Member of Congress Among 5 Reportedly Shot at Baseball Field

[Brian37]

But his history wouldn't have stopped a relative or friend with a clean history from buying a gun for him. Or he could just go to a gun show and ignore background checks.

It didn't even stop him buying it for himself, it would seem. I'm 100% for stricter background checks and specific other laws, even though I enjoy being able to own a firearm.

On a side note, I'm sick and tired of the Republicans scapegoating mentally ill people. They're like, "Sure, more gun control. We need to stop mentally ill people from getting guns." First off, there is a difference between murderous assholes and mentally ill people. Sure, some people are both, but they are not the same thing. Secondly, the heaping majority of people with mental illnesses are perfectly safe. Captain hand washer is less likely than Captain well-armed militia to protect us from the blacks to go off on a shooting spree. Sure, if you have a history of paranoia, violence or suicide attempts, maybe we shouldn't give you a gun, but mental illness means a lot of things.

I hate that people get stuck on "motive". You are correct, there is a difference between a sane, but disturbed person, and someone who is mentally ill, but regardless of motive, they both have one thing in common, easy access to firearms.

The Va Tech shooter was mentally ill, the UPS shooter and the Softball shooter were disturbed but not mentally ill, but all of them got access to firearms.

[Secular Elf]

Nah - 60-ish white guy with a assault rifle?  Sounds like a Drumpfuck to me.

Lets not give the right wing assholes fuel. It should not matter even if it was a mentally ill democrat supporter. Nobody I sane does that so it should not matter who the target was or what the motive was. The real issue to me is that sicko obtained firearms in the first place.

The last I heard today is that Hodgkins is from a state, Illinois, that tracks gun owners but not the guns themselves.

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Be serious.  This is 'Murrica.  That's not even an issue.

BTW, after Orlando, Scalise posted this bit of useless prattle.


To which someone added:



So don't wonder how psychos get guns.  They get them because of assholes like Scalise.

I agree, but it is also why the Texas Bar shootout happened, and why The Snack Patriots happened, and why abortion doctor shooters happen.

We allow the NRA to suck the media into talking about motive, and the real issue are the volume of firearms made and the ease of access to them. Now that it is a nut on the left shooting at republicans, you'd think someone might wake up but no, the asshole GOP are going to use this to protect the gun profit industry even more.

I was watching C-SPAN this morning, and according to a paper article that was being quoted yesterday was a day that a Congressional sub-committee was going to review the relaxing of laws regarding silencers. It got cancelled after the news broke that one of their own was shot.

[brewer]

From what I've read I get the impression that he lived in a rural/semi rural area. My guess is that he bought the gun(s) prior to any of the altercations with the legal system. One story said he also owned a shot gun. 

But that's just a guess.

[Secular Elf]

Another Bernie bro, like the Portland killer.

True, but Bernie did repudiate the shooter's action:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/...ng-sot.cnn

[Brian37]

Another Bernie bro, like the Portland killer.

True, but Bernie did repudiate the shooter's action:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/...ng-sot.cnn

And still no apology for Trump's 2nd Amendment "joke" about Hillary.

[CapnAwesome]

Gross thing to say.

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Anybody else feel like political violence in the U.S. Is just starting to boil?

Yes, and unfortunately, I expect it to get worse before it gets better.

Inevitably, the usual suspects are going to start pointing fingers ("the left this", or "the right that"), and it's important to keep in mind that -so far as we know- this was the act of a single person. I personally don't know anyone on the left who condones violence, and I most on the right can say the same. We're dealing with extremist individuals, not broadly held ideologies.

In much the same way that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols' actions didn't represent the views of those on the right, neither does this for the left.

This bullshit is going to tear the country apart if we let it.

There are a lot of people of different political stripes realizing that. We'll see if it makes any difference in the end.

[Secular Elf]

James T. Hodgkinson, Shooting Suspect, Belonged to ‘Terminate the Republican Party’ Facebook Group

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/...ans-group/

Just took a look at the FB group. Some are criticizing the violence. I do find anti-Republican and anti-Conservative, and anti-Dominionist groups appealing. The frustrating thing about groups, having started a meetup group once myself for freethinkers in my area, is the lack of action. If you are talking about a problem and issues but you are not doing anything about it, not acting, then what is the point? It is useless chatter. Which is why I abandoned my group, nobody was willing to do anything, they were all talk. This is a serious problem, because if you are faced with a great threat, like Dominionism, like the slow creation of a dictatorship, and you do nothing, then it is your own damn fault for not opposing it if you get caught up in its tentacles. If you are aware of danger then for fuck's sake do something about it!

[Brian37]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/...ans-group/

Just took a look at the FB group.  Some are criticizing the violence.  I do find anti-Republican and anti-Conservative, and anti-Dominionist groups appealing.  The frustrating thing about groups, having started a meetup group once myself for freethinkers in my area, is the lack of action.  If you are  talking about a problem and issues but you are not doing anything about it, not acting, then what is the point?  It is useless chatter.  Which is why I abandoned my group, nobody was willing to do anything, they were all talk.   This is a serious problem, because if you are faced with a great threat, like Dominionism, like the slow creation of a dictatorship, and you do nothing, then it is your own damn fault for not opposing it if you get caught up in its tentacles.  If you are aware of danger then for fuck's sake do something about it!

I am anti-republican, but not pro violence. Yes, I am against "fuck you I got mine" economics and I am against "die quickly" health care policy. And I am against their far right bigoted base. No I will not apologize for that. But none of what I just said is oppression or a call for violence.

[Secular Elf]

Another example of how wonderful the fascist shitballs are.  We don't seem to have "preachers" like this.  Lucky us.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/right-wi...om-a-rope/

Right-wing pastor says ‘amen’ when guest wants to see Gov. Jerry Brown ‘hanging from a rope’

This guy is another fucking Dominionist. People like him are already in our Congress AND in our MILITARY!! Do we really want to take chances with this lot? What are we, the secular community, going to do about this? What will we do with these people? In my opinion we need to confront these mother fuckers. And I don't mean guns, not always. Guns for ourselves for self defense yes. I also mean legal and political. Political and legal confrontation first, militarily when necessary.

This is what I have always been saying to people in our community. Dominionists are a threat to us and our American Republic. When are we going to take this threat seriously?

[Catholic_Lady]

Hey how bout we just feel for the victims and their families, condemn the attack, and call it a day?? Nah...

And then we can do the same thing the next time and the next time and the next time and the next time and the next....................................................

I don't see how taking this opportunity to bash Republicans when Republicans were just murdered for being Republican is going to be at all productive or do any sort of good. Which is precisely what I was seeing most of here when I made that post. Though I haven't read the last several pages, so don't know if the tune has changed since.