Yet Another Mass Casualty Shooting

[Carolyn Marie]

This time in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. Two innocent citizens dead, at least one critical. Others hurt.

Terrorism, copycat, insanity, random fate? Who knows. Who cares? Just another day in America, folks.

Some of these happen in red states with permissive carry laws. What do the gun advocates say? "Let everyone carry, then we can defend ourselves." Yeah, right. This country is messed up. Something is terribly wrong with us. But we're better than everyone else, right? Best damned country in the world. Maybe. Tonight, not so much.

Wait for the pundits tomorrow. Wait for the politicos, the "experts" to weigh in, tell us the answers, find excuses for doing nothing. Maybe The Donald will offer to buy our way out of this craziness.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just sad and angry. Bottom line; nothing will be done. Nada. Zilch. This is the Future, and it sucks.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Sarah Faith]

I understand the emotions.. But even with this I still support the right to carry a firearm, why? Because while we here in america have gun buy backs.. Over across the bond, they recently had Knife buy backs.. You tighten the controls on guns, but it wont stop a determined individual from killing other people. Just a year or two ago over in China they had a mass knifing where 3 dudes with knives went into a train station and killed 35 people and injured over 130 people. The desire to control guns comes from the innate need that people feel to do something about the violence, all it would do though is make us feel better until the next horrible thing. I am saying this as someone who lost a family member when I was very young to gun violence.

[Guest]

Tragic very much yes. I am pro firearms. Phoenix nightly news is a shooting gallery. I am pro firearms. No snark. Carl T Rowen firearms for me not you, has never worked and never will. I never want to shoot or be shot. Let the bad guys wonder who's packing. I am pro firearms.

[MaryEllen]

Yes, it is tragic. Is there anyway to stop this gun violence? No. You can slow it down but you can never stop it. As long as there is a firearm in this world, there will be gun violence. Will passing more anti-gun laws provide the answer? Again, the answer is no. There are thousands of gun laws in the books already. When I say thousands, yes, there are literally thousands. I have a copy of the BATFE gun law manual (book) to prove it. Convicted felons and mentally incompetents are already prohibited from owning a firearm. Does that stop them from getting one? Again no.

You hear a lot about the illegal drug trade. There is also a flourishing illegal gun trade. Some of it is being done by our own government. http://www.latimes.com/nation/atf-fast-furious-sg-storygallery.html So what's the answer? As things stand right, there is none. Gun free zones are a joke. All they accomplish is to provide a killing zone for the crazies.

The best you can do is be acutely aware of your surroundings at all times and have your own means of protection with you. Personally, I stay away from large gatherings. Especially those in gun free zones. IF someone takes a shot at me, they better make it a good one because if they don't, I'll be shooting back. I will not willingly be a victim.

[Guest Raya]

Carolyn, I am sorry that you were feeling so sad and angry, I can empathize.

Big hugs for you.

I don't have an answer for the violence, but I am hopeful that over time we can make things better, and grow into a healthier nation. That insanity that would lead to the senseless killing, is why we must...fix society.

Violent people will find a way to hurt others regardless of weapon availability, it is the mindset that must change.

[Charlize]

I agree with Carolyn Marie. If i was queen of the forest the only firearms that existed would be in the hands of "a well regulated militia". Certainly knives, bows and arrows, even pillows can kill but we don't go to war with those weapons. True that there are already so many firearms around in this country and so many support gun "rights" but if i were the queen i'd give everybody, who wants a gun, a uniform to wear as they drill in the town square. If they don't want to be "regulated" their guns would make good plowshares. Keep on dreaming.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Guest AllisonRae]

This is a society issue and a sad statement about our society as a whole. We live in a society that glorifies violence and death. It is so wrong. I grew up in a country family. My fathers people for lack of better reference are hillbillies. I was raised around firearms and taught early on to respect them and understand the responsibility that goes along with owning them. I was also taught to value life as a whole and protect those that I love. So yes I am very pro gun and pro second amendment. We need to go back to educating our children about the responsibility of firearms and quit endorsing the pop cultures fasination with violence, whether it be is video games movies television or whatever. Life needs to be respected again in our country. Will this ever stop mass violence, no. But it may dissuade it and slow it down. Folks in our community are especially aware of the value of life. That's why incidents like this upset up so much.

Hugs

Allison

[Charlize]

I forgot to add one thing about the "well regulated militia" called for in the first amendment that i would finally institute as queen. It would be open to all genders and sexual orientations and that includes trans* folks. I might even make them all officers.

Something should be done. The fantasy that we can protect ourselves by arming everybody is clearly just that. Other nations who control firearms have fewer murders even if knives and pillows are deadly enough.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Carolyn Marie]

Ah, then the answer is, there is no answer. Do absolutely nothing. That will make us safer. "Get used to it." No, I won't get used to it. I can't accept that we have to be this way.

Stay away from crowds? I can do that. I can watch movies at home. i can shop from home. I can download books and music. What should I watch? How about "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," or "Nightcrawler?" There you go.

I'll be quiet now. Thanks for your thoughts.

Carolyn Marie

[Sally]

There is actually no way to prevent people from killing each other - it is so inherent in human nature that virtually every religion has laws against it (sometimes only against killing others in your own religion) early in their traditions. Every government passes laws against killing but it still continues.

You can not regulate away man's baser instincts, you can educate and try to lower the frustration levels of the many but that would came as a sacrifice to the privileged few, so that can't happen - they control the law makers.

Sadly our society is approaching the tipping point - we have seen so many and yet we never acknowledge the signs, we point them out after the fact.

We have such an amazing level of gun violence on the streets in New Orleans that it is staggering but how many of those weapons were obtained legally and wielded by a licensed owner?

Laws have no meaning, even when enforced if the populace does not believe in their value - Killing anyone is illegal everywhere you travel but it happens, how? We have a law against that.

Violence will continue until the vast majority of the people decide that there is a better way to obtain your goals - Gandhi managed to do it in India but his model of passive resistance has long been abandoned for the confrontational approach that just happens to promote violence even when that was not the intention.

Do I have an answer - no, only more questions - how did we sink so low before anyone noticed it and tried to reverse the process?

Love is the only answer - the true religion and the guiding light, it's opposite is not hate, it is indifference and so many people remain indifferent to the violence that it is allowed to spread unchecked.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest]

Thank you Charlize and Sally for saying things that make sense to me.

It just seems obvious that humans are not civilized enough to possess things as dangerous as guns. When I can't buy a pain pill because I might hurt myself with it, it seems rather ludicrous to be able to have a gun that can hurt many people. The gun rights lobby, which, btw, is funded by the gun industry. is just as dangerous as was the tobacco lobby some years ago. At some point, there do have to be sensible laws to protect innocent lives from dangerous weapons.

It seems that the world is careening to war, and there will be weapons aplenty, the one with the biggest gun will inherit what is left of the earth. Not what I would choose to see at all.

Love, Megan

[Guest]

Carolyn, I did not intend to participate in a group slap down of you so please don't feel like you need to just be quiet.

I am a hard sell for gun control, that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to listen to good ideas. Olive branch? Hug. JodyAnn

[Carolyn Marie]

Carolyn, I did not intend to participate in a group slap down of you so please don't feel like you need to just be quiet.

I am a hard sell for gun control, that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to listen to good ideas. Olive branch? Hug. JodyAnn

No need, but thanks, JA. I was in a urine poor mood. I'm back to normal, whatever that is.

HUGS

Carolyn Marie