Have we become used to or immune to mass shootings?

[Undertoad]

Teen, stopped before his rampage, journaled about planning his school shooting

I think a lot of them study the previous ones, and this guy did:

O’Connor wrote that he wanted the death count to be as high as possible so that the shooting would be infamous, according to court papers. He went into detail about building pressure-cooker bombs, activating inert grenades and deploying explosives for maximum casualties.

"I need to make this count," O’Connor reportedly wrote. "I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings) I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes."

I hope that these types do not figure out any way other than guns to kill large numbers of people, because if they do, that will just become the new way.

[Gravdigr]

Re: The Florida School shooter

Can we please get this motherfucker's picture and name off of every tv channel and webpage?

[Griff]

Absolutely. A complete blackout from here on.

[Griff]

I just wish this could be treated as a public health issue.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There would still be anti-vaxers.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Griff

I just wish this could be treated as a public health issue.

Many decades ago, the NRA got laws passed to ban medical research into gun violence.

The guy is too young to buy a beer. It is illegal for him to buy a 9 mm pistol. But it was completely legal for him to buy a rifle whose only purpose is to kill many people quickly.

And laws do not require his purchased to be in a database where cops could associate 39 calls for police with a guy who owns an assault rifle.

In short, NRA opposition to anything that would harm sales even makes it impossible to deal with a mental health issue.

A gun literally changes the mindset of the person. But even research into that had been banned many decades ago.

From facts and how so many think, no where near not enough school kids have died yet. We need far more violence long before this problem will be considered. The changed mindset associated with holding a loaded gun is that massive.

[DanaC]

[xoxoxoBruce]

But he's a Canadian so he doesn't understand.

[sexobon]

Public school students need to make friends among Catholic school students so they can borrow their patron saints to watch over them; 'cause, you know, the parents and schools aren't cutting it.

[Griff]

On a serious note they had patron saints on staff Aaron Feis and Scott Beigel.

[tw]

Patron Saint of Guns.

[Undertoad]

Fake news, created out of whole cloth by 4chan, spread by AP, ABC, ADL

Reported by Politico:

How white nationalists fooled the media about Florida shooter

The ADL traced its original tip to posts on 4chan, where researchers found "self-described ROF members" claiming that Cruz was a brother-in-arms. But many of those posts seem to have been written specifically to deceive reporters and researchers.

On Wednesday, an anonymous 4chan user posted about receiving a message on Instagram from an ABC News reporter after making a joke suggesting he knew Cruz.

"Prime trolling opportunity," another user replied.

"You have to take advantage of this," a third chimed in.

He asked for proof of the reporter’s identity, according to posted screenshots from their correspondence. The reporter provided an official email address and sent a photo of an ABC identification badge.

Some on the 4chan thread joked about sending back obscene photos, but others gave concrete tips for tricking the reporter: "Keep talking to her so she gains your trust"; "Keep this going be realistic ... say you have known him for years you met him on a Liberal Facebook page years ago and you have kept in touch"; "Say you are scared to tell her in case you get blamed, it will get her excited you know something big."

This particular 4chan user seems to have sent the reporter a racist cartoon and was quickly blocked. Many on the forum ripped into him for missing a "a golden opportunity."

It's been ages since I was on 4chan, but at the time I was there, they weren't white nationalists, just youngsters looking for vaguely anti-social laughs. They would gladly tell you they were white nationalists if it was funny to them, just like young people will sometimes use the n word in order to test their own boundaries and/or rile things up.

my 2009 thread where 4chan ordered pizzas delivered to the asshat who claimed his kid was in a balloon, and watched on national media as Papa John's arrived at the house - it was all for the lulz.

my 2009 thread where 4chan hacked the Time Most Influential People poll to read "MARBLECAKE ALSO THE GAME" down the left-hand side

[Griff]

Should Trump deport his base?

https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/121017.pdf


https://www.snopes.com/did-shooters-...ture-maga-hat/

[sexobon]

Nawwww, Trump should close the schools that failed to protect the children and reassign the children to other schools that don't have that record of failure and Trump should consider removing any remaining children from the custody of parents whose gross personal security negligence failed to protect one of theirs.

As for the hat, there's an old saying: Patriotism, the last refuge of a scoundrel, it has no bearing on those who sport the motto and do good by it. Any inference that it does comes from just another scoundrel.

[tw]

From CBS News on 17 Feb 2018:

White House refuses to release photo of Trump signing bill to weaken gun law
the rule following the Sandy Hook massacre ... was finalized in December 2016. Had it been allowed to remain effect, it would have added about 75,000 names of mentally ill Americans to a database that would have stopped them from buying a gun.

On the day the bill was signed, the National Rifle Association (NRA) put out a press release quoting NRA Executive Director Chris Cox: "Today marks a new era for law-abiding gun owners, as we have now have a president who respects and supports our right to keep and bear arms."

A little over a month after his inauguration, on Feb. 28, 2017, President Trump signed HJ Resolution 40, a bill that made it easier for people with mental illness to obtain guns. CBS News then asked the White House to release the photograph of Mr. Trump signing the bill, making the request a total of 12 times.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders finally responded to repeated emails and phone calls with a one-line note on April 19, 2017, writing to CBS News, "We don't plan to release the picture at this time."

A White House photographer confirmed to CBS News that there are photos of the bill signing. Those photos won't be seen unless the Trump administration releases them, though, because the White House is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Apparently another few thousand kids must die before we will even consider a solution and sane leaders.