Some of your best writing, Walter. This highlights a real problem in rural America that too many want to ignore or they want to excuse. Why is the instance of the "angry white male" mass-shooter a "mental health issue" and if he were a person of color, it would be a race crime statistic? It is a race crime statistic - a white race crime statistic and there is a sick pattern to it.
Sitting here trying not to hurl with no ability to stop crying with astorm inside my heart that won't abate. This was riveting truth. The guts part. Grew up on a farm. Memories flooded back of shooting the cows, pigs in the head so their "fear" wouldn't poison the meat. Wringing chickens by the neck so they would "taste" right. Everything you said was critical and correct. THe vomit of Gun violence smells like perfume to these cruel, violent, perverted beings that have lost humanity. Thank you for this brilliant piece! MY GOD!
The fact that we lose track of how many mass shootings we have in a year tells you how big this problem is. I recall a reporter asking a congressman, who he was interviewing on the steps of the Capitol, about the latest school shooting. The congressman basically said that Congress would do nothing about gun restrictions. He then admitted that it wasn't his concern because his children were home schooled. So, his mentality is "Let everyone else's child get murdered, not my problem. My kids are safely at home."
This is exactly why these people need to be voted out of office. They don't care if someone else's house catch fire. Or that these tragedies continue to happen. It's shameful that people hold their right to own a weapon of war more dear than they do the lives of children. Make it make sense.
New Zealand had on mass shooting. Within two to three months they banned guns. Problem solved. But of course, their President was female. We will have the opportunity to do the same by electing our first female President this November.
I honestly believe that Republicans want middle class kids who go to public schools to get shot. I think we all have to just assume this is what they want, because they're certainly doing everything they can to enable it. Yup, the response of Australia and New Zealand provides evidence that can't be ignored. I hope that when Kamala takes control of the White House she handles this (and I expect she will).
I find the whole thing to be mind boggling. The people who are anti-abortion are the same people who ignore kids being shot down in school. How is that Pro-Life? So a person only deserves to live when their in the womb, but when they're actually living and breathing humans, they're fair game for a turkey shoot?
Yes, America is uniquely distopian in this instance of human rights. The only rights you have are only when you're a fetus. Any other time, all bets are off. How did things get so twisted?
Perhaps America is a “killing field” BECAUSE children learn at a young age now (50 yrs…) that only certain life is valuable. Instead of learning that ALL life has value? When even one group of humans is dehumanized, it has a ripple effect. And before you accuse me of being only probaby in the womb, actually get facts?
I’m pro-life. I’m also against mass shootings. Don’t lump all pro-life people into the same category as somebody who is a mass shooter or who doesn’t care. We do absolutely care. But the struggle is that bad guys will still have guns. Kamala might be able to enact a bill to “protect” us from ourselves, but the bad guys won’t follow her laws.
On Monday (Labor Day), I was home alone with my eight-year-old. My husband had left to pick up our groceries and some lunch. A man tried to rob us at 12:30 noon. Yes, I had a gun! I definitely defended myself and my child! Did I ever think I’d have to be put in that situation? Absolutely not! But we live out in the middle of nowhere, and the sheriff’s department still didn’t arrive until 20 minutes after I made the 911 call. The man was well out of the area by then. They didn’t find him! I’m not sleeping well now.
But would I have been a statistic had I not had my defense on me? Probably. I’m not giving up my gun! It saved my and my son’s life.
I wrote a comment below first about how at age 10 I had not touched a gun since an incident with my cousin and I playing. That’s a fact. But 2 years ago with the massive influx of illegals coming I decided to purchase a gun for home protection. That was the second time I had handled it since purchasing it in 2022. I took a qualification test on it but hadn’t touched it since. I don’t like guns! They terrify me! But no one is going to tell me I can’t protect myself or my child’s life!
How do babies die under pro-life policies? I’m genuinely confused because I thought “pro-life” was supposed to mean supporting life, living, or at least the ability to live. I don’t understand how babies are dying under this framework.
My cousin faced a heart-wrenching decision several years ago when her sister was giving birth. The doctor told her, "I can either save your sister or the baby—you have to choose." She had to make an impossible choice, to save one life over the other. Is that pro-choice or pro-life?
This was in 2005, while Roe v. Wade was still in effect, before decisions were left to individual states. I’m trying to understand how situations like this play out now, especially with the changes in laws. This happened in New Mexico, which supports the right to choose, but I still wonder—what would have happened today under different state laws.
I am specifically talking about military style weapons, i.e. AK47s and the like, the weapons of choice of all the mass shootings I've heard about. Nobody is saying you shouldn't defend yourself. You are lumping all guns into one category. If the Democratic president was going to come after everybody's guns, why would they wait until the end of his term? It's an illogical argument. A scare tactic use by the Republicans. I'm glad you were able to defend yourself and your child. But the narrative about illegal immigrants is another scare tactic. It makes villains out of people who are fleeing from violence in their own country. How many immigrants have you personally encountered who have taken over your city? It's a shame that people don't see how racist that trope is. Blame it on the brown people. What about the European illegal immigrants? I don't see anybody complaining about them over staying their visas.
There was a bipartisan bill ready to be approved and Trump told the Republicans to kill it because he wanted to run his campaign on immigration. If you are upset about the "open border", you should be upset with Trump. Funny how people don't pay attention to things like that. They want to blame the Democrats for everything.
So clearly you don’t know any and are basing your comments on ? How do you know EVERY Republican supports Trump? And by not speaking to others with a different point of view you are
A. Contributing to the decline of this country.
B. Staying in your own little bubble & are not willing to learn.
His kids are home schooled... Well, they go to birthday parties, grocery stores, office buildings, churches, parades, picnics, sports events... All of which have become killing fields on his watch. Sick MF.
I am spreading this essay widely! Your personal history is compelling. Your understanding of the shaping of the American psyche is insightful. Your appeal to the future is pure poetry. Thank you for your art. 🌊🐬
Brady Bill, yes really good point! Well I think Trump is a buffoon of course but I am not sure it was a lie. He truly believed that everything in Israel should be mimicked for USA, he said so without actually knowing. People like me do a bit of research...and their gun laws are very RESTRICTIVE. Trump is bought and paid by the NRA, but also a loose cannon moron that just says things b/c he can and so if he did a little research he would never have stated this.
Anyways, gun access is a huge problem. Another point there are very little mass shootings with Machine guns. Machine guns are controlled very rigidly by the ATF so they know who has machine guns and who buys them. Very rarely do we get a guy with a machine gun committing murders with them (there was 1 in the news cycle earlier this year), I don't remember the last time before that. Point is...gun access works!
I hope if Kamala wins she can stand strong to the lobbyist of the gun ppl and really enact fruitful change. What Biden did with ghost guns is a joke. Ghost guns aren't a huge dent of an issue...let's go after gun access, let's regulate private sales (which have zero regulation!). Literally you can sell a gun without the use of an background check if you "believe" the guy you are selling too isn't a criminal. It is horse shit!
If I am not mistaken, our smaller neighbour to the North has more guns in circulation than the US does - and how many of the mass shootings the US has to endure?
Yes - the US society is to an extreme extent sick, mentally sick, to the bone (and not only in regard to gun violence). And it all stems from the very fact that the only thing that matters is money.
What we are experiencing at this point in time are the endstages of capitalism!
As you have remarked in the past if I recall corectly: "It is darkest before dawn".
Let's keep our fingers crossed that down comes soon - and that we will indeed seize the bright new day - and not waste it!
"Guns in circulation" is a tricky statement because not all guns are created equal. I hope the US starts taking this problem seriously, but the government has been letting it linger on for decades. At this point, we need to recognize that Republicans simply want those kids killed and they're doing everything they can to allow it to happen. Thanks for the comment!
Some of your best writing, Walter. This highlights a real problem in rural America that too many want to ignore or they want to excuse. Why is the instance of the "angry white male" mass-shooter a "mental health issue" and if he were a person of color, it would be a race crime statistic? It is a race crime statistic - a white race crime statistic and there is a sick pattern to it.
Thank you Susanne!
Thank you for this stunning essay. You connect the dots along an obvious time. I appreciate the reader's responses that contribute to the discission.
Thank you!
Sitting here trying not to hurl with no ability to stop crying with astorm inside my heart that won't abate. This was riveting truth. The guts part. Grew up on a farm. Memories flooded back of shooting the cows, pigs in the head so their "fear" wouldn't poison the meat. Wringing chickens by the neck so they would "taste" right. Everything you said was critical and correct. THe vomit of Gun violence smells like perfume to these cruel, violent, perverted beings that have lost humanity. Thank you for this brilliant piece! MY GOD!
Thank you for that powerful reaction!
Wow. I can see genocide in your headlights.
The fact that we lose track of how many mass shootings we have in a year tells you how big this problem is. I recall a reporter asking a congressman, who he was interviewing on the steps of the Capitol, about the latest school shooting. The congressman basically said that Congress would do nothing about gun restrictions. He then admitted that it wasn't his concern because his children were home schooled. So, his mentality is "Let everyone else's child get murdered, not my problem. My kids are safely at home."
This is exactly why these people need to be voted out of office. They don't care if someone else's house catch fire. Or that these tragedies continue to happen. It's shameful that people hold their right to own a weapon of war more dear than they do the lives of children. Make it make sense.
New Zealand had on mass shooting. Within two to three months they banned guns. Problem solved. But of course, their President was female. We will have the opportunity to do the same by electing our first female President this November.
I honestly believe that Republicans want middle class kids who go to public schools to get shot. I think we all have to just assume this is what they want, because they're certainly doing everything they can to enable it. Yup, the response of Australia and New Zealand provides evidence that can't be ignored. I hope that when Kamala takes control of the White House she handles this (and I expect she will).
I find the whole thing to be mind boggling. The people who are anti-abortion are the same people who ignore kids being shot down in school. How is that Pro-Life? So a person only deserves to live when their in the womb, but when they're actually living and breathing humans, they're fair game for a turkey shoot?
Yes, America is uniquely distopian in this instance of human rights. The only rights you have are only when you're a fetus. Any other time, all bets are off. How did things get so twisted?
Perhaps America is a “killing field” BECAUSE children learn at a young age now (50 yrs…) that only certain life is valuable. Instead of learning that ALL life has value? When even one group of humans is dehumanized, it has a ripple effect. And before you accuse me of being only probaby in the womb, actually get facts?
Yes, conservatives devalue human life and they’re awful because of it.
I’m pro-life. I’m also against mass shootings. Don’t lump all pro-life people into the same category as somebody who is a mass shooter or who doesn’t care. We do absolutely care. But the struggle is that bad guys will still have guns. Kamala might be able to enact a bill to “protect” us from ourselves, but the bad guys won’t follow her laws.
On Monday (Labor Day), I was home alone with my eight-year-old. My husband had left to pick up our groceries and some lunch. A man tried to rob us at 12:30 noon. Yes, I had a gun! I definitely defended myself and my child! Did I ever think I’d have to be put in that situation? Absolutely not! But we live out in the middle of nowhere, and the sheriff’s department still didn’t arrive until 20 minutes after I made the 911 call. The man was well out of the area by then. They didn’t find him! I’m not sleeping well now.
But would I have been a statistic had I not had my defense on me? Probably. I’m not giving up my gun! It saved my and my son’s life.
I wrote a comment below first about how at age 10 I had not touched a gun since an incident with my cousin and I playing. That’s a fact. But 2 years ago with the massive influx of illegals coming I decided to purchase a gun for home protection. That was the second time I had handled it since purchasing it in 2022. I took a qualification test on it but hadn’t touched it since. I don’t like guns! They terrify me! But no one is going to tell me I can’t protect myself or my child’s life!
So called “pro-life” people get more people killed than anyone else. Without access to reproductive healthcare, both women and babies die.
How do babies die under pro-life policies? I’m genuinely confused because I thought “pro-life” was supposed to mean supporting life, living, or at least the ability to live. I don’t understand how babies are dying under this framework.
My cousin faced a heart-wrenching decision several years ago when her sister was giving birth. The doctor told her, "I can either save your sister or the baby—you have to choose." She had to make an impossible choice, to save one life over the other. Is that pro-choice or pro-life?
This was in 2005, while Roe v. Wade was still in effect, before decisions were left to individual states. I’m trying to understand how situations like this play out now, especially with the changes in laws. This happened in New Mexico, which supports the right to choose, but I still wonder—what would have happened today under different state laws.
The example you mention is clearly pro choice, and it saved a life because otherwise both would die. Now, both parties end up dead. Pro-life KILLS!
I am specifically talking about military style weapons, i.e. AK47s and the like, the weapons of choice of all the mass shootings I've heard about. Nobody is saying you shouldn't defend yourself. You are lumping all guns into one category. If the Democratic president was going to come after everybody's guns, why would they wait until the end of his term? It's an illogical argument. A scare tactic use by the Republicans. I'm glad you were able to defend yourself and your child. But the narrative about illegal immigrants is another scare tactic. It makes villains out of people who are fleeing from violence in their own country. How many immigrants have you personally encountered who have taken over your city? It's a shame that people don't see how racist that trope is. Blame it on the brown people. What about the European illegal immigrants? I don't see anybody complaining about them over staying their visas.
There was a bipartisan bill ready to be approved and Trump told the Republicans to kill it because he wanted to run his campaign on immigration. If you are upset about the "open border", you should be upset with Trump. Funny how people don't pay attention to things like that. They want to blame the Democrats for everything.
They’re awful human beings. They support a rapist for president. Anyone who talks to somebody like that is putting their own life at risk.
So clearly you don’t know any and are basing your comments on ? How do you know EVERY Republican supports Trump? And by not speaking to others with a different point of view you are
A. Contributing to the decline of this country.
B. Staying in your own little bubble & are not willing to learn.
Or maybe those criticisms apply to you?
👍🏽👍🏽🙏
My first reaction is you forgot the shooters were on prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. I think that is more important than being white and American.
Yes, Republicans are despicable and frankly deranged.
His kids are home schooled... Well, they go to birthday parties, grocery stores, office buildings, churches, parades, picnics, sports events... All of which have become killing fields on his watch. Sick MF.
We have the strongest economy in our history
This is incredibly well written and on point. I’m proud to share this. It was like reading a piece of my own life, thank you.
Hi William, thanks for your kind comment!
Same, I was stunned by both the familiarity and the horror, together. Two opposites joining to create this meat grinder culture
Thank you!
Walter, I must encourage you to go see your doctor and have them check your testosterone levels.
I am spreading this essay widely! Your personal history is compelling. Your understanding of the shaping of the American psyche is insightful. Your appeal to the future is pure poetry. Thank you for your art. 🌊🐬
I appreciate your support! Thanks!
You've absolutely nailed America's tragedy here, Walter. Particularly struck by the notion of many living their lives in terror.
Most of the time we lived there we had great, inexpensive healthcare as I worked for a large corporation but as soon as I went freelance...
Thank you!
Brady Bill, yes really good point! Well I think Trump is a buffoon of course but I am not sure it was a lie. He truly believed that everything in Israel should be mimicked for USA, he said so without actually knowing. People like me do a bit of research...and their gun laws are very RESTRICTIVE. Trump is bought and paid by the NRA, but also a loose cannon moron that just says things b/c he can and so if he did a little research he would never have stated this.
Anyways, gun access is a huge problem. Another point there are very little mass shootings with Machine guns. Machine guns are controlled very rigidly by the ATF so they know who has machine guns and who buys them. Very rarely do we get a guy with a machine gun committing murders with them (there was 1 in the news cycle earlier this year), I don't remember the last time before that. Point is...gun access works!
I hope if Kamala wins she can stand strong to the lobbyist of the gun ppl and really enact fruitful change. What Biden did with ghost guns is a joke. Ghost guns aren't a huge dent of an issue...let's go after gun access, let's regulate private sales (which have zero regulation!). Literally you can sell a gun without the use of an background check if you "believe" the guy you are selling too isn't a criminal. It is horse shit!
A most excellent analysis! To the point.
If I am not mistaken, our smaller neighbour to the North has more guns in circulation than the US does - and how many of the mass shootings the US has to endure?
Yes - the US society is to an extreme extent sick, mentally sick, to the bone (and not only in regard to gun violence). And it all stems from the very fact that the only thing that matters is money.
What we are experiencing at this point in time are the endstages of capitalism!
As you have remarked in the past if I recall corectly: "It is darkest before dawn".
Let's keep our fingers crossed that down comes soon - and that we will indeed seize the bright new day - and not waste it!
"Guns in circulation" is a tricky statement because not all guns are created equal. I hope the US starts taking this problem seriously, but the government has been letting it linger on for decades. At this point, we need to recognize that Republicans simply want those kids killed and they're doing everything they can to allow it to happen. Thanks for the comment!
Wow, stunning piece. This is a tour de force. Very deep and really perceptive. I thank you.
Thank you Bonnie. We need to change our social approach to these senseless murders.
Cannot agree more. Thank you for this really excellent piece. It's a re-reader for sure.
“We know that most mass shooters are most often white.” Ever been to the South Side of Chicago?
your voice is so valid and gender affirming ❤️✨🏳️⚧️
Walter, That's a hard way to grow.
Very good read.
You amaze me, you human you. 🙂
Keep it flowing✒️
Thank you very much!
I think this says much more about your psychology than it says about society in general
meh
What a tedious shitlib and village atheist you are. Why do you bother?!