
We lead the world in gun deaths. Yet GOP-dominated states like Florida, Texas, and Missouri are making it easier to get and carry a gun. The GOP fights any form of gun control.

We lead the world in gun deaths. Yet GOP-dominated states like Florida, Texas, and Missouri are making it easier to get and carry a gun. The GOP fights any form of gun control.

If we lived in a saner country and didn’t have to contend with a far far right wing libertarian radical party like the GOP, we might at least have the possibility of enacting stricter gun legislation. The GOP wants to go in the opposite direction and make guns more available so that the supposed good guy with a gun will stop the bad guy with a gun, total balderdash.
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One can’t help but speculate about how much lower Canada’s would be if they didn’t share a border with the U.S. Much, I’m guessing.
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GregB Imagine having to live next door to Putin’s Russia. We probably would have wondered if fires/smoke were an act of war. CBK
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Imagine living in Bush’s/Obama’s/Trump’s/Biden’s America and thinking that Russia is the warmonger.
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Russia IS the warmonger. Russia invaded Ukraine without provocation. It has rained death and destruction on a country with the temerity to try to join the democratic world. Putin wants to recreate the USSR, which we know was not a benign dictatorship. But to know that, you have to read history, not pro-Soviet journals.
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It’s beyond belief that anyone could possibly think that Russia is more of a warmonger than the U.S.
As for the “unprovoked” part of that, we’ve been over this many times, but then, you’d have to read actual history rather than western propaganda to understand.
BTW, how’s the counterinsurgency going?
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Dienne,
You have a crush on a brutal dictator who is in office until 2036.
I don’t know what you believe in but it’s not democracy.
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Dienne Really? I don’t remember the U.S. carelessly bombing schools and hospitals in Canada or Mexico? CBK
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Imagine having to live next door to this country!
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“I don’t remember the U.S. carelessly bombing schools and hospitals in Canada or Mexico?”
You’re kidding, right? Okay, so not Canada and Mexico, but how about Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Grenada, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and numerous others? Do those not count??? What is it about those countries that makes it so you don’t care about them? Why are they different than Ukraine?
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Your hatred for this country is exceeded only by your slavish devotion to Putin.
I love this country and want to make it better.
I certainly don’t want to make it like Russia.
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Again, you deny reality in favor of insults. It’s a simple fact that the U.S. has invaded and destroyed far more countries than Russia. That doesn’t mean I like Russia. You are capable of better logic. You have allowed your emotions to be hijacked by mainstream media narratives. Ask yourself what they stand to gain from that.
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Dienne,
I have not insulted you. I disagree with you. You frequently insult me and I will not post those comments.
This is an insult: “You have allowed your emotions to be hijacked by mainstream media narratives“
I have studied Russian history. I have visited Russia, both before and after the collapse of the USSR.
Do not insult my integrity or intelligence. I know far more about Stalin and Putin than you ever will.
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dienne77 I don’t endorse Vietnam or any invasion (with a few distinct exceptions like, say, Normandy). I don’t have to in order to either condemn Putin or your troll-ish “whataboutism.” Are you really defending Putin? In any case, I agree with Diane on this anyway. CBK
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Bravo, Diane! TRUTH!
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Is the following statistic accurate- 3 in 5 gun deaths are suicide? And, 9 out of 10 firearm suicide attempts are fatal?
The libertarian message is that each man has to pull himself up by his own bootstraps while a Charles Koch-type inherits his cushy lifestyle. A man is demeaned as a failure, if he needs a hand up. If a man can’t afford medical care, he’s expected to die like a feral dog in an alley (in one of the richest and most productive nations in the world).
The same libertarians promote the gun industry making guns available. What could possibly go wrong?
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3 out of 5 sounds slightly high, but I do believe it’s a majority of gun deaths.
It makes sense if you’ve ever struggled with extreme depression. The thing is right there.
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The National Rifle Association (NRA) literally OWNS the Republicans at the Federal and State levels making it even difficult to have a conversation about common sense gun reform…VERY SAD !!!
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yup. Straight-up paid for almost all of them. Quite the collection of cads and morons, bobble-head dolls and action figures the NRA has.
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At what point might the U.S. be deemed a “killing field?”
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The US may be deemed a killing field when we’re discussing gun policy.
The rest of the time, the idea that the US is a killing field is a right-wing hoax. When you see this hoax, best to rebut it with photographs of people peacefully enjoying outdoor dining in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or Chicago.
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Homicide-free days here in Atlanta now average 2.3 days and vary between zero days and 6.3 days. In other words, Atlanta homicides have become so normal that hardly a week goes by without at least one homicide by gun violence. This is the horrible reality that prompted the question albeit generalized and not anything having to do with an alleged GOP hoax.
https://mailchi.mp/d2ced7b50276/atl-homicide-free-days-monitoring-update-3-misleading-with-percent-change
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There’s no doubt violent crime is a serious problem in a lot of areas. Given that there will be no magical disappearance of the ocean of guns in this country, what practical measures do local governments have at their disposal to combat this problem?
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Good question. Making lots of types of guns illegal. Buy-back programs with amnesties. Requirements that guns be stored in locked safes to be periodically inspected and that in order to remove gun from safe, user has to call police and state reason and duration of use.
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“Nothing to be done about gun violence” says only country where this is a daily occurrence.
–The Onion
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States and localities have limited ability to make guns illegal these days. They had a lot of authority to do it in the past. Those days included some of the worst eras of gun violence the U.S. has ever seen. But regardless, this isn’t something that local governments have much authority to do these days.
Buy-backs make people feel good but they don’t work. Yes, maybe it worked in Australia. This isn’t Australia. The only people who turn guns in for buy-backs are people who have no intention of using those guns. These programs happen all the time in the worst areas of gun violence with no effect.
Criminals who carry guns and are ready to use them would not be very concerned about following a law that requires them to keep their guns in lockboxes.
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So FLERP, I assume you are one of those people who believe nothing can be done to reduce gun violence, that we should all accept that we live in the nation with the highest level of gun deaths in the world, and live with it.
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Here’s a very generalized overview of research on gun buybacks. It’s basically consistent with what I’ve read. Bottom line: no clear evidence that gun buybacks have any direct impact on gun crime.
Gun buybacks may avert some suicides on the margins. There’s an argument that’s worthwhile even if you can’t identify a statistically significant trend shift.
https://journalistsresource.org/health/gun-buybacks-what-the-research-says/
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I support anything—ANYTHING—that reduces the number of guns in circulation. This is personal to me. I had five brothers. My favorite brother committed suicide. He didn’t leave a note. No one knows why he did it. At his memorial service, one of his friends said to me, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” If he had not owned a gun…maybe he would be alive today. People who say that it doesn’t matter that there are 400 million guns in circulation or who throw up their hands and say nothing can be done…make me angry.
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https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/health/us-children-gun-deaths-dg
“(CNN) — Guns are the leading cause of death for US children and teens, since surpassing car accidents in 2020.
“Firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths (ages 1-18) in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder database. Nearly 3,600 children died in gun-related incidents that year. That’s about five children lost for every 100,000 children in the United States. In no other comparable country are firearms within the top four causes of mortality among children, according to a KFF analysis.”
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I understand that perspective, Diane. I myself have had struggled with this in the past. I understand where you’re coming from. I do think that tighter gun control laws — which, again, I am in favor of — could have a meaningful impact with suicide. I just think gun crime is a different animal.
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“So FLERP, I assume you are one of those people who believe nothing can be done to reduce gun violence, that we should all accept that we live in the nation with the highest level of gun deaths in the world, and live with it.”
Wrong assumption. I just don’t think that gun control legislation will have much impact on gun crime. For reasons I’ve said over and over. It is tragic. Don’t blame me. I didn’t manufacture 400 million guns or sell them to Americans. I don’t carry a gun or shoot people. I don’t vote against gun control laws, either.
I do think there are other ways to reduce or manage gun crime. There must be, because if there isn’t, the suffering will continue. Unfortunately these ways involve policing and prosecution, which are very much not in fashion in the cities where gun crime is worst.
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It is not an insult to say that Putin is a brutal dictator. Or that he is in office until 2036. His political opponents have a nasty habit of falling out of windows or being poisoned.
It’s not for me to say why you admire and trust him but despise your own country.
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Wallace Stevens, in “La plus belle pages,” writes that “Theology after breakfast sticks to the eye.” In other words, ideology, practiced routinely, builds up and prevents one from seeing clearly. Dienne amply illustrates that and how total the blindness can become. Her theological shades are so dark and distorting that she sees Stalin and the indicted international war criminal Putin as saints. It’s like a horror movie version of a fun house mirror. So bizarre.
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Talking to Dienne about Putin, Russia, or Ukraine, is JUST LIKE talking to a Flat Earther. But have a look at this website! I bet you didn’t even bother to read THIS information and THIS and THIS that explodes the whole round earth myth! If it’s round, how come people on the bottom don’t just fall off? And what about all the maps that SHOW the edges of the Earth? How many times do I have to show you those? And I bet no one on this blog has ever even read about the Antarctica as Infinite Plane Theory. And everyone knows that Galileo and Isaac Newton were Freemasons, and what kind of credible source is THAT?
Etc. One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. A little of both, I guess.
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Bob Shepherd Thank you for your excellent analogy about Dienne and others. The bottom is falling out. CBK
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“Gun deaths and gun death rates vary significantly across different states in the United States. According to the data provided, Mississippi has the highest gun deaths per capita, with 28.6 gun deaths per 100,000 population, resulting in a total of 818 gun deaths. Louisiana follows closely behind with a gun death rate of 26.3 per 100,000 and 1,183 gun deaths. On the other hand, Hawaii has the lowest gun deaths per capita, with only 3.4 gun deaths per 100,000 and a total of 50 gun deaths. Massachusetts has the second-lowest gun deaths per capita at 3.7 per 100,000, resulting in 268 gun deaths.
It is worth noting that Southern states such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas have some of the highest gun deaths per capita, indicating a higher prevalence of firearm-related fatalities in that region. Conversely, states in the Northeast, like New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, have significantly lower gun deaths per capita. Additionally, western states like Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska also have relatively high gun deaths per capita, possibly due to factors such as rural gun ownership, hunting culture, and accessibility to firearms.”
https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state/
This says it all.
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If we removed the RED states from that rating, the U.S. would have a lower death rate from firearms.
“Republicans have built their party on being the crime-fighting candidates, even as murder rates in red states have outpaced blue states by an average of 23% over the past two decades.”
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/27/murder-rate-high-trump-republican-states
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The crime-fighting party that embraces rampant firearm deaths
The freedom party that wants to tell you what you can read and whom you can love and where and to whom you can perform, that wants to seize control of women’s bodies, that is fine with armed insurrectionists and coup plotters attempting to overthrow a democratic election and so disenfranchize the people of the United States
The pro-defense party that is fine with piles of boxes of top secret classified documents in bathrooms and ballrooms, showing classified documents to unauthorized persons, alienating our friends, and embracing genocidal dictators who are sworn enemies of our country
WTF has happened to these people? They are just nuts. The lot of them.
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In other news:
What are these crazy liberal prosecutors thinking? How could they imagine that an operative for the intelligence services of a foreign nation could possibly pose as one of the 350 foreign workers at Mar-a-lago, which would require mastering such skills as floor sweeping, hedge trimming, coffee pouring, bed making, or window polishing, and also conquer the incredibly sophisticated technology of a bathroom door lock?
We need to be grateful for our once and present President Donald “Little Fingers and Even More Little Brain” Trump for ensuring the safety of our nation’s secrets by holding them in such impregnable facilities.
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And another question: Why haven’t banks hit upon the securing valuable commodities such as currency, bearer bonds, and so on with bathroom door locks? Is there anything our Once and Current President cannot do? He can even teach bank presidents about security! Wow. What a mind.
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Several responses –
Dienne – It’s what we DON’T know about Russia that is alarming. No, of course I have no evidence, but take what we do know about not getting truth and the lives sacrificed because of it in Chernobyl forward to children from Ukraine today, we don’t know what we don’t know. Is that the government you want?
As for U.S. involvement in military actions – you sound like a “whaddabout Hillary and Hunter’s laptop?” as a defense supporting an expresident guilty by his own admission of heinous actions that until 8 years ago would have been unthinkable anyone would think was ok. So is your endgame we become Russia or 1938 Germany?
Flerp! – it’s not the guns, IT’S THE GUN CULTURE circa 2020. That code has to be cracked! The expresident GLORFIED LAWLESSNESS and everyone from the anti-science people to the racists who have figured out speaking code is ok, it’s anything goes in the U.S. Gun buy backs might not make a dent – maybe just a short term dent – but it would MAKE A STATEMENT because right now no one is! Seriously. Have you heard one person on tv just scream knock it off!
Where’s the bold statement by every CEO, police organization , and others who see what is happening to our cities who understand It’s the Economy Stupid! Unsafe streets means no business and no college applicants and no new employees coming to a city near you.
It’s systemic:
A monster blow out sale gun by back
+ an education blitz on everything from conflict resolution to gun safety to listening to coaches and moms and others
+ a media blitz yes with sports stars and rock stars and scientists and doctors shouting enough is enough
+ LAWS starting with not allowing a teenager to walk down the street with a weapon visibly in hand a policeman not being able to say a word.
Laws – – – the Republicans are hypocrites on steroids. They have no platform, no principles, no direction. They preach “local control” on masks and vaccines, but no way should small farm town USA have different gun laws than the big city.
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If prosecutors don’t consider Trump a flight risk, and if Trump is not in fact a flight risk, then that’s because neither they nor Trump imagine that the Teflon Don v. 2.0 will see the inside of a prison cell. Is that where we are going into this? Is this all a road to nowhere to give the appearance that something substantive is being done? It is ofc difficult to imagine that Judge Aileen “We need a Special Master to delay this” Cannon will actually say to The Orange Psycho, “Mr. President, you’ve got time.” Will she be replaced?
And don’t say that it wouldn’t be possible to give Trump prison time because orange on orange is too matchy matchy (lol) or because of the requirement that he have protection. He won’t have his tan in a can in prison. He could be in a single cell in a Supermax with a monitor. He could have a Secret Service Agent who accompanies him to the shower and the yard and the commissary.
Jack Smith and Merrick “the Snail” Garland both have said that we are a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone. Hmmm. I guess that’s why Epstein got his sweetheart deal the first time and Gaetz didn’t get charged.
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Revised:
If prosecutors don’t consider Trump a flight risk, and if Trump is not in fact a flight risk, then that’s because neither they nor Trump imagine that the Teflon Don v. 2.0 will see the inside of a prison cell. Is that where we are going into this? Is this all a road to nowhere to give the appearance that a substantive way forward actually exists? It is ofc difficult to imagine that Judge Aileen “We need a Special Master to delay this” Cannon will actually say to The Orange Psycho, “Mr. President, you’ve got time.” Will she be replaced?
And don’t say that it wouldn’t be possible to give Trump prison time because orange on orange is too matchy matchy (lol) or because of the requirement that he have protection. He won’t have or need his tan in a can in prison. He could be in a single cell with a manbaby CCTV monitor in a Supermax. He could have a Secret Service Agent who accompanies him to the shower and the yard and the commissary.
Jack Smith and Merrick “the Snail” Garland both have said that we are a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone. Hmmm. I guess that’s why Epstein got his sweetheart deal the first time and Gaetz didn’t get charged and why every Jack and Jill Nobody who heeded Trump the Seditionist’s call has been tried and convicted and sent to jail–why many have already finished their sentences–while Trump basks in devotee affection and stuffs his monstrous maw with cheeseburgers and farts lies to everyone and plays at his golf and beach club and top secret classified document storage facility.
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I have a solution for the top secret documents. Put them in my shed. I did the same thing with my chainsaw, and I never found the thing.
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haaaa! I used to have one of those sheds with the black hole in the center!
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Bob You don’t have to be a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent to realize the substance of your note.
That Trump-In-Jail is a Democrat’s fondest wish only gives the application of the law the passion it deserves while countering the “let Trump get away with anything” posture from all those disgusting cult-worshipers on the Right.
That’s the beauty of the whole idea of the rule of law. CBK
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Trump is not a flight risk because he insists he is innocent. Everything he did was right. He declassified all the top secret documents, and they became his personal property. He didn’t have to return them to the government because he owns the top secrets, not the government.
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Diane And Trump didn’t show the documents to anyone important anyway. He’d never DO such a thing. He’s the best patriot we ever had. CBK
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Everything he says is a lie. He knows that he had to return them. He knows that he didn’t own them. I would be willing to bet that he has an exfiltration plan to Sochi all worked out, should it come to that.
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Bob Trump is even turning his indictment into a fundraising opportunity. He is the ultimate opportunist. . . EVERYTHING is twisted around to his favor. I was so glad to hear that the first judge didn’t let the press in so that Trump could have his spectacle. I bet he felt entirely naked, on his knees, head down, with his rear pointed at the ceiling. One can hope. CBK
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One thing we do not discuss here is the relationship between poverty, lawlessness, and gun violence. Most of the murders committed are committed by people who know the person they aim the weapon at. Few are strangers to each other. Availability of firearms in impoverished countries is a prescription for death. It is hard to be poor. You get cynical. You get angry, irrational. Your lover dumps you. You owe too much money. You have a gun. An argument, which happens all the time, sends you into a rage and the murder rate increases. You see no way out and the suicide rate increases.
I cannot quote the recent stats on poverty and murder, but these two problems are twins, just as poverty is related to poor outcomes in schools and healthcare.
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DBT have a song for every Southern/American situation:
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I don’t know what drove a father to kill his 3 young sons in Clermont county yesterday. The photo of the family’s home showed a trampoline in the backyard. A few months ago, there was an unexpected murder at a home in the area, minutes before the sheriffs arrived with an eviction notice.
The video made me think about the hopelessness.
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National Survey Finds Broad Support for Gun Safety Measures, including Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs)
Every two years since 2013, the Johns Hopkins National Survey of Gun Policy has measured the opinions of the American people on a wide range of evidence-based gun violence prevention measures. The newly-released results of the 2023 survey, conducted with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation, found widespread agreement – regardless of political affiliation or gun ownership – in support of several policies.
Some of the key findings:
81% of Americans support prohibiting a person subject to a temporary domestic violence restraining order from having a gun for the duration of the order.
76% of Americans support allowing family members to ask the court to temporarily remove guns from a relative who they believe is at risk of harming themselves or others.
72% of Americans support requiring a person to obtain a license from a local law enforcement agency before buying a gun.
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