Shooting at HS in Parkland Florida

17 families are getting calls right now, if they haven't already been notified. SEVENTEEN! Most of those victims were kids. The remaining victims were probably staff who pour their hearts and souls in to their jobs. This is beyond heart-breaking.

Here is why thoughts and prayers mean nothing. I'm strong in my faith. I pray. But I also know that God counts on us to make this world a better place. We aren't puppets that bend to his will. We all have free will to do what is right, and some choose that free will to do wrong. It's up to us to make this world a better place. So no, I will not be just giving thoughts and prayers. I will be taking action. There are organizations out there fighting for gun control. This is one of them. everytown.org/ and another www.bradycampaign.org/. And vote for people who do not serve the interests of the NRA.

The reason is that the fucking NRA controls the dialogue on guns, and they donate fuckloads of money to asshole politicians who do their bidding. THey donated something like 30 million dollars to trump's campaign, and millions more to smaller races around the country (our congressman got $75,000). No politician can deny being influenced by the NRA if they accept thousands or millions of dollars. It's disgusting. Fuck the NRA.

As the peas know, there was an attack at my kids' school several years ago and while no one was killed, many were grievously injured. It's been in the news a lot over the last couple weeks because he was finally sentenced last week. I don't think I have PTSD exactly but it's so strange the random and not so random things which make that sense of terror and confusion come back. It's been pretty ever present the last few weeks. Then something like this happens. There aren't enough words in the English language to express how offensive and profane and blasphemous I find the phrase "thoughts and prayers" coming from the very individuals who could do something (anything?) about this and choose to do nothing. Except accept campaign donations and endorsements from the NRA.

Anyway, my generalized sense of anxiety and despair this week has given way to abject horror tonight. I feel that what is broken in our country is irreparable.

Because the NRA is 100 times more powerful than the sporting shooters association. 

And they basically lack enough politicians with the fortitude John Howard had over this issue. 

Like him or not, that man went to the mattresses on that issue after Port Arthur. 

Did any of you see the video on CNN of the classroom footage? My God.....I don’t even know what to say.

The NRA will fund raise on this. Tomorrow, this weekend, next week. Just wait for it.

As far as I'm concerned, they are a terrorist organization and they should be systematically dismantled by federal law enforcement.

It is horrific.

I agree. Its frightening how much power they have. 

I had just said that should be played over and over again... Listen, watch and see what happens to the kids in the class room!

Yes it is horrific, but people NEED  to see what happens to those kids, and tell me it is ok for them to go through that!

Your post brought tears to my eyes. What we went through was nothing like what you went through. And yet we're in this weird club together. I think everyone probably thinks they understand what it feels like but. But.

For me, a big trigger is the sound of helicopters. One after another after another after another.

I have mixed feelings on it being shown. 

Not every sees sees it as we do. Others may see it as a need for armed teachers or a right to carry at school. 

Here's my main issue - we aren't even allowed to talk about guns and policies because the minute somebody utters the word "gun", the NRA shuts it down. The CDC isn't even allowed to study the issue. Can you imagine anything else that kills close to 35k people a year and we can't research it and study it and try to do better? And the problem is multifaceted - a huge chunk of the deaths are suicide, likely by law abiding citizens who purchased their guns legally. Further gun control in those situations likely won't help - but maybe better mental health screening and access to healthcare could help. What are the factors that contribute to kids having access to guns? Would a big push on a campaign about better storage of guns to reduce access to kids help? Maybe there situations where better regulation could help. But how do we even learn if we can't even talk about it?

And I'm tired of the attitude that "bad guys will always get guns, so let's just not even try". Where else do we even apply that same logic? "Illegal immigrants will always get in, so let's just open our borders" said no one ever. How do the guns get into their hands? I would be very interested in better understanding that. Are people selling guns they shouldn't be? Is it theft? Smuggling? I doubt manufacturers are selling directly to people who shouldn't have guns, so let's try to understand how legal guns become illegal ones and how we can change that.

And none of this means somebody is coming for your guns. I just don't get the obsession and excessive gun culture.

I listened to a story last week about a hard core right wing conservative that introduced a bill in Louisiana that would ban toy guns from schools and impose fines/penalties if somebody brings a toy gun to school. Why? The police chief had an incident at a school where a "toy" gun was found that took him a full five minutes to realize it was fake - that's how accurate some of these toy guns are. His concern was a police officer shooting a kid or person with one of these guns because by look they wouldn't be able to discern if a gun was real or not. I think they said 115 people are shot each year because an officer thinks a toy gun is a real gun. Anyway - most people thought this seemed like pretty common sense legislation and it was basically political suicide for the legislator because the NRA and other shooting groups thought this would somehow make it easier for somebody to come take away their real guns. Really? It seemed like such an overreaction.

Ditto.

The WH handing out “thoughts and prayers” rings so hollow and empty.

Oh Sarah, I’m so sorry. I don’t think you can draw comparisons on these experiences. It’s such a shock to the system complicated by your own personal history, and people have to process the experience in their own time. Please give credence to your feelings. They are valid. 

For me, it’s driving past the firehouse where parents gathered after the murders. And, of course, each subsequent mass shooting.