Patterico's Pontifications

5/25/2022

NRA Scheduled To Hold Annual Meeting In Houston Just Days After Massacre At Texas Elementary School (2nd UPDATE ADDED)

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:10 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Three days after the mass shooting in Uvdale, Texas that saw 19 children and two adults killed, the National Rifle Association will hold its annual convention in Houston:

Donald Trump is still scheduled to speak at an NRA meeting in Houston…The former president is set to join fellow Republicans, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw, at the annual NRA Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum over the weekend.

The pro-gun lobbyist group is still intending on holding on the meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center from Friday to Sunday, despite the massacre at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Michael Heckman, CEO of Houston First, the government corporation that oversees the convention center, said he was not aware of any plans to cancel the event or change the schedule in the wake of the school shooting.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the NRA meeting will be held in Houston as scheduled because if they were to renege on the contract, “it would open the city up to a number of lawsuits”:

“The convention has been on the books for more than two years,” Turner said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. “It’s a contractual arrangement. We simply cannot cancel a conference or convention because we do not agree with the subject matter.”

The NRA’s website continues to promote the upcoming event:

The Exhibit Hall is open all three days and will showcase over 14 acres of the latest guns and gear from the most popular companies in the Industry…Make plans now to join fellow Second Amendment patriots for a freedom-filled weekend for the entire family as we celebrate Freedom, Firearms, and the Second Amendment!

After the massacre, the NRA tweeted this:

Meanwhile, Rep. Sheila Lee Jackson, who represents Houston in Texas’s 18th congressional district, has called on the NRA to cancel its event in light of the massacre. I rarely agree with her on anything, but I do agree with the representative on this: “It’s not the time” for the event to be held.

Also, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who was all about bringing gun control measures to the floor today, announced that it would not be happening:

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday that he will not immediately bring gun control measures to the floor in the wake of two mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, because he doesn’t expect them to muster enough Republican votes to pass.

Instead, the Democratic leader said he will wait for Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and other members of his caucus to try to negotiate a bipartisan compromise with Republicans on a measure that has a better chance of securing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

“There are some who want this body to quickly vote on sensible gun safety legislation, legislation supported by the vast majority of Americans,” he said. “They want to see this body vote quickly so the American people can know which side each senator is on …. I’m sympathetic to that, and I believe that accountability votes are important.”

But Schumer said he thought that bringing gun-control legislation in the immediate aftermath of Buffalo and Uvalde, where two lone shooters left a total of 31 people dead in the span of 10 days, would be fruitless because of staunch Republican opposition to such reforms.

As with Sheila Jackson Lee, I can’t remember agreeing with Schumer on much of anything, but I have to say I agree with him on this, regardless of his posturing:

“If the slaughter of schoolchildren can’t convince Republicans to buck the NRA, what can we do?” he said, referring to the National Rifle Association.

I believe the optics of the NRA holding their convention this soon after the shooting and this close to Uvalde are horrible. Nothing like rubbing salt into an unspeakably raw wound.

I don’t know what the answer is with regard to getting current measures on the books enforced and establishing new safety measures. We’ve discussed tightening up red flag laws, increasing wait time for purchase, universal background checks, more available mental health outreach and treatment, an armed presence at schools (including teachers/staff), etc. But really, unless Texas raised the legal age to purchase firearms, would any of the above measures have prevented the 18-year-old with no criminal record from legally purchasing the two guns, 375 rounds of ammunition, and a tactical vest? As I said yesterday, I’m gutted by yet another school massacre where small children who had just barely begun to live their lives are now dead. In perusing the internet, it remains shocking that some gun advocates seem to feel that the imposition of having to wear a mask or the thought of having Ruby Bridges Goes To School read to elementary students is cause for a much more immediate and bigger response than the massacre of 19 children. I don’t get it.

In the face of the Second Amendment, America’s romance and reverence for guns, the staggering proliferation of guns in the U.S., and an increasing level of hostility and anger as a result of social upheaval and the massive political dysfunction of Washington, at the very least, let’s start here:

UPDATE: As expected, protestgroups will be at the George R. Brown Convention Center where the NRA annual convention will be held this weekend in Houston. Several groups will be represented:

Ashton P Woods says they [NRA] are not welcome in his home town.

“These people are coming into our community. The city of Houston needs to kick them out,” said Woods, an activist and founder of Black Lives Matter Houston. “We have to be just as tough about these things as they are.”

Woods is helping organize one of several protests planned just outside the George R Brown Convention Center…

The goal of the Black Lives Matter protest, Woods said, is to “get loud” outside while powerful speakers take the podium inside. Woods said the issue of firearms was particularly important to the civil rights group that primarily tackles issues of police brutality in America.

“Whether it be death by suicide, death by cop, death by mass shooter, we need to control the access people have to deadly weapons,” Woods said. “These things are interconnected.”

Outside the convention center, multiple counter-demonstrations are expected in Houston – especially in light of a mass shooting that killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Hansen and Pecinovsky have organized an interfaith gathering that will include a silent march and a moment of reflection when organizers will read the names of those who died in Uvalde.

UPDATE 2: After facing pretty widespread criticism, it was announced that Texas Gov. Abbott will no longer be attending the NRA convention, but will instead be sending in a pre-recorded video address to attendees:

Abbott, 64, was originally slated to speak in person as the three-day event gets underway at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

But the Republican governor changed his plans after facing a widespread backlash for holding a fundraiser just hours after a gunman stormed into a Uvalde elementary school, killing 19 students and two teachers.

He will instead head to the site of Tuesday’s horrific school shooting to hold a press conference “on state’s ongoing efforts to support the Uvalde community.”

Also no longer attending the convention are several country music artists who were slated to perform this weekend.

And just this morning, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced he is dropping out of speaking at the convention after giving it “prayerful consideration”.

–Dana

114 Responses to “NRA Scheduled To Hold Annual Meeting In Houston Just Days After Massacre At Texas Elementary School (2nd UPDATE ADDED)”

  1. I’m with you, Dana. Thank you.

    Simon Jester (61f707)

  2. It seems to me that the optics of the NRA holding its convention in Texas just three days after a gun massacre killing 19 kids are just horrific. If they were smart about it, they’d make an announcement that, out of sympathy for the devastated families and for Americans at large who are angry and upset over another senseless school shooting, they will postpone the event and absorb the financial loss. It would be a good-faith demonstration to Americans showing that they are not a fanatical group but rather they are a reasonable entity that understands the sensitivities of the issue and the current emotional climate of the nation, as well as the excruciating loss 21 families are experiencing. I don’t understand how those planning to attend can feel okay about it…but that’s just me.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  3. Legally, the NRA is required to give a certain amount of notice (30 days, IIRC) before they can cancel or move their annual meeting. They are bound by their charter and the laws of New York. Considering that they are already being sued by the New York AG for not obeying New York’s nonprofit laws, they have no choice but to hold the annual meeting.

    Observer (c50b4f)

  4. It would seem that some exception to the rule, or appeal could be made in light of the extraordinary circumstances. Who would fight against it if it is the NRA asking for the exception? As much as the optics would be awful for the NRA, so too the gun manufacturers who will be displaying their firearms in the exhibit hall. To agree to a short postponement (if legally permissible) would only benefit publicly the organization and businesses involved in the event.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  5. Who would fight against it if it is the NRA asking for the exception?

    I dunno. New York? I can see a scenario where if the NRA asked New York if they could hold the meeting on a different date, the NY AG and Sec State might say no to make the NRA look worse for political reasons.

    I’d maybe hold a meeting that fulfills the quorum and at that meeting vote to push the big meeting to a different date.

    That red flag law rally involves a lot of backfill

    steveg (e794ae)

  6. What better time to defend one of our most basic rights than when it is threatened?

    kaf (08d20b)

  7. In these situations it’s easy for emotions to displace reason. Guns are part and parcel of this country, and ubiquitous to boot.

    Cancelling the convention is a feel-good measure that accomplishes nothing. Since guns aren’t going away, this is more of a cultural and mental health problem than a gun issue.

    I attended a small high school in southern Utah. It was common for students to drive pickup trucks with rifles on a gun rack clearly visible through the rear window. Fistfights would occur right in the parking lot, but nobody would think of going for their guns.

    The culture has changed. I don’t know if it’s mass/social media, bad parenting, or something else.

    norcal (3f02c4)

  8. AP NEWS and JPR report Onlookers begged police to go in as they are supposed to do. After 40 minutes people, three men and a woman armed with only a rifle and a pistol between them started for the building to rescue the children when the law enforcement officers decided to go in instead. NRA holding convention in texas interesting. Thoughts and prayers that no violence occurs.

    asset (c30327)

  9. Cancelling the convention is a feel-good measure that accomplishes nothing.

    Emotion and reason are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I don’t agree that it accomplishes nothing. Is showing empathy and a level of respect and decorum nothing? Is taking a pause after a massively devastating event nothing? Of course it’s an emotional issue – how could it not be? That doesn’t minimize or lessen the matter. Nor does it mean that reason has been abandoned.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  10. 1. VT shooter. How would an enhanced background check help? He wasn’t intitutionalized so the information never made it to the database. You can’t find what is not there. Maybe a HIPPA rule that if there is no institutionalization its not a serious case? This reminds me of the Sutherland Springs shooter where the USAF neglected to enter his record into the database.
    Hey! I got it. Lets have the same people who don’t update their databases run a red flag program.

    2. Sandy Hook. Connecticut issues an after the fact report that took months of hours to compile and then goes armchair QB. Please elaborate on “path to violence” and what the threshold was. Its like the old question that begs to be asked asked after someone says a guy is a criminal…. “Are we talking heads in a bowling bag or just an asshole”

    3. Parkland. OK so out of 39 calls over 7 years, none rose to the level of a felony and most seem to not have resulted in an arrest. A good deal of the calls seem to have been when the guy was a juvenile The FBI did not cover itself in glory, but the law is pretty restrictive about what can be done with juvenile activity. French has a point that Mom could have done something, but being worried and confiding to friends is different than being convinced… and it’ll be a cold noon in hell before a majority of Moms serve their kid up to the authorities over worries.

    4. Columbine. Which student made the threat to blow up another student? Was it as a juvenile? Was the pipe bomb viable? Pipe bomb wasn’t a felony or even prosecutable? Something else was in the mix. That something also influenced the administrators… if law enforcement declines… well, they can hardly go Leeroy Jenkins

    5. Umpqua. Voluntaril;y hospitalized. One of the signs of a semblance of mental health in times of mental illness is voluntarily seeking help. Clearly either HIPAA or something influenced the professionals not to hold him, not to alert authorities. Mom spoke of anger and mood swings…. and she did so when? Afterwards. She isn’t a mental health professional, she is a Mom. See #3

    Peak genius French. Event took place on a school campus. “Our plan increases school law enforcement, (presumably better than the coward of Broward) and mental, behavioral health resources”. Have French get back to me when he fixes government incompetence and ineptitude, pierces the veils of juvenile and HIPAA of confidentiality, and convinces moms to believe their kids are capable of mass murder.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am in favor of stricter rules, but no one wanted to force institutionalization on these people… it looks like the professionals felt at that point in time it was not warranted and maybe at that time it was not, but progressed to a place they were unable to forsee. It seems French would like to have professionals act more pre-emptively and maybe lower the threshold of “evidence”. That seems like laws need to be passed by states and tested over time up to the Supreme Court. It’ll be great watching the Civil Liberties lawyers that advocate for continuing to free range the raging nutters on the Venice boardwalk twist themselves in knots to take rights away from a moody teenager

    steveg (e794ae)

  11. I put “eveidence in sarcasm quotes because this involves a lot of opinion

    steveg (e794ae)

  12. I attended a small high school in southern Utah. It was common for students to drive pickup trucks with rifles on a gun rack clearly visible through the rear window. Fistfights would occur right in the parking lot, but nobody would think of going for their guns.

    The culture has changed. I don’t know if it’s mass/social media, bad parenting, or something else.

    norcal (3f02c4) — 5/25/2022 @ 9:19 pm

    I’ve mentioned this before, but Columbine was the watershed. There had been school shootings before then, but they didn’t get a whole lot of media attention outside very brief mentions. They were generally considered to be the acts of disturbed or alienated individuals, but not something to waste a lot of time over.

    Columbine changed all that. People here may not recall, but the media coverage was MASSIVE and international, due in some part to the planning and military-style assault that Harris and Klebold conducted. Primarily though, it was because the media had a dream narrative for an industry largely dominated by left-leaning individuals possessing a resentment streak the size of the Grand Canyon and general distaste for white, middle-class, suburban bourgeois communities–the shooting took place because a subversive subculture of outcasts within this white-bread, jock-dominated school in one of the whitest suburbs of the Denver metro area, were bullied for years, and two people from that subculture finally snapped and decided to take their anger out on their classmates. And of course, this was during the toddler years of the Internet and the height of MTV and Hollywood glorifying goth culture, so Marilyn Manson and the story of the dark corners of the World Wide Web got inadvertently sucked in to the whole panic.

    The narrative turned out to be complete BS–the reality is that Harris was a sociopath, while Klebold was a follower who generally went along with whatever Harris cooked up. They didn’t get along with the dominant social classes at Columbine, but they were hardly bullied. Their parents were constantly bailing them out of trouble, so they had no conception of consequences for their negative actions. So they decided they’d make a name for themselves by bombing the school and blasting their classmates. Over 20 years and dozens of laws in Colorado that get passed after the latest school shooting in the state (as well as the Aurora theater shooting, which is right down the street from where I lived in high school), and they still can’t figure out why this continues.

    The culture HAS changed, and the atomization and free-floating anxiety encouraged by our elites is a cornerstone of that, but Columbine was the template that every school shooting afterwards was built upon, and it’s due primarily to the media frenzy that happened over it.

    Factory Working Orphan (2775f0)

  13. Also, just as an FYI for people who aren’t from Colorado, because this has always bugged me–Columbine High School isn’t actually in Littleton, it’s in unincorporated Jefferson County. That neighborhood just uses a Post Office code that’s based in Littleton, which is the closest incorporated municipality.

    Factory Working Orphan (2775f0)

  14. I don’t get either the “optics” or “salt in the wounds” issue. The NRA isn’t pro-mass shootings. How is this not just an emotional reaction? This just sounds like a more elaborate version of “have you no decency”.

    I’m also not sure I follow:

    would any of the above measures have prevented the 18-year-old with no criminal record from legally purchasing the two guns, 375 rounds of ammunition, and a tactical vest

    Why would there need to be measures to prevent someone with no criminal record from purchasing those things? There’s nothing odd about 2 guns, 375 rounds, and a vest. And I’m not being sarcastic. I understand that there is a disconnect on this since I know people who have told me no one should have more than 100 rounds or more than 1 gun. Everyone of those people I’ve spoken to face to face are actually completely anti-gun though so any limit is really just a stepping stone.

    But let’s play this out; what is a respectable time for an organization that promotes responsible gun ownership to postpone an annual meeting to promote responsible gun ownership after something like a mass shooting?

    frosty (648974)

  15. Broken & Bankrupt: The NRA in 2021

    National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre and the rest of the NRA leadership are on borrowed time after a year of lawsuits, investigations, and personal embarrassments stemming from allegations of gross mismanagement of the organization. While the power and influence they have built will take years to dissipate fully, the bottom line is clear: the past year has been a disaster for the NRA, and LaPierre in particular. NRA leaders were forced to reveal in bankruptcy proceedings the depths of their mismanagement and incompetence, spent millions just to lose control of both the White House and Congress, and found themselves at odds with the public at every turn as they pushed an extremist agenda.

    In the courtroom, it would be difficult for the NRA to find itself on worse footing. It is facing litigation not only from former vendors but also the New York and District of Columbia attorneys general for the extravagant spending that has come to define CEO Wayne LaPierre’s tenure. In the face of these threats, the NRA made what might be its most desperate move yet: a Hail Mary bankruptcy filing in Texas in search of a proverbial get-out-of-jail-free card.

    https://nrawatch.org/report/the-continued-decline-of-the-nra/

    NRA Was ‘Foreign Asset’ To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals

    https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals

    It an organization firing blanks in the 21st century; needs to clean house; needs a new message; and needs new messengers.

    DCSCA (ee9a0e)

  16. NRA plans Texas summit after Uvalde shooting; echoes of Columbine

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/25/nra-meeting-uvalde-texas-columbine/

    DCSCA (ee9a0e)

  17. The NRA is going ahead with its annual meeting in Texas days after the Uvalde school shooting

    Twenty-three years ago, members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) were forced to confront the optics of holding their annual meeting just days after a mass school shooting in Columbine, Colorado had horrified the US and the world.

    “At that same period where they’re going to be burying these children, we’re going to be having media…trying to run through the exhibit hall, looking at kids fondling firearms, which is going to be a horrible, horrible, horrible juxtaposition,” NRA lobbyist Jim Baker said in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, according to private recordings published by NPR last year.

    That same horrible juxtaposition—images of dead children contrasted with the celebration of the weapons that killed them—looks set to occur this week. The NRA’s annual meeting in Houston is scheduled for May 27-29, kicking off just two days after a gunman killed 19 children and 2 adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

    The Houston Chronicle reports that the NRA’s annual meeting will go ahead as planned, with featured speakers including former US president Donald Trump, Texas governor Greg Abbott, and congressional representatives Ted Cruz and Dan Crenshaw. It will be the NRA’s first annual meeting since 2019, as it canceled the event the past two years due to the pandemic.”

    The NRA did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment about the meeting or the Uvalde school shooting.

    Will the NRA address mass shootings at its annual meeting?

    The Uvalde tragedy is not the only mass shooting that will be looming over the NRA’s annual meeting. There have been more mass shootings in the US in 2022 than there are days in the year. Last week’s included a racially motivated shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store last week that left 10 dead, and another racially motivated shooting at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, California, that left one dead and five wounded.

    US representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, called on the NRA to cancel its meeting Tuesday, while senate majority leader Charles Schumer looked to bring gun-control legislation to a vote in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting. But history suggests the NRA will neither alter its convention plans nor waver from its broad opposition to gun-control measures.

    After Columbine, concerns that calling off the NRA’s annual meeting would be tantamount to accepting blame for the shooting prevailed, and the group went ahead with convening in Denver, Colorado, roughly 10 miles from the site of the violence that had left 13 dead and more than 20 injured. In 2012, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which 20 children and six adults were killed, the NRA resisted efforts to pass gun-control legislation, with executive vice president Wayne LaPierre telling NPR, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

    There is, however, at least one scenario in which the NRA accepts that guns do not belong. In accordance with Secret Service policy, NRA meeting attendees will not be permitted to bring their guns to the event where Trump and other politicians are speaking on Friday.‘ – source, https://dnyuz.com/2022/05/25/the-nra-is-going-ahead-with-its-annual-meeting-in-texas-days-after-the-uvalde-school-shooting/

    DCSCA (ee9a0e)

  18. The NRA has made a number of agreements with the government to accept “reasonable restrictions” (starting way back in the 1930s, with the banning of machine guns) only to find that more demands are made shortly thereafter for more “compromises.”

    At some point their membership voted in hardcore leaders, fed up with the goalpost moving.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  19. @palofuture video Local cops did go in to rescue their own children. Then contained shooter in class while he slaughtered the children for 40 minutes while assaulting parents trying to enter to rescue their own childen. (ace hq)

    asset (c30327)

  20. video link twitter.com paleofuture/ It shows local cops herding and assaulting parents desperately trying to rush in and rescue their children while cops wait for 40 minutes for state swat team.

    asset (c30327)

  21. So, I read the details on those schools shootings, and in every case one would want a “red flag” to stop what was coming, but in every case the people who knew there was a problem did not act, or their concerns were not relayed to anyone.

    Why would you expect them to act if there was a red flag law? In most of the cases they did not need one, and in some of the cases the guns were not obtained by normal means anyway.

    The only red flag law that might have stopped these crimes would be one were a mere denunciation, possibly anonymous, would be sufficient to strip someone of guns. That may indeed get the guns out of the hands of these shooters, but it would also get the guns out of many 1000s of others’ hands because someone wants to screw with them and the system makes it easy.

    But let’s test this. Pass a law that says that membership in a street gang means you cannot possess a gun. I mean, if we really want to stop children from being shot, that’s the base of the thing.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  22. That being said, the NRA has a decent argument for cancelling the event. Their members might be unhappy (probably are no matter what) and out thousands in plane fares, vacation days, etc, but they’d understand that it’s just sh1t bad luck for the organization (not to make light of the tragedy).

    Hotels have been dealing with event cancellations for a couple years now, and have gotten good at it. I think the hotels would look pretty shabby if they tried to hold them to the contracts (which usually have severe penalty clauses). But they might, thinking it’s the NRA and who’ll weep for them.

    I agree with the same people that Dana hates to agree with. They should not go on with the show. There is no way to benefit from it.

    I also expect the NRA-haters to take cheap shots about them “running away” or some such.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  23. LAPD active shooter policy is “First armed responder waits for a second armed responder, then both go in.”

    More police forces should train to that standard.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  24. @14. I don’t get either the “optics” or “salt in the wounds” issue… This just sounds like a more elaborate version of “have you no decency”

    Really?

    Revisit the righties beloved Ronald Reagan and his White House on January 28, 1986. The Great Communicator was schedule to deliver his televised State of the Union message to America that evening. But something else happened earlier in the day to cause him to cancel it. See if you can figure out what it was.

    Reaganoptics. Common decency prevailed.

    DCSCA (ee9a0e)

  25. For nearly 150 years, the National Rifle Association has been incorporated in the state of New York, where NRA founders George Wingate and William Church first started the organization in 1871. Now, the non-profit group will seek reincorporation in the state of Texas, home to more than 400,000 NRA members and site of the organization’s 150th Annual Meeting. -source, https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/nra-to-reincorporate-in-texas/

    DCSCA (ee9a0e)

  26. Well, the State of New York and its execrable AG, has decided to abuse the law to drag the NRA through every court in the state. Not suprising they want to leave.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  27. @24 Let me see if I’ve figured out how this works

    nO !t d0esn’t?,

    Something about how Reagan ruined everything and an obscure anecdote

    ===nick-drop===!!

    That was easy. I see why you like those

    frosty (648974)

  28. Ramos was wearing a tactical vest, though not body armor, according to state senators who said they were briefed on the shooting. There was another AR-15-style rifle in his truck, and a backpack with several magazines full of ammunition was found near the school entrance.

    https://www.wcax.com/2022/05/26/texas-elementary-school-shooting-what-we-know/?outputType=amp

    Still early enough to not jump to conclusions. The senators could be wrong.

    Buduh (340919)

  29. I would think a couple of the purposes of the convention is to build membership and market product. At best that seems awkward right now. Public statements will need to be really refined and is the convention the best place to make them? I’m skeptical. Many of the defenses we’ve heard here will be strained when adults think about a room full of 9yr olds shreaded by an AR-15. Delay or maybe even cancel. I think there’s more potential for negative than positive.

    AJ_Liberty (a36eed)

  30. Many of the defenses we’ve heard here will be strained…

    Which specific defenses?

    BuDuh (340919)

  31. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

    Three primary goals drive the Washington-based human-rights group Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO):

    – Destroy so-called “gun control” (code words for disarming innocent people).

    – Expose the misguided notions that lead people to seek out so-called “gun control”.

    – Encourage Americans to understand and defend all of the Bill of Rights for all citizens. The Second Amendment is the “Guardian” of the Bill of Rights.

    Horatio (87e49b)

  32. @27. So… you can’t figure out Ronnie’s common decency.

    Hilarious.

    =mike-drop=

    DCSCA (e8cde2)

  33. Why would the NRA cancel?
    They’ll be getting swarmed with media attention, especially if Trump shows up, and I doubt he’ll be doing a Sister Souljah thing there.

    Paul Montagu (5de684)

  34. What is the Sister Souljah moment you would like to see happen at the NRA meeting?

    BuDuh (340919)

  35. 29, not necessarily, maybe attendee group of # from Beretta for example leaves some of the group at home and invites school officials, school board members, extends a branch to teachers (probably not the EAs and TUs, but maybe some locals# will be more willing than others).

    urbanleftbehind (f88268)

  36. And Texas is …big…Houston to Uvalde is same distance from Chicago to Des Moines or Cleveland.

    urbanleftbehind (f88268)

  37. How about dropping the liability shield for makers and sellers of high-capacity (over nine rounds) semiautomatic firearms if those firearms are used in a crime where two or more people are killed? That wouldn’t conflict with the second amendment, but it might constrict the availability of these weapons. With all the firepower currently in the hands of the public this might seem like too little, too late – but it’s not as too late as it will be tomorrow.

    John B Boddie (b9b5a6)

  38. What do you have against one person being killed? Is the gun, ammo, and magazine physically different prior to a second person being killed? What if the murderer needed 10 rounds to kill one person? Maybe a special carveout in your proposal would solve this.

    BuDuh (340919)

  39. I suggest that retail ammunition boxes should be reduced to 5 rounds each. Fix this at the point of sale.

    BuDuh (340919)

  40. Delay or maybe even cancel.

    Delay isn’t likely as conventions of this size don’t easily fit into hotel schedules on short notice.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  41. And Texas is …big

    And Texas is … not the place you gain support by grabbing guns.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  42. How about dropping the liability shield for makers and sellers of high-capacity (over nine rounds) semiautomatic firearms

    Because then they’d be driven out of business by all the politically-motivated lawsuits. But then that’s your plan.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  43. How about dropping the liability shield for makers and sellers of high-capacity (over nine rounds) semiautomatic firearms if those firearms are used in a crime where two or more people are killed? That wouldn’t conflict with the second amendment, but it might constrict the availability of these weapons. With all the firepower currently in the hands of the public this might seem like too little, too late – but it’s not as too late as it will be tomorrow.

    Good luck getting 60 votes in the Senate to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  44. What is the Sister Souljah moment you would like to see happen at the NRA meeting?

    One, confronting their general corruption and their taking money from a hostile foreign power.
    Two, obstructing on background checks, red flag laws, limiting clip sizes, etc.
    Three, confronting the association on the propriety of 18-year olds possessing assault rifles without any sort of training or testing.

    Paul Montagu (5de684)

  45. How about dropping the liability shield for makers and sellers of high-capacity (over nine rounds) semiautomatic firearms

    Because then they’d be driven out of business by all the politically-motivated lawsuits. But then that’s your plan.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/26/2022 @ 8:50 am

    No different than your proposal to make gun store owners liable for selling to “crazy mass killers”:

    Maybe he’s liable for $50,000 for each death caused by the person he sold the gun to.

    How is a gun store owner supposed to identify a buyer as a “crazy mass killer”? Give each buyer a psychological exam?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  46. But then that’s your plan.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/26/2022 @ 8:50 am

    It’s no accident that

    what is a respectable time … to postpone an annual meeting …?

    frosty (648974) — 5/25/2022 @ 10:43 pm

    turned into

    … or maybe even cancel.

    AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/26/2022 @ 6:37 am

    The wording here is also a bit interesting

    How about dropping the liability shield for makers and sellers of high-capacity (over nine rounds) semiautomatic firearms …

    John B Boddie (b9b5a6) — 5/26/2022 @ 8:30 am

    This is basically all semiautomatic firearms. High-capacity is a flexible term and any gun that makes it easy to reload with a magazine swap will quickly exceed whatever we’re currently calling high-capacity.

    frosty (74aa9a)

  47. There are plenty of things that could be tried to reduce access to guns in general or by the mentally unwell. But we’re not going to do any of them.

    Many on the right have made guns a central part of their identity, and also made resisting any restriction on access to guns part of their identity. These people are far more motivated to maintain access to guns then people who are interested in gun control. Even if there are more people who would support some form of gun control they have a lot of other policy preferences. Gun enthusiasts just have 1.

    Many on the right are also convinced that they’re in a existential cultural war with people who hate them, hate their way of life, and want to dominate them in all ways.

    Both groups are reliable GOP primary voters.

    So there’s no incentive for GOP elected officials to accept any changes to the status quo.

    Gun enthusiasts will be angry.
    Culture warriors will be angry.
    Any compromise will be attacked by primary opponents who will promise to ‘fight’ for them.

    19 dead children is a massive tragedy, but we’ve had massive gun related tragedies before. I don’t have any hope that this will change anything.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  48. “Which specific defenses?”

    Slippery slope and, to a degree, apocalypse arguments.

    AJ_Liberty (ec7f74)

  49. So, nothing specific regarding defenses you have heard here? Maybe a quote or two?

    BuDuh (340919)

  50. Many on the right have made guns a central part of their identity,

    Gangsta Rap is a right wing thing, yo.

    BuDuh (340919)

  51. Teen charged with terrorism after threatening Prescott (AZ) school shooting

    Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) deputies arrested a 13-year-old boy on May 17 after he allegedly made several threats to shoot up a Prescott school.

    The boy, who has yet to be identified by police, repeatedly told a bus driver that he was planning to “shoot up” Prescott Mile High Middle School, deputies said. The bus driver reported it to school administrators, who then notified the teen’s mother and YCSO.

    Deputies met with the boy and his mom where the boy allegedly admitted to making the threats, saying he did it to distract the bus driver as his friend moved to the back of the bus, YCSO said. The teen said they had no real intention to do harm at the school.
    ………
    Deputies booked the teen into the Yavapai County Juvenile Detention Center and charged him with threatening or intimidating, interference or disruption of an educational institution, and making a terrorist threat, the sheriff’s office said.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  52. @50, What do they have to do with my point? Or are still mad they can use the N-word and you can’t?

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  53. What color am I, Time? You don’t know.

    I consider your remark to be a personal attack and I hope the moderators don’t allow racist smears to persist.

    BuDuh (340919)

  54. The Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, is likely to expand the right to carry concealed firearms in public by overturning New York’s permit requirement. The only question is how far will the Court expand the right by possibly ruling that requiring a license of any kind for gun ownership violates the 2nd Amendment.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  55. @53 I triple dog dare you to hold your breath until anyone takes that seriously.

    @47

    Many on the right are also convinced that they’re in a existential cultural war with people who hate them, hate their way of life, and want to dominate them in all ways.

    Time123 (fcfc1c) — 5/26/2022 @ 9:38 am

    It’d be helpful if progressives/leftists weren’t making it so clear. It was easier to label that as conspiracy theories when they were trying to be more subtle.

    frosty (648974)

  56. @53 Since your comment seemed like a complete nonsequitur to I was looking for some other rationale for your reply. If you’re not upset gangster rappers can use the N-word and you can’t then what was your point?

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  57. @56 The only person talking about using the N word is you? Why did you add that to a conversation out of the blue? Is there some context missing?

    It sure seems like you’re being racist. Why?

    frosty (648974)

  58. @51, RIP, I think we will see a lot of very forceful zero tolerance responses. I don’t know that they will add a lot of value. I read the article you linked and I can’t tell from it if this is a troubled kid, or just a jerk who picked the wrong thing to be flippant about.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  59. BuDuh (340919) — 5/26/2022 @ 10:22 am

    You are right to take Time123 to task over this.

    felipe (484255)

  60. Filipe, You’re unfailingly kind and thoughtful. But in this text string I made a substantive point in my initial comment about factors I think are significant impediments to any changes to status quo. Buduh’s response was a dumb one liner about gangster rap that added nothing to the point I made, in fact it wasn’t pertinent at all.

    I don’t know *why* he made that particular nonsequitur as opposed to something else (fart noises wouldn’t have been any less meaningful) so i guessed something mildly insulting that might have him focused on rap music.

    You’re correct that I wasn’t being kind to him when i said that. A better policy would have been to just ignore his trolling.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  61. You race colored glasses kept you from seeing the point. It was a right vs left comparison. You went off the rails and became highly offensive and inappropriate.

    Shame on you.

    BuDuh (340919)

  62. @58-

    I would say the latter. He’s 13 and being a jerk, though this is also the result of saturation media coverage.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  63. RIP Ray Liotta (67) and Alan White (72), drummer for Yes, Plastic Ono Band, Joe Cocker, and The Ventures.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  64. @61, that’s stupid. To be clear, since I don’t want to offend you further, I’m not saying /you/ are stupid. I’m saying the comparison you’re drawing in response to my point is a really dumb one

    Let me restate the part you seemed to be responding to: Because of the large number of people who have made guns a central part of their identity active in GOP primaries there is little incentive for GOP elected officials to compromises.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  65. Hit enter to soon.

    Pointing out that rap music also features and celebrate guns doesn’t have any bearing on what I was saying for reasons that should be obvious.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  66. Whatever, Time. You revealed something here that I consider to be ugly at best. We have nothing to discuss.

    BuDuh (340919)

  67. RIP Ray Liotta

    He was… a ‘goodfella.’

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  68. Buduh, I’m shocked, *shocked* that don’t actually have a substantive point.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  69. @27. Yo, frosty; you know what this is called…

    COMMON DECENCY:

    Don McLean, Larry Gatlin, Larry Stewart withdraw their NRA performances after Texas shooting

    Don McLean is pulling out of his upcoming performance at the National Rifle Association convention, citing Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead. The “American Pie” singer-songwriter released a statement saying it would be “hurtful and “disrespectful” for him to perform at the NRA conference in Houston, which will be a meeting of gun rights advocates from across the country.

    “In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week,” McLean said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday. “I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans.”

    Larry Gatlin can’t perform at NRA convention ‘in good conscience’

    Country and gospel singer Larry Gatlin was also scheduled to perform at the upcoming convention but released a statement Thursday saying he can’t perform “in good conscience”

    “While I agree with most of the positions held by the NRA,” Gatlin said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. “I have come to believe that, while background checks would not stop every madman with a gun, it is at the very least a step in the right direction toward trying to prevent the kind of tragedy we saw this week in Uvalde.”

    The Texas native continued: “My prayers and thoughts go to all who are suffering, and I pray that the NRA will rethink some of its outdated and ill-thought-out positions regarding firearms in AMERICA. I’m a 2nd Amendment guy, but the 2nd Amendment should not apply to everyone. It’s that simple.”

    Larry Stewart of Sacred Heart also withdraws from convention

    Larry Stewart, lead singer of country band Restless Heart said he also wouldn’t be performing in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday.

    “Due to the tragedy in Uvalde with the horrific school shooting and children who died, I want to honor the victims, families, the town and our friends in the great state of Texas the best I know how. So I have made the decision to pull out as a performer for the NRA convention this weekend,” Stewart said.

    Stewart reinforced his belief in the Second Amendment, adding “the NRA is a great organization who teaches strict gun safety with a membership of law-abiding citizens.”

    “I just believe this is best for me at this time,” he wrote. – USAToday.com

    =most decidely, mike-drops=

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  70. But in this text string I made a substantive point in my initial comment about factors I think are significant impediments to any changes to status quo. Time123 (fcfc1c) — 5/26/2022 @ 11:25 am

    I agree with you. Your comment was substantive, and the impediments significant. The entire “n” business was distracting – at least to BuDuh and to me – and it did your points a disservice. I must admit that I have trouble remaining silent when such a policy would serve me best -as it would to any commenter.

    felipe (484255)

  71. DCSCA (3ba82f) — 5/26/2022 @ 12:01 pm

    I like seeing these artist withdrawing for the reasons expressed. This is a positive reflection on the armed Community which the NRA is supposed to serve (not represent). If I were a member of the NRA, I would have no confusion about them serving my interests, while bristling at any suggestion they are representing me. I would liken then to my Senator, not my Representative, in both relative power and purpose.

    felipe (484255)

  72. Husband of slain Uvalde teacher dies of heart attack two days after school shooting

    Joe Garcia, Irma Garcia’s husband of 24 years, ‘passed away due to grief,’ a family member said.

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2022/05/26/husband-of-slain-uvalde-teacher-dies-of-heart-attack-two-days-after-school-shooting/

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  73. Re Ray Liotta(RIP), he had game enough to take an famous attractive MLB player’s wife from under him (Cubs 1B Mark Grace). Although it might just confirm that Grace, per some rumors at the time, was indeed gay. True story, I started a whole seating section at US Cellular Field in a chant of “Grace is Gay” during a Cubs -Sox game.

    urbanleftbehind (f88268)

  74. @38 “What do you have against one person being killed? Is the gun, ammo, and magazine physically different prior to a second person being killed? ”
    If you want to change the existing law to reduce mass murders, you’ll need to frame the changes in a way that makes the political lift easier.
    By the way, Remington and Browning have been making semiautomatic firearms that are limited to five rounds for many years. If you are concerned with protecting your home, these are a much better choice than an AR-15.

    John B Boddie (b9b5a6)

  75. =most decidely, mike-drops=
    DCSCA (3ba82f) — 5/26/2022 @ 12:01 pm

    Please do not take this the wrong way, but with all these mike-drops, I wonder if James Brown was really “the hardest working man in show business.”

    felipe (484255)

  76. @71. If Reagan could postpone the STOU in ’86 out of ‘common decency;’ the NRA could bump their convention to at least after the funerals of out of ‘common decency’ as well. This is the same idiotic thing they did after Columbine. Little wonder Putin’s Russia financed them– they corrode from within.

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  77. @75. LOLOLOLOL

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  78. I would liken then to my Senatorlobbyist, not my Representative, in both relative power and purpose.
    felipe (484255) — 5/26/2022 @ 12:22 pm

    Maybe that’s better.

    felipe (484255)

  79. DCSCA (3ba82f) — 5/26/2022 @ 12:23 pm

    My Father was in great physical condition when he died. We all wondered at his sudden death. Later, my mother confided in me that he suffered a heart attack as a direct result of her informing him “first thing Monday morning” that her PCP had diagnosed her with Cancer. He totally loved her like that.

    felipe (484255)

  80. @79. There’s likely a lot of truth to that; look at Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

    DCSCA (3ba82f)

  81. @74, I think shotguns make a much better home defense weapon then rifles for a lot of reasons, but mainly for reduced wall penetration.

    AR15’s are fun to shoot, but there aren’t many likely applications where a 20+ round magazine is going to be necessary. The AR15 with a high capacity magazine is mostly good for sport shorting, and killing lots of small to medium sized animals like gophers, dogs, or people. There aren’t many types of hunting where you need to fire more then a couple shots and all the ones i can think of off hand use a shotgun. So mostly it’s good for killing lot of gophers and people.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  82. WSJ artice cops were to busy trying to stop parents from trying to go in and save their children to go in and stop shooter for 40 minutes. Woman handcuffed after leaping fence to rescue her children. Police were roughing up parents stoping them from going in as local police waited for out of town law enforcement as town couldn’t afford police lawsuits. Had orders to wait for deep pocket out of town swat teams. This scandal is just beginning to come out. 19 children killed ;but another15 wounded. 38 total shot.

    asset (b7e9ef)

  83. McConnell says he has directed Cornyn to engage with Democrats on a ‘bipartisan solution’ on gun violence

    LOL! Just another delaying tactic until the November election. Once the Republicans gain their majority back, the “talks” will disappear.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  84. Ted Cruz on reducing mass shootings: School buildings should have only one entrance
    …….
    But you can have one point of entry to a building and multiple points of exit. Anyone who’s been to a multiplex movie theater has seen it with their own eyes. There’s only one way into the structure but each individual theater has its own fire exit that opens from the inside. When I was growing up, kids used to game that system by having one friend buy a ticket to get in and then open the fire exit for his friends, who’d be waiting outside.
    …….
    …….If you listen carefully to Cruz here, he says, “Have one door into and out of the school.” Er … no, one door out of the school isn’t going to work. But maybe he was speaking inartfully off the cuff.
    ……..
    Texas’s lieutenant governor made the same mistake. One entrance in: Makes sense. One entrance out: Huh?
    ……..
    ……..One of the many tragic footnotes to the Uvalde massacre, however, is that Robb Elementary already employed some “best practices” to secure its campus. It wasn’t enough.
    ……..
    ……..[T]he sense one gets from Cruz and Patrick that they’re open to literally anything, up to and including turning America’s 130,000 schools into fortresses each with its own complement of Marines, so long as it lets them avoid crossing their base by considering even modest gun-control measures. How much would it cost to station armed officers at the entrance of every school in the country, bearing in mind that some campuses contain multiple buildings and therefore would need multiple officers?

    How much would it cost to retrofit schools to limit points of access? Should we also spend money to limit points of access at churches, nightclubs, and businesses, where mass shootings have also been known to occur? Should we install metal detectors at every entrance? A fiscal conservative like Cruz would normally blanch at laying out taxpayer bucks of this magnitude, but forced to choose between cutting a check and crossing gun-rights advocates by supporting red-flag laws, raising the age to purchase a gun, banning accessories that make mass shootings easier like high-capacity magazines, etc, his preference is clear.

    He’s in a political jam in the sense that he knows he has to Do Something but his lifelong dream of becoming president won’t allow him to piss off Republican populists by condoning any gun restrictions. To paraphrase Meat Loaf, he would do anything to limit school shootings — but he won’t do that.
    ……….

    Related:

    Cruz storms off after being asked why mass shootings happen ‘only in America’

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  85. @64 Just to check; when you say “reliable GOP primary voters” and “gun enthusiasts” and “culture warriors” that isn’t code for white people? Because within the context of those comments it sure seems like code for white people.

    It seemed pretty clear to me that @50 was poking at that and @52 just looks like doubling down. I obviously don’t know your internal thoughts. Just making an observation. I mean, where did the whole N word thing come from?

    frosty (648974)

  86. @84,

    For the same reason Democrats are unwilling to accept even the slightest restrictions on abortion.

    Kevin M (3d39cc)

  87. I’ve updated the post with news that various protest groups plan to be at the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend to protest the NRA at their annual convention. Police are gearing up for large numbers of protesters.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  88. “Ted Cruz on reducing mass shootings: School buildings should have only one entrance”

    I don’t know why you (meaning Allahpundit here) would give this more than the 5 seconds of thought Ted did.

    Davethulhu (ee3282)

  89. Support For Gun Control Will Likely Rise After Uvalde. But History Suggests It Will Fade.
    ……..
    FiveThirtyEight took a look at polling and media data to show how support for gun laws has increased amid intense media coverage of past school shootings, but then reverted back toward the previous mean as the media spotlight moved on to other issues. We examined the period around two school shootings in 2018 to see how coverage of those events corresponded with changes in support for increased gun control. Specifically, we examined data around the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the May 18, 2018, shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. And as you can see in the chart below, there was an abrupt increase in the share of Americans who favored stricter gun laws right after each shooting, most especially Parkland, followed by a decline in support.
    ……..
    Following each shooting, there was a huge surge in media attention and, correspondingly, a sharp rise in favorable views toward stricter gun laws. On the day of the Parkland massacre, about 51 percent of Americans told Civiqs they favored greater gun control, while about 42 percent were opposed. A week and a half later, the share who said they favored stricter gun laws had jumped to 58 percent, a significant increase in such a short period of time. In the wake of the Santa Fe shooting three months later, support rose from a little under 53 percent to a notch above 54 percent.

    ……..[T]he share of Republicans who favored increased gun restrictions rose from 12 percent to 22 percent in the 10 days following the Parkland shooting, and the share of independents in support rose from 45 percent to 53 percent. The share of Democrats who supported stricter gun laws also increased, from 88 percent to 92 percent. But as coverage tailed off — in the case of Parkland — or practically evaporated — in the case of Santa Fe — the share of Americans who favored stricter gun laws reverted toward the mean.
    ……..
    Even if support for stricter gun laws in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings is inflated, though, it’s clear that Americans still support more gun control overall. A Gallup poll from October 2021 — a survey that was not inspired by a particular mass shooting — found that 52 percent of Americans wanted stricter laws governing gun sales, while only 11 percent wanted less strict laws; 35 percent felt that gun laws should be kept as they were at the time.

    And stricter gun laws have been Americans’ preference for most of the last 30 years…….

    …….[S]upport for gun control has markedly decreased since the 2019 spike associated with the shootings that summer in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, to a point even lower than the pre-Parkland (2018), pre-Las Vegas (2017), pre-Orlando (2016) baseline. (Civiqs has also picked up on this trend.)
    ………

    As only 52% (a bare majority) favor some kind of “gun control”, Robb Elementary will mean something only to those who lost children or survived the massacre after fresher tragedies occupy the news. Regulating guns is not a populist position, so it is unlikely to gain much traction outside the left.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  90. @69 You say common decency. I say virtue signaling. Do we all have to wear ashes and sackcloth? And for how long? I haven’t noticed anyone even try to answer my question on how long the NRA should postpone their meeting.

    Is it ok for me to enjoy a hotdog this weekend or would that be disrespectful and hurtful in light of this tragedy?

    I can keep running the numbers but would you be surprised to know more babies are aborted out of convenience in a few hours than kids have been killed in mass school shootings since columbine?

    frosty (648974)

  91. I notice little posting here about lack of police responce to waiting over an hour to go in to school and dozens of law officers pepper spraying tackling hand cuffing mothers trying to rescue their children instead of going in themselves. It seems only after parents formed a human assault team to storm the school that law enforcement decided to go in. why no comments?

    asset (b7e9ef)

  92. For the same reason Democrats are unwilling to accept even the slightest restrictions on abortion.

    Democrats don’t have to accept it, the Supreme Court (hopefully) will force it on them.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  93. @87 Ah yes. The anti-gun violence protesters who are willing to embrace them some violence.

    frosty (648974)

  94. @91 My guess would be cognitive dissonance. The normal anti-gun person knows that this is the one time they can’t criticize the police. Telling people to surrender their personal right of self defense to the police is a critical element of the anti-gun narrative. The normal pro-gun person is usually already pro-police but is also pro-good-guy-with-a-gun and having more people with guns is an element of that narrative. And in that narrative the police are always good guys.

    That police are neither required to protect and serve nor generally inclined towards preventing crime is something neither side really wants to review in depth.

    frosty (648974)

  95. @85, you’ve misunderstood my initial point. Even if your misunderstanding is sincere (and doubt it is) I don’t know how to make the point any more clearly. I guess this won’t be an area where you and I can have a productive dialog.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  96. @91, I haven’t read anything reliable about that yet and I’m not caught up on the news so I don’t have anything to say.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  97. Frosty @ 90,

    It’s sad that common decency has been diminished to virtue signaling by some. Be that as it may, no one cares whether you have a hot dog this weekend, but that is obviously nothing like the NRA having its annual meeting just three days after a massacre in the same state just a few hundred miles away. But then you know that. How about the NRA wait until families can bury their dead. That would be common decency.

    Asset @ 91,

    See new post just put up.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  98. “My guess would be cognitive dissonance. The normal anti-gun person knows that this is the one time they can’t criticize the police. Telling people to surrender their personal right of self defense to the police is a critical element of the anti-gun narrative. The normal pro-gun person is usually already pro-police but is also pro-good-guy-with-a-gun and having more people with guns is an element of that narrative. And in that narrative the police are always good guys.”

    lol you have no idea what you’re talking about.

    I’ve been avoiding posting about it because it’s super depressing, but as more information comes out it’s looking like this was an enormous failure on the part of the police. They failed to prevent the shooter from entering the school, stood around doing nothing for an hour, and then watched while the border patrol took out the shooter. This is getting wide discussion in left facing media.

    “The normal pro-gun person is usually already pro-police but is also pro-good-guy-with-a-gun ”

    How’d that work out for the school kids?

    Davethulhu (ee3282)

  99. @89, RIP, this is in line with my initial comment. There’s no incentive for any compromise on gun control for the right and the left doesn’t have the votes to force it through.

    Plus there’s an enthusiasm gap. That 52% quoted in your article is not made up of single issue voters, or people strongly motivated to vote based just on this issue.

    Many gun enthusiasts are single issues voters and will reliably vote against any candidate that wants to limit access to guns in any way. The impact on a safe GOP district is clear. But this also impacts competitive districts since “Vote for me or the other bloke will take your guns” can motivate gun enthusiasts to vote for a weak GOP candidate they may not like for other reasons.

    I don’t think the latest tragedy will change that. But maybe I’m wrong.

    Time123 (fcfc1c)

  100. GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker proposes ‘a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women that’s looking at social media’ in response to Texas shooting

    In a Fox News appearance Thursday morning, Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker offered a vague proposal on surveilling social media to prevent mass shootings in the wake of Tuesday’s attack at a Texas elementary school that left at least 19 children and two adults dead.
    ……..
    “We need to get into what happened to him, why, by putting money in mental health. Have people thought about that?” Walker said, referring to the 18-year-old alleged shooter in Uvalde, Texas. “We’ve gotta get back into prayer. People thinking now praying is bad. No, it’s not bad. We need to pray for things like that. We need to continue to go out and fight, continue to take your constitutional rights away, and I think we can’t do that.”
    …….
    “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Walker where he stands on gun control measures such as universal background checks or raising the age to buy assault weapons from 18 to 21.

    “Well, you know, it’s always been an issue, because as I said earlier on, they wanna score political points … People see that it’s a person wielding that weapon, you know, Cain killed Abel,” Walker said. “And that’s the problem that we have. And I said, what we need to do is look into how we can stop those things.

    “You talk about doing a disinformation,” Walker continued, “what about getting a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women, that’s looking at their social media? What about doing that, looking into things like that, and we can stop that that way?”
    ………

    Video at link.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  101. @90. Common decency.

    =mike-drop=

    DCSCA (9f1b55)

  102. Cruz storms off after being asked why mass shootings happen ‘only in America’

    He’s from Canada.

    DCSCA (9f1b55)

  103. Ted Cruz on reducing mass shootings: School buildings should have only one entrance

    And considering what they spew, senators should have one hole.

    =mike-drop=

    DCSCA (9f1b55)

  104. GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker proposes ‘a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women that’s looking at social media’ in response to Texas shooting

    So sez an ol’locker room towel-snapper.

    DCSCA (9f1b55)

  105. Let’s say a pro-life group has a large annual convention to advocate against abortion, for which people come from all over the country, and plan for (airline tickets, hotels) months in advance.

    A week before the planned gathering, somebody bombs an abortion clinic several hundred miles away, killing 20 people.

    Should the pro-life convention be cancelled?

    If one says cancel both this NRA convention AND the hypothetical pro-life convention, then there is a logical consistency.

    norcal (3f02c4)

  106. @98 Once one showed up the shooter was stopped correct? On the other hand the myth that all cops are GGWGs and people can’t be trusted with their own self defense is a lesson we should have already learned.

    @105 But no consistency in saying neither should be canceled? Both of these examples argue for a proximate cause between the groups and the criminal behavior that doesn’t exist. The only relationship is that some people don’t like the groups and their political agenda and have decided to use the tragedy for political advantage.

    @97 But virtue signaling it is. The NRA is no more, or less, evil or morally bankrupt today than they were before this latest tragedy. The people canceling aren’t taking a stand for gun reform. You don’t imagine that they just discovered this issue? They’re canceling because they don’t want the bad publicity.

    frosty (648974)

  107. @106 Oh no. I think there is consistency in saying neither should be cancelled. In fact, that is my stance.

    norcal (3f02c4)

  108. Abbott blinks:

    Abbott Drops In-Person Appearance At NRA Convention, Will Still Speak Via Video

    The governor will hold a press conference in Uvalde, Texas on Friday instead of visiting the gun group’s national conference.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-abbott-nra-convention_n_62903162e4b0933e73712595?ref=upstract.com&curator=upstract.com

    DCSCA (d84179)

  109. I’ve updated the post with the announcement that Gov. Abbott will no longer be attending the NRA convention but will instead visit Uvalde. Several country artists slated to perform this weekend have also backed out.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  110. @98 Once one showed up the shooter was stopped correct?

    No, that is not correct — unless all the cops standing around outside, or tasing and handcuffing parents, were not “good guys” at all.

    Radegunda (7b8c4c)

  111. Abbott realized there can’t be an FDR in a high resolution visual age, though Cawthorn might still think so.

    urbanleftbehind (4161ec)

  112. Davethulhu (ee3282) — 5/26/2022 @ 1:58 pm

    I’ve been avoiding posting about it because it’s super depressing, but as more information comes out it’s looking like this was an enormous failure on the part of the police. They failed to prevent the shooter from entering the school, stood around doing nothing for an hour, and then watched while the border patrol took out the shooter. This is getting wide discussion in left facing media.

    One place there is an (incomplete) time line:

    https://www.lismorecitynews.com.au/story/7756009/timeline-of-texas-school-shooting

    * 11.28am – Ramos wrecks his truck near the school after fleeing from the house where he shot his grandmother. He jumps out of the passenger side with a rifle and a bag. He sees two witnesses at a funeral home across the street and fires at them before walking towards Robb Elementary School, climbing a fence into the car park and starting shooting.

    * 11.40am – The shooter walks into the west side of the school, apparently through an unlocked door, and fires multiple rounds.

    [11:43am – School goes into lockdown, maybe unaware that shooter is inside the building]

    * 11.44am – Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies begin to converge on the school. The gunman shoots at the first officers, who move back and take cover, before approaching the suspect again.

    Around this time, the shooter enters a classroom and massacres the students and teachers inside. Officers report hearing at least 25 gunshots from the classroom soon after arriving at the scene.

    [11:54am – First parents arrive]

    * 11.40am to about 12.40pm – Officers on the scene call for more help, requesting tactical teams, body armour, precision snipers and hostage negotiators.

    * About 12.40pm – U.S. Border Patrol tactical teams arrive, enter the classroom, and kill the suspect.

    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/uvalde-police-response-17202843.php

    “The people of Uvalde, of Texas, and of the nation deserve an accurate account of what transpired,” Castro wrote. “A block of time between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time has yet to be fully accounted for.”

    Police tried to negotiate with Ramos while he was barricaded inside the locked classroom, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said.

    “Once that shooter was in the barricade, I was in there with the hostage negotiator,” McLaughlin said. “He would answer (the call), hang up.”

    Meanwhile, a mass evacuation of hundreds of other students was underway.

    “Some kids came out windows, some came out the doors,” McLaughlin said. “There were parents trying to go into the building.”

    It remains unclear when the scene changed from an active shooter to a potential hostage barricade situation, a transition that could have altered the police response, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said.

    “The response to someone who is actually actively shooting, that response has to be immediate, and it’s through the door,” McManus said. “If it turns into a barricade situation, we are not going to make an entry while nothing is happening. We’re going to go in if something happens — shooting starts, screaming starts.”

    Sammy Finkelman (b434ee)

  113. I’ve updated the post noting that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has also dropped out of speaking at the convention.

    Dana (2c7c1d)

  114. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw, says they made mistake. It was treated as a barricade situation, but some students were still in danger (they were calling 911 from inside the room) or could be saved by prompt medical attention.

    The lockdown had been called a minute before he arrived at he classroom but the gunman shot out the window of the classroom door just as one of two teachers went to lock it

    There were some 20 officers standing outside the classroom in the hallway for 48 minutes. Even after CBP people came. They waited to get a master key after first trying to break in and failing. (the shooter did better at keeping people by locking the door out than the teachers? I suppose that the teachers never managed to lock the door.)

    Also: The first policeman who responded was there before the killer even entered the school. He was responding to the 911 call about the shots fired at people by the funeral home. But he picked out the wrong suspect. He mistakenly “drove right by the suspect” and instead pursued a person who turned out to be a teacher.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)


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