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[Malyse]

What the fuck.

Today is the 71st day of the year, and 685 children and teenagers have already been shot since January 1.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a national database of fatal and nonfatal shootings, 108 children aged 0 to 11 and 577 teenagers aged 12 to 17 were injured or killed by a gun this year. That means, on average, nine young people have been shot per day so far this year.

Altogether, there have been 11,250 gun incidents across the country, resulting in more than 2,870 deaths and over 5,550 injuries.

The statistics paint a bleak picture of gun violence in the U.S. at a time when President Donald Trump is expanding gun rights for people whose access to firearms was restricted under his predecessor. Reversing a decades-long FBI policy that prevented people with outstanding warrants from purchasing guns, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last month that people with arrest warrants can now purchase guns in the state the warrant was issued. The DOJ also scrapped background checks for people with severe mental illnesses.

Gun violence against children is also happening at a time when Trump is working with the Congress to arm school teachers, despite evidence that the presence of more guns makes people less safe, very few shootings happen at K-12 schools, and gunmen don’t typically strike gun-free school zones.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest gun lobby in the country, has positioned itself as a pro-Trump “counter resistance” force.

Within days of the gun rights expansions in February, the NRA released an ad starring Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, which claims that Trump “has no more powerful ally than the NRA.” The ad features clips of anti-Trump protests and anti-Trump lawmakers and pundits before the words “we fight back” flash onscreen.

https://thinkprogress.org/hundreds-of-kids-have-already-been-shot-this-year-5670aa03755#.q9c27384h

 

[LegendofJoe]

Guns = freedom
People of color = white genocide

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Guns = freedom
People of color = white genocide

you forgot:
white shooters = troubled souls/lone wolves

 

[Ray Wonder]

3,789 last year in those age brackets.

700 x 5 = 3,500. (we're in the 72 day, so 1/5th of the way through the year.)

We're on pace to be a little less than last year.

Also, there's about 70,000,000 people in that age bracket. Which If my math is correct, is about 1:100,000

Not much is to be alarmed about with this, it's nothing new.

 

[GhaleonEB]

3,789 last year in those age brackets.

700 x 5 = 3,500. (we're in the 72 day, so 1/5th of the way through the year.)

We're on pace to be a little less than last year.

Also, there's about 70,000,000 people in that age bracket. Which If my math is correct, is about 1:100,000

Not much is to be alarmed about with this, it's nothing new.

Just because it's not new, does not mean it isn't totally unacceptable. Among the many problems, we need to come to recognize this as a problem, and one that most nations simply don't face. It's a huge problem that folks dismiss this horror show as normal, as you just did.

 

[Ray Wonder]

Just because it's not new, does not mean it isn't totally unacceptable / horrifying. The problem is that people (such as yourself) dismiss this horror show as normal.

Yeah, I'm just pointing out that it's not some sharp spike as it was seemingly being portrayed (That's why i researched it because I thought it was.)

There's is a problem, but it's the same problem.

 

[dave is ok]

Just because it's not new, does not mean it isn't totally unacceptable. Among the many problems, we need to come to recognize this as a problem, and one that most nations simply don't face. It's a huge problem that folks dismiss this horror show as normal, as you just did.

I think the article is trying to hard too tie this to Trump when it's a problem that has persisted for a long time now.

It's absolutely terrible and there is nothing normal about it - but treating it as a way to score political points isn't the way to fight it.

 

[SafeinSound]

But we gotta control all those deadly immigrants!!!

 

[Divius]

I thought this was in the world. It's just the US.

welp

 

[TemplaerDude]

What's that Onion article again?

" ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens "

 

[GrizzleBoy]

Something something 'cleaning up the inner cities' etc etc..

Edit: I also thought this was worldwide or at least regional, but geez just in the US.

 

[Fulminator]

wait, trump is actually working to arm school teachers

fuck that would make me so uncomfortable if i was still in k-12

e: not to say that it doesn't now either

 

[Skellig Gra]

I can't even imagine my son being the victim of gun violence. This is so messed up and no one seems to care.

 

[Pomerlaw]

Americans and their fucking guns.

Just look how the movies and series are. There is always someone shooting a gun.
I know there isn't a direct link between TV violence and real gun violence, but damn do they like guns and Jesus.

If only they could start to like scientific books as much as guns. Oh my.


BUT HEY, BE REALLY SCARED OF THOSE MEXICANS AND MUSLIMS TERRORISTS

 

[UberTag]

I thought this was in the world. It's just the US.

welp

I'm sure the global statistic isn't much different. 90% of these gun-related incidents are probably centralized in the States. Other countries are sane... except for really whacked-out places like Honduras and Venezuela.

 

[Dude Abides]

I thought this American carnage would end here and now.

 

[Philly40]

According to another thread on the front page, the answer is to actually buy more mossberg tactical shotguns, and glocks, and various attachments and exotic ammunition.

In the interests of keeping everybody (and their property) safe.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Guns = freedom
People of color = white genocide

JonTron is that you?

 

[mackattk]

Literally nothing can be done to fix these statistics. Nothing.

 

[Arials]

Not much is to be alarmed about with this, it's nothing new.

Compare it with stats for other countries. The US figures are consistently high - with nothing being done about it - rather than having a sudden spike. That's worse IMO.

 

[LilZippa]

If those 700 had guns then we would have all been safer.

Spoiler

Or just more people would have died. I don't know.

 

[tearsintherain]

How many of those were due to gang turf wars or drug crime? Not saying we should just ignore it if those are the leading causes, but maybe tackling drug crime - decriminalizing drugs, stop putting people in jail for selling drugs, legalize selling drugs so its not a massive criminal enterprise, etc - would tackle the root cause of the deaths, rather than try to attack the symptoms, which rarely works out.

Unfortunately Trump, Pence, and Sessions are pretty much dead set against legalizing drugs so I don't that is going to really move anywhere in the next 4 to 8 years. At a state by state level though as some states legalize weed and others don't, it'll be good to see if these numbers go up or down in the different states.

 

[Malyse]

I think the article is trying to hard too tie this to Trump when it's a problem that has persisted for a long time now.

It's absolutely terrible and there is nothing normal about it - but treating it as a way to score political points isn't the way to fight it.

Yes or no: will making guns more accessible help fix this?

 

[F34R]

Yes or no: will making guns more accessible help fix this?

That's about the same as asking if more gun control will help fix it....

I think cracking down on illegal gun ownership would help the problem.

 

[_Nemo]

America being America.

 

[dave is ok]

Yes or no: will making guns more accessible help fix this?

Nope. But great gun control laws wouldn't fix it at this point either. Pandora's box is open. Guns are everywhere, and many of the guns used in these shootings are illegally owned anyway.

 

[mackattk]

I think the article is trying to hard too tie this to Trump when it's a problem that has persisted for a long time now.

It's absolutely terrible and there is nothing normal about it - but treating it as a way to score political points isn't the way to fight it.

Well he is a very pro-gun president. He just let mentally ill people have access to buying guns when the GOP kept saying it isn't a gun problem, its a mental health problem. Whether it is directly Trump's fault or not, he is instigating the issue by letting people who probably shouldn't have guns have access to them.

Nope. But great gun control laws wouldn't fix it at this point either. Pandora's box is open. Guns are everywhere, and many of the guns used in these shootings are illegally owned anyway.

Yeah, but you got to start somewhere. It might take years and years to achieve the desired result, but gun laws do work. You can't just say the problem is too big to handle, so you might as well not do anything.

 

[bosseye]

Not much is to be alarmed about with this, it's nothing new.

I suspect that herein lies a large part of the problem, these sorts of deplorable statistics have presumably become normal to a significant portion of Americans.

If only there was something obvious that could done to start to limit the damage.

 

[dave is ok]

Yeah, but you got to start somewhere. It might take years and years to achieve the desired result, but gun laws do work. You can't just say the problem is too big to handle, so you might as well not do anything.

Gun control laws would work fine in tandem with other solutions, but it's not a catch all end to this epidemic.

You need to get the guns off of the streets in the areas where kids are being shot, you need to hold parents responsible who don't have a gun safe and their two year old shoots his friend. The highest rate of child and teen gun death per 100k is in Alaska because teenagers all have access to rifles and a gun makes a suicide attempt about 1000% more likely to succeed.

 

[mackattk]

Gun control laws would work fine in tandem with other solutions, but it's not a catch all end to this epidemic.

You need to get the guns off of the streets in the areas where kids are being shot, you need to hold parents responsible who don't have a gun safe and their two year old shoots his friend. The highest rate of child and teen gun death per capita is in Alaska because teenagers all have access to rifles and a gun makes a suicide attempt about 1000% more likely to succeed.

Agreed. I might have misread your earlier post, it came off to me as gun laws are pointless because it won't solve the problem. A government gun buy-back program and investing a lot of funds into gun education would help out immensely, I think.

 

[The Gorby Congressmanz]

So eh, what specific location are most of these shootings happening before we jump on gun control?

 

[Guevara]

We have all, essentially, decided this is okay.

Just the cost of doing business.

 

[pashmilla]

Just remember everyone, never talk about gun control after a mass shooting! That's disrespectful.

Oh wait, that means you can never talk about gun control because America has a mass shooting like every day whoops

 

[Memory]

Fucking tragic, so much wasted potential.