I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see this earlier. My heart goes out to you and all those effected.
For the rest of you, did you not read the fucking OP? This is about someone worried that their friends might be dead. And you decide to bring in the same bickering that happens in every gun thread that pops up. The next person that brings up gun control, politics, the 2nd Amendment, Donald Trump, concealed carry, gun free zones…anything resembling a debate, will get warned. I don’t think it would be that hard to find a gun debate thread in GD or the Pit. Stop shitting all over Lancia’s thread.
Apologies, I was the first to roll my eyes about bringing that shit up in here, but got sucked in anyway. Watching it all unfold on TV all day, emotions run higher. Explaining the reality of stuff like this to my 12 yo son once he got home from school and caught some of the news… Starts asking questions. What do you say except the truth and try to assure him how rare this sort of thing is? But it’s still scary, and he’s not stupid… There’s always a chance…
Some do care. I’m so very, very sorry, Lancia. These people sounded truly lovely and I have no doubt that they, and their contributions, will be sorely missed. My heart goes out to everyone touched by this senseless tragedy. You will all be in my thoughts and prayers.
You had time to edit and yet you continued to disregard instructions. I don’t care how you quibble, this thread is about Lancia’s concern and now grief about her friends. This is not about the school’s policy or CCW’s. This is a warning for threadshitting and failure to follow moderator instructions. If you feel the overwhelming need to respond to someone who you feel is wrong on the internet do it in a different thread. And have some damn decency in this one.
We read about tragedy and calamity in the world but how often we forget the statistcs on a police blotter were lives that in turn were part of other lives. And one day that may be ours. Oh, Lancia, this is so heartbreaking… Nothing to offer the victims and survivors but solidarity in this tough time…
The purpose of the 2nd Amendment was never to facilitate popular resistance to the government, it was never to facilitate home defense or hunting, it was to prevent reliance on a standing professional army for national defense, by making sure there would be enough men keeping muskets at home to be ready for militia service at any time. Why do we need it any more? We’ve been relying on a professional standing army for national defense for more than a century now and it still has not turned into an instrument of tyranny. The FFs were simply wrong on that point. And not even the NG relies on privately-owned firearms anyway, not any more.
Two moderator instructions from two different mods. One warning to another poster. I thought people would get the hint. I know, someone is wrong on the internet. Take it to another thread. Warning issued.
I give a damn, Lancia, and thank you for those beautiful, albeit brief glimpses into some folks I wish I could have known. They were obviously wonderful people whose senseless deaths will leave great holes in the world.
Remember Alek Skarlatos the guy that helped stop the train terrorist in France? He’s a student at ucc. Planned to attend this semester and decided instead to appear on dancing with the stars.
talk about a bizarre coincidence. He could have been a terror victim twice in 5 weeks.
Lancia - I humbly apologize for my previous participation in your thread. I can only say that I was carried away by the moment. That is not an excuse. I have no excuse. Sorry.
I had originally intended to join in the “New school shooting in Oregon” thread in the IMHO forum. A post in there suggested that there was already a thread and linked to your thread. That OP requested that that thread be closed and it was. I should have paid closer attention to your OP and realized that it covered a different perspective.
I just sent this letter to my two U.S. senators and member of Congress:
I urge you to back much stronger Federal restrictions on firearms.
The tragedy yesterday at Umpqua Community College in Oregon reminds us that hardly a week goes by that there isn’t a gun massacre somewhere in our country. Even worse, dozens die every day, here and there, lost amid other headlines. An estimated eight American children a day are killed by gun violence. Recent mass shootings at Virginia Tech, the Washington Navy Yard, a school in Connecticut, a movie theater in Colorado and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin have again underlined the need for a more sensible national gun policy. There is no reason why anyone needs, for instance, to be able to fire thirty bullets in a matter of seconds, as happened in the shooting which killed six and wounded thirteen others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in Arizona. The shooter was only stopped because he paused to reload.
The National Institutes of Health have designated firearms injuries and deaths a major public health crisis. We have far more shootings per capita than any other western industrialized nation. This is madness, and unworthy of a great republic; it cannot be what the Framers had in mind when they wrote in the Second Amendment of a “well regulated militia.” We are awash in guns, but can still take some smart, common-sense steps towards reducing gun crime. Now is the time. Assault weapons and large ammunition magazines must be banned; the mentally ill, criminals and terrorism suspects must not be able to buy guns and ammunition; the gun show background-check loophole must, at long last, be closed.
I hope you’ll lead the way in seeing that firearms violence is greatly reduced, if not eradicated, in the United States. We must do all we can to stop this senseless carnage, and we must do it now.
One of the heroes that tried to stop the attack. He tried blocking the classroom door and took three bullets. He was shot two more times after the shooter got in the classroom.