Florida shooting – NRA funding Republicans

41 thoughts on “Florida shooting – NRA funding Republicans”

1. The negative bias regarding guns is incredible. It’s so disappointing to see so many in the astrology community support the unnecessary restrictions on a constitutional right. The brainwashing is staggering and accomplished thru a biased media funded by billionaires like Michael Bloomberg. Guns save more lives per year than accidents and criminal acts combined. With the mundane Pluto/Uranus square that began in 2012, this is not the time for civilian disarmament.

2. As Trump bleats on about immigrants being a threat to US citizens, US citizens are killing each other in numbers that don’t equate to anywhere else on the planet. As he bans them from entering the US his own home grown folks are getting away with murder on a grand scale, over and over again.

   It’s absolutely horrendous that children in the US are going to school and don’t know if they will return home in one piece. Hellish that parents don’t know if they will see their children again when they send them off to school. So much for many US politicians and the the NRA making out that they are part of a caring society. They love their children (other peoples). Aye right. It’s clear that they put their wee hobby, and rights as they see it, before all else.

   It’s high time that they cracked right down on this and all they have to do is take a look at gun laws worldwide. Implement some of them. It’s not rocket science.

3. Excellent post, Seola. You’ve raised some profound points. Humans have been hell-bent on destroying the environment….. God only knows how long it’s going to take to undo the harm our clueless pig of a president (no offense to pigs) is determined to inflict.

4. Well those American kids who are at school now and subjected daily to insecurity and fear can exercise their vote in a few years and anyone who does not support gun control needs to think about that.

5. Yes, contraceptives for wildlife are seriously being discussed and developed in the U.S. Forgot to mention that in my previous posts. Certainly would be the more humane alternative–a huge step forward.

6. Such horrible news. What do NRA supporters have to say to the parents of the murdered teenagers or baby daughter and wife of that super kind coach? and wasn’t it Eddie Izzard who commented about a decade ago, that yes guns don’t kill people, people kill people…..but guns do help in that.

   As for the environment, I am sure everyone here knows about Yellowstone park.

   Nature knew what it was doing for thousands of years, then humans of about 100 years ago thought wolves doing what is in their nature on what is definitely their territory is ‘ugly’…hunted them down….and the result was that for a while the beautiful nature turned to an arid desert…of course blame was put on the Elks eating everything that their natural predators were gone,

   but the truth is nature didn’t commission any human to come and interfere with its way of doing things (which its done for millennia’s) , and this was the result of humans interfering, not whatever followed.

   Also what if nature could talk not us? Humans…the least likely species to be extinct at the moment btw, despite all the wars…are the biggest danger. They uproot native trees plant others in place that ruin the land, and cause extinctions of animal and plant species as well as land infertility, dump toxic waste on land and in sea…and then the solution is to shoot and kill the problem with a gun when it appears, whether it is a species about to take them over in over population numbers, or whether it is another human confronting them with how much damage they are continuing to cause as is often the case in South and Central America.

   looks like my very Earthy stellium of planets in a very Earthy sign really gets irked when it comes to …Earth.

   But back to the subject …guns never solved anything for a civilian population…just caused tragedies of needless murder like the one this week, and I do wish all the families of the now deceased all the patience in the world for what they are going through.

7. The NRA donated $50m to the Republican Party pre election.

   It’s like banana republic levels of putrefying corruption in which the donor just owns the bottom feeding politicians and they writhe around like the gutless wonders they are, doing what is expected of them.

   So when the bought and paid for orange buffoon emotes about “prayer and mental illness” and not the literal insanity of American gun laws, we don’t have to join the dots too hard do we?

8. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/15/its-time-to-bring-back-the-assault-weapons-ban-gun-violence-experts-say/?utm_term=.269081c57120

   Staggering statistics on fall of gun massacres after assault guns banned – and shot up again after allowed.

9. Trump removed the restrictions on the mentally ill buying guns.

   A twitter comment really put the Republican hypocrisy into focus: schools should be renamed “uterus”, then they would fight tooth and nail to stop children being killed inside them.

10. All countries have citizens with mental health problems. Only the US has this particular problem with these frequent shootings. Countries that have banned or restricted the AR-15 and similar weapons don’t have these types of attacks, or have them very rarely. The 2nd amendment has been deliberately misinterpreted by and for those who profit from gun sales. This type of madness is now leaking into Canada, with the leader of the conservative party supporting loosening restrictions on the AR-15. Saturn will soon be opposing our Sun and conjunct our MC, with the upcoming Saturn Pluto conjunction in our 10th house. Looks like some interesting times.

11. Here in the states the vast majority of hunters are NRA/Trump nuts. They could give a hoot about so-called “conservation.” They just have fun using wild animals for target practice. I think someday (certainly not in my lifetime) trap-neuter-release programs will be commonplace vis-a-vis “conservation.” The animal rights movement is huge and growing and is having a significant impact on “wildlife management,” the practitioners of which are having to abide by new rules. I gotta hand it to Meghan Markle. She persuaded Harry to withdraw from the traditional Boxing Day shoot at Sandringham, which is a competition–killing those birds is just a game (no pun intended) for the royals. It’s virtually a canned hunt. It took courage for Markle to speak her mind to Harry, not worrying about what his family thought. As for the horrific situation in Florida, the shooter (an avid hunter) is clearly deranged, yet was able to purchase all kinds of arms, including an assault weapon. He probably used the excuse that he needed the guns for his hunting hobby when purchasing them. The dealer(s) should be charged and locked away as well. Gun dealers aren’t going to do thorough background checks because they’re only interested in the bottom line: making a buck. I was a big Bernie Sanders supporter until I learned that he was weak on gun control. He addressed the issue by focusing solely on mental health. Suffice to say I wasn’t feeling the Bern anymore. Back to hunting, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Cleveland Amory, considered the father of the animal welfare movement, wrote a seminal book back in the ’70s titled “Man Kind?” (subtitle: Our Incredible War on Wildlife). Highly recommend it. A distinguished and acclaimed author in his day, Amory’s passion was animal welfare; he was wonderfully outspoken on the subject and founded the Fund for Animals (fundforanimals.org). Would encourage all who might be interested to view a brief clip of Amory. Google: Cleveland Amory 1974–you tube. (Note his references to the NRA.)

    • Julie I agree with you about animal welfare. There is one school of thought that feels kids of all backgrounds and nationalities should be mixed together in creche/school as young as possible – to stop the North and Southern Ireland/Protestant and Catholic or the Israeli/Palestinian or any troubles in a generation. Perhaps school could also include teachers with animals and animal awareness in a similar way.

      i was astonished when the shot boar turned and ran towards us – evidently s/he heard the coming to aid in our voices even if we couldn’t help in the end. The only success I have had was by mistake. I went to town and passed a hunter who had parked his car on our land to have a better view when the animals came up out of the wood onto the road. i wasn’t going to but then I turned round to go and speak to him and as i came round the curve and between him and the wood briefly, a roe deer came up the path and had to turn back or hit the car. i saw her but she was hidden from him by my bonnet and the steepness of the slope. I stopped and talked with him, he was looking past me all the time in case an animal came out of the wood as the sweeping dogs approached – I asked him about our boundary and he said that he could park his car even if it was on the reserve and we talked for a while about if he was hunting it was still ok to park on the reserve if it gave him a clear shot and then I got in my car and went away. i hope the deer got far away. Roe deer are so delicate, so lovely. They leave heart shaped spoor (footprints) on the snow. I have twice found large stones on the river bed with a perfect roe deer spoor (just tiny – a cm or so in size) stamped in it (half a cm or more deep – how is that possible – has it fossilised and shrunk in the process, is it chance – both times have seemed improbable)

      We saw La Belle Verte years ago and left the cinema enchanted. Two roe deer stepped out into the headlights as we arrived home, everything was frosty, our friend stopped the car. We were speechless. Similarly we drove home down the dirt track at 2 in the morning once and a hare ran before us and a shooting star arched over him.

      The last time I was in London I realised that everything is rigid – pavement, road, buildings with the occasionally tree waving in the pavement, and in the countryside the landscape goes up and down (slowly) with the seasons and side to side with any breeze.

      Time might be another factor. I know when I walked the road to Santiago everything slowed down for me and how necessary that was. Another factor was realising that I had walked and run and lain on the earth and cultivated veg without ever really connecting to the earth – was 2006 the gridding of the earth year? i learned a lot from that and in fact since saturn has moved into capricorn realise that it is trees who ground me. When distressed (I find a tree to sit under, touch a branch like you might touch the arm of a friend to say hello/get their attention) ground myself from magma to stars and open my heart chakra and lean my back and head on the trunk with my hands on the earth. I used to sleep/rest my mind placing my forehead in my husband’s shoulder and always felt guilty: I feel the trees don’t mind that contact? Sometimes I let go into sleep and sometimes just into peace/lucidity, in any case I put my trust in the tree. One day on the way to town I stopped the car, walked across a field and found a tree to sit with to calm myself. And feel so thankful every time I pass that stretch of road – as though i unburdened a load to a friend.

      Today was the first day for a couple of years that I woke up peaceful and happy having dreamed that I finally managed to dig out a root completely that I had been struggling with for years and thought was impossible to shift – it may be premature but I have great hopes for the eclipse yesterday – wasn’t venus eclipsed today too?

      (And may we all root out in ourselves whatever is needful, successfully)

12. I live in rural France where wild boar are a huge problem and many people hunt with guns. Sows can litter twice a year producing anything up to 15 or so piglets a time; and the females of these start breeding less than a year old. So they proliferate madly. Wild pigs have no natural predators here since bear and wolf no longer roam. Left to run rampant they’d take over everything. Conservation does demand culling of certain species every so often if the eco-system is to be kept in balance.
    Having said that apart from the odd hunter shooting another by mistake (or alcohol) and knocking off the odd hiker, there are no wholesale shootings. It is mainly an American problem. And there are certainly no semi-automatic, assault-type rifles here; well except amongst gangsters in cities.

    • Marjorie you are quite right and the hunts are also liable/responsible for some (half of?) damages farmers claim (we never have) I think (half (so a quarter?) paid by the hunt where the damage is and the rest shared between neighbouring hunts?)) some hunts feed the wild boar to be sure to have enough for hunters from cities 2 or 3 hours drive away who have joined their hunt to go home with a trophy. There are also so many boar if they are also fed.

      Our small farm (several families share it) was forbidden to the hunt (now just a reserve) and is in a ‘corner’ so borders 3 different ‘boroughs’ (so 4 hunts including ‘ours’ tho only our hunt would have the right to hunt here: and so ideal – 2 small valleys (a hectare or so wide between glacial morraines 100m high) running down to the wide river bed and the raised railway line to stand on and forests around the fields). One of the neighbouring hunts often crossed into our land or went through our woods to chase the animals towards the road, or through our part of the forest to sweep the animals. In the beginning was the most difficult and I often ran from our polytunnel shedding anything provocative – pens, screwdrivers, a knife for cutting string etc so that I could say whatever I felt ‘nakedly’.

      One time a guy was in our field shooting again and again into the rump of a wild boar still alive and when I ran up he shot it dead and said ‘he chased my dog’. Another time i saw the boar running just in our trees with the dog after it and shouted and ran but they shot it and the boar ran towards us – (my husband and son ran too from elsewhere) and they hesitated to shoot it at our feet (best to kill it asap imo), they said they had shot it so they had to chase it – when I shouted it was before s/he was shot. The boar ran right to our feet: dragging their hind quarters for 100m! Another time we found a dog eviscerated – rare that a dog is killed by a boar – so we rang the owner and the hunt wanted to hunt on our land (to avenge it? that time either the dog strayed onto our land or was sent over it to move animals off our land) and that is the only time we laid an aniseed trail.

      The hunt had asked that we make our land a reserve because they have to put 10% of the borough aside as a reserve and if our land was forbidden to the hunt they had almost nowhere to hunt, so we agreed, but that gives the hunt the right to hunt once a year. Before they had to get a paper from the prefecture. It is a delicate balance – we show we are strong as best we can, but not agressive.

      One head of the hunt we love very much – he is manager again for the moment, and ‘our’ hunt try to accommodate us and even protect us when they have a mannager who is aggressive. I grew up where there was civil war. I know people/animals die with guns, that the death is violent. I am ‘awed’ by wild boar – once saw one out of our window 20 or 30m away under a mulberry tree – so huge – mythical, perhaps a metre at the shoulder. There is some box (plant) and oak a sort of little grove 10m from the house and quite often at night a boar sleeps there – at least if you pass after 11 in the evening they snort which scares the hell out of me (I often go past and sing bravely with my torch to indicate I am friendly or say I am scared as hell), and sometimes s/he crashes up the hillside sounding like a herd of buffalo.

      I am vegan since (by mistake) I put my finger in the flour mill – checking the texture of the flour and talking at the same time. I understood something about violence somehow and was vegan just like that from that instant. boar and deer often graze with our donkeys if you hide behind a grazing donkey you can get very close. They trash our sunflowers if we grow them and eat worms in the fields in the winter and grain after the combine has passed – we grow bearded wheat so they don’t eat it otherwise.

      One time our donkeys had escaped and I was checking along the railway line and my husband was checking down on the riverbed – the willows and brush are quite high. It was twilight and he said suddenly a bullet whistled past his head. he shouted and fell to the floor. And a dog came running to see. The hunter had seen a movement?

      We regularly find lost hunting dogs and ring their owners. Once there was a dog and I put him in our house (no string to hand) and when his owner arrived he refused to get off the sofa. He came back a second time (to sit on the sofa? I let him, he seemed to like it so much). Once a hunting dog ‘arrived’ and killed a chicken but mostly they are kind – just trackers. Before we made the land forbidden to the hunt it was disconcerting at any moment to come across someone in our woods in the hunting season with a gun. Once our (soul) son was down by the river and a red deer galloped past him nostrils extended, breath labouring and some minutes after 2 dogs. He told me it took him half an hour to pursuade them to let the trail go and return the way they came. That time the dogs were hunting by themselves/or out of season (I forget).

      I often think about Princess Di and Julie Birchill saying she wondered if the POW didn’t see any differences – just suffering on all sides, and easing pain.

      • If anyone here fed the boars, they’d be shot. They are a serious threat to local agriculture and local hunters aren’t making much of a dent in the problem. Some viticulturalers now suggest that contraceptives might be the answer.

        • Low electric fences work with a solar panel?

          • Electric shock fencing used for horse pastures can run off solar panels. Require sinshine, tho. Not much of that here in Seattle…nor are there any boars, only the “bore” type.

13. I live in Jacksonville, Florida – about 4 1/2 hours north of Parkland, Broward County, where the Marjoy Stoneman Douglas High School shooting occurred. I was on my way to work yesterday when I heard about it via Public Radio in our car. Everyone up here was talking about it; they were shocked and angry that something like this could happen again within two years – we had the tragic Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016 and now this. They were saying on the news that the Marjoy Stoneman Douglas High School shooting now currently ranks as the #1 deadliest “high school shooting” in U.S. History because 17 people were murdered. Here in Florida, we’re now calling this tragic event the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” of modern times.

    A few news sources (like The Daily Beast) have reported that the 19 year old attacker, Nikolas Cruz, had supposedly been affiliated with a White supremacist group operating down in South Florida. It’s also been reported that Nikolas Cruz was also a fanatical Donald Trump supporter – and The Daily Beast even published a photograph of Nikolas Cruz wearing one of those stupid red Trump hats and a bandana (with the colors of the American flag wrapped around his face.

    Frankly, I’m not surprised by this revelation; majority of the terrorists attacks, mass shootings, and spree killings that have occurred in this country in recent year have NOT been committed by the negatively portrayed, stereotypical Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian “Muslim men” – the perpetrators have mainly been alt-right, anti-liberal, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, Christian fundamentalist, conspiracy theorist, WHITE nationalist, and WHITE supremacist men.

    And just for the record, I’m not buying the “mental illness” narrative that the media likes to promulgate whenever something horrific like this happens and when the attacker is a “White male.” The media shows how biased they are in these situations by saying “mental illness” is what drove the “White male” to comment such a heinous act – as if that’s an excuse? However, if the attacker is a Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian or Muslim (of any race) male, then the media omits the “mental illness” tag altogether.

    All in all, the “mental illness” defense is NOT going to work here in Florida. We’re NOT sympathetic to murderers in this state. We have an aggressive DEATH PENALTY for those who we don’t think deserve to live. Lethal Injection is the norm. However, we’re still one of the very few states left that has the “Electric Chair” (last used in 1997 by the way). Nikolas Cruz will VERY likely receive the DEATH PENALTY for his crime.

    When our corrupt Republican Governor Rick Scott was interviewed about the school shooting, he was evasive and avoided answering the hard questions – like he always does in any situation.

    Speaking of Republican Governor Rick Scott, it’s important that I mention that back in 2011, Scott pushed for a law here in Florida (which did pass, but was later blocked by a federal judge) that if a doctor were to discuss anything concerning guns with their patients, then that doctor could be fined, fired, and even stripped of their medical license. Even though a federal judge did block certain parts of this law from taking effect, it’s still up in the air and is being challenged. If Rick Scott has the nerve to run for the U.S. Senate this year (and I hope that jerk doesn’t run), then our Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson needs to remind Floridians of this.

    Our spineless SNAKE of a Junior U.S. Senator Republican Marco Rubio was also interviewed about the shooting. Rubio responded by saying that it was still *too early* to be discussing gun laws, etc. that we just needed to *pray* for the victims and their families. I can’t begin to tell you much that infuriated me. I’m so SICK of Republicans telling everyone to *pray* all the time. Prayers are NOT enough; we need more common sense gun laws here in Florida (and all over the country) and we need them NOW.

    All in all, I’m not delusional enough to think that Republicans will suddenly have an “epiphany” and admit that gun violence is a serious social problem and is accelerating at such an alarming rate. The Republicans depend heavily on the NRA for funding their political campaigns.

    We Democrats (and progressive Independents too) are just going to have to get out and vote in massive numbers this November. It appears that this will happen.

    For example, Here in Florida, Democrat Margaret Good managed to “flip” Florida House District 72 in a Special State Legislative Election this past Tuesday. House District 72 is in the Sarasota area and it’s 90% White (many of whom are affluent) and traditionally overwhelmingly Republican. Democrat Margaret Good benefited from a very high turnout….and she even received a substantial number of votes from “crossover” Republican voters (there were many White Republican women in that district who crossed over to vote for Good).

    So, things are changing here in Florida…and the Republicans better not assume this state is “on lock” for them in the midterm elections this year. Democrat Bill Nelson has a strong candidate and will very likely be reelected to the U.S. Senate. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham is an excellent campaigner and is the daughter of former Democratic Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham (who is still one of the most popular governors we’ve ever had here in Florida). Both Nelson and Graham are very passionate about reforming the current gun laws in this state.

    Chris Romero
    Jacksonville, Florida

14. NOW it’s part of the heartless and deranged business culture.it can’t be dealt with rationally. also, there are simply too many firearms.:
    too much fantasy.

    • agree with you. the kid was angry – so he shot everyone and knows he’ll get 3 hots and a cot until … someone throws the switch on the electric chair.

15. All Secret Service and other protections should immediately end for all elected officials until this problem of slaughter is solved. Mental health must become a priority and funded to help those who can be helped and house those who can’t be helped away from society. All automatic and semi-automatic weapons should be banned, bought back and turned over to the military.

    • Lived It: and what would all of that accomplish? All weapons banned? Cat’s outta the bag, friend.

      It’s a side effect of a country out of control, elected officials turning a blind eye and the citizens affected / killed are totally dependent on “the president” to “do something”. This is what happens when people live out the charming phrase “it’s a free country”. Nothing comes for free.

      • Larry, you did not comprehend what I wrote. Read it again please.

        • yes i did read it. you assumed that I did not read and did not comprehend.

          Did you read and comprehend my post in response?

16. Just to clarify I don’t own a gun or hunt and have no wish to. But banning all guns will be impossible at this point, although hopefully one day none will exist. By banning the assault weapons and making it harder to get a gun lives will be saved, this should be done as a first step. Hopefully as opinion changes over time less and less people feel the need to arm themselves weapons will reduce. I am sure it is highly likely that the move towards vegan foods will continue for a variety of very good reasons and that will make people more aware of what they eat and how it is sourced. Nevertheless at this point there are people who choose to hunt their own food and only kill what they eat, and there are others ( who i don’t have any time for ) who trophy hunt. Mankind has been hunting and eating meat for thousands of years and I don’t think we can just trash the people who continue to do it responsibly. We should be thinking about the young people and their devastated families.

17. Les: I appreciate your very well thought-out post. However, statistics show that deer numbers are way down in many parts of the U.S. Nature has a brilliant way of taking care of itself without man’s interference. Conservation? I could really get into it on that subject….but I can’t as I’ve got work to do!!!!! As you might have guessed, hunting is a hot-button topic for me. I have very strong convictions thereof and could go on and on expressing them. Wholeheartedly agree re assault weapons…..

18. I am American. I live in a sick and violent country. The citizens of this country are sick: only sick people would elect these sick gun loving/ NRA politicians. I am in despair.

    • I’m also American – do you claim to be the only one who is not sick? What about the hungry? The homeless? Ever hear of a place called “Appalachia”?

      • Settle down my friend. Jan did not claim to be the only person who is sick about this. You’ve made excellent points in your comments above, stay on the good foot.

        • I’m quite contained 😉 Electroniic communications can never effectively convey a conversation in tone and content. This is well-proven. Time for my morning coffee…

          Yet, few respond to my containing reprises..

          • Only the second month of the second year of Trump. Have a second cup of coffee and read the charges Mueller made Friday afternoon.

19. This is all so depressing. The 19th school attack this year we are informed here in the uk. When Sandy Hook happened I thought that nothing could possibly be worse than the wholesale slaughter of little children but then the Sandy Hook denier brigade appeared and we read reports of parents threatened by rabidly pro-gun nutjobs who believed the whole thing was staged. I just despair.

20. Re hunters: They’re unnecessarily inflicting pain on living creatures that would do them no harm. Remember Cecil the lion? I suppose you think the guy who killed him so he could mount his head as a trophy was a sweetheart. Most definitely “intrinsically mean and bad,” I would say. The only hunters I have any use for are the ones who’ve given up the “sport” and regret having done what they did. I know a few of those men, and I like them. I would recommend reading “Man Kind?” by Cleveland Amory. A great book, which became a bestseller, that examines the nasty business of hunting. Marjorie, I recall your post about Arnold Palmer, describing him as a a truly nice person. I had the pleasure of meeting him a number of years ago and asked him why he had taken up hunting only to abruptly abandon his new hobby. He said, “When it came right down to it, I couldn’t pull the trigger.” A nice man indeed.

    • I don’t hunt and don’t own a gun. I don’t condone trophy hunting. But many hunters are conservationists. We have an overpopulation of deer in many places as predator species like wolves have thinned out, reeking havoc on environments that should support many other species, so places have opened up deer hunting to thin the populations. However, no hunter needs a semiautomatic weapon for hunting. These assault weapons have no place in a civilized society. They’re defended by the extreme second amendment types and the NRA.

21. It’s a peculiar party funded by wacko gun and anti-abortion fanatics. The terrifying thing is that there are so many of them in states that are crucial under our electoral college system. The Republicans’ most oft-expressed idea these days is to “arm teachers.” Meanwhile, the Democrats are spending all their political capitol on immigrants who, worthy though they may be…can’t cast a single ballot. And their presidential hopefuls, holier-than-thou Kirstin Gillibrand who destroyed Al Franken and belatedly trashed Bill Clinton after taking millions from his political organization, and beloved but elderly Joe Biden, sure aren’t giving us a heck of a lot to hang our hats on. Am out of the country at the moment. Sadly, it’s a relief to be away.

    • I hear you! Which country?

    • Bill Clinton had the sense to ban assault rifles!

22. Just call the U.S. Slaughter Alley….compliments of the NRA and their best buddies, the Republicans. (And I don’t “get” hunting….in Arkansas or anywhere. I will never understand how killing animals for fun is considered a wholesome tradition. It’s a violent pastime. Rarely is it a clean kill. The animal invariably suffers a slow, agonizing death. No one in this day and age requires venison, etc., for survival. Today’s hunters use the “I eat what I kill” line as an excuse for getting their jollies terrorizing wildlife. Let those poor animals live out their lives in peace, for godsakes. No surprise that the Florida shooter was an avid hunter.)

    • So now we have the connection that hunters are intrinsically mean and bad people, “Today’s hunters use the “I eat what I kill” line as an excuse for getting their jollies terrorizing wildlife.”?

      Way to go.

23. In style and in support of GOP funding sources, Trump chases after “mental illness” in the same vein as “Porter did no wrong”. Make no mistake, if the NRA was backing the Democrats, there’d be no end to the blame game.

    Where were the checks in Florida? I can buy a long gun w/o a permit or background check? Duh.

24. One can only pray that they see the light, the heart ache and misery this outdated gun culture causes is beyond belief. I visited Arkansa a few years ago, apparently they have more guns than people. I get the hunting thing ( they love to hunt down there) but you don’t need semi automatic weapons and you certainly shouldn’t be letting mentally ill people ( and the very young) have access to guns. Surely even the most ardent NRA member could give some ground to that.