😭

I just don't understand what this world is coming to. And especially in this country.

I am almost glad that I am old and won't need to deal with the increasing chaos and constant violence all that much longer. But I do worry for succeeding generations.

Very sad indeed.

Horrid tragedy. 😭

Just to put this in perspective.

The suspect is known to be mentally ill : "--- His mental health issues resulted in a weeks-long stay at a facility over the summer, ---"

dcarch

Carol I agree with your comment but not necessarily the meme. There will always have mental illness regardless of the accessibility of treatment. Dealing with mental illness is a long term process. The issue is allowing mentally ill people with violent tendencies to have guns.

Isn't the issue allowing anyone to have guns? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023

I expect this entire thread to have vanished by tomorrow, but just to say, we are in this nightmare explosion of gun violence because of a radical misreading/misunderstanding of the Second Amendment.

"Well regulated" seems to be completely ignored when it comes to weapons, doesn't it?

It is much, much easier to spend thou$and$ on obtaining weapons than it is to find a good therapist - and there's a huge stigma against recognizing, acknowledging or admitting to having mental health problems as well - especially among some groups of society.

I think there are a bunch of interlocking complex issues leading to these shooting. Plus I think when an idea takes root in a culture it is really hard to remove it. And unfortunately the idea of taking one’s pain and rage out on a bunch of other people in a spectacularly theatrical form of suicide is now part of our cultural lexicon.

If the gun isn't there in the first place......

Even if it were really well regulated militia, this guy in Maine is military.

...and obviously NOT well-regulated - he reportedly legally purchased his weapon before he was hospitalized and ordered to have psychiatric evaluation...

"... Earlier Friday, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN the gun investigators believe Card used to carry out the massacre was purchased legally just days before he was hospitalized and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in July.

In mid-July, New York State Police were called to Camp Smith in Cortlandt, New York, the military base where Card served, because he was acting “belligerently and possibly intoxicated,” according to a source briefed on the matter. Three law enforcement sources confirm state police brought Card to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for suspected intoxication and released the next day."..."

And now it's reported he was found dead.

If you have read murder and mass murder news, you know many murderers are very highly educated and not all mass murders are committed by AR15 guns. You also know that there are many different forms of mental illness, some can behave healthy socially all the time. You know that banning guns has benefits, but there are illegal guns and ways you can make your own gun (3D printer, ghost guns etc.).

We need very fundamental changes, not just gun control, to a whole lot of stuff in our society. Starting with kids playing violent video games to politicians with connections to gun manufacturers.

Don't forget a few days ago, a pilot tried to shut off the plane's engine after taking magic mushrooms.

dcarch

Actually, according to the Violence Project the use of assault style rifles in mass shootings has increased steadily in recent decades, up to 59% in the past few years.

Yes, mass shootings while high profile are a drop in the bucket of our gun violence problem. Mental illness and video games exist worldwide, as do 3D printers at this point. One major problem that differentiates the US is the legality and relative free trade of millions upon millions of guns.

The number I've seen in reporting on this horror is that there've been 565 mass shootings so far this year - meaning multiples per day, and we've got a couple more months to go.

I do understand suicide is another big number in the gun violence tally. Not sure how many of those so far - and there's the added problem of a lack of accurate data - by design.

This guy managed to get himself counted for both a mass shooting and a suicide, it seems.