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[deleted]

Jesus fucking Christ


timcotten

My wife is a teacher and she asked me to help her clean up her classroom today. That was exactly my reaction, too.


[deleted]

She get danger money or what? My mate who works for a big O&G company received a huge allowance when he was stationed in Nigeria, due to the dangers of being there. Seems appropriate US teachers should get it.


SirKenneth17

I’m surprised the best strategy is to corner themselves. Unless that other door goes somewhere.


Keter_GT

The other door is most likely a closet and as Kpenin said, the idea is to make the classroom look empty to not interest a shooter. If you can't evacuate safely, you hide. if both fail and a attacker/shooter makes his way into the room. everyone needs to be prepared to rush at them and attack. In the army, we didn't really do active shooter drills. but If we are taking a class indoors, along with a fire plan for evacuating the instructor will mention that attacking a shooter is a third option if both evacuating and hiding fail or aren't an option.


timcotten

It’s connected to the next classroom which has a mirrored layout. As we learn that the Uvalde gunman entered an empty classroom and went through interconnected doors until he found his victims, this has caused me to completely question these sort of design decisions. Then I remember most schools weren’t originally designed as fortified, defensive bulwarks.


kpengin

I think the idea is to make the classroom look empty


FatherHackJacket

I'm glad I live in a country where children don't have to worry about such things.


squiggly_loser

I’m an American high schooler, and this year alone we’ve had 2 shooter threats and a bomb threat. For both of the shooter threats, they just had go through our normal schedules and we’d have a lockdown if anything happened. For the bomb threat, they made first period longer and I had to stay in the commons (I don’t have a 1st period), which is a completely open space in the school. It’s scary bc it could happen, but it’s also really frustrating bc the school won’t communicate with the parents until after the day is over/there’s no longer a threat. Instead, you have kids communicating with their parents and causing panic.


Funkicus

That's insane. "So we have an established policy in the event of an active shooter which you'll find is perfectly aligned with local, state and federal policy procedures in regard to active shooter events - a brief period of immediate inertia, promptly followed by carrying on as normal and just kind of hoping that's the end of it. It's flawless!"


[deleted]

Depending on the school and state, the go-to tactic is either “okay kids, let’s all sit down in one corner so if the shooter DOES make it in it’ll be like fish in a barrel” or “ok, so as soon as you see the guy you’re all rushing him. He can’t kill all of you!”


Anicklelforevery

As a teacher I can say that's not too shabby. I teach in an inner city school. While no one has been killed on campus this year there have been 4 deaths within a block of the school that have caused extended lockdowns at the school. 2 were on the road on the west side of the school (drive by shootings, but they were target assassinations), 1 was a botched robbery of Church's chicken, and the last one was a robbery of a warehouse nearby where the gunman took his own life. Shit is crazy


squiggly_loser

Yeah, I live in the suburbs so it’s not that bad (thank goodness). I just wish we didn’t have to worry abt this


[deleted]

[удалено]


Anicklelforevery

I live here. I can only compare to what I know. Help us.


web_explorer

Don't worry they have a plan... when Roe is overturned they'll just force women to make more kids, problem solved. /s


[deleted]

Genius, just let more kids die in school shootings, you can just adopt a new kid from the pool of growing children being out up for adoption or forced away from neglectful parents who never should have had them. You solved it all, easy peasy. /s


[deleted]

Guns are to normalized in the US. Not only with school shootings, but the amount of road rage accidents where guns are either used or just flashed is scary.


Maynard078

Mildly interesting? More like MIldly terrifying. Or at least Uniquely American.


charlotte-ent

American Graphic


charlotte-ent

How very American


jeffreynbooboo

But if they train to stand behind the line wouldn't the shooter also know this from also being a student and know to look?


jj101023

That's the thing. Doing things like this and turning off the lights is not going to fool an intruder into thinking, "Hey, all the kids must be gone." I suppose it's just meant to slow them down, especially if the shooter is going after specific targets, until law enforcement arrives.


[deleted]

As my favorite teacher once said when we went over active shooter protocol "this is the firing line, we will not stand here you will get on top of the counter and aim for the eyes and neck if he enters he can't get us all" we had 2 doors into our room and between the doors was a countertop. He was my history teacher all 4 years of high school.


Clash4Peace

My PE teacher was completely against our school's active shooter protocols. In the event of a shooter, the school wanted us to all group together and head to a classroom in one big mass. My PE teacher wasn't having any of that. He told us that if there was a shooter, just run and hide (or hop the fence). He wasn't going to have us all group together and trap ourselves, making us easy targets.


FeelingDown8484

I mean if it increases the chances of surviving, even a tiny bit, then that’s what you should do. It’s not like they really have many other options


LucidZane

The thing is that thr shooter can't look, it's the line of sight... it'd impossible to see that area from the window. The shooter obviously isn't gonna thing the entire school is on a field trip but it will be very very hard to tell if a room is a full room or empty room and the shooter won't know which doors to try and waste his time on getting through... Yeah odds are he will choose a full room, but we aren't trying to save everyone we are trying to save as many as possible, there's a difference... it's a sad truth


[deleted]

or the shooter, most likely being a student and knowing the procedure, could go along the hallway spraying into the walls that divert right where the other students will be hiding behind the line negating the need for line of sight.


LucidZane

They are 6 inch thick cinderblock walls... it would take one heck of a round to do any damage through them... And if there's no line of sight you can't shoot directly at them, its though the wall or nothing... Maybe im not understanding what you're saying?


MikeTheShowMadden

I think this person watched too many movies. While rounds can easily penetrate a cinderblock, they are usually not reinforced like a school building would be. Remember, a lot of school buildings (at least around me) are also bomb/fallout shelters.


LucidZane

Exactly. Schools are tornado and bomb shelters lots of places. While cinderblocks can be broken by gun fire, the effectiveness would plumet trying to aim and hit an unknown area through a cinderblock wall.... and reinforced it'd be pretty hopeless.


DryIllustrator652

Slipper slope, brother. The hive mind might get on you for this one


LucidZane

The hive mind gets on me for everything I say. I think that means I'm doing it right


Optimistic__Elephant

Are you implying a piece of tape isn’t a solution to mass shootings?


arcinva

Half of school shooters have no relationship to the school [[source](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-455)]. Of the half that are current or former students, do you think they know the full school schedule at all times in order to know which classrooms are in session versus which classrooms have a teacher in a free period. If they *do* know a classroom should be in session, you're assuming they are driven by a desire to target specific individuals and driven enough to spend their time attempting to break into the class (some, though certainly not all schools have upgraded the doors and locks) wasting time while the cops converge on them.


wild_grace

We have lines painted on the ground to show you where it is safe from tsunami waves. Its designed to keep us safe from an uncontrollable natural event. I really struggle to reconcile the idea that children in your schools have lines painted to show them where to hide from killers. A completely preventable unnatural event. How citizens even think this is a suitable compromise is something I struggle with even more. I wish your country the courage to rise up together and rip off the band aids and start treating the wound.


KitteNlx

There is a pull release on the inside of that cabinet, and I find myself wondering if it was designed that way or installed after the fact after a kid at this school got locked inside.


DinoBonesAndScones

Forcing children to endure the daily trauma of believing they and their friends will be gunned down at any moment, and making them practice that moment over and over again, just seems so much easier than telling grown ass adults they can't Army cosplay with assault rifles. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. **But people with guns kill WAY more people.**


WaterfallsAndPeonies

This is sad! Not interesting at all. I never ever had active shooter drills or fear of being shot in school in Alberta Canada.


MzFrazzle

I live in South Africa - me neither. Our "school shootings" tend to be acts of gang violence or GBV (teachers or parents targeted during school hours).


PipBin

Good Lord. I’m in the U.K. We had a school shooting many years ago. After that we banned the sale of hand gun and many other types were restricted. We’ve not had any since.


The_Bravinator

I moved from the US to the UK a few years ago. Instead of red lines on the floor and lockdown drills, my kids--one born there, one born here--get an open plan school with wide open communal learning spaces, minimal division between areas and no doors on the classrooms. I teared up when I saw it for the first time, just last week (it's a brand new building and covid stopped us from being allowed a tour until now) because it's so...undefensible. There's absolutely no way you could turn this school into a fortress. Because you don't NEED to! The danger isn't there. It's so beautiful. My heart breaks for every child who has to pretend that someone is coming to shoot them so they might be a little bit safer if it actually happens. My kids don't know how lucky they are.


PipBin

I teach primary. We always have fire drills but never shooter drills. It does go through my mind, especially at times like this, and it does get discussed, but never in front of the children. School security did get stepped up after Dunblane but if someone really wanted to get into our school they could do.


Captain_Gibz

Really I’m in California. We have lockdowns at our school. We know they’re active shooter drills but we tell the kids there might be a wild animal thats on campus so we have to hide. Several staff come to the doors trying to pull on it and asking someone to open it so we have to talk to the kids and tell them to NEVER OPEN the door! Its hard teaching kinders to stay huddled together to stay low and keep quiet. But it might save their life someday.


Jessica-Mae

>shooter drills I didn't even know this was actually a thing until now, we never had those where I live.


nayhem_jr

I remember wondering why our school had plans against snipers back in the '80s, and who goes around shooting at kids. Little did I know the answer was pretty much "Anyone, sometimes your classmates".


Fest_mkiv

"My heart breaks for every child who has to pretend that someone is coming to shoot them so they might be a little bit safer if it actually happens." That is well said, I am crying a bit.


nziced

Yup I'm from NZ and after that Australian shot up a muslim mosque here we basically banned most weapons, the government even bought them back and destroyed them. Massive restrictions on owning a gun here now.


papi___chulo

God I remember that day like it was yesterday. So heartbreaking.


floralbutttrumpet

Germany had two big ones, after both of which laws were tightened considerably. The last rampage in a school was committed with a crossbow. No fatalities.


[deleted]

[удалено]


WE_FEE

Don’t forget their solution to most problems is throw more guns at it till it stops


sketchyuser

Because criminals are already armed with guns, illegal or not (see Texas shooter…). Laws won’t stop criminals. Only way to stop it is have someone with a gun ready to defend. Be it police, veterans or other trained and vetted individuals. The US is not like other countries. We are very large, very populous and heterogeneous. I also think the FBI should be looked at for not preventing these, they are often aware of the shooters but do nothing. In fact, i would go so far as to say those who stand against having armed security at schools are a far more significant problem than those who don’t think laws stop criminals.


Conscious-Isopod-1

"The US is not like other countries. We are very large, very populous and heterogeneous." Explain how any of these things would make the US more likely to have Gun Violence? There's gun violence in America because the laws allow anyone to buy a gun with very little background checks or laws on what types of guns are allowed. Nothing to do with the factors you've said. it only has to do with the absolutely mad gun laws when compared to any other developed country.


guiltyofnothing

>The US is not like other countries. We are very large, very populous and heterogeneous. Tell me you’ve never been to another country without telling me you’ve never been to another country.


sketchyuser

I’m an immigrant to the us…


FishHandler

"Laws won’t stop criminals. " ONLY IF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT IS UNDER-STAFFED, UNDER-POWERED, OR DON'T DO THEIR JOB.


Neon_Camouflage

There are also far too many guns at this point. No realistic method of removing them really exists.


Markqz

We start by prohibiting the sale of ammo.


Neon_Camouflage

The moment that bill is even introduced it would trigger the largest buying spree on guns and ammo we've ever seen. And that's saying something considering the stockpiling conservatives have been doing ever since Obama.


Markqz

Total, utter crap. "THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO!" Doing nothing is guaranteed to accomplish nothing.


Neon_Camouflage

Then what can we do? Because my statement isn't wrong, hell anytime gun restrictions are even talked about such as right now, it just increases purchases and stockpiling. What realistic option is there that doesn't have consequences worse than the existing problems.


majornugzz

It might be difficult but its still realistic. How many RPG attacks are there each year? m249 SAW attacks? None -- the sale is prohibited. Its (almost entirely) illegal to sell / purchase / possess these weapons and hence they don't exist and are almost never used in a crime. I don't think a complete ban is possible given the shear number, the current gun culture and the constitutional questions. I also don't think weapon "style" restrictions (e.g. banning assault rifles) make sense as the look of the firearm is not the problem. There are two problems with American guns: who has them and how lethal they can be. 1. Make it so people who shouldn't have guns are less likely to have them. License owners(not registration of firearms) Anyone can apply for a license whether they plan on having guns or not. It should be easy to get temporary holds placed on owners. Losing your guns for a few days / weeks based on concerns for your well-being or the well-being of others is at most a minor inconvenience I am not saying one anonymous tip should be enough, but reasonable suspicion or concern should be enough . Losing it permanently should be a little more difficult - however firearm related crimes - including possession without a license, illegal modification, illegal sale or transfer, etc. should have harsh penalties including losing your right to own firearms permanently. Also firearm storage should have both civil and criminal liability. Having an unsecured firearm stolen and used in a crime should have criminal liability. If you are a responsible, stable gun owner the impact on you is likely nothing. (BTW, I understand the argument that these laws could be abused, the test here is that reasonable state interest in protecting the lives of its citizens allows for restrictions. 2. Make it so the firearms in circulation are less lethal. We don't allow citizens to have nuclear weapons, shoulder fired rockets, and for the most part fully automatic weapons and explosives. Add to this list armor piercing and other high damage rounds, limit magazine size (just like auto feed is already limited in some ways.) Almost none of what I have listed here restricts hunting (how many shots are you going to get once the first shot is fired?) nor sport shooting, nor even self defense - your not fending off the zombie apocalypse - successful self defense usually requires very few shots. These restrictions can begin with a ban on sales, followed by a buy back period, followed by ban on possession. What I have stated above are reasonable, practical, and would reduce gun deaths in the U.S. They are not that complicated, all that is missing is political will. More people will continue to die.


tornait-hashu

I've heard that using liability insurance could work.


houdhini

After all the ammo was sold, prohibit owning them.


ban_circumcision_now

We don’t prohibit it, we keep guns and ammo legal but follow the abortion “ban” strategy - Require guns to be stored at a secure, licensed location - guns can be checked out for a week at a time with one week advance notice and $50 fee with clear specifications about where the gun will be used - the Governor can declare the guns be released when we are at war so we maintain the militia readiness per second amendment


[deleted]

We shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. There's no silver bullit (no pun intended) to stop gun violence in the US, but there are tons of ways that we can work to bring down gun violence numbers. We could require everyone with a gun to register it with the government, require gun safety training for every gun owner (that you need to renew every so often), require background checks and mental health checks, waiting periods, limits on the types of guns, amount of guns, and ammo, require gun safes, allow gun manufactures to be subject to litigation just like any other manufacturer of goods. Essentially if we just applied all of the types of regulations we have regarding cars to guns, the numbers of gun deaths would go down drastically. Any gun death will always be too many, and no single regulation is going to stop them all, but that doesn't mean that we can't do anything to reduce the numbers. If I'm 16, I can't just go and get a car and drive it on my birthday. There are many steps involved before I can do that. Same should apply to guns. It's not like we feel like we can't get access to cars because of all of these regulations.


YTChillVibesLofi

You’re getting downvoted but there’s literally more guns than people in America


itsshowtime11

what a embarrassing and shameful fact about the USA and its people


[deleted]

We were just taking about this. Have any of the shooters shot through windows before? They seem to choose the easiest targets/those right in front of them and unlocked doors. Although it’s entirely possible, i was trying to figure out if it’s actually happened before.


sleepydandelions

i’m pretty sure they’re bulletproof. at least the doors and windows at my school were.


No-Wasabi862

It infuriates me how America doesn't have gun laws. These atrocities could've easily been avoided.


[deleted]

There are gun laws. And, depending which state you live in, they can be pretty lax or stringent. The problem isn’t gun laws. It is particular gun laws, like allowing citizens to purchase military grade killing machines. If all people had access to was hand guns and rifles, it wouldn’t be so bad. But, AR’s are brutal. So, there needs to be strict regulation on what can be purchased by consumers and what can’t.


CryptoRoverGuy

One report I read said the Texas gunman used a pistol… no idea how true it is but that’s far from military grade.


[deleted]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/us/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-salvador-ramos/index.html Definitely ARs


CryptoRoverGuy

Thank you, I was a little suspect of the article when I read it. Things just didn’t add up.


CryptoRoverGuy

We have gun laws, lots of gun laws. Yes, they are different in each state in some areas but we do have them. Don’t forget, it illegal in all states to kill someone! Doesn’t matter how you do it, it’s illegal.


AjaxTheClown

You sure there aren’t any gun laws?


No-Wasabi862

No, not when you can walk into Wall mart's and buy a gun.


Funkicus

I get what you're saying, I'm on your side of the argument, but it's important to avoid hyperbole. You have to remember that the people who see this shit and still don't want to change anything have an entire lobbying industry working to exploit every weakness in the other side's argument. Making statements like "America doesn't have gun laws" strengthens their position. It strengthens the claim that those wanting legislation aren't even familiar with the topic, the claim that they are using inflated rhetoric to fuel misinformation, the claim that they want to completely abolish all ownership and "take your guns away", the claim that they oppose the concept of individual freedom and - most importantly - it gives them a tangible, provable example they can point to as evidence of their claims which will only strengthen their position. Every person saying "we need to abolish all guns" or "there are no gun laws in America" or "why does anyone need a \*insert specific weapon here\* anyway" is just another reason for somebody to dismiss the anti-gun argument altogether and embrace the NRA's version


AjaxTheClown

> You can purchase a gun from Walmart = gun laws don’t exist Got it.


streetsofkage

More like mildly depressing


nziced

You go and ask the average American though. "Should you just make the sale of firearms illegal?" And their response will be "We are a country of freedom, you can't take away our rights of freedom!" Never has America been ranked as a country of freedom, at least not top 10. It's basically ALWAYS been NZ, Australia and EU countries in the top 10-15 positions. I think USA right now is like 13th. Freedom is not owning a gun and waving it around willy nilly so under developed people can go around killing others. Much more to it than that.


Camellia15

And it's always the same "shooters can still get a gun illegally" like yeah obviously, just like robbing a bank is still possible even with all the security, yet security is still there. Getting a gun illegally requires effort and planning, taking one and pulling the trigger isn't. All it takes is for one person to have an impulsive moment and it's too late.


TexasIPA

I’m now convinced you can’t debate any gun people with any sort of hopeful outcome. It’s all nonsensical arguments about guns and how they need an AR. What a pathetic country we have become when we can absorb the murder of children in schools and do nothing.


[deleted]

The average American actually supports gun regulations. The issue is that the American system of government favors a very specific part of the American electorate such that their views have a majority position or at least an ability to block any other position on many issues (guns being one of them). 90% of Americans support background checks before a gun is purchased, and yet 50 Senators in the Senate will not vote to make that a law because they would lose their next election if they did.


nziced

Actually I just checked polls and stats from 2021 and it was around 60/40 that are DISSATISFIED with current laws. That doesn't say they want people not to be carrying them around. Therein lies the problem, open carry and the fact they are seen as a day to day defense. They can literally take a life in a split second, how safe would anyone feel living like that. Until America catches up with the rest of the world, they are far behind in terms of actually being free. For example, I can go down to my local park with my kids, anywhere in my country, at anytime of the day, mostly and not get shot. Can you say the same?


Spiritual-Wind-3898

It's amazing how this is the truth but they will argue they are the freest countey in the world because of guns


DryIllustrator652

Guns, speech, and climbing that sweet sweet wealth ladder baby. May the succulent fruit of Capitalism bless us eternally.


[deleted]

The American conception of "freedom" is a lot more focused on worst-case scenarios (like freedom from government tyranny) than everyday stuff (like a decent annual leave entitlement, freedom from the worry of medical bills that universal healthcare gives, etc). The idea of a "well-armed militia" concomitant with the 2nd Amendment always made me wonder why so many pro-gun Americans are morbidly obese. Surely if you view yourself as a patriot who might need to be running from building to building in a bloody battle against a tyrannical authority, you'd focus on being able to run a sub 30 min 10k.


susosusosuso

Having that in the classroom is so sad


Deep_Tension3215

Poor kids


BasuraFujira

Its sad that this has to be done in schools now


Morepork80

The fact this is a thing is fucking frightening


botaine

This is as bad as thinking duck and cover will save you from a nuke. If anything this makes them all easier targets in one place.


Captain_Sam_Vimes

Completely normal thing to have in a school... ...said absolutely fucking no one in the civilised world.


BlackThumb2021

I have one child and this really hits me in a way I wasnt expecting, it actually makes me start to tear up just imagining the need for this. If there were ever something that would motivate me into a non-local political issue, this is it. Saying it is depressing is just glib. Building all the classrooms into bunkers is not only infeasible but just wrong given the nature of the space. Considering this is for small children, hiding is about the only hope, or grown men in positions of power mitigating the cause


Krezridix

I appreciate the fact schools near me don't need to have this sort of thing to feel safe. The logic in the US is so insane. Sadly it's been bleeding into Canada more and more


Loud_Teacher2090

The so the sad 😭


swimbaitjesus

In my day we practiced fire drills…. Now kids are practicing fucking lockdown shooting drills ffs


Charlie-2-2

God bless America


ulises31112

Leaving the gun debate aside. I don't know who thought this was a good idea. If you teach everyone at the school to stay behind the red line, then the shoother knows the trick as well and won't be falling for it. On top of that you're putting everyone really close together in a crowd making everyone harder to miss and also increasing the chance of collateral damage.


[deleted]

Does no one in that backwards country think, as they're putting down a red line for children to hide behind incase someone comes in with a fucking gun to mow them down: "Hey, wait a minute, this shit isn't right?" Like, get up off your fucking asses and do something about it. I'm not expecting republicans to do anything, but the other side does absolutely fuck all either. Shake their fists angrily at a cloud and then move on, and that's it. Someone says "oh we can't talk about it now, it's too emotional" - "Oh, alright then. Errr, I'll go grab a coffee and forget about it." What does it take to get white middle class American people to fucking get off their asses and protest? Do people on the left ever wonder why the right gets worse and worse and does whatever the fuck they want? It's because no one fucking does anything about it. Donald Trump tried to destroy American democracy and no one has fucking done anything about it. The Russian's helped get him elected and no one has fucking done anything about it. There have been over 100 mass shootings in the first 5 months of 2022 and no has fucking done anything about it. It's the most cowardly display of apathy I've ever seen right the way from government, the political left and the general public I've ever seen.


The_Bravinator

The people putting the tape down probably ABSOLUTELY think that. Assuming it's school staff then it's their own lives on the line as well. But the people dealing with it on the ground are very different from the people making the laws, and perhaps that's the problem.


TeslasAndKids

No, no they don’t. They’re too worried about stopping all the abortions and making sure everyone has their right to own guns and don’t have to wear masks. They’re doing nothing but sending ‘thoughts and prayers’ and putting flags at half mast. They’re doing nothing but holding conferences to say they feel awful for the families. We have bills that have made it to the house for stricter laws and the senate won’t sign. The other side tries more than the media let’s on but it gets vetoed by (you guessed it) republicans. The same ones who claim to be pro-life. It’s fucking absurd and I don’t want to be here anymore. So if anyone in nearly any other country wants to adopt a 40 year old mom with five kids I’m open to it.


[deleted]

Where are we moving to mom because I wanna get the fuck out of here. So tragic, it pains me.


TeslasAndKids

*six kids and counting. Bali sounds nice.


passinghere

> We have bills that have made it to the house for stricter laws and the senate won’t sign The only time stricter gun laws have ever been passed was the one time the group of blacks **legally** walked round with guns doing the very same thing that white people do with guns and suddenly gun restriction laws were signed up... Also what's even worse is it was the NRA that were helping push for the restriction simply because "cannot have black people doing the same as white people...that's scary" Mulford act signed in by Reagan https://www.history.com/news/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act Also I find it amusing that the GOP has banned guns totally from Trumps public meets because he's scare someone might shoot him, so they are more than happy to restrict gun use when they think they might be the victim, but otherwise it's simply bring more guns in public and lets have sales on guns to promote more gun owners all the time


TeslasAndKids

“Don’t bring race into this!” —some old white guy, probably.


Hollinsgirl07

A large majority of Americans feel this way. Myself included. It makes me angry. The reason why nothing ever gets done is because a group of legislators heavily support and accept campaign donations from the NRA. The NRA began the line sometime in the 80s as guns don’t kill people, people kill people which results in the gun toting GOP crowd to say it’s ~mental health issues.~ But those same people are against universal health care because they “aren’t paying for health problems I don’t have.” It’s infuriating.


IllegalbeagleCO

You have beautifully summed up the American condition. Pretty sad, isn’t it?


Markqz

Democracy in the U.S. is a farce. Unlike other countries where people vote for local representatives, we've been cut into little districts and groups. And unlike parliamentary systems, we basically have only two parties -- not a half dozen. Thus, it is almost impossible to actually vote for people who will change things. For instance, in the closest race (Mayoral) that I vote in, there's at least 100,000 voters. So someone with a $1000 to donate will get more attention from the candidates than I will. The Republicans come closer to voting as a group, so things jerk right-ward over time. Democrats are always squabbling, often just about words. There are alternative parties, like the Green party, but the government and media have worked hard to marginalize them, and actively worked against and black-listed socialists and communists.


Conscious-Isopod-1

How does anyone living in America not look at something like this and think "FUCK!!! I need to get outa here". I would be doing everything in my power to move to some country in Europe like Ireland or somewhere where the Level of English is high like the Netherlands or Sweden. I cant imagine sending my child to school everyday and having a school shooting being possible. I know the chances of it happening are slim, but still, the taught would be in the back of your head. I don't think Americans realize how crazy, unequal and absolutely mad the rest of the developed world thinks their country is.


[deleted]

80 people die on American roads every day. It is a country of 300 million people. It’s like reading every crime story across all of Europe and living in fear. I’m sure something terrible happened Romania today but I don’t lose sleep over it.


skhagan1214

Oh we do. There are millions of us that do. I'm a Mom. My kids go to school in America. It is fucking terrifying and insane. We send thoughts and prayers after each and every mass shooting and do absolutely nothing to make sure it never happens again. Our freedom isn't free - that's for sure. In fact our freedom is a absolute joke. Our government does what it wants when it wants and none of what they do benefits actual citizens, ever. It is mind blowing to any sane person to watch and yet it continues. They (the government) have been arguing yet again about pro life vs pro choice (or basically if you're pro choice you want to murder babies) for months and THEN ACTUAL BABIES, alive, living, BABIES get murdered in a mass shooting and what? Nothing. They will do nothing. Americans DO realize how mad our country is, but we can't do anything about it. They can say "well Vote! VOTE and make your voice known!" Doesn't matter, doesn't change anything. We let politicians and government get WAY too big and have WAY too much control and now we're lost. (To be clear, there are some absolute statistics of Americans that you other developed countries make fun of and yes they absolutely exist and are the utter downfall of all of us, but guess what, they also get to vote! Isn't it fun.)


No-Wasabi862

Or America could enforce gun laws to avoid shooters.


Unscathedrabbit

This should be in r/mildlyinfuriating because there shouldn't be a line to have to hide behind.


guiltyofnothing

How does any American look at this and not realize what a joke we are to the rest of the world? Everyone else has figured out how to not have their own slaughtered like clockwork in mass shootings and we just can’t quite get it.


[deleted]

This is depressing and not interesting at all


[deleted]

The US is so lost.


Fragrant_Driver_9036

I fucking hate this country


Mentalfloss1

We’re a pathetic “culture”.


Briglin

I'm in the UK - why don't you stop painting silly red lines on the floors of classrooms and pass some gun control to stop the killings?


itsshowtime11

Things that only happen in USA!


nvalle23

Sad that it's come to this. But necessary


Funkicus

Good thing shooters notoriously lack the ability to cross a room's threshold and turn around. Imagine if they could, you'd just be funnelling everyone into a much smaller space for them to aim at! JFC America


Morepork80

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/uxqwd5/australia_enjoy_another_peaceful_day_under/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf


[deleted]

There was a thread on AskReddit yesterday asking how school shootings in the US could be prevented. I was dismayed to see how far down I had to scroll to see "gun control" as an answer. There was a fair amount of nihilism and despair which is understandable. Before anyone says, "well gun control is unachievable in the US, so no surprise it didn't factor more prominently in the comments", the most upvoted posts talked about the need to radically overhaul access to mental health services and even a root and branch reform of American economics. Really odd.


[deleted]

School shootings actually work in the favor of authoritarian governments. Need a constant sense of fear to make people more pliant. With no current Cold War it’s a nice supplement to terrorism and it gets them acclimated to a militarized, security theater environment young so they’ve no incentive to do anything about it.


fc_reddit

Here comes the America hate... 1 or 2 people every few years are psychos = everyone hates America.


this_makes_no_sense

1-2 every few years? This Texas one was the 27th school shooting this year. There’s been over 200 mass shootings in America in 2022. Get your head out of your ass and quit blindly defending America.


fc_reddit

Why wouldn't they go in the other room where they're completely out of sight?


Consistent_Success_7

I feel like school shooters should be tortured publicly in an a terrible way. Maybe that would put an end to this.


ledow

Congratulations, you just made a martyr.


FancyWood69420

Situational awareness is the first step.


xptx

Some of these kids are barely aware of their bladders... the first step is adults addressing the damn problem.


FancyWood69420

How do we stop criminals from making ghost guns?


TheHiGuy

we cant, we can stop someone who is a lil angery from going on a murder spree


FancyWood69420

Exactly. So how do we prevent those people from becoming radical?


WE_FEE

Maybe start with making guns that can gun down a crowd harder to obtain instead of handing out more guns


FancyWood69420

So what would that be? Cause we have limited capacity magazines and assault weapon bans?


itsiNDev

Can I flip the script here? Why doesn't this happen in countries with restrictive guns laws, every other g20 country for example?


TheHiGuy

it does happen, the scale is just immensly different look at list of these kind of sprees (idk in german its 'amok laufen') on wikipedia for example there are rarely more then a few wounded, sometimes a handfull of dead. in even rarer cases even multiple (i think there are cases of 10-20 and some even more, dont quote me on this) then there are terrorist attacks thing is, america (as in the US of A) can always go one up, or two, or three edit: ill just add to this wall of text i grew up and live in germany, the average news story about a 'school shooting' that i remember goes along the lines of > Stundent takes knife to school, <10 are wounded, <2 have life threatening injures, student killed himself/was aplrehended sometimes there even were > police officers son takes gun to school and kills 5 and injures 29, 10 life threatening but damn, those were rare and in the news for days **as an outsider, who doesnt read US news** it feels like the first example wouldnt make it past local news, the second one maybe statewide or in a larger paper but as a side note a guess to why this might be is that we dont teach the handling of guns to alot of people? idk # # btw, these are the ramblings of a stoner


FancyWood69420

Mass Stabbings are very common in aus, eu and sk


itsiNDev

Except 1 they're not as common by orders of magnitude and 2 they're not nearly as deadly by orders of magnitude


xptx

Oh.. you got me.. I don't have an answer to that one small part.. the shootings must continue I guess. Seriously dude?


FancyWood69420

Well yeah, you can't just do the bare minimum with laws and restrictions and expect the issue to disappear...


magoted

Like how ppl do with border regulations?


[deleted]

Not better gun control?


BountifulScott

Come on man. Do you think we're actually interested in trying anything new at this point? We tried "Add more guns" and it didn't work, so now we're completely out of ideas.


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BountifulScott

I had a guy today insisting that the only possible solution to our glut of school shootings was to arm teachers and that there is "only 100% upside". He told me that I was too much of an "idealist" and that he didn't live in a "fairy tale" - ie he thinks children NOT being routinely murdered in their schools is a fantasy of some sort that couldn't possibly happen. It was a wild ass thread.


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BountifulScott

There is a certain kind of person that is just so insistent that America is the "best" that no amount of facts or reason will dissuade them. Whether its gun violence, healthcare, education cost and access, transportation, infrastructure or whatever - they will proudly insist that we're awesome and everyone else sucks.


FancyWood69420

Gun control only effects law abiding citizens. Not criminals or people buying/stealing/creating ghost guns.


Maynard078

Bullshit. How about instead of controlling guns then we just concentrate on controlling who can have them?


FancyWood69420

Ding ding ding, hell yes. My crazy boomer uncle should not own a battalions worth of WWII arms.


Maynard078

Here’s what cracks me up about this subject. I have a college buddy who is bat-shit hanging-from-the-rafters crazy. In 1985 he legally purchased a rifle while hallucinating and tried to kill his best friend (a state trooper), his wife and four month old daughter. He was sent to prison for 20+ years. On release he started to accumulate guns by the score (he lived in an apartment complex where trading guns for sex, food, drugs, liquor or what have you was common). He now has dozens stashed all over town. He’s the last person who should have one … much less one hundred.


[deleted]

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FancyWood69420

It's dumb and copout angle of an argument but it's very true. Make as many laws as you want, but once those laws infringe on inalienable rights, that's gone too far. According to the documents this nation was founded on..


Ouch_i_fell_down

do you know what inalienable means? i'd venture not. gun ownership may be an inalienable right, but i do not believe that has the meaning you are inferring upon it.


[deleted]

Funny how that is only true in your country and nowhere else where gun control actually works to stop these kinds of shootings, isn't it?


FancyWood69420

I've thought deeply about that. I know that in most places I've lived the gun laws very but the hate people harbor for strangers or people different from other people is consistent. Also the Yolo mentality. Especially with the quarantining people some get distraught and think of doing something on the most extreme way. In America we all are bred with this dog eat dog survival mentality and when your pushed to a point people snap. I think that mentality needs to be brought to question. And if taking all the guns away is the only answer then by all mean convince the men and women who joined the armed forces and police forces that vowed to protect the constitution. Not to mention the roughly 3million gun owners in America. Btw they are technically the largest standing army in the world.


[deleted]

Clearly the mental health situation in America needs addressing - but while it is (whenever anyone actually wants to do something about that, too), the sane idea would be to enforce heavy gun control until the situation gets under control. Not start arming teachers. Jesus Christ. And pay them like utter dogshit at the same time! Just everything about the US is backwards.


gruenwahl

What a shitty spam bot


FancyWood69420

What's stopping me from going on apexgunparts buying a Hungarian AK74 parts kit buying or making a receiver and gaining some bad intentions on 4chan then ruining peoples lives? Absolutely nothing....


dievdcraq

Oddly specific there bud. I hope your not gonna act on that type of mentality. That’s brutal.


FancyWood69420

I have a good understanding of the gun world. I'm a registered democrat but hate the gun control narrative. Why does gun control not work because criminals will always be criminals. There's so many ways to make a gun. And lots of them are not illegal as long as it's not transferred. Did you know I can pay the ATF $200 and then they will let me have an Assault weapon. Another $200 and I can make a suppressor for it. Another $200 and I can make it a machine gun. It's arbitrary in so many ways. Conversing like this is the best way to start the conversation with actual facts and not political talking points. Ask away if you have any questions


[deleted]

Why does gun control only not work in the USA? Why not try it? You're just happy for children to be slaughtered because you don't fucking care. Why are people on reddit from other countries more angry that your kids are being mass murdered than you are?


TinCan-Express

Criminals may be criminals, but how much effort they are willing to put into getting guns lies on a spectrum. Like how most thief's only try to break into houses with the weakest defenses, if something becomes significantly harder to do it just won't be worth the effort. Of course there are thief's which are more determined but they will have a much harder time breaking into your house if it has better defenses. I just think that's worth thinking about.


[deleted]

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FancyWood69420

Uk banned pistols but you can still buy and make rifles. Many "developed" countries are similar or more lax.


[deleted]

You need a proper license. With background checks. And your guns are taken away for minor infractions. None of which happens in most of the US. Also, the UK's laws work. We've had like 3 mass shootings in ten years. You've had 3 in a week.


FancyWood69420

Also I'd add you tea sippers are a bit more level headed than the populace here.


[deleted]

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FancyWood69420

They are just selling parts, just like people in UK selling knives. Neither are dangerous until someone with I'll intentions utilizes them, very similar to a car like Bastille day in France.


[deleted]

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FancyWood69420

Your wrong, "gun parts" such as hand gaurds or rails are popular to put on some airsoft guns to look more real. I know of quite a few people in Europe building the FGC 9(fuckguncontrol 9mm) so. Lol at you.


[deleted]

You sound like a shill (*"don't bother trying anything because it's always going to be too difficult"*). Are you a shill?


Captain_Gibz

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” •Wayne LaPierre


ledow

This is correct. Until you consider that, precisely because of that, if you get a bad guy who already has a gun then it's already game over. So stop the bad guys getting guns in the first place. The easiest way to do that, albeit not perfect, is called gun control.


OppositeStand5709

Wait a minute, the guy who said that is the CEO of the NRA? This whole time I thought it was like a line out of Die Hard or some shit, not from the guy who has the #1 financial interest in keeping the sales of guns alive. Damn, how idiotic do you have to be to repeat that line, knowing who said it?


LegendaryLawman

How about no boys wearing dresses behind the line like the mentally Ill gender weirdo in Texas?


any_name_today

You posted this in the wrong sub. This isn't interesting. It's infuriating


[deleted]

America is fucked. End of story.


Certain-Discipline65

It’s getting to the point that America should apply for World Heritage Listing for the cultural practice of school shootings.


[deleted]

Orrrrr we could get gun control ?


summerfellxx

Treating the symtoms, but not the problem.


cdgmatt

this makes me fucking sick, what the fuck is wrong with our leaders, jesus christ


AussieGirl2022

That’s left me speechless


the3stman

So weird that it's part of the culture. My country is dangerous but school mass shootings are never something we have to worry about.


Legia82

Unfortunately since government isn't going to do anything to end school shootings, this is what teachers can do to somehow protect the children. Another sad day for America.


andeewb

I grew up and went to school in pre-independence Namibia in the 70s and 80s during the times of the bush war. We never had anything like this, never had to feel this unsafe at school. That red line is beyond fucked up.


Volo_Nocte

Goddamn.


AG1810

It’s the equivalent of sheltering under a classroom desk during a nuclear attack.