Vagina Monster
Robert ReichMass shootings in the US:
2014: 273
2015: 336
2016: 383
2017: 348
2018: 336
2019: 417
2020: 610
2021: 690
2022: 647
In the first seven weeks of 2023: 67
We do not have to live like this. No other country on the planet does.
Michel Lind 
@rbreich no country that is not a failed state anyway
PatWith respect, actually no.No other country even in war zones and anarchy has the history of mass murdering their own children as the US does.
Jamie@michel_slm @rbreich US definitely is a failed state, and we do have a hyper capitalist atmosphere quite unlike anything else in most developed nations.
Violence has social causes.
ex or current IDF unwelcome@rbreich family planning US style
No wonder Republicans want to ban abortions and contraceptives.NRA told them they need targets
No wonder Republicans want to ban abortions and contraceptives.NRA told them they need targets
airportline@rbreich 🇺🇸 AMERICA 🇺🇸 NUMBER 🇺🇸 ONE 🇺🇸
gavinisdie 
Bruce Johnson ✅@rbreich To be fair, no other country on the planet faces the challenges to NOT live like this that the US does. Most countries don't have reverence for weaponry enshrined in their constitution. And, for good or bad, that limits the options that the US has to address mass shootings. I'm not convinced there's a reasonable suggestion for improvement that doesn't immediately run afoul of 2A, before even considering whether there would be sufficient political will to implement.
Eaton@LACanuck @rbreich Given the makeup of the court, don't you think it's strange to categorize them as separate from the 'right wing?' The SCOTUS majority's acceptance of that maximalist 2A position (while also simultaneously subjecting many other constitutional rights to skeptical scrutiny) isn't inherent to the institution.
Martin Vermeer (not Jesus)
Hudson@martinvermeer @eaton @LACanuck @rbreich “America will not be whole until the amendment is gone.” Exactly. And until the guns are gone and there are penalties for having them.
CaptainSmartass
Stefan@IngenieurStefan @eaton @LACanuck @rbreich explain to the class, in simple terms, why you think Australia was able to pass a constitutional amendment to outlaw guns while the US has not been. What's different between those countries' legal systems?
@captainsmartass @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich please read the above comments; the current regime of gun maximalism is not inherent in the constitution or the second amendment, and its purported unassailability is a historically novel imposition by the right wing. This is a simple fact.
The events you describe (court challenges, etc) are not imagined, but the idea that they are inherent to our system of government — as opposed to our current cultural consensus — is.
@eaton @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich it doesn't really matter what either of us think. SCOTUS has ruled that gun ownership is an individual right. Until that ruling gets overturned, which is impossible with this court, that remains the reality we live under.
Stop deluding yourself that half measures will work. We have to amend the amendment to have any real hope of making a lasting change.
@captainsmartass @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich This is one of the most foolish things I’ve read in days.
@captainsmartass @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich I say that because I was an active and enthusiastic member of the right wing in the years when “the only way to stop abortion is a constitutional amendment, because the court has spoken” was an accepted constraint.
Needless to say, the anti abortion movement eventually gave up and pursued the opposite appproach — and that was the one that met with success.
@captainsmartass @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich it’s strange to see advocates for change fall into the same self-defeating self-imposed constraints.
@eaton @captainsmartass @LACanuck @rbreich In the sixties people in the US were still able to force change as a society. Why has that stopped? We need Woodstock v3.0.
@IngenieurStefan @eaton @captainsmartass @rbreich Change in the 60s was possible because the political climate was not as toxic and bipartisan. You could have conversations and agreements with your opponents without risking your entire political career.
That is no longer the case. We could argue as to the timing when that started to happen, but at the moment political parties are considered enemy tribes. You don't consort with the enemy. Ever.
As a result, the parties have moved to the extremes, even though the majority of the American public are actually centrists. Until that issue gets addressed, major permanent societal change isn't going to happen.
And I include abortion in that. While the right has 'won' for the moment, eventually the pendulum will swing back.
@eaton @IngenieurStefan @LACanuck @rbreich the right wing doesn't view rule of law or the courts as anything other than a cudgel. They have no regard for stare decisis. That's why this court overturned RvW. Progressives do have respect for rule of law, so we should focus on changing the law, not the court's interpretation of it.
@captainsmartass @eaton @IngenieurStefan @rbreich I don't think it's quite that simple. There are plenty of judicial minds who, while they agree with the outcome, were opposed to the basis for RvW.
But your point about changing the law is quite valid. If you're looking to affect durable change, that's what needs to be done. That doesn't make it easy. It's not, especially in today's political climate. But passing legislation ensures buy-in from both sides of the political spectrum. And that's also a requirement for change.
@captainsmartass @eaton @LACanuck @rbreich This isn’t a legal problem in my opinion. It’s a humanitarian one. And it results in gunlaws, terrible performance of the healthcare system, crumpling infrastructure, et cetera and ever stronger ‘leaders’ promising more.
Janne@LACanuck @rbreich There are a lot of civilian guns in the world: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country
Finland has a full quarter of the US number of guns per capita.
There are not a lot of shootings. Once in a decade, maybe.
There's something really perverse going on, probably not having do with possible constitutional interpretation of individual right to bear arms.
Tom Moberg@janvenetor @LACanuck @rbreich I happily live in a country with less then 5 guns per civilian according to these wiki figures and shooting incidents rarely break the news, fortunately. Best of luck on improving the situation in the USA. Greetings from Poland
Tam 🐾🇦🇺🇨🇦@janvenetor @LACanuck @rbreich However, the vast majority of weapons in Finland are long guns for hunting. There is a significant difference in licensing, too, as permits are not granted solely on the basis of "personal protection."
There is also a huge cultural difference. Nordic countries as a whole have much more respect for the law and police reflected in an overall lower crime rate.
On the flipside, the suicide rate by gun is very high.
There is also a huge cultural difference. Nordic countries as a whole have much more respect for the law and police reflected in an overall lower crime rate.
On the flipside, the suicide rate by gun is very high.
@janvenetor @LACanuck @rbreich this is called cherry picking. As someone else pointed out, it's not just the number of guns. It's the regulations involved in buying and keeping them. I don't know Finland's laws but I would bet real money any old yahoo can't waltz into an auditorium on a certain Saturday and buy whatever he wants without a background check.
@captainsmartass @LACanuck @rbreich 1. The legislative situation is a problem on federal level, yes. There isn't even bipartisan support on assault weapons ban any more.
Some US states have strict gun permit requirements, and there are other restrictions, though! Take California, for instance. There are lots of opportunities..
2. It's not impossible to get an illegal/unregistered long or handgun in Canada or Finland, there are hundreds of thousands of those.
We still don't have the shootings.
@janvenetor @LACanuck @rbreich I agree that there is something perverse going on. Akin to serial mass psychosis and suicide. It’s like the doomsday films where a virus causes everyone to go crazy and start murdering each other. But, hey, my football/baseball/hockey game is coming up so we’ll talk later. We refuse to allow anything outside our personal bubble to spur us to collective action. And those we pay to act for us and protect us are corrupt.
Peter van Rens
Jörg Seidel
stringerThe Cult of the Warrior. Manhood from the gun.
Most countries would not interpret the 2nd amendment as the US does , but yes US Culture, Propaganda ,and Profit from supporting & selling the means to kill wholesale is unique .Even so recent polls show the majority want something done , but the majority do not win elections in the US
I was surprised to find that in the US voting is not a right but a privilege, as you can lose it,and that the electoral college has it's thumb on the scales. In Canada ,we reflect our society and allow all to vote , otherwise I wouldn't be smoking da govt weed and depending on colour & state would be in jail, with no vote, like millions of Canadians would be.
Who can vote? Convicts, among other Canadians for whom special rules apply
Yes they can vote, by mail or in jail. Expats are out of luck if they’re away more than five years. The homeless need good ID or a friend to swear an oath with. Rules also apply to students, hospital patients, and the military.
@PBruce @rbreich Let's be completely up-front about Canadian elections. The number of people who vote for the Prime Minister is in the tens of thousands. And unless you live in the correct riding, it isn't likely that it was you. 😉
In fact (and this is one of my favorite pieces of trivia), the Canadian politician who is elected with the largest number of votes is the Mayor of Toronto.
Housetier84@Housetier84 @rbreich It's not that it couldn't happen. But SCOTUS has ruled on whether malitia includes personal use (it does). And I'm not seeing an amendment passing anytime soon, for political reasons. So things are stuck where they are, at least for the moment
TheOneSwit@rbreich Amerika going back to the wild west?
DidiQ
KLB
TQdemocrat@rbreich I am stealing this Bob.
Aho@rbreich it's going in the right direction, if it keeps on in this scale it will just be 498 mass shootings, maybe time to relax the gun regulation so that can have more than in 2021.
side note:
Australia had only 12 since 2000, if we assume it's proportional to population, then if there been 336 million Australians, then there been 156 mass shootings within 23 years.
@rbreich I think this breakdown is a useful one but it's probably worth pointing out that it doesn't use the same criteria that the FBI does when publishing its better-known stats on mass shootings.
The Gun Violence Archive categorizes any gun related violence with more than one victim (injured or killed) as a mass shooting; the FBI only classifies gun violence with 4 or more *fatalities* as a mass shooting.
Anyone confused by the mismatch can check out https://www.statista.com/statistics/811487/number-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us/ to see the FBI's
JZehcuob@rbreich 1.33X the total number of victims of during 9/11 in just 8 years. Insane.
Jeff@rbreich GQP are busy creating hate that create killing
@rbreich we are basically living in a war
Rick@rbreich "The often quoted National Rifle Association slogan in response to the mass shootings — "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" — proves itself tragically inaccurate.
We all think of ourselves as "good," don't we? I'm sure the retired police officer who shot that texter in the movie theater believed himself a "good" man, even while pulling the trigger. Same with the dude who probably thought he was just "keeping the peace" by..https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/letters/ct-letters-las-vegas-shooting-nra-guns-20171003-story.html
Toni Widmo@rbreich Seems clear that a large part of the reason is far right extremism. The more it is tolerated and normalised, the more mass shootings will be seen.
John O’Donnell@rbreich
For those of us not living in America, this is an example to us all.
Anyone who mentions relaxing gun rules here gets pointed to your achievements.
For those of us not living in America, this is an example to us all.
Anyone who mentions relaxing gun rules here gets pointed to your achievements.
InsufficientC8H11NO2
FaceEatingKoala@rbreich well the only obvious solution is more guns. Hard facts: Quality, affordability, and accessibility for guns are at an all time high.