000 active gun dealers, twice as many as
U.S. post offices. While in Mexico, there's just one gun store. It's located in
the middle of a heavily guarded military base in Mexico City.
Before customers can even enter, they must show proof
they've passed psychological tests, drug screens and extensive background
checks. The store sells about 1,000 guns a month, mostly shotguns, small
caliber rifles and handguns.
Second Amendment fitishists may argue that gun laws cannot stop these gun sales. However, we find that, yes, the law is an ass because
It's difficult to know which gun dealers could be these
so-called "bad actors" because U.S. law prohibits the ATF from
publicly releasing specific gun trace information. But 60 Minutes reviewed
internal ATF and Mexican law enforcement documents. According to those
documents, 566 guns recovered in Mexico over a four-and-a-half-year period were
traced back to the Arizona dealers named in Mexico's lawsuit. Nearly 200 of the
guns came from one dealer: Ammo AZ, located near Phoenix and owned by Veerachart
"Danger" Murphy.
Murphy declined to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, but after
Ammo AZ was named in Mexico's suit, he posted a response online.
"If we were actually doing something illegal, ATF, FBI
would have already shut us down. And I would be in jail," he said in his
online post.
So aside from requiring Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to release specific gun trace information, legislation could correct the situation in which
Under U.S. law, gunmakers have typically been shielded from
liability when one of their guns is used during a crime. But Mexico is arguing
the manufacturer is "aiding and abetting" gun trafficking to the
cartels. Smith & Wesson called that allegation "not true." Smith
& Wesson did not respond to a request for comment from 60 Minutes.
It won't be done, of course. It didn't happen when Democrats, most of whom generally support gun safety legislation, controlled the presidency and one or both houses of Contress. And it's even more of a pipe dream that Republicans would move to restrict the supply of firearms to the menally unstable, drug addicts, criminals, or cartels. Nonetheless, it would be encouraging if Democrats were to blunt the big GOP advantage on the immigration issue by pointing out that Republicans are encouraging the very illegal immigration they seem so exorcised by.
We "could stop millions of people from pouring into our country," says the President-elect. In twelve or so days, it will be time for the Democratic Party to redefine the issue and challenge the Republican Congress and President to do something about it.
Devout Orthodox Jew (but I repeat myself) and married, conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro used the Washington Post's article "What We Know About the Wisconsin School Shooter, Natalie Rupnow"as a launching pad to promote his view of marriage and family.
New information on the 15-year-old female Wisconsin school shooter suggests her parents repeatedly divorced and remarried. Family turmoil is one of the leading causes of societal dysfunction. We need to return to the fundamentals: family and marriage come first, and they’re not… pic.twitter.com/9RoGU6IPHA
Nonetheless, Shapiro's comments emphasized his conviction that "family is first" and that the most important function of marriage is to raise children. He comments (at 2:35 of the video)
Marriage should be the predicate to sleeping together and having children. I know these are old-fashioned ideas but they existed for a reason. And I think that what we are now experiencing in the West is a new understanding that maybe the old, those things we didn't understand so we just uprooted them, many of those things wer there for a reason. Many of those social institutions existed the way they did for a reason. Maybe, for exampe, the focus on not sleeping together until you were married , that focus- which was a focus for all of the West and indeed most of civilization for all of human history- maybe that was a smart idea because it channeled sexual passion into family building.
Shapiro is entitled to disapprove of pre-marital sex, but there is little support on the left, the right, or the center for the notion, nor should there be. Further, the historical reasons people favored marriage include the lowly social status of women, the economic benefit of two people sharing incomes, and (ironically, given Shapiro's anti-intercourse argument), the ready availability of sex. Fortunately, women are now permitted to have (sometimes lucrative) careers, and social media has become a convenient vehicle for the platonic and the not-so-platonic to hook-up.
Ironically, Shapiro's values were echoed by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy in his majority opinion in Hodges v. Obergefell. Striking down state prohibitions on same-sex marriage, Kennedy claimed in part that "the right marry is fundamental because it supports a two-person union unlike any other in its importance to the committed individuals;" marriage "safeguards children and families and thus draws meaning from related rights of childrearing, procreation, and education;" and marriage is "a keystone of the Nation's social order."
Whatever its constitutional clarity (weak), the premise that individuals cannnot thrive without being married is clear. (The four liberal Justices could be muttering under their breath "he's an indiot but we'll take it.")
Nonetheless, the very unacceptability of Shapiro's outlook within the broader American public renders it less dangerous than his opening remark. Noting that Rupnow's father was active on Facebook, Shapiro stated (at 1:15)
But there is one post from August that has attracted more scrutiny than others in that a photo which appears to show the suspect wielding a gun and taking aim at a firing range. So obviously, this means that the left is going to focus in on gun control as the chief issue here.
His first clue that it should be might have been the photo of a nine-year old girl firing a pistol on a firing range. The second clue could have been that (aside from the perpetrator herself, who committed suicide), the eight individuals who were killed or wounded, generally a nifty trick in the absence of a firearm. The third is a reality of which Shapiro already must have been aware. While the USA "ranks at the 93rd percentile for overall firearm mortality," the rate of death by firearm is closer to countries experiencing "active conflict" than it is to the rate in nations not so plagued.
One in five (21%) say they have personally been threatened
with a gun, a similar share (19%) say a family member was killed by a gun
(including death by suicide), and nearly as many (17%) have personally
witnessed someone being shot. Smaller shares have personally shot a gun in
self-defense (4%) or been injured in a shooting (4%). In total, about half
(54%) of all U.S. adults say they or a family member have ever had one of these
experiences.
Predictably, Ben Shapiro's concern would "focus in on gun control as the chief issue here" is not aging well. The left continues to be fairly unconcerned with gun safety. Legislation would not disproportionately assist the LGBTQIA+ community, and though the generational African-American community is disproportionately harmed by gun violence, a large amount of it is perpetrated by individuals therein because of the debilitating impact of distressed neighborhoods. It thus may be, unfortunately, perceived as a double-edged sword. And the right's love affair with the proliferation of firearms is unabated.
On Tuesday, Charlie Pierce wrote "Saturday was the 12th anniversary of the unfortunate exercise of Second Amendment freedoms at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which was going to be enough for the country to do something serious about its insance attraction to its firearms." In 359 days, it will be 359th anniversary of the exercise of Second Amendment freedoms, which still will not be enough for the country to do something serious about its noxious attraction to its firearms.
Back in the old days, when Kamala Harris was a U.S. Senator, having been promoted from Attorney General of the State of California, she supported not only an assault weapons ban but a mandatory buyback of the weapon. She explicitly stated her support for procuring such weapons from owners if an assault weapons ban were re-enacted. Senator Harris was running for the Democratic nomination for President on each of those occasions: 9/16/19, on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon; 10/2/19, at an MSNBC gun safety forum; and on 10/31/19 at a public television forum in Ankeny, Iowa.
.
One can only hope that the Senator expressed those views not because she was competing for the support of Democratic primary voters but because of her experience as a district attorney in the city of San Francisco and an attorney general in the state of California.
Harris has not now renounced her prior position. When she was asked during her debate with Donald Trump about her shifting positions on issues such as prior support for "mandatory government buyback programs for assault weapons," Harris niftily avoided the question. Nonetheless, she is now singing a different tune.
During a live-streamed rally hosted by Oprah Winfrey on
Thursday, Harris mentioned being a gun owner and said, “If somebody breaks into
my house, they’re getting shot.”
She then laughed and acknowledged she probably “should not”
have said that, but said her staff could “deal with that later.”
She then laughed and acknowledged she probably “should not”
have said that, but said her staff could “deal with that later.”
Gun violence is now a laughing matter. Not being psychic, the presidential nominee could not have known this would happen:
But these things do happen and, arguably, with increasing frequency. And this, from the very political campaign Ms. Harris is engaged in:
The NR continues
“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking
about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice
president respects the right to bear arms, that she supports the Second
Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our
communities to be safe,” (Harris strategist Keisha Lance) Bottoms said.
The former Atlanta mayor claimed Harris’s comment
“humanizes” her.
Disturbingly, it probably does. On Real Time with Bill Maher Friday evening, the host, who is skeptical of Harris but will vote for her, offered his support for Harris' comment. Democrats will not question their candidate; Republicans will not criticize someone who wields a firearm, unless it's in a Black Lives Matter or pro-Palestinian protest.
As Vice President and now as a presidential candidate, Harris enjoys Secret Service protection. Thus, there is no reason that she currently owns a weapon. However, as National Review notes, Senator Harris previously explained that she possesses a gun "for personal safety," because she had been a "career prosecutor" in San Francisco.
Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Harris' spokesperson dodged a question about when Harris acquired the firearm. Nonetheless, Harris' one-time claim that she owns a weapon because of safety concerns as a prosecutor is plausible.
However, that's not good enough, and not only because we don't have confirmation that the Vice President owns a gun to blow away an intruder, as she boasts she would do. California law on retaliating against intruders is governed by the Castle Doctrine, which gives a homeowner or tenant more latitude than is given in many states, but less than is allowed under "stand your ground" rules prevalent in some states. Whether a resident would be prosecuted for responding as Harris promises would depend upon various factors.
Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, as she reminded us during her debate with Trump, as she has on other occasions. Yet, she didn't offer any caveats in her remark to Winfrey, no recommendation that individuals understand the law in their particular state about gun use and- less surprisingly- no condemnation of burglary or other street crime. I
It's easy to understand why Ms. Harris was an irresponsible Attorney General. As a comedian, she's even worse.
Repeating his contention that Mrs. Clinton wanted to abolish
the right to bear arms, Mr. Trump warned at a rally here that it would be “a
horrible day” if Mrs. Clinton were elected and got to appoint a tiebreaking
Supreme Court justice.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,”
Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the
Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
Last September the former President was peeved that Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley had taken a call from Mainland China and assured that nation that it was in danger of imminent attack. he He characterized Milley's behavior as "an act so egregious that in times gone by, the punishment would be death!" However, Trump usually does not recommend assassination, although
CREW analyzed over 13,000 of Trump’s Truth Social posts from
January 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024, and found that while Trump has recently
backed off some of his more violent rhetoric, threatening political opponents
has been a consistent fixation for Trump. Since the start of last year, Trump
has issued direct or implied threats on Truth Social to use the powers of the
federal government to target Joe Biden during a second Trump administration 25
times. Specifically, Trump has threatened him with FBI raids, investigations,
indictments and even jail time.
But Biden is not Trump’s only target. He’s also threatened
or suggested that the FBI and the Department of Justice should take action
against senators, judges, members of Biden’s family and even non-governmental
organizations.
This doesn't faze Piers Morgan, though he himself isn't "guilty" of much of anything. However, Cenk Uygur, while blowing his top, nevertheless raised a forgotten point. He stated "I'm asking you a question. Do you not consider for a moment that within forty-eight hours you're still saying 'monster, dictator, blah, blah, blah?'" A moment later, he referred to the "shooter at the golf course, specifically in his social media post, parroting Kamala Harris saying essentially that he was an existential threat to demoracy in America. You're doing the same . Does nothing make you pause?
Notwithstanding blowing his top, Cenk rationally explained
Trump does it two thousand times worse... Your great idea is Democrats shouldn't campaign against Donald Trump because some moron, mentally unstable guy, took a shot at him- one or two them did. You know what? I can protect Donald Trump- ban assault weapons. That'll protect Donald Trump wa more than any of, oh, say nice nice things about him now that some lunatic took some shots at him.
Here, let me be super clear: if you're on the left- I know the right-wingers love their guns, Second Amendment remedy, it's what they've been riled up to do, violence nonstop. But if you're on the left and you do any violence, you're not one of us. You're a stupid person who does nothing but make a worthy cause look immoral with your insanity.
Twice someone tries to kill their hero and conservatives still won't acknowledge the need for gun safety, let alone gun safety legislation.
It seems it's not only conservatives, though.During the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Kamala Harris was asked about her support for "a government-run health care system" in 2017 and two years proposal in 2018 for a plan including a private insurance option." Before pivoting to the Affordable Care Act she considers a panacea, she slammed "this business about taking everyone's guns away. Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away."
Reversing her position in favor of a mandatory assault weapon buyback program is sensible and believable. But, oh please:
In the span of 4 years, Kamala has gone from campaigning on gun confiscation to telling Oprah “if someone breaks into my house, they gettin’ SHOT”
This just shows how strongly the American people reject Kamala’s radicalism
Five years ago, as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Harris favored mandatory assault weapons buyback, tantamount to confiscation.
Today, the presidential nominee is promoting herself for the Charles Bronson role if there is any remake ofDeath Wish. Fortunately, she probably still supports some form of gun safety legislation. Unfortunately, it's likely that it's nothing to which she is committed, especially compared to Cenk Uygur. However, her electoral opponent is Donald Trump who, even after two attempts on his life, is still firmly in support of guns in the hands of dangerous individuals. As on other things, it's a very bad choice but still an easy one.
Andy Reid was once a bad football coach. Then he lucked into
his Kansas City Chiefs drafting the greatest quarterback God ever created and
the rest, as the cliche goes, is history. At the team's last Super Bowl parade
on Valentine's Day, bystander Lisa Lopez Galvan was murdered and 22 other
individuals wounded. Offering his condolences at the NFL combine on February
27, Mr. Reid missed the boat when
In his first press conference since the tragic shooting on
Feb. 14, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett
Veach offered their condolences to the families affected.
I want to share my condolences for the Galvan and Lopez
family for their loss of Lisa, and for the people of Kansas City. She was a
personality there, and a very good human being, first of all. We’ll all miss
her, as I know her family will....
Stop, Andy, stop- oh, no:
Just a positive word on Kansas City: That’s not what Kansas
City is all about,. And for our youth of America, that we gather together and
make this great, you’re our future and as great as we can make this place, we
want to do that. So we can turn this, which was a negative, into a real
positive. With just a little togetherness and love we can fix a lot of
problems.
If Reid had simply offered condolence, his would have been
an appropriate remark. But he didn't leave it at that, adding "that's not
what Kansas City is all about."
Yes, it is what Kansas City is about, though not by
choice. The pro-gun safety Everytown has
found that the State of Missouri has only the ninth strongest set of gun laws
in the country and 244 gun deaths per 100,000 residents in a nation of 144 gun
deaths out of 100,000 residents.
The alleged Super Bowl assailant, 23-year-old Lyndell Mays
was wounded in the
shooting but was released and booked into the Jackson County Detention Center.
However on Thursday morning, he did not show for a bond review hearing because
he had been taken back to the hospital.
The murder suspect still has no legal representation for his
case. His hearing has been continued for March 4.
Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker stated that an argument took
place at the Chiefs rally, and Mays was the first person to pull out a gun. The
prosecutor stated that multiple others pulled out firearms, including Dominic
Miller.
Peters-Baker stated that it was Miller’s gun that fired the
bullet that struck and killed Lopez-Galvan.
Two teens face gun-related charges as well as resisting
arrest in the shooting. Another person was charged with unlawful possession of
a firearm but was said to not be involved in the shooting.
Kansas City police chief Stacey Graves said the shooting
appeared to be the result of an argument between two groups of people.
Detectives stated that Mays was involved in some kind of
argument and pulled out a firearm, later determined to be stolen. Mays then
proceeded to chase one of the people in the group while pointing his gun at the
person. At that point, others also drew out their guns and pointed them at
Mays, according to the document.
Mays then was seen in surveillance video chasing an unarmed
person and firing his weapon. He was then struck by gunfire and fell to the
ground.
Mays admitted to law enforcement at the hospital that he
pulled his gun out first and fired.
“When asked why Lyndell Mays advanced on them to begin with,
he replied, “Stupid, man. Just pulled a gun out and started shooting. I
shouldn’t have done that. Just being stupid,” the court document stated.
(Mays and another man have been charged.)
Mays now has been charged with Felony Murder, Unlawful Use
of Weapon, and two counts of Armed Criminal Action. He has not been charged
with illegal possession of a weapon or with bearing a concealed weapon. because he appears to have legally possessed the weapon and concealed carry is
permissible in Missouri. Lovely.
If Reid wanted to be constructive, he need not have been
overtly political by calling for stronger gun laws. Very much respected and popular in
much of Missouri, he asserted the need "to fix a lot of problems" and
whatever that means, it is not apolitical. Reid could have been overtly political- not partisan- and called for gun safety.
That could have been accomplished without calling for gun legislation by simply decrying the proliferation of weaponry on the streets of Kansas City or of Missouri or of the nation (his choice). Failing to do that, and going beyond merely expressing appropriate sympathy for the victim's family and other loved ones, he remarked "with
just a little togetherness and love we can fix a lot of problems."
Kumbaya, my Lord. "A little togetherness and love"
will "fix a lot of problems" made no sense when John Lennon wrote
"All You Need is Love," utopian nonsense which became "an anthem
for the counterculture's embrace of flower power philosophy."
That was in
1967, before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy;
the Vietnam War; the Iran hostage crisis and the rise of terrorism; the
Reagan-led evisceration of government as a force for good; the hard drug
culture and the concurrent explosion in violent crime of the '80s and '90s; the
counter-productive wars in Iran and Afghanistan; the election to the presidency of a proud
practitioner of sexual assault. And Andy Reid calls for "a little
togetherness and love." It was pie-in-the-sky then, less realistic now, and encourages us to wish our problems away.
Kansas City itself, except for the individuals involved in
this incident, is not responsible for the crime(s) committed at the tail end of
the parade. Nonetheless, contrary to the statement of the grossly overrated
Kansas City head football coach, this is what Kansas City is about. It's what
Kansas City is about because it is what Missouri is about.
It's tempting to say this is what America is all about. Yet
that would be approximating the Andy Reid perspective in which we won't call out
evil, merely say that "we can fix a lot of problems" wherever they are, as if all are equally dire and we all bear equal responsibility.
Any professional athlete and coach can comment on current events if he or she wishes.
But anyone choosing to do so should seek solutions, not feign concern with
empty platitudes.
It is not "incredibly racist," except in the literal, unintended sense. It is not credibly racist because it is not racist. Minnesota State Senator Ron Lutz did not imply the innate inferiority of any race and did not even characterize individuals as a race, but as inhabitants of Palestine.
It is not why six-year-old children are killed. Israel cares little about what one state senator says. The Israeli counterattack against Hamas/Gaza was a response to a brutal and sadistic attack upon its innocent civilians.
It is not "why college kids are shot." The assailant who shot Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Hisham Awartani probably did so because, wearing kaffiyehs and reported speaking "a combination of Arabic and English," they did appear to be Arabs.
However, that has not yet been confirmed- and the crime was committed on November 25, several days before the state senator spoke. If old enough, you remember a time that voices on the left were concerned about firearms being in the hands of individuals who should not possess them. However, that was before, or in the absence of, the left's obsession with race reared its ugly head. This may have been a hate crime, in contrast,, I suppose, to becoming victims of gun violence in a "love crime."
Yet, it is not clear "Palestinian youth (typically) dream of the opportunity to achieve glory and martyrdom by killing as many Jews as possible." Last December, in the midst of violence between Israeli soldiers and Arab/Muslim residents of the West Bank resulting from terrorist attacks by "Palestinian assailants"
The high Palestinian death toll has cast a fresh light on
the practice of armed and political Palestinian groups claiming as members or
publicly honoring all those killed by Israel, one that blurs the distinction
between civilians and armed fighters. It is a tradition that some families
object to, saying they don’t want loved ones used for political purposes.
Mr. Abu Naise said he raised his two sons to stay away from
the armed Palestinian resistance groups fighting against Israeli occupation.
His eldest, Muhammad, spent his days working as a civil servant in city
government and nights as a barista, to support his wife and two young children.
Now he was dead, killed on the street by Israeli troops
conducting a raid in Jenin, according to the Palestinian authorities.
“The Israeli army doesn’t distinguish between civilian or
fighter. This year we’re all at risk of a bullet striking us,” Mr. Abu Naise
said.
Every Palestinian killed by Israel is considered a martyr by
the community, reflecting a widespread view that each Palestinian is part of a
resistance to decades of occupation by Israel. But the rush by armed groups to
claim those killed as martyrs worries some Palestinians, who feel it is being
used by Israel to justify raids even when civilians are the victims.
It seems to be a mixed bag. At least as of late last year, some Arabs of the occupied territories did view dead terrorists as martyrs; others didn't, or at least believed they should not be publicly proclaimed as martyrs. The Times did not explore whether youth were being educated to accept the "widespread view," preferring its readers to assume that it is due to "a resistance to decades of occupation by Israel."
More significantly, no mention was made of "Islam" or "Muslim" or even "religion," as if martyrdom were common in bloody confrontations throughout the world. The media clearly is unwilling even to consider the possibility that the religious faith, properly interpreted or instead wildly distorted, by Muslims, may play a role. Besides obscuring a possible contributing factor to the ongoing conflict, it robs the public of the opportunity to assess the impact of legitimate religious belief versus religious extremism.
Ironically, this unwillingness by reporters sympathetic to terrorists (as responding to ongoing occupation) bears a resemblance to the broad stroke cast by the Minnesota state senator in arguing "Palestinian youth dream of the opportunity to achieve glory and martyrdom by killing as many Jews as possible." We don't know whether Palestinian youth are taught that and if so, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or elsewhere. Nor do we know the extent to which religious fanaticism contributes to the murderous intent.
Instead, we are left with a Midwestern politician implying that all Palestinian youth are the same, while much of the left believes any suggestion of any blame toward Palestinians is inherently racist. It's a sad state of affairs. However, unlike some of his critics, at least Ron Lutz believes that, if true, children being taught to hate Jews and to kill them is an actual bad thing..
The (allegedly) tough-on-crime Republicans have left the
building now that
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared gun
violence and drug abuse a public health emergency after a string of recent
deadly shootings, some involving children.
The emergency order
includes the suspension of open and concealed carry laws in Albuquerque and
Bernalillo County, temporarily banning the carrying of guns on public property
with certain exceptions, according to a statement from Lujan Grisham on Friday.
Lujan Grisham cited the shooting deaths of three children
from July through September, as well as a pair of mass shootings in the state.
“The time for standard measures has passed,” said Lujan
Grisham, a Democrat. “And when New Mexicans are afraid to be in crowds, to take
their kids to school, to leave a baseball game – when their very right to exist
is threatened by the prospect of violence at every turn – something is very
wrong.”
Under the plan,
citizens with carry permits will still be allowed to possess their weapons on
private property such as gun ranges and gun stores if the firearm is
transported in a locked box or a trigger lock or other mechanism is used to
render the gun incapable of being fired, according to the statement.
The order was issued
after consultation with public safety officials, including Bernalillo District
Attorney Sam Bregman, Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen, Albuquerque Police
Chief Harold Medina, and former State Police Chief Pete Kassetas.
The order also prohibits firearms on state property,
including state buildings and schools, as well as parks and other places where
children gather.
Under the order, licensed firearm dealers will be inspected
monthly by New Mexico’s Regulation and Licensing Division to ensure compliance
with sales and storage laws. Additionally, state health and environmental
officials will begin wastewater testing for illegal substances such as fentanyl
at schools.
The order is immediately effective, according to the
statement.
In May, two mass shootings in New Mexico six people dead and
11 wounded. The state has one of the highest rates of gun violence and suicide
in the nation.
Response from the right was so fierce you'd think that Governor Grisham had neglected to salute
the Emperor Donald Trump. A sampling:
Tim Pool, right-wing Twitter enthusiast: "Police should arrest her immediately.
No, that's not how these things work. Immediately before her remarks captured on the Twitter video, the Governor stated that she expects a legal challenge, and almost welcomed it. This is not a violation of a state criminal statute or a local ordinance. It is not in the jurisdiction of the police.
Dan Bongino: "You have a duty to ignore this tyranny.
She should be immediately impeached and investigated."You have a duty to
ignore this tyranny. She should be immediately impeached and investigated.
We'll impeach and thereafter investigate- to stop
tyranny.... perfectly good sense.
Tim Pool, right-wing Twitter enthusiast: "Police should
arrest her immediately."
No, that's not how these things work. Immediately
before her remarks captured on the Twitter video, the Governor stated that she
expects a legal challenge, and almost welcomed it. This is not a violation of a
state criminal statute or a local ordinance. It is not in the jurisdiction of
the police.
Phil Holloway, Town Hall columnist: "NM governor
suspends open and concealed carry. Michelle Grisham is a tyrant.... The Covid
'emergency was the opening act."
Well over one million American lives have been taken in the
"opening act" of Covid-19. It was not a hoax. It is not a hoax.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, governor of Arkansas: "Our
Constitution doesn’t say 'the privilege to keep and bear arms'” it says 'the
right.' If the government can take away one of your most basic rights, it can
take away any of them. As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas will not tread on the
Second Amendment - or any other."
Neither has Grisham. The alleged constitutional right cited by Sanders
is "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 no longer have a well-regulated militia. The closest we
have to a militia is the National Guard, which is not necessary to the security
of a free state. And Governor Grisham's order does not infringe on the right to
possess or own a firearm, but only to carry it in public. And the Founders were
referring to muskets. Aside from that, Governor Sanders has it right.
Joe Scarborough and many others have told us the Republican
Party traditionally supported balanced budgets and limited government but now
does not. Those were mostly fiction, a matter more of rhetoric than of actual
philosophy. Add to those the GOP outrage over urban crime. We now have a Democratic governor who,
enraged about street crime in her state's largest city, has taken decisive and
constitutional action, prompting conservative hand wringing. If only there were video of young black men rioting in Albuquerque, perhaps Republicans would do
the right thing and support gun safety and crime prevention.
I was not even a teenager when the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed in September of 1963, although I do know that the thoughts and prayers of fellow congregants did not stop a crime which killed four young girls.
The thoughts and prayers of fellow Christian congregants did not stop a crime which killed four young girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in September of 1963. I was not even a teenager at the time and do not recall what the public sentiment was in response but, whatever it was, Sherilynn Ifill has a valid point:
We are reaching an inflection point, which is when they try to wave you away from the fight. She sounds like the white ppl who said stop marching after the Birmingham Church bombing that killed the 4 girls. “It’s not working.”Trying to make us responsible for their intransigence. https://t.co/HA9SH8dM3H
Megyn Kelly does not question the wisdom of gun safety legislation, instead throwing up her arms and effectively arguing that opponents of murder throw up their arms in futility. Following last month's school shooting in Nashville, Kelly pulled out the "mental health" diversion. She remarked
There's something wrong with our society and I for one (apparent profanity deleted) am sick of the knee jerk "it's the guns, it's the guns." We have 330 million guns, maybe over 400 million by some accounts, in America. They're not going away. We could do an assault weapons ban tomorrow. They're not going away, alright?
We have to take a serious, honest look at what's wrong with us. And I for one think we need to take a really hard look at, yes, mental illness here and also institutionalization. Institutionalization. We need to make it easier to civilly commit people who are showing signs- red flags- that they may be the next school shooter.
It's not only school shooting and Kelly's comments on Sunday came in wake of the murder of eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas. School shooting incidents shock the conscience more than any other but a massacre may be coming to a mall, church, at a place of employment, or anywhere. Anywhere.
There are severe constitutional and budgetary reasons why the institutionalization advocated by Kelly will not take place and is even less likely than modest, incremental gun safety measures. Once upon a time, at tremendous financial cost, common cruelty, and disappointing results, individuals deemed to be mentally ill were institutionalized. After two Supreme Court decisions, in 1975 and 1999, severe restrictions were placed upon placement of individuals into in-patient mental health facilities. Decarceration, or what is commonly referred to as deinstitutionalization, resulted.
Without going as far as Kelly, Texas governor Greg Abbott has emphasized the alleged role of mental illness in mass shootings. After the massacre in Allen, he stated "People want a quick solution. The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue."
After the mass shooting at Robb elementary School in Uvalde, Texas a year ago, he had argued "We as a state, we as a society need to do a better job with mental health. Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and to do something about it."
Abbott recently had cut mental health funding in Texas, which already was ranked last in the nation in support of mental health services. Which is to say: the mental health excuse is just that.
Other countries have mentally ill people. None but the USA has more firearms in private hands than there are residents of the country. Megyn Kelly wants us to "take a serious look at us." Most of us have, and realize what is wrong with us is Kelly, Abbott, and the others who are fine with the slaying of men, women, and children.
Not a President Biden fan but even less a Donald Trump fan, Arnold Schwarzenegger told CNN's Dana Bash on Wednesday
Being a frontrunner of one party and letting them dig this hold deeper and deeper is going to make it easy for the Democrats in the end to win. It's sad to see that they couldn't come up with a new talent with a new face that is a, a reasonable, smart, intelligent person that can lead this country in a Republican way.
"Smart and intelligent," sure. However, one doesn't have to pay attention to the battle between the governor of Florida and Disney to recognize that the leading alternative to Donald Trump, whom Schwarzenegger is convinced would surely lose, is not reasonable. DeSantis is a fanatic in the Trump mold.
Then there is former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who compared to DeSantis, Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and fellow South Carolinian Tim Scott (expected to join the race), is a moderate. No, really, compared to them, Haley is a veritable RINO. But of course:
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, presidential candidate and former Governor of South Carolina,... shows her support for unbridled gun violence,...by posing with a great big honkin' assault rifle.
There must be something about Christmas that draws out the
Republican, the true Christmas spirit, in Republicans. A year later, Marjorie Taylor Greene, now the de facto Assistant Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, would tell (deriding the idea that she was involved in the insurrection) a GOP gathering
Then Jan. 6 happens and next thing you know, I organized the
whole thing along with Steve Bannon here. And I will tell you something: If
Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it
would’ve been armed.
So Arnold Schwarzenegger pines for a "reasonable, smart, intelligent" Republican to challenge Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. The message to the former California governor should be: "When you find that reasonable Republican who wants to run- or even not to run- for President, let us know. Take all the time you want."
