jakelondonApr 18, 2023
Ed Bott

"About 76% of Americans surveyed said they believed mass shootings are something 'we can prevent and stop if we really tried,' and not something that must be accepted 'as part of a free society.'"

And yet here we are.

https://www.axios.com/2023/04/17/majority-americans-mass-shootings-stop

Vast majority of Americans believe mass shootings preventable

62% of those surveyed voiced support for a nationwide ban on AR-15s, per a new CBS poll.

Axios
Apr 17, 2023 at 10:59pmWeb
Show threadRevJeberApr 17, 2023

@edbott
Of course, other "free" societies don't have this problem.
I agree it's a mental health issue. It calls into question the mental health of legislators who, in the face of so much death, refuse to address the problem because it will cost them money.

NRA donations (÷) the number of children killed = the value of each child's life to a corrupted politician.

Show threadJen Roth ⚾ 👟Apr 17, 2023
@jeber Only if greed and ideology poisoning count as mental illnesses.
Show threadRevJeberApr 18, 2023
@tealdeer
It's worse than that. How can any decent human being see so much death and destruction without wanting to eliminate it? IMHO, they're borderline sociopaths.
Show threadenmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉Apr 18, 2023
@edbott because our government representatives simply do not represent us. The represent the monied owner class whose interests are best served by keeping us divided and congress unable to enact the legislation required to fix these problems and drive forward with equality and equity.
Show threadKathy E. Gill 🇺🇦Apr 18, 2023

@enmodo @edbott
Beg to differ.
The GOP has disproportionate percentage of state legislators and Congressional representatives due to extensive post-Obama (2010 census) gerrymandering and probably also due to voter suppression in red states.

MY US Representative and Senators represent me pretty darn well.

Show threadenmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉Apr 18, 2023

@kegill @edbott but in the US Congress do they have the power to get anything done? A couple of decades ago there was at least some opportunity for compromise. But these days unless a party has a majority in both the house and Senate it's pretty much a stalemate right?

As for your State legislature I guess you're lucky. But that isn't protecting your individual rights at a Federal level which leads to many other States getting screwed, or even everyone when SCOTUS puts the hammer down.

Show threadTyler VuApr 18, 2023

@edbott @donmelton

Nothing will ever change with gun laws. The NRA aside, “Red” America loves to own guns just like “Blue” America loves their police departments to have them - unaccountable. And we all can agree that our military should always have the biggest and the best - unquestioned.

Indiscriminate gun violence is the only window into the violence the poor and the foreign world have experienced because of our collective love of guns.

At least “Red” America is more honest about what they love, why they love it and who has to die for it.

Show threadKris Sargent, MDApr 18, 2023
@edbott Well, as evidenced by the fact that essentially every free society on Earth has managed this, it would seem to be an achievable goal...