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'Gov. Abbott, you must act on gun violence': Dallas Morning News


BarryLaverty

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And they endorsed him, with reservations, in the last election, for reelection. 

OPINION
Gov. Abbott, you must act on gun violence
Texas is being shaped by fear and anguish.


By Dallas Morning News Editorial

8:01 AM on May 7, 2023


Gov. Abbott,

Eight more innocent people were killed in Texas yesterday. This time it was a shopping mall. They were simply going about their day, men, women, children.


A man got out of his car and sprayed them with bullets of such a high caliber and in such rapid succession that a mass killing was inescapable.

You responded that this was an “unspeakable tragedy.” We tell you that it was not unspeakable, and that the people of Texas need you to speak to it and its cause.


There is nothing conservative about refusing to acknowledge evidence or give voice to the true nature of a problem. The people who are dead today are not dead because a twisted and evil soul walked among them. They are dead because that person was able to obtain a weapon so powerful and with such high capacity that even the bravest and fastest response of law enforcement could not save their lives.

That is what you must speak to if you want to truly lead this state. You must speak to the terrible imbalance that you and Republican leaders have created between the individual liberty of nearly unrestricted ownership of the most powerful rifles and guns versus the increasing decline in society’s ability to function without constant fear of violent death.


It’s too bad that, when given the chance to do so Sunday morning on Fox News, you instead embraced what has become the dodge of the right — focusing on mental health measures. Those are needed. But in a world where mental health struggles are becoming more common, no nation suffers from mass shootings like the U.S. The lack of commonsense controls on gun sales is the reason.

The people you represent are living in fear. Our public spaces are no longer places we can go without considering the possibility that we may become victims of once-unimaginable violence. Our private spaces are at risk, too. Our schools, churches, shopping malls, big-box stores, airports and funerals are all possible targets. So are homes, backyards and front yards, and highways and city streets. Every place, every gathering.

Parents fear letting their children go to school or go to the mall. Children exchange messages about constant rumors of guns someone might be carrying around them. Their lives are being changed by the presence of fear.

Texans have had it with living under the gun. A February poll from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project showed half of Texans want stricter gun laws. That includes 22% of people who strongly identify as Republican. Those numbers are only going to grow as people’s fear about living their daily lives grows.


We recommended your return to office because the people of this state have prospered under the pro-business environment fostered here. People need the opportunity to lift themselves up, and Texas has given them that chance. But what good is prosperity if we cannot have freedom from fear to enjoy it?

When we recommended you, we did so with reservations and urged you to recognize that “the Second Amendment does not amount to an absolute right to individual ownership of firearms.”

Images on social media show the Allen shooter used a high-caliber rifle. Sounds from video of the shooting indicate it fired in rapid succession. While facts still must be confirmed, other images indicate the weapon of choice was a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle with a high capacity magazine.

How many people might be alive today if that shooter had not been able to obtain that rifle, or that magazine, or the caliber of rounds loaded in it? We don’t know whether the shooter obtained the weapon legally or not. It doesn’t matter because there are so many guns all around, and they are so loosely controlled, that anyone with intent and money can get one with no trouble at all.

This has to stop. You cannot say this is an “unspeakable tragedy” and move on. A leader must have the courage to speak. You must look at this horror, at the devastation wrought on these people, and you must summon the will to act to change the laws that have put us in this terrible place.

 
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You know what, no. You can’t keep posting crap about gun control, but then not actually say what that means to you. So I truly want to know…

 

What is ‘gun control’ to you? And I’m really curious as to how you think it’ll work, with all the reasons I’ve already explained over the last couple of weeks why it won’t.

 

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49 minutes ago, Lobo97 said:

You know what, no. You can’t keep posting crap about gun control, but then not actually say what that means to you. So I truly want to know…

 

What is ‘gun control’ to you? And I’m really curious as to how you think it’ll work, with all the reasons I’ve already explained over the last couple of weeks why it won’t.

 

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/16/mass-shootings-texas-gun-control/

Some mass shootings could have been prevented in Texas, if we had passed laws that would have specifically affected those who were able to buy guns and wouldn't be with different laws. We lack the moral courage and will to do so. 

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5 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/16/mass-shootings-texas-gun-control/

Some mass shootings could have been prevented in Texas, if we had passed laws that would have specifically affected those who were able to buy guns and wouldn't be with different laws. We lack the moral courage and will to do so. 

1) the post I made about Serbia proves this is not true.

2) you didn’t answer my question.

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4 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

Yes, I did. I posted a link listing specific laws that would entail 'gun control' that could directly affect mass shootings. 

Am I supposed to read that entire article, which would probably take 20 minutes), to find your answer?

Why don’t you simply list the laws that you actually think would work.

 

And remember, I’ve already posted a story regarding somewhere with strict gun laws (Serbia), and it didn’t stop the same incident from happening.

 

Oh, and don’t forget to include in your list of laws for the US govt to actually protect our borders. Otherwise, with the open border policy we currently have, it won’t matter anyway. 

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4 minutes ago, Lobo97 said:

And remember, I’ve already posted a story regarding somewhere with strict gun laws (Serbia), and it didn’t stop the same incident from happening.

How often has it occurred in Serbia? 

5 minutes ago, Lobo97 said:

Why don’t you simply list the laws that you actually think would work.

Raise the purchasing age limit, as Florida did, for automatic weapon gun purchases. Put a national 'Red Flag' law in place, coordinating with all branches of the military and all levels of law enforcement in place.  Require people to surrender their firearms if they were convicted of a crime involving family violence, had a felony conviction or had a protective order against them. Require everyone to undergo a background check when purchasing a gun from everyone, designate specific rifles as assault weapons, and prohibit the sale and possession of those firearms and large-capacity magazines with more than 20 rounds. That's a start that could make a difference. 

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1 minute ago, BarryLaverty said:

How often has it occurred in Serbia? 

Raise the purchasing age limit, as Florida did, for automatic weapon gun purchases. Put a national 'Red Flag' law in place, coordinating with all branches of the military and all levels of law enforcement in place.  Require people to surrender their firearms if they were convicted of a crime involving family violence, had a felony conviction or had a protective order against them. Require everyone to undergo a background check when purchasing a gun from everyone, designate specific rifles as assault weapons, and prohibit the sale and possession of those firearms and large-capacity magazines with more than 20 rounds. That's a start that could make a difference. 

"automatic weapon"?

Define it, Barry.

"assault weapon"

Again, define it, Barry.

Red Flag laws may very well be unconstitutional. There's this thing called "due process".

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2 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

How often has it occurred in Serbia? 

Raise the purchasing age limit, as Florida did, for automatic weapon gun purchases. Put a national 'Red Flag' law in place, coordinating with all branches of the military and all levels of law enforcement in place.  Require people to surrender their firearms if they were convicted of a crime involving family violence, had a felony conviction or had a protective order against them. Require everyone to undergo a background check when purchasing a gun from everyone, designate specific rifles as assault weapons, and prohibit the sale and possession of those firearms and large-capacity magazines with more than 20 rounds. That's a start that could make a difference. 

Un-believably anti American/anti-Constitutional......you are clearly delusional..................

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5 minutes ago, DAWG91 said:

Road trip!  I'm gonna get me sum machine guns!  Yeehawww!

Poor Barry doesn't even know that "automatic weapons" (aka machine guns) are legal, but VERY expensive and VERY, VERY hard to get. Especially since they aren't made for the civilian market anymore. So getting your hands on one is hard anyway. The guns themselves are very, very expensive to my understanding (in the tens of thousands of dollars). And to even buy one you need some kind of special permit.

So your "average Joe" can't buy a machine gun -- because they can't afford it!

Of course, deep down, I think he really doesn't want anyone to possess a gun, except LEOs. I don't think he'll actually say it on here, though.

Edited by Monte1076
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13 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

How often has it occurred in Serbia? 

Raise the purchasing age limit, as Florida did, for automatic weapon gun purchases. Put a national 'Red Flag' law in place, coordinating with all branches of the military and all levels of law enforcement in place.  Require people to surrender their firearms if they were convicted of a crime involving family violence, had a felony conviction or had a protective order against them. Require everyone to undergo a background check when purchasing a gun from everyone, designate specific rifles as assault weapons, and prohibit the sale and possession of those firearms and large-capacity magazines with more than 20 rounds. That's a start that could make a difference. 

And still, none of this would work.

- As I’ve stated many times already, we have guns, ammo, and drugs illegally smuggled into our country EVERY day! And the Democratic Party doesn’t care. If they did, they’d secure the border!

- Someone getting ready to commit a crime, especially one as tragic as this has too often become, does not care about illegally acquiring one of the many guns being smuggled into our country. 
 

So I say again, the democrats idea for ‘gun control’ will not work.

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Again, the same President that wants to shout gun control, is the same President that left thousands of guns and ammo in the hands of our enemy. And you actually believe the liberal rhetoric has anything to do with safety?! Please. It’s all in the title, gun CONTROL! And who would control the guns? That’s right, the govt. 

And THAT, is why we have the 2nd amendment. 

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All words mumbled over and over again, and ones you might choke on when a mass shooting comes to your community. Name a safe haven where one hasn't or can and will unless something changes with our laws. It's close to creepily weird the wild glee that some of you feel when it comes to your gun ownership, as if that's ALL YOU ARE and the only thing you believe in...the giggling and derision is off putting. 

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2 hours ago, BarryLaverty said:
And they endorsed him, with reservations, in the last election, for reelection. 

OPINION
Gov. Abbott, you must act on gun violence
Texas is being shaped by fear and anguish.


By Dallas Morning News Editorial

8:01 AM on May 7, 2023


Gov. Abbott,

Eight more innocent people were killed in Texas yesterday. This time it was a shopping mall. They were simply going about their day, men, women, children.


A man got out of his car and sprayed them with bullets of such a high caliber and in such rapid succession that a mass killing was inescapable.

You responded that this was an “unspeakable tragedy.” We tell you that it was not unspeakable, and that the people of Texas need you to speak to it and its cause.


There is nothing conservative about refusing to acknowledge evidence or give voice to the true nature of a problem. The people who are dead today are not dead because a twisted and evil soul walked among them. They are dead because that person was able to obtain a weapon so powerful and with such high capacity that even the bravest and fastest response of law enforcement could not save their lives.

That is what you must speak to if you want to truly lead this state. You must speak to the terrible imbalance that you and Republican leaders have created between the individual liberty of nearly unrestricted ownership of the most powerful rifles and guns versus the increasing decline in society’s ability to function without constant fear of violent death.


It’s too bad that, when given the chance to do so Sunday morning on Fox News, you instead embraced what has become the dodge of the right — focusing on mental health measures. Those are needed. But in a world where mental health struggles are becoming more common, no nation suffers from mass shootings like the U.S. The lack of commonsense controls on gun sales is the reason.

The people you represent are living in fear. Our public spaces are no longer places we can go without considering the possibility that we may become victims of once-unimaginable violence. Our private spaces are at risk, too. Our schools, churches, shopping malls, big-box stores, airports and funerals are all possible targets. So are homes, backyards and front yards, and highways and city streets. Every place, every gathering.

Parents fear letting their children go to school or go to the mall. Children exchange messages about constant rumors of guns someone might be carrying around them. Their lives are being changed by the presence of fear.

Texans have had it with living under the gun. A February poll from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project showed half of Texans want stricter gun laws. That includes 22% of people who strongly identify as Republican. Those numbers are only going to grow as people’s fear about living their daily lives grows.


We recommended your return to office because the people of this state have prospered under the pro-business environment fostered here. People need the opportunity to lift themselves up, and Texas has given them that chance. But what good is prosperity if we cannot have freedom from fear to enjoy it?

When we recommended you, we did so with reservations and urged you to recognize that “the Second Amendment does not amount to an absolute right to individual ownership of firearms.”

Images on social media show the Allen shooter used a high-caliber rifle. Sounds from video of the shooting indicate it fired in rapid succession. While facts still must be confirmed, other images indicate the weapon of choice was a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle with a high capacity magazine.

How many people might be alive today if that shooter had not been able to obtain that rifle, or that magazine, or the caliber of rounds loaded in it? We don’t know whether the shooter obtained the weapon legally or not. It doesn’t matter because there are so many guns all around, and they are so loosely controlled, that anyone with intent and money can get one with no trouble at all.

This has to stop. You cannot say this is an “unspeakable tragedy” and move on. A leader must have the courage to speak. You must look at this horror, at the devastation wrought on these people, and you must summon the will to act to change the laws that have put us in this terrible place.

 

We gonna ban SUVs too? https://accesswdun.com/article/2023/5/1182308

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20 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

All words mumbled over and over again, and ones you might choke on when a mass shooting comes to your community. Name a safe haven where one hasn't or can and will unless something changes with our laws. It's close to creepily weird the wild glee that some of you feel when it comes to your gun ownership, as if that's ALL YOU ARE and the only thing you believe in...the giggling and derision is off putting. 

Where have I giggled? I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to think gun control would work in our society, but that does not mean I’m not pissed off this crap keeps happening, and heartbroken for every innocent person involved. 

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2 hours ago, Lobo97 said:

Where have I giggled? I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to think gun control would work in our society, but that does not mean I’m not pissed off this crap keeps happening, and heartbroken for every innocent person involved. 

Not you, but some others, unfortunately. 

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13 hours ago, BarryLaverty said:

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/16/mass-shootings-texas-gun-control/

Some mass shootings could have been prevented in Texas, if we had passed laws that would have specifically affected those who were able to buy guns and wouldn't be with different laws. We lack the moral courage and will to do so. 

Some car crashes would be prevented if we enacted stricter driving laws.  There's not a single person on this forum that wants these things to happen, but there has to be a limit on what freedoms will be given up in order to make us feel safe.  You make the assumption that these people would not have broken the law to get guns that they couldn't get legally, but we have seen time and time again that someone who is hell bent on taking human lives will find a way.  So the plan you want will not stop killers, but will strip innocent and often defenseless people from the ability to defend themselves against an attacker who is often armed or physically superior to their target.  But you don't care about that.  You are caught up in the emotional argument of the moment.

12 hours ago, BarryLaverty said:

How often has it occurred in Serbia? 

Raise the purchasing age limit, as Florida did, for automatic weapon gun purchases. Put a national 'Red Flag' law in place, coordinating with all branches of the military and all levels of law enforcement in place.  Require people to surrender their firearms if they were convicted of a crime involving family violence, had a felony conviction or had a protective order against them. Require everyone to undergo a background check when purchasing a gun from everyone, designate specific rifles as assault weapons, and prohibit the sale and possession of those firearms and large-capacity magazines with more than 20 rounds. That's a start that could make a difference. 

We all go through background checks.

Red Flag laws are unconstitutional.

How about you tell us what an assault rifle is?  The people who make these "definitions" don't even know which end to point at the target.  Watch lawmakers discuss these things.  They sound like a 5th grader giving a book report over a novel they failed to read.

"Could make a difference" Give up your freedoms on the chance that it "could" make a difference.

Liberty over everything!!!!

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