Think I have to check out of this thread. Too pissed about this, and about the dissociated way people tend to talk about mass shootings, and how people talk but don't take action. On the off chance you read this, take the time you'd spend replying, or crunching numbers on a funny thought experiment, and call or email or sign a petition to send to your Senator.
... yeah, on the off chance
you read this, I'd rather spend the time talking to people than talking to a wall (bloody rubio) or the choir (nelson, district's congresscritter). Do what I can on a local level to talk to folks (which admittedly isn't much, because strongly trying to advocate on such issues would be a good way to end up in the hospital in this hellpit), convince 'em that there's reasons to consider maybe supporting legislation and whatnot that'd help, but so far as politician outreach goes, for my area, the ones that have any meaningful influence are either already on board with basically everything that could help out, or they're actively trying to make things worse. There's not really any in between. Prefer to get my political activism in through day to day stuff, m'self, regardless. First step t'making the change is being the change, et al -- half the reason I never got around to applying for that concealed carry permit was because the training for it was a fucking joke, ferex. Too broke and broken to do much else.
Will admit to be fairly disassociated from it all at this point, though, even though there's good odds I either had friends nearby, or said friends did. S'the fucking USA, if I still got tore up every time fifty people died from gun violence, in one go or not, I'd probably just shoot
myself to make it end. Florida alone, that's in the ballpark of about every second or third week* (which has been roughly true since the day I was goddamn born, and it's been a
long fucking time since I first noticed it), nevermind the suicides and fatal accidents, and I'm afraid I'm not the sort to be
less bothered by 'em spread out. Mass shootings actually tend to bother me less, t'be honest, for all the attention they draw means it's easier to talk about or around 'em. They kill a
lot fewer people, and it's a hell of a lot easier to get people to give two shits about them.
Keeping some distance from it also helps keep from worrying about old friends I have no way to contact that were near the area of this particular slaughter, so you'll have to excuse it if it's been bothering you. People cope and react in different ways, et al. Don't assume disassociation or idle discussion means a lack of concern or effort. Know it can be pretty easy to get pissed by encountering them, and that's fair, just don't brush off the whys of it, yeah?
... not just a funny thought experiment, though. Having an idea of the logistical scale of doing direct stuff about this shit isn't exactly pure fun and games. Particular one you're incensed with is roughly in the same ballpark as universal psych screening, even if neither's feasible to any meaningful degree. Estimating the fiscal burden involved with something like that can actually help frame the less direct methods (and the logistical necessity of 'em), y'ken? Even when it's rough. Similar such "funny thought experiments" were a fairly notable reason I started tracking as hard towards gun control as I have, personally. Can help t'realize what has to be done when y'have a decent idea of by just what sort of margins other things
can't be.
