This is the urgent life and death question poised by Connecticut Senator, Chris Murphy, a day after a sick 18 year-old executed 19 children and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas. Uvalde is a small town of 15,000 , an hour west of San Antonio. Yesterday it was unknown. Now its name will live as infamy along with Newtown, Connecticut (Sandy Hook), Parkland, Florida, and Columbine, Colorado.
100% correct Larry. How many more deaths need to occur before our “do nothing” government (Senate), decides to take the first step in corrective legislation?
You are brave to make these comments knowing that so many people will claim that we can't do anything even thought all other countries in the world do not have a mass shooting problem. You would think seeing so many little kids torn to pieces with an AR15 they would have some spot in their heart to support people trying to stop it. Let me be clear, we have 3 guns in our home, not because I want to play with them but I feel it is a necessity in this country to have guns to protect against so many others with guns. I have a solution to the mass shooting problem and I hope that this idea gains some traction. The problem is that with every shooting, the media calls the killer the 'shooter' or the 'gunman'. It is this glorified description that drives them. If we all started referring to the person as the 'coward', this shit would stop. The news report should be ' the coward entered the school and shot unarmed kids'. The coward entered the Walmart and shot unarmed people'. You see it is our cultural description of the people who do these mass shootings that continues to feed the culture. We all need to call these murders what they are - cowards.
Totally disagree with his totalitarian solution. “We need federal marshals placed in every school, we need every high school student to have routine meetings with guidance counselors and psychologists to assess their mental health, we need random assignment of federal marshals in churches, mosques, synagogues, stores, movie theaters, restaurants, buses — you name it.“
If we had a foolproof way of monitoring the monitors then, maybe. But we don’t.
And doesn’t anyone remember their school guidance counselors? I would not want them assessing the mental health of anyone.
Thanks for the call-to-action Larry. I suggest the first thing to do is follow the money. Ironically, every mass shooting is a fundraiser for the NRA and a significant number in the GOP who depend upon NRA blood money to stay in power.
Records show that in the wake of Parkland, the NRA had its biggest haul in 15 years. In the March following $2.4M of this went right away to the gun lobby according to the Federal Election Commission. In January and February of 2013 after Sandy Hook the NRA collected $2.6m. Its an election year and this is an unbelievable series of tragedies. However, it is uncanny good timing for many in the GOP that are expecting to have some of the most expensive election cycles ever and will without thinking twice grab as much of the NRA’s dirty money as they can in a quid pro quo exchange for blocking any common sense gun reform.
On a similar note, its the economics of dis-information and yellow journalism that has polarized our country, the toxic Great Replacement theory has found a home at FOX and many other media outlets that profit on societies negative outcomes. Again, follow the money, if Tucker Carlson was not getting advertisers to support this dribble in the mainstream would the shooter that killed so many in Buffalo latched on to the idea.
If we are to get anything done the core economics of politics and the economics of having an informed electorate need to change.
Larry, you are advocating for the exact same background check that the shooter passed prior to legally purchasing the weapons he used. What legislation in the bill you are advocating that would have prevented this?
Larry, you are a brilliant economist I had always admired. Today, I ceased doing that. You are just another proof that left-wing nuts clouded your vision. Economics is a political science if one chooses it to be. Yet if you stayed within your field of expertise, you would bare more respect. Paraphrasing great Abraham Lincoln, 'By keeping your mouth shut, people will think you are smart...'
Still respectful, Uri Norwich (you can Google my name to understand better where I come from).
Steve Kerr was inspired yesterday and thank you for continuing the message. I am beyond disgusted with our clown car Senate and their failure to address this out of control issue. How do these morally bankrupt buffoons look the parents of these children in the eye while babbling some hollow “thoughts and prayers” comment? Here’s a “thought and prayer”: DO YOUR JOB! The primary responsibility of a governing body is to protect the people they serve. Could you have failed any worse?
Larry, you have caused me to think more about this issue. I don't know the answers. My heart is broken for those who have lost their young, beautiful children. I wholeheartedly agree with background checks. I also believe we shouldn't condone assault weapons. However what gives me pause in your piece is your rhetoric that the problems are all the cause of Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans. Please forgive me, but your words in this regard almost sound sensational I believe these Republicans have a reason for what they are doing and I don't think it's to amass power. To me, this explanation is simplistic. The problem is complex. These Senators have their reasons, even if the reasons are flawed. (And I don't know enough to say that they are flawed.). Your piece has stirred me to want to understand more of why they are voting the way they are. From this standpoint, you accomplished what I assume was your goal, which was to make people think.
I am a user and lover of your amazing financial planning software, Maxifi. I recommend it to others and highly recommend it to readers here. Please don't kick me off Maxifi just because I have expressed sentiments that are not 100% aligned with your thinking. :)
The darn Congress has a MAJORITY of the country's population already IN-HAND asking them for regulation, but Congress pretend to be helpless, instead, Congresspeople call for demonstrations on the street {her royal highness HRC came on sunday TV using her typical wide eyed faux-human appeal to do the same for abortion, then retiring back to her mansion, i presume}, Congresspeople ask to "motivate" their base; but they ALREADY HAVE a MAJORITY of the country's voice.....still they do nothing.
The NRA backed Republicans have a literal death lock on our country. Nothing is going to change this. Shame? No. Logic? No. Remorse? No. Money? No. Death of their own loved ones? Not likely. Pro-Life? Not a clue. How can anyone not feel afraid that the next school shooting will be too close to home? I live six miles from Oxford, MI and this area was devastated. Maybe a nationwide strike where mothers keep their children home and at the same time don't go to work?
right now, we need univ background checks to close all loopholes (prevention) and then incremental (which is not likely but if folks had good will not colored by PAC money...) raise age of purchase to assault weapons to 21, and ban sales of body armor, etc to non-law enforcement
Why are we again allowing the sale of assault weapons to private citizens? Perhaps starting with this question, rather than the politically charged matter of background checks, could lead at least to some progress. And, yes, cops and/or marshals in schools are necessary. It worked well in Chelsea, MA, when Boston University was managing the school system. The officers developed great relationships and mutual respect with the students in addition to the safety measures provided.
Lobbying might makes too much legally "right." These incidents will increase in frequency until even gun lobbyists find the immorality of their work impossible to tolerate.
100% correct Larry. How many more deaths need to occur before our “do nothing” government (Senate), decides to take the first step in corrective legislation?
You are brave to make these comments knowing that so many people will claim that we can't do anything even thought all other countries in the world do not have a mass shooting problem. You would think seeing so many little kids torn to pieces with an AR15 they would have some spot in their heart to support people trying to stop it. Let me be clear, we have 3 guns in our home, not because I want to play with them but I feel it is a necessity in this country to have guns to protect against so many others with guns. I have a solution to the mass shooting problem and I hope that this idea gains some traction. The problem is that with every shooting, the media calls the killer the 'shooter' or the 'gunman'. It is this glorified description that drives them. If we all started referring to the person as the 'coward', this shit would stop. The news report should be ' the coward entered the school and shot unarmed kids'. The coward entered the Walmart and shot unarmed people'. You see it is our cultural description of the people who do these mass shootings that continues to feed the culture. We all need to call these murders what they are - cowards.
Totally disagree with his totalitarian solution. “We need federal marshals placed in every school, we need every high school student to have routine meetings with guidance counselors and psychologists to assess their mental health, we need random assignment of federal marshals in churches, mosques, synagogues, stores, movie theaters, restaurants, buses — you name it.“
If we had a foolproof way of monitoring the monitors then, maybe. But we don’t.
And doesn’t anyone remember their school guidance counselors? I would not want them assessing the mental health of anyone.
Thanks for the call-to-action Larry. I suggest the first thing to do is follow the money. Ironically, every mass shooting is a fundraiser for the NRA and a significant number in the GOP who depend upon NRA blood money to stay in power.
Records show that in the wake of Parkland, the NRA had its biggest haul in 15 years. In the March following $2.4M of this went right away to the gun lobby according to the Federal Election Commission. In January and February of 2013 after Sandy Hook the NRA collected $2.6m. Its an election year and this is an unbelievable series of tragedies. However, it is uncanny good timing for many in the GOP that are expecting to have some of the most expensive election cycles ever and will without thinking twice grab as much of the NRA’s dirty money as they can in a quid pro quo exchange for blocking any common sense gun reform.
On a similar note, its the economics of dis-information and yellow journalism that has polarized our country, the toxic Great Replacement theory has found a home at FOX and many other media outlets that profit on societies negative outcomes. Again, follow the money, if Tucker Carlson was not getting advertisers to support this dribble in the mainstream would the shooter that killed so many in Buffalo latched on to the idea.
If we are to get anything done the core economics of politics and the economics of having an informed electorate need to change.
Larry, you are advocating for the exact same background check that the shooter passed prior to legally purchasing the weapons he used. What legislation in the bill you are advocating that would have prevented this?
Larry, you are a brilliant economist I had always admired. Today, I ceased doing that. You are just another proof that left-wing nuts clouded your vision. Economics is a political science if one chooses it to be. Yet if you stayed within your field of expertise, you would bare more respect. Paraphrasing great Abraham Lincoln, 'By keeping your mouth shut, people will think you are smart...'
Still respectful, Uri Norwich (you can Google my name to understand better where I come from).
The right to bear arms meant muskets and buckshot, not weapons of mass destruction.
Steve Kerr was inspired yesterday and thank you for continuing the message. I am beyond disgusted with our clown car Senate and their failure to address this out of control issue. How do these morally bankrupt buffoons look the parents of these children in the eye while babbling some hollow “thoughts and prayers” comment? Here’s a “thought and prayer”: DO YOUR JOB! The primary responsibility of a governing body is to protect the people they serve. Could you have failed any worse?
Larry, you have caused me to think more about this issue. I don't know the answers. My heart is broken for those who have lost their young, beautiful children. I wholeheartedly agree with background checks. I also believe we shouldn't condone assault weapons. However what gives me pause in your piece is your rhetoric that the problems are all the cause of Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans. Please forgive me, but your words in this regard almost sound sensational I believe these Republicans have a reason for what they are doing and I don't think it's to amass power. To me, this explanation is simplistic. The problem is complex. These Senators have their reasons, even if the reasons are flawed. (And I don't know enough to say that they are flawed.). Your piece has stirred me to want to understand more of why they are voting the way they are. From this standpoint, you accomplished what I assume was your goal, which was to make people think.
I am a user and lover of your amazing financial planning software, Maxifi. I recommend it to others and highly recommend it to readers here. Please don't kick me off Maxifi just because I have expressed sentiments that are not 100% aligned with your thinking. :)
Jim Kitchens
The darn Congress has a MAJORITY of the country's population already IN-HAND asking them for regulation, but Congress pretend to be helpless, instead, Congresspeople call for demonstrations on the street {her royal highness HRC came on sunday TV using her typical wide eyed faux-human appeal to do the same for abortion, then retiring back to her mansion, i presume}, Congresspeople ask to "motivate" their base; but they ALREADY HAVE a MAJORITY of the country's voice.....still they do nothing.
The NRA backed Republicans have a literal death lock on our country. Nothing is going to change this. Shame? No. Logic? No. Remorse? No. Money? No. Death of their own loved ones? Not likely. Pro-Life? Not a clue. How can anyone not feel afraid that the next school shooting will be too close to home? I live six miles from Oxford, MI and this area was devastated. Maybe a nationwide strike where mothers keep their children home and at the same time don't go to work?
right now, we need univ background checks to close all loopholes (prevention) and then incremental (which is not likely but if folks had good will not colored by PAC money...) raise age of purchase to assault weapons to 21, and ban sales of body armor, etc to non-law enforcement
Why are we again allowing the sale of assault weapons to private citizens? Perhaps starting with this question, rather than the politically charged matter of background checks, could lead at least to some progress. And, yes, cops and/or marshals in schools are necessary. It worked well in Chelsea, MA, when Boston University was managing the school system. The officers developed great relationships and mutual respect with the students in addition to the safety measures provided.
Lobbying might makes too much legally "right." These incidents will increase in frequency until even gun lobbyists find the immorality of their work impossible to tolerate.
well said
Completely agree with Larry. Also, there is no justification for military grade guns to be sold to the general public.