Orlando shooting

monkeysip · June 2016

I can't even believe it. 50 killed. My prayers are with all the victims and their families. They're also looking for people to donate blood if anyone is local!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/index.html

CMGragain · June 2016

How very sad for everyone. Thought and prayers from my church congregation this morning.

MairePoppy · June 2016

This is so sickening.

ei34 · June 2016

Absolutely heart-breaking. I'm so sick of hearing about these mass shootings. Terrible.

holyguacamole79 · June 2016

My heart breaks for all affected, including the whole LGBT community.

scrunchythief · June 2016

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

monkeysip · June 2016

scrunchythief said:

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

There's a GoFundMe for the victims' families. https://www.gofundme.com/PulseVictimsFund

Not sure what else.

kimmiinthemitten · June 2016

I have no words. A friend of mine came out late his senior year in HS. He moved to Orlando to work at Disney. It was his safe place, his first home as an out gay man. He has since moved but I can't help but imagine that many of those innocent victims were very much in the same place.

And then hen to hear the story of Mina who hasn't hear back from her son Eddie since he asked her to call the cops because the shooter reached the same bathroom he was hiding in. No mother's last conversation with her child should include the words "I'm going to die."

charlotte989875 · June 2016

Other things that you can do besides just donating money:

1) donate blood (especially if you're in the Florida area, but in the summer months blood supplies are always low), 2) learn about being an ally (http://www.glaad.org/resources/ally), 3) Safe Zone training (http://thesafezoneproject.com/), 4) volunteer your time, money, skills to a local LGBTQ center (they always need all kinds of volunteers so you don't need any special skills other than wanting to help).

STARMOON44 · June 2016

scrunchythief said:

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

Call your congressional respresentatives and demand that they support gun control.

MCmeow · June 2016

It's sickening, losing hope for our country every day. It was a domestic homophobic terror attack. Watching a video of a mother crying trying to find her son was more than heartbreaking. Seeing their facebook page and seeing this equally so and it's haunting:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020756/uploads/editor/65/23copwvj0l03.jpg

People say talking about gun control now is politicizing the issue, but it's the best time to talk about it because when else can we try to change things? After America realized it's ok for kids to be murdered in Sandy Hook, we're a lost cause, but we still need to try.

Yes talk to your representatives, here is a guide on how to do so: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-silverberg/guide-elected-representatives-gun-control_b_8708154.html

Politicians don't want to do anything about it because most are bought but things can change with enough public outcry.

https://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks/videos/10153485726789205/

We need to advance, we need to be safer, we are not the "greatest country in the world", prayers make you feel better and they're fine but they solve nothing.

kimmiinthemitten · June 2016

STARMOON44 said:

scrunchythief said:

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

Call your congressional respresentatives and demand that they support gun control.

This was the second mass shooting by someone on a watch list, the bill to block them from being able to buy weapons was killed in the house back in December. Pun unintended.

This is also the fourth or fifth mass killing using this gun. Call it whatever you want to, it doesn't matter to me if its an automatic, semi or whatever. This gun in particular clearly has characteristics which makes it the go to gun for mass killings. That alone should speak volumes, but unfortunately it seems the NRA speaks louder.

princessleia22 · June 2016

kimmiinthemitten said:

STARMOON44 said:

scrunchythief said:

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

Call your congressional respresentatives and demand that they support gun control.

This was the second mass shooting by someone on a watch list, the bill to block them from being able to buy weapons was killed in the house back in December. Pun unintended.

This is also the fourth or fifth mass killing using this gun. Call it whatever you want to, it doesn't matter to me if its an automatic, semi or whatever. This gun in particular clearly has characteristics which makes it the go to gun for mass killings. That alone should speak volumes, but unfortunately it seems the NRA speaks louder.

I think this is the bigger issue than a call to ban guns. This guy was on the watch list and had been investigated by FBI multiple times for possible terrorist ties, and he still somehow passed the federal background check to buy a gun. There are people that have a significant history of mental and anger issues, who still pass the checks for a gun, as long as they weren't so bad off to require court involvement in their mental status. Personally, I don't want to give up my constitutional right to own a gun and be able to protect myself. But, I also have nothing to hide if they increase the standards on background checks. Although, I also don't think the government has any right to analyze my private health records or search my home to determine if I'm a responsible owner. So, there is definitely a fine line on that one, but I think they do need to make some improvements on that end of it.

STARMOON44 · June 2016

princessleia22 said:

kimmiinthemitten said:

STARMOON44 said:

scrunchythief said:

This never should've happened. Does anyone have idea on how to help?

Call your congressional respresentatives and demand that they support gun control.

This was the second mass shooting by someone on a watch list, the bill to block them from being able to buy weapons was killed in the house back in December. Pun unintended.

This is also the fourth or fifth mass killing using this gun. Call it whatever you want to, it doesn't matter to me if its an automatic, semi or whatever. This gun in particular clearly has characteristics which makes it the go to gun for mass killings. That alone should speak volumes, but unfortunately it seems the NRA speaks louder.

I think this is the bigger issue than a call to ban guns. This guy was on the watch list and had been investigated by FBI multiple times for possible terrorist ties, and he still somehow passed the federal background check to buy a gun. There are people that have a significant history of mental and anger issues, who still pass the checks for a gun, as long as they weren't so bad off to require court involvement in their mental status. Personally, I don't want to give up my constitutional right to own a gun and be able to protect myself. But, I also have nothing to hide if they increase the standards on background checks. Although, I also don't think the government has any right to analyze my private health records or search my home to determine if I'm a responsible owner. So, there is definitely a fine line on that one, but I think they do need to make some improvements on that end of it.

I think responses like this are the issue. Normal everyday people who delusionally think they need guns for their own protection and who respond with fiddling around the edges instead of demanding a ban on these kinds of guns. No one need an assault rifle in their home.

ScottishSarah · June 2016

Over here in Scotland we can own guns too. But the big difference here is, there is no way this type of massacre could possibly be committed with a gun designed for killing rabbits or game birds.

Who the fuck needs a semiautomatic weapon for self defence? Why are they sold? These type of guns need to belong to the army only.

I was sat crying watching the news today, what an evil state of affairs.

MCmeow · June 2016

ScottishSarah said:

Over here in Scotland we can own guns too. But the big difference here is, there is no way this type of massacre could possibly be committed with a gun designed for killing rabbits or game birds.

Who the fuck needs a semiautomatic weapon for self defence? Why are they sold? These type of guns need to belong to the army only.

I was sat crying watching the news today, what an evil state of affairs.

We're getting desperate here in America, our system is so corrupt they're ok with us dying. Other developed countries wouldn't take this long to take action. And conservatives are more worried about their guns being taken away than lives being lost. To them Guns > lives.

banana468 · June 2016

MCmeow said:

ScottishSarah said:

Over here in Scotland we can own guns too. But the big difference here is, there is no way this type of massacre could possibly be committed with a gun designed for killing rabbits or game birds.

Who the fuck needs a semiautomatic weapon for self defence? Why are they sold? These type of guns need to belong to the army only.

I was sat crying watching the news today, what an evil state of affairs.

We're getting desperate here in America, our system is so corrupt they're ok with us dying. Other developed countries wouldn't take this long to take action. And conservatives are more worried about their guns being taken away than lives being lost. To them Guns > lives.

That isn't entirely correct.

There are a lot of complicated aspects to this and the NRA is certainly one hell of a lobbying group.

However there are plenty of people who ARE law abiding citizens that are concerned about how gun control legislation takes place. As a CT resident, there are many people I know who are law-abiding gun owners who were extremely outraged at the legislation that DID pass after Sandy Hook. Some of the State legislation made people felons for doing what they previously did legally. I don't think that was the best answer either.

I don't know a lot about guns and why you'd pick one weapon over another. I understand the need to preserve rights but clearly what we're doing isn't working.

Jen4948 · June 2016

So tragic.

STARMOON44 · June 2016

banana468 said:

MCmeow said:

ScottishSarah said:

Over here in Scotland we can own guns too. But the big difference here is, there is no way this type of massacre could possibly be committed with a gun designed for killing rabbits or game birds.

Who the fuck needs a semiautomatic weapon for self defence? Why are they sold? These type of guns need to belong to the army only.

I was sat crying watching the news today, what an evil state of affairs.

We're getting desperate here in America, our system is so corrupt they're ok with us dying. Other developed countries wouldn't take this long to take action. And conservatives are more worried about their guns being taken away than lives being lost. To them Guns > lives.

That isn't entirely correct.

There are a lot of complicated aspects to this and the NRA is certainly one hell of a lobbying group.

However there are plenty of people who ARE law abiding citizens that are concerned about how gun control legislation takes place. As a CT resident, there are many people I know who are law-abiding gun owners who were extremely outraged at the legislation that DID pass after Sandy Hook. Some of the State legislation made people felons for doing what they previously did legally. I don't think that was the best answer either.

I don't know a lot about guns and why you'd pick one weapon over another. I understand the need to preserve rights but clearly what we're doing isn't working.

Yup. This is what I mean by saying so-called normal gun owners are the problem. No legislation automatically made them felons for things they had been doing legally before. A law changed and made something that was legal illegal. So change what you are doing and bravo you aren't going to become a felon.

Fuck them. Fuck every gun owner who is only in favor of new gun laws as long as they personally don't have to change their behavior. They have blood on their hands.

kimmiinthemitten · June 2016

The NRA isn't the organization it began as or was for the bulk of it's existence. I also think they [NRA-ILA] are a huge part of the blame because they've spent millions upon millions of dollars convincing normal gun owners that the Democrats are coming for their guns, which isn't true either. Gun control is not the same thing as eliminating guns altogether.

The NRA once believed that the best way to support gun owners was to support and help pass gun control measures. They helped President Roosevelt write the first gun control bill which banned various types of weapons from purchase, taxed purchases and required retailers to register with the Federal Government. They were anti-open carry in the 1970's. They helped write gun control bills in the 70's and 80's to ensure the interests of gun owners were still represented.

Today, they refuse to be a part of any meaningful conversation and encourage their members and legislators to vote no on any gun control bill, regardless of it's contents. The same organization that supported background checks when Reagan was threatened is the same organization who has a blog post explaining why the AR-15 is the "America's most popular rifle" on the front page of their website days after that rifle was used to kill 49 people.

They don't care about gun owners, they care about gun manufacturers.

banana468 · June 2016

kimmiinthemitten said:

The NRA isn't the organization it began as or was for the bulk of it's existence. I also think they [NRA-ILA] are a huge part of the blame because they've spent millions upon millions of dollars convincing normal gun owners that the Democrats are coming for their guns, which isn't true either. Gun control is not the same thing as eliminating guns altogether.

The NRA once believed that the best way to support gun owners was to support and help pass gun control measures. They helped President Roosevelt write the first gun control bill which banned various types of weapons from purchase, taxed purchases and required retailers to register with the Federal Government. They were anti-open carry in the 1970's. They helped write gun control bills in the 70's and 80's to ensure the interests of gun owners were still represented.

Today, they refuse to be a part of any meaningful conversation and encourage their members and legislators to vote no on any gun control bill, regardless of it's contents. The same organization that supported background checks when Reagan was threatened is the same organization who has a blog post explaining why the AR-15 is the "America's most popular rifle" on the front page of their website days after that rifle was used to kill 49 people.

They don't care about gun owners, they care about gun manufacturers.

This.

I think a lot of the lack of progress is that so many groups like the NRA are so far in the pockets of Congress that we don't move forward.

So in addition to the issues with NRA, until we change HOW we do things in Congress, any wealthy organization will continue to get what it wants. That's going to be the case for any issue.

monkeysip · June 2016

I'm reading through the brief bios they have about all the victims on CNN

It's so heartbreaking to read about them. They're real people. With jobs, dreams, and people who loved them. One of them was only 19. It's painful, but important to read about them.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/13/us/orlando-victims-profiles/index.html

One of the victims' father is quoted:

"I forgive the boy because I cannot take that hate in my life. My life is more important than hate. ... It hurts so much...We must all come together, we must all be at peace, we must all love each other, because this hatred cannot continue for the rest of our lives."

I don't even know how someone who's just lost a daughter can have that kind of strength.

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