Short, sweet, and to the point … words of wisdom from across the pond.
Six years ago, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, came under attack by a gun-toting lunatic, who killed 49 people at the LGBT venue. On Saturday, Club Q in Colorado Springs, came under attack from a maniac, and five people are confirmed to have lost their lives, thanks to a combination of the strange attitude towards guns in the US, and prejudice against the LGBT community.
The situation is still evolving, but it seems likely this attack was motivated by homophobia. It was made possible by easy access to deadly weapons, and a culture that worships guns. We hear the usual arguments, namely that guns are necessary to oppose tyranny, but how many lives have been sacrificed in the name of that particular philosophy, versus how many tyrants removed from power in the US? When does the culture of gun love change?
Filosofa's Word 
Saw this today on a news report.
“Americans are armed today in a way that was once unimaginable. In fact, this is the only country on Earth where the number of weapons outnumbers the population — 120 guns for every 100 of us. Under those circumstances, you won’t be surprised to learn that the U.S. also has more killings, mass and otherwise, than other wealthy countries. And as a more extreme version of America settled in for the long run during the pandemic years, gun sales only soared. One in every five households purchased a weapon (or weaponry), 20 million guns annually in 2020 and 2021, including AR-15s of the sort used in the slaughter of schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas. And during the war on terror years, the Pentagon would arm our police departments to the teeth with military weaponry and other equipment, more than $7 billion worth by 2021, some directly off this country’s distant battlefields. So today, this increasingly divided land of ours is not only disturbed, but deeply weaponized.”
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Yep, all those facts are true and are no surprise, for I’ve been writing about the increasing gun crisis for years now. And even though there are 120 guns for every 100 people, only approximately 30% of all households in the U.S. own one or more guns. How many, then, are hoarding arsenals in their garages? When Covid was declared a pandemic in early 2020 and gun sales soared, I wondered if people honestly thought they could shoot that virus out of the air! As long as people are so gullible as to believe that gun ownership is a ‘right’ and that it should be preserved, as long as the gun industry has millions of dollars to buy and own politicians, nothing will change for the better, only for the worse. The gun problem in this country is worse than any pandemic.
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Evidently on the news it said something about this being the 4th mass shooting this month in the US. Excuse me, but FUCK!!! the civil war has already started.
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600 mass shootings since the start of the year. None of these republicans care one iota about, what they view as subhumans, minorities and the poor. They just as soon have all these people dead…more for them. I still think the big picture game plan is to drastically cut down the population via any means possible.
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It’s rare that a gun is used for self-defense or to save a life. Most often they are used in the commission of a crime … these days they are most often used for hate crimes. Hate crimes incited by politicians and right-wing media and religious organizations.
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As of today, there have been 30 mass shootings in the U.S. in November. Source: Gun Violence Archive (GVA) https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting
More like a war against humanity, my friend.
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What drives these people…religion, right wing hate and too many guns and too easy access. Similar to some of the shootings and hate flung at Jews and Muslims too…religion is a key element to me
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Nine times out of ten, Mary, at least. Religion is supposed to be a personal matter, between you and your (choice of god)! But when a religion purports itself to be “the only correct religion” this is what happens. Gotta get rid of those wrong-believers, it doesn’t matter what god they worship, even if it’s the same god!
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I think religion is a big culprit, but the right-wing hate groups add to the chaos. And then, the politicians see an opportunity and pounce on it, and before long it’s “Us vs Them” all over again. I used to believe that some day people would learn to stop judging others on criteria that, frankly, is none of their damned business, but … of late … I’ve stopped believing that. It seems that bigotry and prejudice are built in to human DNA.
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