It took the NRA forty years after the Cincinnati Revolt to get us to this point. Sadly, it may take as long for a rational approach to firearms - as we had when America Was Great - to return.
Social change is hard.
I don’t think there’s anything appalling about the OP. Certainly not in comparison to some of the other things that have been said about the Parkland survivors.
I doubt the more politically savvy students had any illusions they were going to get significant legislative changes with the current president and congress. For them, the real prize is an effect on the midterms if they can keep momentum. The OP should ask the question again in January.
I’ve argued before (not this thread) that some of what intelligent Americans learn in well-taught civics classes is actually the problem not the solution.
Is there any evidence that clear backpacks or checkpoints will do anything to actually stop someone who is determined to commit mass murder? What if the attacker kills people before they reach the security checkpoint?
Wouldn’t any attacker just shoot the unprepared workers at the security checkpoint before shooting up the rest of the school?
Sent from my SM-N910U using Tapatalk
I’m still waiting for Occupy Wall Street to kick in.
To early to tell. There seems to be a shift in attitude, and I think their protests typify this shift. IOW, their protest isn’t the central movement, they are basically just one part of the overall shift. Where it’s going I couldn’t say, but no single group is going to be the make or break part of this…it’s going to be where public attitude ends up a year or two down the road. If in a year or two the overall public attitude is where it is today, if the general public just shrugs and goes back to watching Survivor (or whatever reality TV show is hot now) then ‘they’ would have failed. But if it shifts substantially…well, a few small pebbles can start a landslide, or a small bit of snow moving on a hill an avalanche…
I suspect that in time the Parkland students will probably end up being the victims of overexposure, some of it being self-induced.
I don’t give a damn if it happens, though, because yes, I think they got what they wanted, which is a platform to use to make real and transformative change. They’ve already changed Florida law. They’ve also essentially gotten the President to use executive orders to make bump stocks more difficult to obtain - and that’s in spite of the fact that a Republican president, a Republican Congress, and a Republican state governor are all taking money from a very, very influential gun lobby. Unlike the weeks following previous massacres, “Thoughts and prayers” weren’t enough this time. I don’t think they’re done yet, either.
All pretty impressive stuff if you ask me, considering that they accomplished more than even Barack Obama did in an 8-year time span.
I have not read any evidence of this. Can you provide a cite, please?
It wasn’t the goal in ANY length of time. They just want what most Americans want - existing laws enforced and weapons kept away from people who should not have them.
I’m not sure that is accurate to say.
I see an awful lot of people calling for a class of weapons that are currently legal and widely available, to be banned outright. This is neither “enforcing existing laws” nor “keeping them away from people who should not have them”, unless the latter category is to mean “all people in America.”
This is a pretty important distinction to make.
February 1st, 1956: “Huh, it’s been two months since that Teresa Perks woman got arrested on that bus. Did anything come of that?”
Oh, it’s occupied alright, just by a different set of folks than expected.
I can buy the first part, but I think the second is a little batty. Sure, a lot of these kids are a lot more politically active before. They’ve found a cause and some among them have discovered their inner leadership skills. That’s a good thing. True leaders don’t just stumble into it or find that they have nothing else to do, true leaders are inspired by something. They’re sick of seeing kids carried out of their schools in body bags and that’s calling them to public service.
As for CNN, that’s just a bogeyman for the right wing. By and large, they’re pretty much apolitical in their coverage. Of course, some of their number will be the journalists of tomorrow and a handful may be more inspired to become journalists as it is in essence the fourth branch of government. Citing CNN seems like a knee-jerk right wing response to this whole thing.
Or wait outside for dismissal, outdoor gym activities, football practice, or recess.
Going this route is not just securing the building, but an entire perimeter.
It would be accurate to say, if we are talking about what the parkland students are asking for, and what most reasonable people are asking for. You are correct that if you do some digging, you can find people that would want to do some level of confiscation and banning, but that is not the conversation that is being had, and bringing up people who are not part of the conversation is just a distraction from the conversation that is going on.
I’ve seen people on the gun rights side call for sodomizing the parkland students with incandescent fireplace tools, should we assume that that is an accurate summation of your position as well, or do you think that the conversation can be had without bringing other people into it?
They got the Reptilian party scared by pioneering an example on how to communicate your message effectively and go after the financial support and organizers of their enemies. They’re scared enough that they’ll even post desperate pleas to “please stop!” by pretending that it’s useless because no major legislation has been passed after 2 months.
Do you lock your door at night? Is there any evidence that a locked door will stop someone determined to break into your house?
Just because something isn’t perfect doesn’t mean that you do nothing.
I think the Parkland students have been responsible for some of the most successful gun control advances in the country in a long time. It’s hard to say exactly who or which group should get credit for a lot of different things happening at in close temporal proximity, but over the last several months, in addition to what **enalzi **identified in post #4, there’s also the fact that:
[ul]
[li]Facebook has greatly curtailed firearm related discussion[/li][li]Youtube heavily restricting firearm related content pushing the most popular firearm related channels off the site - banning things like discussion of ammo reloading, etc.[/li][li]financial institutions like Bank of America are pulling from their investment portfolios companies that invest in firearm related industries[/li][li]Financial transaction processors like Citibank are refusing to process transactions related to firearms[/li][li]Teacher’s union withdrawing it’s mortgage assistance program through Wells Fargo over it’s firearm investment holdings[/li][li]Continued pressure on other institutions like JPMorgan, Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, etc. to reject any purchase of firearms or related items.[/li][/ul]
Add to that, Hillary Clinton not getting elected. If history’s any guide, Clinton45 would have inspired people who already have guns to buy lots more guns, out of whipped-up fears their earlier guns were going to be taken away.