When will we stop shooting our youths!

[Caressa Duval]

I have 100% had enough!!! This is uniquely an USA problem only! After all these years, we can no longer blame it all on mental disease and video games. There is something intrinsically wrong with too many people in the USA. This country is full of hate and unfounded fears.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of our school agers, and youth in this country!!! It does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. Now 2 old white farts took it upon themselves to kill a 20 year old for driving into the wrong driveway and another old fart shot a beautiful 16 year old for knocking on the wrong door.

As someone over dinner pointed out to me recently. How can they be so concerned about the unborn, but do nothing to protect the little ones that are already here!! (hypocrites with also no regards for women's heath too).

In fact, some states have made it even easier to have access to guns with no restrictions.

I would be petrified to bring a new life into this country now. The poor wee ones barely have a chance for a happy life!!! We can't go to schools, grocery stores, banks, churches, clubs or accidentally make a wrong turn without the fear of being shot!!

It sickens me what this country has become. This is our future, and all everyone cares about is their agenda. Just so happens the majority are rich and white, and only care about their agenda!

This should have stopped years ago!

[average1]

Makes me sad that gun violence has become the leading cause of death among youth.  It boggles my mind that so many believe the solution to fear, disrespect and disagreements is a gun.

[mustang]

1 hour ago, Caressa Duval said:

I have 100% had enough!!! This is uniquely an USA problem only! After all these years, we can no longer blame it all on mental disease and video games. There is something intrinsically wrong with too many people in the USA. This country is full of hate and unfounded fears.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of our school agers, and youth in this country!!! It does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. Now 2 old white farts took it upon themselves to kill a 20 year old for driving into the wrong driveway and another old fart shot a beautiful 16 year old for knocking on the wrong door.

As someone over dinner pointed out to me recently. How can they be so concerned about the unborn, but do nothing to protect the little ones that are already here!! (hypocrites with also no regards for women's heath too).

In fact, some states have made it even easier to have access to guns with no restrictions.

I would be petrified to bring a new life into this country now. The poor wee ones barely have a chance for a happy life!!! We can't go to schools, grocery stores, banks, churches, clubs or accidentally make a wrong turn without the fear of being shot!!

It sickens me what this country has become. This is our future, and all everyone cares about is their agenda. Just so happens the majority are rich and white, and only care about their agenda!

This should have stopped years ago!

Could we ask why butchering the unborn is more ethical than shooting, or drugging, or beating. or ............. the existing young?  Unfortunately, the things you cite above have obviously happened; we do not know the history of the events.  Did the "old fart" get his home invaded before he shot someone at the door?  Was the driveway shooter the victim of a crime perpetrated by someone else driving into his driveway.  I agree that this should have stopped years ago, "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly.  I agree that gun crime is out of control, and I believe that ANYONE committing a crime with a gun should be incarcerated for a loooong period of time but while you talked all around it, guns are not the issue.  People that simply have no regard for others ARE the issue.  There has been a concentrated effort for decades now to not punish anyone for pretty much anything.  THIS is the result.  The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being. 

 

[Phil-anderer]

I think it's pretty insane to suggest that 'guns aren't the problem'.  No other industrialized/modern nation has anywhere NEAR this issue, and mental health is an issue everywhere.  Buying guns here is easier than getting a drivers license in most places.

And IF mental health is the whole issue, why haven't the gun advocates (I won't name groups/parties) REALLY funded improving mental health?  There's a lack of services everywhere, and especially so since the pandemic.  

It's patently obvious that guns are a problem, since they're the tool that so many are using to kill themselves and others.

[mustang]

47 minutes ago, Phil-anderer said:

I think it's pretty insane to suggest that 'guns aren't the problem'.  No other industrialized/modern nation has anywhere NEAR this issue, and mental health is an issue everywhere.  Buying guns here is easier than getting a drivers license in most places.

And IF mental health is the whole issue, why haven't the gun advocates (I won't name groups/parties) REALLY funded improving mental health?  There's a lack of services everywhere, and especially so since the pandemic.  

It's patently obvious that guns are a problem, since they're the tool that so many are using to kill themselves and others.

I someone wants to be dead, they WILL find a way.  In my much younger days I had an employee that told me he was thinking about shooting himself.  When questioned he confirmed that he had the weapon and had the place.  Following the training I had, I asked If I could keep the gun for awhile just to help him stay safe.  He did not show up for work the next day and after an extended search he was found hanging in a shed.  PEOPLE are the problem.  If not guns it will be clubs or knives or pills or carbon monoxide or cars or tall buildings or flying into buildings or cutting arteries or .........................

[scottiep33]

2 hours ago, Caressa Duval said:

I have 100% had enough!!! This is uniquely an USA problem only! After all these years, we can no longer blame it all on mental disease and video games. There is something intrinsically wrong with too many people in the USA. This country is full of hate and unfounded fears.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of our school agers, and youth in this country!!! It does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. Now 2 old white farts took it upon themselves to kill a 20 year old for driving into the wrong driveway and another old fart shot a beautiful 16 year old for knocking on the wrong door.

As someone over dinner pointed out to me recently. How can they be so concerned about the unborn, but do nothing to protect the little ones that are already here!! (hypocrites with also no regards for women's heath too).

In fact, some states have made it even easier to have access to guns with no restrictions.

I would be petrified to bring a new life into this country now. The poor wee ones barely have a chance for a happy life!!! We can't go to schools, grocery stores, banks, churches, clubs or accidentally make a wrong turn without the fear of being shot!!

It sickens me what this country has become. This is our future, and all everyone cares about is their agenda. Just so happens the majority are rich and white, and only care about their agenda!

This should have stopped years ago!

Unfortunately 99.99% of our society has zero clue what's going on/ why these things keep happening all over the country.  Rather the 99% know it or not, they have all agreed and contributed to everything you see happening in our country. (unknowing agreement I might add. ) The question that remains is when will the masses wake up? 

I know most will say I never agreed to any of this, you're crazy bro. However an agreement doesn't have to be a carnal function of the mind, but rather an action one takes not knowing where that action is rooted. For example, if I agree to promote Santa Clause to my kids and buy them gifts saying those gifts came from Santa unknowingly I have agreed to allow deception into the subconscious mind of me and the child. From this point my subconscious mund will have to honor the "free will" of my actions then my thoughts will align with those actions sometimes blocking out truth. So in this example the action would be deception therefore deception is the seed planted in the subconscious.  

This is the game being played on the masses because those who have power and greed can only maintain power if the masses are ignorant. Ignorant of how much power the masses have to implement change, and ignorant to how they (the masses) are in agreement with everything bad happening based on their actions, not cognitive recognition.  The patern of deception is always the same but no one is recognizing the pattern. They first plant the seed, then implement fear to shutdown the brain then implement a solution/agenda. Fear releases chemicals in the brain which makes it impossible for a person to think logically, and then will react to whatever they are told by their fake leaders, which are actually comprised of the most evil people on the planet in sheeps clothing. We saw this happen with covid. Around 2014 ish Obama came out and said "we will have a flu like pandemic 5 to 6 years from now". The seed was then planted and society said nothing. Then fast forward to the almost the exact perdition and boom now we had a pandemic. Next stage was to implement fear, which caused people to run and get vaccinated by a medical system that has zero cures in its resume and a solid history suppressing cures. There was plenty of evidence and even documentation from our own congress statting that the virus was created in a lab which the United States helped fund the research. In fact biological mutations like that takes about 800 years if naturally produced by nature. So the actions the population took out of fear is an agreement with whatever the agenda of the pharmaceutical companies is.

I know, what does all this have to do with mass shootings and people going crazy?? Anything you allow into your mind will have an effect on how you act rather you're aware of its effects or not. Certain words have meanings that fall outside of Webster dictionary definitions, because some of the meaning of words were changed around the 1500's. For example the word "Entertainment" in the Webster dictionary will define Entertainment as amusement. However the true meaning of the word before it was changed in the 1600's meant to alter a person mentally, which meant that the true meaning of Entertainment is mind control. So in reality when we agree to be entertained we have actually made an agreement to have our thoughts altered. Our society is a direct reflection of our entertainment industry which actually puts real life events in movies, and use entertainment to twist the minds of the population. The population is in agreement because we support our own mental enslavement. This is why actors, musicians, sports figures ect are paid so much money, and teachers are paid so little.  The powerful elites place their resources in their most precious gift, mental control, while the masses believes that our government has our best interests despite the evidence that supports that belief, which in itself is evidence of an altered state of mind.

 

Bottom line is if we want all this to stop, we must first turn off the TV because it is 100% control by our enemies,  and being used to alter our thinking. Work on changing the energy of our country from hate to love individually. How? We have to take it upon ourselves to always show love to our fellow man and woman. But first we have to find love for ourselves. I know this post was long, however there is never a simple answer to a complex question. Once love is present, division of the population is much harder, therefore the divide and conquer method is powerless. 

 

 

[Happymon]

1 hour ago, Phil-anderer said:

I think it's pretty insane to suggest that 'guns aren't the problem'.  No other industrialized/modern nation has anywhere NEAR this issue, and mental health is an issue everywhere.  Buying guns here is easier than getting a drivers license in most places.

1)I think it's pretty insane to suggest guns are the problem. None of mine have ever gotten out of their safe and initiated anything on their own. 

2) You can't possibly have ever legally purchased a firearm if you think a driver's license is harder.

3) As to mental health, over the past three years suicide is up, overdose up 50%, alcohol abuse up 30%, pot has gone from $12B to $30B, our life expectancy is at its lowest level in 50 years, only 40% of school kids in public school meet or exceed grade level in math and reading (in Baltimore not one student does) ... But it's all the fault of gun owners?  Wake up.  Slap masks and isolation on 300M people for another 24 months and see what happens. 

[MrReindeer-9515]

Nope, it’s the guns.

I am not aware that the death penalty applies to: knocking on the wrong door, getting into the wrong car, or turning into the wrong driveway. None of those assholes that shot those people had any justification for doing what they did, none.

[Caressa Duval]

2 hours ago, mustang said:

Could we ask why butchering the unborn is more ethical than shooting, or drugging, or beating. or ............. the existing young?  Unfortunately, the things you cite above have obviously happened; we do not know the history of the events.  Did the "old fart" get his home invaded before he shot someone at the door?  Was the driveway shooter the victim of a crime perpetrated by someone else driving into his driveway.  I agree that this should have stopped years ago,  "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly.  The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being.  .  I agree that gun crime is out of control, and I believe that ANYONE committing a crime with a gun should be incarcerated for a loooong period of time but while you talked all around it, guns are not the issue.  People that simply have no regard for others ARE the issue.  There has been a concentrated effort for decades now to not punish anyone for pretty much anything.  THIS is the result.  The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being. 

 

Fact check yourself before posting @mustang No, the old fart that shot the 16 year old was not having his home invaded! So, every Uber eats delivery person,  every door knocking Mormon, every lost person all completely unarmed people thta accidentally knock on the door are going to risk getting shot! The crazy old man still had a glass door between him and the 16 year old. No again the other old fart was not a victim of someone driving in his his drive way. He killed an innocent 20 year old female.

"The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being." Wrong again Mustang! Even so, anyone's past does NOT justify shooting innocent people in the future!!! 

What about the women that are dying Mustang?? The women that are dying because their pregnancies are life threatening! The females that are victims of rape and incest huh!!! They most certainly did not ask to be pregnant! The MEN that get women pregnant are JUST as responsible for getting a female pregnant, many times more so than the women!  How about a vasectomy for every man that gets a female pregnant without consent????? Now women are having to carry non viable fetuses to term and deliver them, while enduring unbelievable pain for 40 weeks.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/18/florida-abortion-law-couple-birth

Men have ZERO right to force control over what a female does with her reproductive health. ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

98% of mass shooters ARE MEN! Mustang do you want to ask what is wrong with men? No you likely do not.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/27/981803154/why-nearly-all-mass-shooters-are-men

"Of the 141 U.S. mass killings since 1982, only six were carried out by women. Two of those were carried out in partnership with men." Hey the mass shooters in 1982

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/few-mass-shootings-carried-out-by-women-data-shows/3002301/

Simply sad Mustang, you are making this about your rights, men's rights, guns, and not about the TRUE victims in this!!!!!! 

BTW. ,  "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly"

The mass shooters in 1982 would have been raised by your generation. So "but back then" away.

[mustang]

3 hours ago, Caressa Duval said:

Fact check yourself before posting @mustang No, the old fart that shot the 16 year old was not having his home invaded! So, every Uber eats delivery person,  every door knocking Mormon, every lost person all completely unarmed people thta accidentally knock on the door are going to risk getting shot! The crazy old man still had a glass door between him and the 16 year old. No again the other old fart was not a victim of someone driving in his his drive way. He killed an innocent 20 year old female.

"The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being." Wrong again Mustang! Even so, anyone's past does NOT justify shooting innocent people in the future!!! 

What about the women that are dying Mustang?? The women that are dying because their pregnancies are life threatening! The females that are victims of rape and incest huh!!! They most certainly did not ask to be pregnant! The MEN that get women pregnant are JUST as responsible for getting a female pregnant, many times more so than the women!  How about a vasectomy for every man that gets a female pregnant without consent????? Now women are having to carry non viable fetuses to term and deliver them, while enduring unbelievable pain for 40 weeks.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/18/florida-abortion-law-couple-birth

Men have ZERO right to force control over what a female does with her reproductive health. ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

98% of mass shooters ARE MEN! Mustang do you want to ask what is wrong with men? No you likely do not.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/27/981803154/why-nearly-all-mass-shooters-are-men

"Of the 141 U.S. mass killings since 1982, only six were carried out by women. Two of those were carried out in partnership with men." Hey the mass shooters in 1982

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/few-mass-shootings-carried-out-by-women-data-shows/3002301/

Simply sad Mustang, you are making this about your rights, men's rights, guns, and not about the TRUE victims in this!!!!!! 

BTW. ,  "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly"

The mass shooters in 1982 would have been raised by your generation. So "but back then" away.

Check your reading comprehension before you post.  I asked IF the old guy had BEEN a victim of home invasion, not was his home being invaded.  He was obviously frightened by something.  I think you and your fans will be sorely disappointed when/if you succeed in grabbing all the guns.

[Caressa Duval]

1 hour ago, mustang said:

Check your reading comprehension before you post.  I asked IF the old guy had BEEN a victim of home invasion, not was his home being invaded.  He was obviously frightened by something.  I think you and your fans will be sorely disappointed when/if you succeed in grabbing all the guns.

Wrong again! I am quoting myself here "Even so, anyone's past does NOT justify shooting innocent people in the future!!! "

I NEVER said, grab all the guns. Did I?! I am a female provider. I believe in protecting myself.

My fans will be just fine with me. There are many countries that every citizen owns a gun, and this repeated massacre never happens! These countries also have mental disease.

My reading comprehension is just fine. How many degrees do you have Mustang?

I have paid my price to this ugly country with the price of my 8 year black son. Go to h*** people like you!!

[sb1212]

One of the issues here is this little thing called "The Constitution". I have not done the research, but I wonder how many other countries have a constitutional right to bear arms?  Go ahead and pass laws to ban guns. See how those laws stand up in front of the Supreme Court. Amend the Constitution? That's a slippery slope that we don't want to get on.    What about cars? Where is the outrage over the 50K people that die annually in auto accidents? Why not ban cars? I suspect far more people die in auto accidents each year than from shootings.   I am not advocating that we do nothing. I cherish life.  I mourn those innocents lost. I simply don't have an answer. Neither do those who advocate wide scale gun bans. 

[mustang]

2 hours ago, Caressa Duval said:

Wrong again! I am quoting myself here "Even so, anyone's past does NOT justify shooting innocent people in the future!!! "

I NEVER said, grab all the guns. Did I?! I am a female provider. I believe in protecting myself.

My fans will be just fine with me. There are many countries that every citizen owns a gun, and this repeated massacre never happens! These countries also have mental disease.

My reading comprehension is just fine. How many degrees do you have Mustang?

I have paid my price to this ugly country with the price of my 8 year black son. Go to h*** people like you!!

3 and not an AAS in the bunch ........ all too often all a degree proves is that it is possible to educate people beyond their intelligence.

[Bit Banger]

19 hours ago, Caressa Duval said:

Fact check yourself before posting @mustang …

What about the women that are dying Mustang?? The women that are dying because their pregnancies are life threatening! The females that are victims of rape and incest huh!!! They most certainly did not ask to be pregnant! …

You might want to fact check yourself.  Most of the new State laws banning abortions make exceptions for rape, incest, or life endangerment.  If the liberals wanted universal abortion they should have passed a Constitutional amendment, overriding States’ rights, years ago.  Even Justice Ginsberg acknowledged that Roe v. Wade was in shaky ground.

BTW: Even though I’m personally against abortion, I remain pro-choice. 

[JoDoe27]

10 minutes ago, Bit Banger said:

You might want to fact check yourself.  Most of the new State laws banning abortions make exceptions for rape, incest, or life endangerment.  If the liberals wanted universal abortion they should have passed a Constitutional amendment, overriding States’ rights, years ago.  Even Justice Ginsberg acknowledged that Roe v. Wade was in shaky ground.

BTW: Even though I’m personally against abortion, I remain pro-choice. 

I don’t know where you got that from but of the 13 states with a full ban 11 explicitly state there are no exceptions. Of the 5 that put gestational limits only 1 did so with no exceptions. So 18 total states with some form banning. 12 with no exceptions. That’s a 66% no exception rate. And even then some states with bans have weird rules around it or make exceptions for rape but not incest. For the sake of this argument I just used full no exceptions. 

  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html

We all know how you and several others feels about the government overstepping especially when it comes to telling you what to do with your body. So why is this ok? Why does it need to be a liberal thing? 

[TrystinTrimble]

Finally, something on the forum that I really want to talk about with people! Thanks for posting this question. Buckle up!

So, when I was a child and a teenager I never had to realistically fear being shot at school. When Columbine happened, I was getting ready to enter high school 1000 miles away from here and our school was locked down that day as were many others across the country. While I understood the seriousness of the situation, it was still something that I was not overly affected by at the moment. I didn't have to be afraid to go to school other than the assholes that I deal with in my classes. So there's that. 
 

I finished school, went to college, moved up here almost a decade ago, and having been robbed at my job once by then, I now have the knowledge that any time anywhere some psycho could just walk up and start shooting at all who are present. Some crackhead pointed a pistol at me, and instilled in me horrific fear for a few seconds so that I would be compelled to give him $82 and a book of scratch off's. I was shook up and I quit soon after that happened, but I still had not cried for everyone who has been shot  for no reason.  The only reason I cried when that happened is because I knew that my boss was only going to be a dick about it and security was going to investigate and see if I had pulled an inside job. I just quit and moved on. Closer to home but I just quit. 
 

By the time I moved up here from back home I've become aware that mass shootings in public places were becoming more common place, and I had just moved to a place that was a couple of miles from the Aurora theater not too long after that attack happened. I stopped going to the movies, partially because I think going to the movies boring and partially because if I'm gonna get shot by a stranger I don't want it to be during something I didn't really want to do in the first place. So there goes movie theaters for me. Then A bunch of people got shot up at a Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas, and it became even closer to my sphere of existence and I now attend my numerous concerts each year well aware that the shit canjump off at any time and I make sure that when I'm at a show I'm aware of my surroundings And I make sure that I know where the exits are. I know that's not school settings but I'm going somewhere with all of this so just bear with me...

 

     As time has gone on since columbine I keep finding myself more and more afraid of being shot in public by a stranger--but I had still not shed a single tear over these shootings at that point. I was done with school I had no kids and it just hadn't kicked me in the face yet at that point.  But Ever since about the time I've moved here, I am always looking out of the corner of my eye for the barrel of a gun, everywhere I go all the time. You have been a couple times while I'm out shopping in a store that we lost power for whatever reason or some sort of verbal altercation goes down out of my line of sight, and any time either of those things happen I am immediately gone every time. The lights go out on a nice day at the Goodwill? That's it I'm leaving and it works. I'm on edge, but it's still wasn't 100% real to me yet. And jeez I Cannot even pretend that I know how the families of the people who have been shot simply for being black and driving must feel. So even as a white woman, This is getting realer every week. As of today, I'm not allowed to own a gun over a single non-violent crime that I committed one time. As of yet I've been unable to get that restriction reversed on me and all around me both legal and illegal gun owners are walking around killing people in all kinds of places. When I was young and country a gun was a tool, I was taught to use them safely and effectively and While I have own them in the past I never felt like I needed them until I couldn't have one. So now the fact that I can't own one seems a bit unfair. What if someone starts firing upon us in a public place and me, someone who is very good at shooting a gun and has a strong intuition, I am legally barred from owning one or carrying it even if I did own one. What the hell...
 

A shooting here, shooting there, Boulder, Uvalde Texas, all over I'm hearing about this shit in news. It's finally got to the point where I am starting to give a damn about Politics. I hear about Nashville a couple weeks back and once again I'm just like why? But then I was Watching the news online and over my morning coffee I opened the body cam videos from the police officers at that school in Nashville from the time the guy gets out of his vehicle up till they bust in and drop Audrey Hale like a sack of potatoes. I hate that anybody has to be shot but good Lord they did a really good job handling that situation. Those cops are heroes, which is more than we can say about the ones from Uvalde. Most of us agree on this fact. They set the standard for how police must handle this situation from now on. The fact remains that we still have to wait for them to show up if it happens again anywhere else and the way they handled it is the best case scenario really. Locking the door of school didn't work, And despite the staff and students being prepared as best as they could for that attack, there was still the loss of the young girl who pulled the fire drill the principal of the school and the janitor and substitute who were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hale knew that they were walking into a gun free zone, which obviously was not gun free enough to save those six people. The ones who were murdered that day never stood a chance, because of LAWS. Hale had an arsenal, because of LAWS. Hale didn't give a damn about LAWS when they walked in and shot the people. They never had a chance against the evil that moved in on em.   
 

And for the first time since all this started happening 24 years ago right here in Littleton, I watched that video and cried my eyes out all over the place. Ugly cried. I can't even imagine going through what those families are going through. This cannot be happening, yet it is. I can't imagine the horror...
 

Except that I CAN now. I have a young child, And that child starts school in September. A private school, an elementary school. And holy crap you guys, watching that body cam video even with all of the most graphic parts scrubbed all nice in the American fashion, it has finally sunk in with this lady here. I don't know any of those people in Nashville and my heart is broken for real.   My baby is about to start school where she will be going for the next dozen years or so, right here in the same city where Harris and Klebold Put Littleton on the map with their violence. My baby, nobody's baby ever should have to be in this kind of danger simply because they are at school for any reason whatsoever. Hate crime, mental illness, chips on shoulders I don't give a fuck why somebody would choose to do it all I know is that I am truly afraid that my baby is going to Witness or be a victim to this ; I really am. I am so scared for her and there's nothing I could do to protect her life right now, I can't keep her locked in a tower I can't keep her from going out in the world and that's hard enough as it is without the fear of her being blown away by an automatic weapon while she's at school. To borrow a line from Nancy Grace..."NOW THAT I AM A MOTHER." I finally get it. I feel it. I fear it. It was never any less serious but I finally GET it; and I don't know how I'm going to get through the next 12 years without losing my mind because she's not even in school yet and this is what she gets to walk into. It's unacceptable plain and simple, and it pisses me off so very much that in response to the shooting in Nashville; What I mainly seeing in the news is a bunch of fucking politicians walking around like stupid chickens squawking about trans people and freedom and rights and pronouns and why we need to be voting for who the fuck ever. It pisses me off to no end that politicians are using this to further their platforms and rally for their party. This IS NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE. This is NOT A LGBTQ ISSUE, although I do agree that things just got more dangerous for the trans community as well as children now that there's going to be senseless violence towards them and miss placed retaliation for Audrey Hale attacking a Christian elementary school. I don't want to vote to fix this. The politicians don't fucking care and I don't think either side politically cares about it more than they care about winning the elections. I don't think the answer is to take all the guns away from everyone and I don't think that the answer is to push for more guns either. The whole NRA camp seems to be pretty insensitive about anything going on around them. That's nothing new honestly, it has nothing to do with the senseless violence against children as well as everyone else. Right or left, it isn't the NRA who did it. It isn't the existence of trans people or the use of multiple pronouns to Give people safe spaces to be themselves. That didn't make this happen either and I'm angry that that's all the politicians can run their mouth about currently. Shut the FUCK up already, all of them.  

     Now...personally how I SEE IT; Maybe some gun laws need to be modified, it's still not going to stop people who should not have guns from getting guns. I tend to be left leaning, but when it comes to the issue of guns yes or no, I cannot say that I'm anti-gun. The fact that that shooter was able to get all those guns legally and I am unable to own even one little .380 to defend myself and my family legitimately, is not fair.  I'm all about a high-capacity magazine restriction because it can't hurt really...But taking the guns away isn't going to stop evil individuals from shooting innocent people for whatever their reason is. Politically How lawmakers  FEEL is irrelevant.  No law is going to protect my baby from this nonsense when I have to relinquish her to the school system shortly here. She is in danger, and your kids are as well. The next time I hear about who I should vote for on the platform of shootings I just might lose my temper and start screaming. Politicians Are people too and I'm sure that they worry about their  children just like non-politicians do. Still , this is not a Partisan issue this is a Human issue. I don't know why it's so hard for them to see that the one thing we all can agree on is that it is unacceptable that so many children are being shot at school. End of story.
 

The issue of shootings is PEOPLE against EVIL. The reasons that people are shooting our children are as varied as they are not an excuse to do it. Hate crime? Mental health? Abused as a child? We can address various mental health issues of potential shooters and we should of course, but the reason why it's happening doesn't matter. We can chip away at all of the societal sicknesses that are settling us here and everywhere else but in the meantime this shit needs to STOP. IT needs to stop one way or another no matter what and I'm afraid it will never stop.  Left versus right needs to shut up about it, and whether or not pronouns were used properly towards the shooter quite frankly doesn't matter. ALL shootings of this nature are HATE CRIMES. ANYONE WHO SHOOTS A CHILD IS A WASTE OF OXYGEN.   I don't know what we are going to do about it I and don't know how we're gonna stop it... and I wish I did have that answer. The powerlessness that I and so many other parents must feel over this crap is really hard just to wrap my head around.
 

And how do the schools feel about it? One of my best friends back home is a high school history teacher whose classroom is in a portable building. I discussed all this with him a few days ago and he has told me straight out of his mouth that there is nothing stopping some psycho from walking into his portable and blowing everyone away. He's not allowed to have a pistol on his hip nor does he feel comfortable having one. Maybe the teachers who are comfortable arming themselves should be allowed to, kind of the same way that pharmacists are individually allowed to decide who gets safe IV drug use supplies and who doesn't based on their own personal beliefs. At this point I don't think that prohibiting any guns whatsoever on school property is appropriate. Maybe the teachers should be allowed to arm themselves at their discretion Which is sad to say. I most definitely feel that NO school should be in session anymore without at least an officer or two armed to the teeth guarding the entrances. The school that my friend teaches that has a part-time resource officer who has to check his piece at the door And only gets to carry a taser and a baton. It's not enough. His students in the main building only walk-through a metal detector that can easily be unplugged and isn't always being watched by a security person as they come in. The portable buildings have nothing at all except a flimsy lock on the door. And we have politicians to thank for all of the hand tying that has led to where we are now, no matter what side you're on I think we can all agree on that. The politicians aren't getting anything done. I'm not a lawmaker, I am not a teacher, I'm not a cop I'm just a mother of one. But I think there needs to be armed guards at every single school on this country every day. I think that No student should be allowed in the class until security at the door has insured completely that student is not armed when they come in. Teachers and administrators should be allowed to open or conceal carry at their discretion.  Teachers may need to Keep a few feet between them and the students if they choose to open carry to mitigate the small risk of a student grabbing the gun off their side. RTD drivers are legally protected from anyone laying a single fingertip on them for any reason at all it's automatically assault. This may have to become the new standard at school students so much is pokes a teacher and it becomes assault. And if the teacher lay a fingertip on a student It should be investigated. I don't know what the safeguard  would be should a teacher decide they want to unload a clip in their classroom in the name of evil, the teacher would simply have to be truly deserving of their position of trust. That's the only thing I don't have an opinion on because I don't know what the answer is for that part. But ffs, There isn't enough being done to make sure that kids aren't carrying a gun at school and they're sure as hell is not enough being done to keep randoms from walking in off the street and slaughtering the children and teachers. Way more can and obviously SHOULD be done AT THE PLACE IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN. Not in a senate session, not in a polling place, not Worded in a way that is politically correct and in several languages. 
 

if you made it through all that shit I just wrote, and you feel inclined to tell me that I talk too much, understand that There's no way anyone is going to sit me down or shut me up on this one. My personal experience with all of this has built up over the past couple of decades and I am deeply affected at this point and I have only one child finally and I have not seen a single one of these bullets. The people who have been in the presence of the shootings I would imagine having way more feelings about it than me.        
We bicker, we cry, we pray. Crying is appropriate for this. Bickering is NOT. Praying is well and good but it's not gonna make anything change. It up to no one but humanity and our actions to keep it from continuing. Make laws. Repeal them. Pray. Get strapped if you must. Homeschool the kids if you want, or don't if you can't. Personally I cannot homeschool my child I cannot keep her from being around the places where this is likely to happen again. Stop talking and DO SOMETHING. Any parent or educator Who is close to this has feelings about the situation that is a guarantee. Everyone else either is really upset about all of this or they are not paying any attention at all. And politicians, I can't believe that they are the ones who get to make laws because they can't get their heads out of their asses on either side enough to keep it from happening from their standpoint. It needs to stop. How do we stop it? 
 

 I don't know, y'all. I am just one piddly ass mother of one and that is just my take on all of that. I just don't want my baby to be murdered at school, that is one thing I don't think I could live through. I've NEVER been and am not currently in any way suicidal. I'm incapable of that. If she takes a bullet, finally I would probably take my exit.  And I've started praying that it won't happen after a lifetime of rolling my eyes at prayer. I don't know what else to do, I just don't want my baby to be killed.  I'm afraid for her so much. Thanks for reading...may all the kids come home alive, now and forever.

[gr8owl]

13 hours ago, sb1212 said:

One of the issues here is this little thing called "The Constitution". I have not done the research, but I wonder how many other countries have a constitutional right to bear arms?  Go ahead and pass laws to ban guns. See how those laws stand up in front of the Supreme Court. Amend the Constitution? That's a slippery slope that we don't want to get on.    What about cars? Where is the outrage over the 50K people that die annually in auto accidents? Why not ban cars? I suspect far more people die in auto accidents each year than from shootings.   I am not advocating that we do nothing. I cherish life.  I mourn those innocents lost. I simply don't have an answer. Neither do those who advocate wide scale gun bans. 

Quite the fruitless red herring.  Because motor vehicles allow us to travel to work, find things on the shelf at the store, take vacations, keep all retail commerce going, etc.  Because the benefit of having motor vehicles greatly outweighs the down side - there will be accidents and death.  If we banned AR-15 style weapons WTF is the downside?  What critical need - benefit - does having them serve?  The cost is obvious - hundreds needlessly dead and intentionally so on the part of the shooters.  Where is the off-setting benefit?  So to answer the question - with cars the benefits greatly outweigh the cost.  With guns there is great cost but WTF is the benefit exactly?  And spare me the reserve the right to stage a violent revolution at some point argument.

[TrystinTrimble]

18 minutes ago, gr8owl said:

Quite the fruitless red herring.  Because motor vehicles allow us to travel to work, find things on the shelf at the store, take vacations, keep all retail commerce going, etc.  Because the benefit of having motor vehicles greatly outweighs the down side - there will be accidents and death.  If we banned AR-15 style weapons WTF is the downside?  What critical need - benefit - does having them serve?  The cost is obvious - hundreds needlessly dead and intentionally so on the part of the shooters.  Where is the off-setting benefit?  So to answer the question - with cars the benefits greatly outweigh the cost.  With guns there is great cost but WTF is the benefit exactly?  And spare me the reserve the right to stage a violent revolution at some point argument.

Where is the off setting benefit? Damn good question! As someone who is comfortable around pistols and rifles I can tell you I have never once had any desire to shoot a weapon of that type. I have never had a need to. I had just as much fun out on the range with a 38 special as I did with a semi automatic 380 as I did with a BB gun shooting cans in my backyard. This is a damn good point right here, sir. I don't see any downside either to getting rid of things that are designed to spray a crowd with death. It doesn't vaporize the ones that already exist but it's a place to start. Why in the name of all this world do we ever need to manufacture one more ak47?

[gr8owl]

I hate to interrupt the "I have a God given right to guns" fringe versus the "ban and confiscate all guns" fringe argument that solves nothing and leaves the moderates like me just shaking their heads, but here is what I think the real problem is.  The politics and industry of lies, hate and division.  One small example is the 84 year old guy who shot the black kid who was just trying to find his siblings.  Bombard the guy with 24/7 propaganda bout how violent crime is soaring (it isn't) and how Black Lives Matter people are communists trying to steal everything you hold dear (most in the movement, nope!) and violently over throw free enterprise, stir in some basic racism and the claim that black folks are violent criminals and precisely how is it at all surprising that the 84 year old awakened by a strange black male at his door was scared and reacted by inexcusably shooting the kid?  How does this surprise anyone?  You want to know who is truly to blame try Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, donald trump, and the plethora of internet sites masquerading as news sites blasting out hate and division as a business model 24/7.  And the other fringe promoting far, far left crap that most of us do not want either and that appears to validate the far right lunacy. Would getting rid of AR-15's fix everything?  No, I don't think so but it may help.  Pick between a guy with an AR-15 and plenty of ammo wanting to kill you versus a guy carrying a club wanting to kill you - guess which one I pick to deal with every time? To really fix anything we have to stop the industry of hate and division.  And an industry it is because it lets these despicable pieces of shit gain power, money and influence and get a totally incompetent charlatan elected.  It has to stop if we are to solve ANYTHING. Feeding millons of people a steady diet of hate and discontent 24/7 and telling them the "other side" is stealing their country as a business model - how is it remotely a suprise that we see mass shootings and senseless violence?  Gotta change. Not holding my breath.

[gr8owl]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:20 AM, mustang said:

Could we ask why butchering the unborn is more ethical than shooting, or drugging, or beating. or ............. the existing young?  Unfortunately, the things you cite above have obviously happened; we do not know the history of the events.  Did the "old fart" get his home invaded before he shot someone at the door?  Was the driveway shooter the victim of a crime perpetrated by someone else driving into his driveway.  I agree that this should have stopped years ago, "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly.  I agree that gun crime is out of control, and I believe that ANYONE committing a crime with a gun should be incarcerated for a loooong period of time but while you talked all around it, guns are not the issue.  People that simply have no regard for others ARE the issue.  There has been a concentrated effort for decades now to not punish anyone for pretty much anything.  THIS is the result.  The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being. 

 

You could, but it would be another pointless red herring and deflection from the real problem.  And no the real problem is not guns - other than the asinine availability of AR-15's with no valid use or purpose - the real problem is the never ending torrent of hate and division put out by the hate industry and the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, Alex Jones Liar Tuck, Hammity, etc.  Feed people hate and discontent 24/7 and then act astonished when people act out of hate and division.  THAT is what needs to be addressed.  Meanwhile both sides insulting each other's intelligence just feeds the beast.

[TrystinTrimble]

1 hour ago, JoDoe27 said:

I don’t know where you got that from but of the 13 states with a full ban 11 explicitly state there are no exceptions. Of the 5 that put gestational limits only 1 did so with no exceptions. So 18 total states with some form banning. 12 with no exceptions. That’s a 66% no exception rate. And even then some states with bans have weird rules around it or make exceptions for rape but not incest. For the sake of this argument I just used full no exceptions. 

  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html

We all know how you and several others feels about the government overstepping especially when it comes to telling you what to do with your body. So why is this ok? Why does it need to be a liberal thing? 

Man, here's the thing about all that. As I said in my essay a minute ago, politicians sure do get to run their mouth a lot and sign pieces of paper that affect enormous amounts of people. They tell women young girls and doctors what they should be allowed to do with their bodies. Most of the politicians are men. All of them are not in possession of a uterus. None of them will ever be in a woman's position so no matter what your party is it's ludicrous that they think they're the Almighty on this one. Men in suits running for offices need to take SEVERAL seats. In Colorado, A woman is legally able to obtain an abortion clear on up until the end of the pregnancy. There is no woman who is 34 weeks pregnant and telling herself, "LOL I don't think I wanna do this I'd rather go skiing! Silly me! Time to go get an abortion lol !" No one is eager to casually abort. There is what? One or two doctors in the entire state that do it late term? Not one single funtime late abortion in the third trimester, not one. The people who were chomping at the bit to overturn access to one anywhere outside of Colorado are not the ones who should have the power to do it. Even as a woman myself it is not my place to tell anyone how they should ever feel about it. It's not something that anyone really takes lightly, and even if you want to do it as a woman it's not fun I've heard that firsthand from numerous women. It's terrible that some minor who is pregnant by her father is possibly left with no options simply because of where she lives and because some guy in a suit who doesn't give a shit about her Personally feels that no one should be able to get one for any reason. If I can't put myself in that girls shoes he sure as hell shouldn't act like he can. He simply cannot, and that same lawmaker forcing someone to have that child is also doing little to Keep that child from being shot up at school in a few years. I can't dictate how she should feel, he shouldn't have the audacity to lord over her a yes or no. He still does.

It always will come down to each unique case and not right/left. I know my situation which was, I had one pregnancy ever. I have one kid. I have one man who is the father. The father is a self righteous republican who had kids before mine. And even his hard right ass sure wanted me to get unpregnant when I asked for his feelings on it, despite being well into second trimester. He didn't care what his politics were, or how I felt, only about what HE wanted to happen. Thank goodness I had the ultimate say. I can't say how I would've felt about it in any other scenario all I know is that My choice was not to bend to his choice. And I'm not a teenage girl, her father is not in capable of raising another child nor has he refused to do it either. I can't even imagine how rough it must be to be a young girl or a assault victim or a battered wife in a trigger state where she just can't decide what to do about it anymore and just has to push forward. All I know is how rough it was for me in my mid 30s when I was allowed to decide what I wanted to do. It's insane that All these lawmakers who are sanctimonious about what's legal in our pants think they should be heard on it really.
 

Am I against abortion? The world may never know. I didn't have one. I sure as hell am against Some stranger in a capitol building getting the final say. Do they think that shit is Fun? We don't need their laws to keep us from Free Abortion Fridays at the clinic. And we don't need their laws to keep kids safe from guns. And we don't need their laws finishing off some rape/incest victim who Has already had such a hard go of it thanks to whoever did those things to her.  And there's  one state I think; who MAKES NO EXCEPTION EVEN WHEN DEATH IS IMMINENT FOR THE MOTHER? Uncool! So effing wrong. Duh. 

 

It seems that most people are an island unto themselves and that's the deal. It's obvious that anyone who legally signs for no exception whatsoever, ever...is in no position to even do so. They are clearly completely self concerned.  Why do they think we should give a crap about THEIR OPINION? they care not about ours and I guarantee you every day A handful of "pro life" men who prohibited the option of abortion in their valley  will still turn right around and find a way to get one if they knocked their mistress up. Or their DAUGHTER for matter! Island unto themselves. Hypocrisy runs rampant in all places. Don't want to get one? Don't get one. Why they gotta force their hand and control all these strangers they don't care one drop about? And why they gotta ignore things that need genuine attention? This is insanity. All of it. 
 

Am I pro life? Am I pro choice? I Can't really say. I am definitely pro COMMON SENSE. The liberties lawmakers are taking with the big A and if it's allowed or not... It does not make sense to me I cannot see any common sense in it. Make it makes sense.

[TrystinTrimble]

53 minutes ago, gr8owl said:

I hate to interrupt the "I have a God given right to guns" fringe versus the "ban and confiscate all guns" fringe argument that solves nothing and leaves the moderates like me just shaking their heads, but here is what I think the real problem is.  The politics and industry of lies, hate and division.  One small example is the 84 year old guy who shot the black kid who was just trying to find his siblings.  Bombard the guy with 24/7 propaganda bout how violent crime is soaring (it isn't) and how Black Lives Matter people are communists trying to steal everything you hold dear (most in the movement, nope!) and violently over throw free enterprise, stir in some basic racism and the claim that black folks are violent criminals and precisely how is it at all surprising that the 84 year old awakened by a strange black male at his door was scared and reacted by inexcusably shooting the kid?  How does this surprise anyone?  You want to know who is truly to blame try Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, donald trump, and the plethora of internet sites masquerading as news sites blasting out hate and division as a business model 24/7.  And the other fringe promoting far, far left crap that most of us do not want either and that appears to validate the far right lunacy. Would getting rid of AR-15's fix everything?  No, I don't think so but it may help.  Pick between a guy with an AR-15 and plenty of ammo wanting to kill you versus a guy carrying a club wanting to kill you - guess which one I pick to deal with every time? To really fix anything we have to stop the industry of hate and division.  And an industry it is because it lets these despicable pieces of shit gain power, money and influence and get a totally incompetent charlatan elected.  It has to stop if we are to solve ANYTHING. Feeding millons of people a steady diet of hate and discontent 24/7 and telling them the "other side" is stealing their country as a business model - how is it remotely a suprise that we see mass shootings and senseless violence?  Gotta change. Not holding my breath.

I've only ever seen you once face-to-face sir; You were reasonable then and you are now. Well done finding a concise way to say so much. This is quality writing here...

[mustang]

Trystin

While I don't completely agree with everything you have said here, I damn sure appreciate your courage for saying it.  I would LOVE to be able to sit down with you over a cup of whatever you enjoy drinking and have an open conversation about this or any topic you choose.  I especially like your statement that you are pro common sense.  I miss the days of being able to have a conversation with someone that has different ideas, thoughts and beliefs and still NOT accuse them of, or be accused of being racist, sexist, evil or whatever "ist" is the current means of stifling conversation.  You and I would likely agree on a lot.  FWIW I agree that a woman who is going to have to risk her life to complete a pregnancy should not be compelled to take that risk, nor should a woman who has been raped be forced to have a felons child.  I DO think that abortion should not be a form of birth control. 

[TrystinTrimble]

13 minutes ago, mustang said:

Trystin

While I don't completely agree with everything you have said here, I damn sure appreciate your courage for saying it.  I would LOVE to be able to sit down with you over a cup of whatever you enjoy drinking and have an open conversation about this or any topic you choose.  I especially like your statement that you are pro common sense.  I miss the days of being able to have a conversation with someone that has different ideas, thoughts and beliefs and still NOT accuse them of, or be accused of being racist, sexist, evil or whatever "ist" is the current means of stifling conversation.  You and I would likely agree on a lot.  FWIW I agree that a woman who is going to have to risk her life to complete a pregnancy should not be compelled to take that risk, nor should a woman who has been raped be forced to have a felons child.  I DO think that abortion should not be a form of birth control. 

That's fair enough. FWIW, the best birth control method is the realization that casual dating is anything but casual. Swipe left. Do swipe left. No way I would ever want this hand twice! Science and biology don't care about our feelings and egos 😂 and no, our bodies do NOT have a "way of shutting things down" just cause our match was an ass. I still can't believe that politician SAID that shit, ROFL. Like, tell us you are a dingbat without saying so...then sign a bill into law...

Knowing then what I know now--eh i guess I'd still do it. I still can't say it's happy trails to the clinic, I can say that the type of people who didn't care until that point, once again--might be the exact ones that are unfit parents...after all they are clearly anti common sense. 
 

Too many dingbats, and not enough crayons.

[Happymon]

2 hours ago, gr8owl said:

 the real problem is the never ending torrent of hate and division put out by the hate industry and the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, Alex Jones Liar Tuck, Hammity, etc. 

Clearly displaying your healing soul, spreading love and union wherever you tread. 

"etc." indeed....

[gr8owl]

13 minutes ago, Happymon said:

Clearly displaying your healing soul, spreading love and union wherever you tread. 

"etc." indeed....

Don't need your smart ass snark, thank you.  Just stated facts and opinion.  What is YOUR solution?  Do nothing, right?

[MrReindeer-9515]

16 minutes ago, gr8owl said:

Don't need your smart ass snark, thank you.  Just stated facts and opinion.  What is YOUR solution?  Do nothing, right?

Don’t bother asking him: his guns live in their safe and haven’t done anything to anyone. Besides with his head buried so far in the sand he probably couldn’t hear you anyway.

[Phil-anderer]

On 4/19/2023 at 0:07 PM, Happymon said:

1)I think it's pretty insane to suggest guns are the problem. None of mine have ever gotten out of their safe and initiated anything on their own. 

2) You can't possibly have ever legally purchased a firearm if you think a driver's license is harder.

3) As to mental health, over the past three years suicide is up, overdose up 50%, alcohol abuse up 30%, pot has gone from $12B to $30B, our life expectancy is at its lowest level in 50 years, only 40% of school kids in public school meet or exceed grade level in math and reading (in Baltimore not one student does) ... But it's all the fault of gun owners?  Wake up.  Slap masks and isolation on 300M people for another 24 months and see what happens. 

1) so why not tanks?  ATACMS?  F-15s?  We have crossed over the line (clearly) of what society can handle.
2) I have purchased a gun several times.  The last time it took 10 minutes (the background check took about 2 minutes, was surprised it was that fast).  I've NEVER done anything at the DMV, including first getting my driver's license (which requires two kinds of tests), in under 30 minutes.
3) Of course it's not the fault of gun owners.  It's the fault of society and legislatures for a severe lack of funding to truly address the mental health and educational gaps (or canyons).  It's more of a comment on the refrain that I often hear "It's not guns - it's a mental health issue", and then little to nothing is done to address the latter.  The pandemic has amplified, as you pointed out, every type of dysfunction.  Alcohol, drugs, suicide, depression and other mental health issues.  We haven't stepped up nearly enough, and there was already a HUGE gap before the pandemic.

I have been a gun owner, and I do believe in some limited rights to guns.  I don't think any civilian needs to have more than a handful of rounds in a magazine, and certainly not 30, 50, 100.  No hunter I know uses more than a 3 or 4, if that.  

I'd add a 4th, which is red flag laws.  We need to bolster them and add enforcement, since we obviously can't/won't get rid of most of the guns that currently exist.  

I don't want to take away guns, but I think it's a reasonable response to what's going on in society to limit guns/ammo/magazine capacity further than we have.  We can still honor the Constitution and set reasonable limits, just like we have with the other Amendments.

[Phil-anderer]

On 4/19/2023 at 0:07 PM, Happymon said:

 

I'd also like to add that this is a very charged topic.  I try to keep it civil while disagreeing with other viewpoints.  Nothing ever changes, nor does compromise typically happen, without that.

[TrystinTrimble]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:20 AM, mustang said:

Could we ask why butchering the unborn is more ethical than shooting, or drugging, or beating. or ............. the existing young?  Unfortunately, the things you cite above have obviously happened; we do not know the history of the events.  Did the "old fart" get his home invaded before he shot someone at the door?  Was the driveway shooter the victim of a crime perpetrated by someone else driving into his driveway.  I agree that this should have stopped years ago, "but back then"  all this got started when criminal kids were not held accountable because someone int their family treated them badly.  I agree that gun crime is out of control, and I believe that ANYONE committing a crime with a gun should be incarcerated for a loooong period of time but while you talked all around it, guns are not the issue.  People that simply have no regard for others ARE the issue.  There has been a concentrated effort for decades now to not punish anyone for pretty much anything.  THIS is the result.  The old farts that pulled the trigger were most likely victims of crimes committed by "kids" that faced no real consequences and were afraid for their well being. 

 

What you said about the lack of punishments for anything definitely has strength. I would elaborate on that statement by saying that in addition to some people who need to be punished severely facing little or no punishment, that too many personal issues we face have been turned into crimes and are over severely punished. There's lots of disproportional crime punishment ratios as far as severity goes. Lots and lots of discretionary judgment given to people on the bench when they hand out a sentence. I could think of a few right off the top of my head:

1) addictions, petty offenses That are basically a symptom of untreated mental illness such as trespassing or vagrancy in and of itself. I myself, a long ago, had a drug use issue, and the way it played out was not in causative or linear fashion. I used one drug, regularly, didn't drive on it, didn't sell it, didn't steal to be able to pay for it. Didn't get lit and start hitting my family. None of that shit whatsoever. It wasn't OK for me to be addicted necessarily, but my personal relationship with it was as close to a victimless crimes it could've gotten. Until I was found in possession of it in the traffic stop. Ultimately I spent YEARS on probation. Paid very heavy fines. Court ordered rehab which I flunked  out of multiple times for nothing but TARDINESS. Three tardies and they discharge. Group meetings were a joke. Inpatient accommodations With the places that Arapahoe county contracts with are damn near impossible to Get a bed with. court ordered treatment is not treatment. It's monitoring and control and set up to fail.  Do that a couple of times and even if you don't have a dirty UA on file next stop is several months in the county jail. A county jail that not only booked its own former sheriff into it for drugs and prostitution while his name was at the top of the building, County jail that people have literally been medically neglected in until they were dead as a door nail for  preventable shit. The place is filthy, food is NASTY, people have died from not receiving  insulin in there, For alcohol withdrawals which could've been prevented with a couple of Gatorade's and sleeping pill. From a heart attack because someone needed an EKG and the guard basically said boo-hoo  If you don't like the accommodation don't make the reservation while they laughed. So what that meant for me was for the offense of being a personal use only drug user, and being caught in possession with it on the first offense, it snowballed into me being locked up in a place where my life literally did not matter to the people Who call the shots. It took me years to get off of that probation and at the very end my new probation officer who knew nothing about me tried to get me revoked at the very end and thrown in for another 18 months over some paperwork. It took an expensive attorney to save me. I needed to stop, but the 18th judicial district most definitely didn't care if I ever dropped my addiction. Everything that they did in response to catching me with that stuff only shoved me closer to the edge of a cliff. If it weren't for a little bit of luck in a couple of really good friends along with a reasonable man sitting on the bench at my revocation hearing, I would've done a total of two years in jail for that one thing. I've been off probation for years now and I am considered a convicted felon even though it was a deferred judgment I completed the terms and they drop the charge. I still pay for that shit anytime I apply for a job or an apartment or a gun. And in the same world that we live in here's another one:

2)another recent guest of that same facility; was a evil and unimaginably violent sack of shit named Alex Ewing. Most know him as the Aurora Hammer Killer. He bludgeon several people to death with a hammer, but not before tying up families and raping all the females in front of the rest of the family first. Awful awful stuff. Guys like him are the reason why I can't completely want the death penalty outlawed. He most certainly deserved it if anybody ever did. His guilt was locked in  because DNA technology. 100% did it. Instead it took like two years for him to be extradited here from Nevada, and he managed to land just a couple of days after Colorado repealed the death penalty again. That wasn't luck. That was strategy and bullshit. They brought him back here and he spent a few months sitting in that county jail probably in his very own cell, as Colorado taxpayers paid for him to stay alive. He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole of course but who can state a strong case for keeping that rotten fuck alive after conviction? Just his smirk alone should be enough for them to have wanted to get rid of him forever. Meanwhile, people who have untreated mental illness and keep getting picked up and thrown in jail for trespassing and minor shoplifting offenses or possession of a drug here and there will be released right back onto the street where they will sleep outside because we don't have the money to build more shelter space or get them a bed in the hospital so that they can address their chronic mental illnesses? For the money that we spend it to keep somebody like Alec Ewing alive forever And stress-free, we could probably put a few people in a full-blown apartment that are sleeping outside and just a little off balance. 
 

3) plenty of kids have done unspeakable things and Get locked up for no more than the rest of their childhood and then released with no life skills and little or no community supervision or parole. Kids who killed their parents because they didn't buy them something that they wanted. Not tried as adult and off the paper walking the street by 21. Convicted child molesters who were given probation no jail time because the kid they assaulted was too young to testify against them and maybe he was abused himself as a child or something. That guy goes on to snatch somebody else's kid and have his way with them and then kill them because they are old enough to talk. It's happened way more than once. 

 

4)poor black men who are shot unarmed. Or beaten savagely for speaking up when they weren't given any due process and pulled over for no reason. Jail sucks, but the ultimate price is a death caused by a racist cop who had qualified immunity. He shouldn't have been qualified. 
 

5) and of course, all these damn Asshole youngsters stealing cars and the cops will not do shit about it. Whatever your walk of life is, whatever your age is; You steal someone's car they bust their ass to maintain and pay for and it's their only form of transportation and can't get another one; that offender should always always go to jail. Fairly high bond amount Or even no bond if they've done it a bunch. Mandatory jail time for anything other than maybe unauthorized use. If you steal someone's car you should be locked the hell up for a while. Every time. There have been instances in this area where the owner a vehicle confronted someone trying to steal it or cut the cat converter off instead of running off the thieves pulled out a gun and shot the owner of the vehicle. Or that one guy who ended up shooting the youth that was stealing his car killing the kid, and now his family is rallying for the victim of the theft Catch a first-degree murder charge. The kid wasn't a divine cherub Is much more likely are the 12-year-olds stealing cars is just a bad seed. 
 

Way more often than not a punishment for a crime is either life-threateningly sever or nowhere close to jjstuce. Rather criminals walk in the street right now And not enough stuff gets punished...tgeyre too busy making an example of someone who used a drug Behind closed doors and has never stolen nothing.

The imbalance is pretty staggering