Australian Politics Forum

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America, the armed and paranoid
A spate of shootings over the last week highlighted the dangerous, hair-trigger response to fear that has become a constant in our lives.

Christ, ring the wrong doorbell and get shot dead!

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America is afraid. It is a scared country filled with scared people, all desperately wishing they weren’t so scared all the time. It is a place that was built on fear, thrives on fear, at times excels because of fear. This is a fact it would rather ignore.

Americans are taught that there is nobody coming to save them, that at all times they are on their own. The property that forms the backbone of their concept of liberty could be stripped from them at any minute. It is through this lens that property becomes equivalent with life, the protecting of one at times being seen as protecting the other.

America is an armed country. It is a country drowning in bullet casings, where guns outnumber people. There are fewer and fewer safeguards in place controlling who can own a gun, where they can carry a gun, who has the right to tell them to put their gun down.

This idiocy of concealed carry anywhere is going to cost lives by the hundreds.

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Scared and invincible is a terrible combination. Together they form a reality in which a knock on the wrong door, approaching the wrong car, turning into the wrong driveway, can be a fatal mistake. Together they form a cycle that has left broken bodies and families strewn across the landscape as far as the eye can see.

Andrew Lester, 84, was a paranoid man, according to his grandson. Lester opened fire twice on Ralph Yarl, 16, when the Black teen mistakenly rang his doorbell last Thursday as he attempted to pick up his younger siblings from a neighbor. Klint Lundwig later told the Kansas City Star that his grandfather in the past few years had become caught up in “a 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia” that “further radicalized him in a lot of ways.” Black bodies are always to be feared in a place like America, no matter their age.

It is not a coincidence that gun sales have spiked in recent years based on fear that has often been packaged and sold as a product for people like Lester to consume. President Barack Obama became the first Black man elected president; gun sales climbed higher. Children shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary sparked calls for new regulations; gun sales climbed higher still. A deadly new virus prompted governments to ask people to stay home and businesses to close down to save lives; gun sales climbed higher than ever.

Kaylin Gillis was sitting in the passenger seat of a friend’s car when they turned into a driveway they thought belonged to a friend in upstate New York. The 65-year-old who actually owned it, Kevin Monahan, fired twice. One bullet struck 20-year-old Gillis in the neck. She was pronounced dead several miles away after the group recovered cell phone service and could dial 911.

. . . . owning a gun does not actually negate fear. It simply adds new ones or acts as a conduit to project those fears violently outward. Even American police, who are armed to the teeth, frequently justify lethal force based on the presence of a gun or the belief that their own weapon could be seized. It doesn’t matter if the gun is owned legally, as in the case of Philando Castle in 2016, or if the owned gun never came close to the other person’s fingers; in that moment, the illusion of invincibility is shattered. That is what matters in the moment, and the law is built to give credence to that fear for officers and property owners alike.

. . . . “An armed society is a polite society,” is a quote from science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein’s “Beyond This Horizon,” often invoked in support of this quest. The story is set in a world where gun duels over honor are common and the knowledge that a challenge could come over any slight. This is the utopia that many gun rights activists believe will be borne of their efforts. But the world Heinlein describes is a world in which the rules of such fights are strictly formalized. There is room for aggression to be relieved absent violence.

I have seen this quoted by a yank. Obviously, a world where weird scared little men can buy and carry a gun legally is a world of random violence. STUPID!

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Both sides being armed does not change the equation, either. Earlier this month, authorities in Florida filed charges against one of two fathers who exchanged fire during a road rage incident last October, each with children in their cars. The first was deemed to be acting in self-defense, despite hitting a 5-year-old girl in the leg. The second was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault for returning fire, collapsing a 14-year-old girl’s lung. And yet Florida Republicans this month advanced bills that would allow for gun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Even this is not enough for many gun activists, who insist that the right to openly carry arms is the only way to guarantee the wielders can walk down the streets fully unafraid.

Unafraid. No, scared and armed.

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This is paired with a disdain for any requirements related to training or safety before owning a gun

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/ralph-yarl-kaylin-gillis-shootings-rcna80439

Sow the seeds of class envy and perceived discrimination and paranoid democrats will cry to disarm the honest person.

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 24^th, 2023 at 11:07pm:

Sow the seeds of class envy and perceived discrimination and paranoid democrats will cry to disarm the honest person.

Every mass shooter was once an honest, law-abiding citizen.

Right-wingers are too stupid to realise that.

It will only get worse....Americans have reached a point where they shoot first and ask questions later....When in doubt shoot it out!!!

:( :( :(

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America's 'stand your ground' horror story

In the case of George Zimmerman, the law kept him out of prison. Will Ralph Yarl's shooter walk free as well?

. . . . In 2012, it was a quick trip to a convenience store. The teenager was 17 and he was on his way back to his father’s place with a bottle of juice and a bag of Skittles. He was wearing a hoodie. His name was Trayvon Martin.

And a 28-year-old neighbor, George Zimmerman, claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Trayvon.

There had been a series of robberies in the area. He said he shot Trayvon because he was afraid. He feared bodily harm. Months passed before Zimmerman was actually arrested and charged. Zimmerman was not charged on the spot because police said they could not disprove his version of the events: That he was defending himself; That he stood his ground.

After weeks of protesters sounding the alarm, Zimmerman was finally charged with second degree murder. Eventually, he was acquitted.

A kid shot, just walking down the street. Somebody was afraid and so poo the teenager dead. Could have waited until actual threat eventuated, nah scared so BANG! A boy is dead. And the perpetrator found not guilty of bloody murder!

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In 2020, a 25-year-old Black man went for an afternoon jog in a coastal Georgia town. His workout caught the attention of three local men who grabbed their guns, hopped in a truck and began to follow the jogger. The men said there had been a string of robberies in the area. They said they were scared. They said they thought the jogger was the thief.

The jogger was Ahmaud Arbery. The men chased him down, and shot him dead. Still, they also walked away from that shooting as free men. They claimed they were defending themselves under the state’s stand your ground laws.

STUPID. Getting a gang together and following someone then shooting that person is not “standing your ground” in my book! Conspiracy to commit murder and murder more like! They were, eventually, convicted of murder.

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“Stand your ground” laws exploded after 2012, when Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. Laws in at least 28 states and Puerto Rico allow that there is no duty to retreat an attacker in any place in which one is lawfully present. Instead, a person who reasonably believes they are in danger of death or serious harm can use deadly force.

But that law tends to exacerbate some potentially fatal racial disparities. First, there is the question of whose presence in this country is often deemed suspicious or questionable, and whose rarely is.

And then there is how the law is applied. According to the Urban Institute, when white Americans in a “Stand your ground” state shoot a Black person dead and claim self-defense, the killing is ruled a justifiable homicide 34% of the time.

Negros that shoot a white person have the killing ruled a justifiable homicide 3% of the time.

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Which brings us to last week, on April 14. A Black 16-year-old is sent on a quick trip to pick up his twin little brothers, both 11 years old. He rang the doorbell, but he had the wrong address for the house in Kansas City, Missouri. Another state with a stand your ground law.

The 84-year-old white homeowner, Andrew Lester, claims he thought it was a break-in and was ‘“scared to death” due to “the male’s size” and his own advanced age. For the record, the “male” in this case is a high school student named Ralph Yarl.

Lester claims that, because he was scared to death, he immediately shot Yarl in the head through a glass door. Ralph was taken to the hospital where he received surgery to remove the bullets. He was eventually released and is recovering at home.

Lester, for his part, was detained the night of the shooting but then released hours later, with no charges. He claimed self-defense in a stand your ground state.

After a weekend of protests, Lester was finally charged on Monday with felony assault and armed criminal action. His decision to shoot follows a clear pattern in stand your ground states: A white gunman shoots a Black child or young man because of misplaced suspicion and fear.

In the case of George Zimmerman, the law kept him out of prison. Will Andrew Lester walk free as well?

https://www.msnbc.com/alex-wagner-tonight/alex-wagner-tonight/andrew-lester-ralph-yarl-americas-stand-ground-horror-rcna80764

A nation of fearful idiots! Paranoia rules supreme.

What sort of psychotropic drugs were the shooters on, mort?

Mort, Mort, you really need a life. Psychotropic drugs prescribed by Psychiatrists to gun owners? That is bad, how about we remove the guns as soon as they are prescribed such drugs? Still got to remove the guns, don't we? The problem is the use of guns. Now, if gun owners were truly responsible, law-abiding gun owners, there shouldn't be a problem, now would there? Looks to me like they aren't responsible, law-abiding gun owners... Tsk, tsk tsk...

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 3:33pm:

That is basically the way to look at things. Gun owners that are on medication to treat mental disorders should not be eligible to keep their firearms. That would mean that I would not be eligible to own or possess a firearm. But to hell with them if they try and take away my knife collection!

Actually I think this is the best idea, I have already been a victim of a young woman texting, driving and rear ending our family car with both my wife and myself in it. If cell phones are banned it would be a safer driving experience! I know several victims of illegal cell phone use and none of gun abuse. They are not the only ones to suffer financial loss, injury or death. I would be fine with taking cell phones out of common use, how about you?

Using your phone whilst driving is already illegal. Banning gun ownership for mentally unstable people from owning firearms would be the right thing. Btw, I was rear-ended by a teenager who was eating her breakfast whilst she was driving. That does not mean we should ban people from eating breakfast. We should ban people who are eating/drinking whilst they are driving.

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 8:30pm:

It is already illegal for mentally ill people to own guns. Distracted driving is already illegal also. Ban teens who cause these type of accidents from driving for life, since it won't effect me I should be like you. Honestly I wouldn't be opposed to them losing their license for the next year or two. Far more deaths are caused by under thirty drivers then firearms in the US. With your heavy restrictions on firearms the major issue for you should be the young, distracted drivers killing themselves and other while texting! Driving on the public roads is a privilege not a Right, one that can be easily taken away!

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 8:44pm:

... Far more deaths are caused by under thirty drivers then firearms in the US. ...

Incorrect.

"Firearms have overtaken car crashes as the main cause of premature deaths due to trauma in the US since 2017, finds research published online in the journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open."

Mort, downunder, it is illegal to use a cellphone while driving. The police actively police it, they book drivers they detect using their phones, both by direct observation and via cameras. Perhaps you need more active police, police who actually police people, rather than just shooting them if they are black? Tsk, tsk, tsk... ::) ::)

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 9:06pm:

It is illegal to use a cell phone in a school zone and some cities while driving. I believe the Police departments call that revenue enhancement, not public safety. Rumor has it if you hand your license to the police officer wrapped in a fifty dollar bill he will decide not to write you a ticket.

It is rare for the Police to shoot anyone who didn't first make an aggressive move or lunge at them regardless of race!

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 9:18pm:

It is rare for the Police to shoot anyone who didn't first make an aggressive move or lunge at them regardless of race!

they're police who's job it is to deal with criminals. Most of the people they deal with are aggressive. Do they just shoot them all in America?

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 9:18pm:

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 9:06pm:

Such naivety, Mort, you really are a fool. How about you put on blackface and see how the police treat you? What you fail to realise is how frightening that could be? To be merely walking down a street and be bailed up by the coppers? It would/could be a death warrant. Tsk, tsk, tsk... ::) ::)

greggerypeccary wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 8:56pm:

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 8:44pm:

... Far more deaths are caused by under thirty drivers then firearms in the US. ...

The paranoia grows with every shooting.

Mortdooley wrote on Apr 25^th, 2023 at 9:18pm:

I think the fine costs about $1000 if you are caught using your mobile phone whilst driving. The officer gets about 10% of the fine. So, $50 would not cover a bribe for the officer.

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 26^th, 2023 at 10:50am:

Try being white and walking around the cities in the USA. You will be okay for whilst you are being streetwise. But, if you show signs of naivete, you are going to be held up and beaten. Maybe they will take your wallet as an afterthought, too...

Australian Politics Forum
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl General Discussion >> America >> America the paranoid http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1682286772 Message started by Jovial Monk on Apr 24^th, 2023 at 7:52am