Posted without comment 'cause I'm beyond words . . .

[AndyS]

Texas public schools will distribute DNA kits to families. The Texas Legislature passed a law in 2021 requiring the state education agency to send K-8 public schools in-home fingerprint and DNA identification cards. The schools can distribute these to parents and guardians who want their child’s information accessible in an emergency. Some have found the program unsettling, the Houston Chronicle reported, particularly following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May. After the massacre, law enforcement asked families to provide DNA samples to help identify the children's bodies. “When you put it in the light of Uvalde, it’s one of the most macabre things you could think about,” said Bob Sanborn, president of the nonprofit Children at Risk.

DATA POINT
7 — the average number of children killed by firearm per day in 2021.

Source: TheTrace.org

[onecaliberal]

1. Guns over children. It's the republican way.

[keithbvadu2]

12. Joe The Plumber: 'Your Dead Kids Don't Trump My Constitutional Rights' To Have Guns

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/joe-the-plumber-guns_n_5397981.html

Joe The Plumber: ‘Your Dead Kids Don’t Trump My Constitutional Rights’ To Have Guns

Ironic how he chose that verb back in 2014.

[Cha]

55. The plumber is a

Stupid Lying Idiot

No one is taking his fucking guns and he knows it.

This is about military grade weapons that are easy for mass murderers to get

[keithbvadu2]

18. As a rule, Republicans identify more with the shooters than the victims.

https://democraticunderground.com/100217248135

Republicans have worked harder to keep trans kids out of restrooms than shooters out of schools.

Link to tweet

[Irish_Dem]

2. Maybe children could wear military style dog tags. For immediate identification at the crime scene.

Sarcasm is all I can write for this post because the words I want to say are not suitable for public consumption.

The US could stop gun violence against children, but the American people appear unwilling.

[unc70]

15. My ex wife had those as a child in Greensboro, NC

All her classmates, too. That was back in the mid 1950s. The tags were supposedly to help identify children separated during a nuclear attack and evacuation. The switch from bombers to missiles eliminated the possibility of escaping nuclear attack and the "need" for the tags.

[Irish_Dem]

20. Good god. As a military kid we didn't get dog tags.

We were in small US Air Force bases in Southeast Asia while our dads were flying combat in Viet Nam.

Our schools consisted of old WWII Quonset huts surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.

But they didn't give us dog tags.

But I admit we would have thought it cool if we got them, not understanding what it meant.

[doc03]

3. How about a law requiring finger prints and DNA for gun owners. They would

have a hissy fit over that.

[Lonestarblue]

9. Excellent idea! Let's push that and see how they feel.

Texas Republicans have come up with some of the worst ideas imaginable, from outlawing abortion but also enabling vigilantes to sue any doctor who does an abortion now to save a woman’s life, the doctor to hire lawyers to prove the decision was legal and medically necessary. Easy way to get $10,000 if some right-wing judge decides that pregnancy is never life threatening.

One of the meanest policies is their torment of families with transgender kids. They’re investigating them for child abuse, threatening to remove the kids and out them in foster care.

Republicans here are just plain sick.

[AllyCat]

11. This, right here.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. +1. Gun rights valued more than children's lives in Texas. . . nt

[Irish_Dem]

21. Young white males are the perpetrators of mass gun violence.

They are the ones who need to be controlled and monitored.

Not children. Not young women.

[Jedi Guy]

38. "They are the ones who need to be controlled and monitored."

What sort of "control" and "monitoring" are you proposing here?

Also, mass shootings account for a small fraction of the gun violence in the United States regardless of how one defines "mass shooting." According to FBI statistics for 2019, African-Americans accounted for 56% of all homicide offenders in the US where the race of the perpetrator was known. Do they need to be "controlled and monitored"? If so, how? If not, why not?

If a group responsible for a fraction of the gun violence in the United States needs to be "controlled and monitored," then it follows that a group responsible for a larger share of the gun violence also needs to be "controlled and monitored."

[Irish_Dem]

41. Young women who pose no threat are controlled, monitored and face death and prison.

Innocent children face being shot to ribbons while they sit in school.

Yet the gender responsible for pregnancy and murdering school children are revered and honored.

Something is very wrong in this country.

[Jedi Guy]

43. None of that answers the questions I asked.

Again, what kind of "control and monitoring" are you proposing for young white males? What does that look like to you, ideally? And if that's necessary, is it also necessary for young Black males? If not, why not?

Also, "the gender responsible for pregnancy"? That's a very curious turn of phrase since sexual activity generally involves two people, at least according to what I learned in sex ed way back when. In your view, are men solely responsible when a woman becomes pregnant? If so, how do you rationalize that?

[Hekate]

47. Equality under the law demands they should be treated the same as young white females...

Tracked and monitored in their travels. Bounties offered to those who report on them for specific personal acts. Requirements that they submit to a deep and probing genital exam if they want to participate in school sports, plus DNA to prove their gender.

That is just for starters.

Thank you for asking.

[Jedi Guy]

50. Sorry, no. The answer to injustice is not more injustice. Never has been, never will be. N/T

[Hekate]

51. I look forward to your presence on the battle lines then. You and all your friends. Little girls...

…are going to be maimed for life (they don’t have the bone structure to carry a baby to term) — also they do not have the capacity to consent to sex, so it’s rape.

Middle schoolers and high schoolers will be humiliated and traumatized by having a full pelvic exam to prove they are not intersex or trans sex or whatever sick fantasies the American Taliban comes up with. Already there are girls having their gender hotly challenged by the parents of girls who lost athletic competitions.

Yes, godammit, this is happening now.

In Texas there is a $10,000 bounty being offered to anyone who can prove a girl or woman snuck off and had an abortion. The Uber driver can be charged for aiding and abetting. The clinic is liable. The doctor or nurse can be charged with murder.

Is there anyone in your circle of acquaintance who would be tempted by that $10,000 prize?

Understand where we are, right now, this minute. The overthrow of Roe has been underway for a long time.

This will affect your life and that of your male friends. If you decide you want a vasectomy and you live in a Red state, be prepared to travel to another state. If you fall in love and get married but discover getting pregnant isn’t going to be easy for the two of you, better check that IVF is still legal in your state. If you find that the love of your life gets pregnant all too easily, be prepared for the fanatics to tell you that they have banned all the best contraceptives because in their opinion they cause abortions.

I am not joking. Do I look like I’m laughing?

A war has been declared on 51% of the American population. I hope we can count on your help.

[Jedi Guy]

53. I'm well aware all of these things that shouldn't be happening are happening.

All of this touches me personally hardly at all. My wife had endometriosis in her early 20s and both of her ovaries were removed, so pregnancy isn't something we have to be concerned about. I've lived in Canada for the last ten years and watched the goings-on in the States with horror while being quietly thankful that I live in a sane country. Canada isn't perfect by any means, but it's been far kinder to me in many ways than the US ever was. Some of my friends and family back home are conservative, but they are of the "if you don't like abortion, don't have one" variety and don't have strong feelings about that particular issue.

Mind you, none of this is to say that I don't care because it doesn't impact me personally. I do care. I vote Democratic because I care. If I had disposable income that wasn't going to pay down debt, I'd be able to contribute to Planned Parenthood and similar organizations. Sadly, that's not an option for me right now but things may change. I've never heard of protests or harassment around abortion clinics up here. It might well happen (probably in the prairie provinces, if I had to guess), but I tend to focus on news from home rather than what's going on here north of the Wall, to borrow a Game of Thrones reference. If news of it happening locally reached me, I'd offer, as a big burly fellow, to be a clinic escort when I had time to spare.

None of this changes my point: the answer to injustice is not more injustice. The answer to injustice is to restore justice.

[Hekate]

54. I'm glad things are working out well for you. For a lot of women in the USA, not so much.

[AKwannabe]

23. Excellent thought. nt

[calimary]

32. Fuck their hissy fits. Let's just DO IT.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. So this is their solution to school shootings.

I’m sure this makes parents in Texas feel So Much Better ….

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. Great. We don't want to identify the guns, just the bodies.

In the wake of the serial number ruling, this is the only conclusion we can reach.

[Irish_Dem]

22. American guns have more rights than American children.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Well, I provided emergency ID for my daughter back in the 90's...

the DNA part is new, but child ID is not a new thing. I forget if it included fingerprints, but that would have made sense. Back then it was more about abduction, of course, but it was a thing.

Not sure this is a hill we want to die on.

[brer cat]

7. I did that in the 1980s for my daughter.

Fingerprints but not DNA. The programs were through the schools where the fingerprinting was done by someone from the police department.

[doc03]

8. With DNA can't they tell if you are prone to get certain medical problems? I can see

the state providing that information to health insurance companies. That would have been a great tool for
Adolf Hitler to tell if you had any Jewish blood, wouldn't it? Imagine the arguments the right would come up
with if you took fingerprints and DNA from all gun owners. They can take serial numbers off their guns now.

[sl8]

16. These are voluntary and retained by the individual, not the state. nt

[forgotmylogin]

39. This is why I never did the "23 and Me" kit.

My cousin was like "it's so fun! You should do it!"

I'm like "I'm not paying someone to willingly supply my biological information to a national database." I'm positive there's a little folded card with tons of fine print which contractually specifies they get to keep and sell your information.

I worked in a casino back in the day so I already agreed to have fingerprints on file with the state for employment purposes. That's enough.

[herding cats]

24. I did as well.

It was fingerprints which were done at the school but I kept them.

[Samrob]

10. Talk about deep state invasion of privacy. OK Texas, let's do for everyone! Start with ALL

state and local and Federal employees, including those in the State Houses and the Congress and their families. Next All corporate Owners and CEOs and other senior management. Next, be sure to include ALL registered and unregistered gun owners...you know make it like Real.ID. Make sure all entities moving money abroad have their DNA and fingerprints on file at home and abroad. All judges, all law enforcement...just every damn person within the US and ex-Pats. Feel better now?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. It's preparation for DENYING TRANS kids their chosen gender rights. "Gender of birth" nonsense. nt

[flying_wahini]

17. Lt Gov Dan Patrick and AG Paxton. They are running ads against is behind that. Their ads

Say they don’t think Children born as boys have a right to play in school sports.
So more about clamping down about trans kids.
Remember; It’s all about sports in Texas.

[MagickMuffin]

19. 146 children under the age of 17 have died from gun violence under Abbott's leadership

And that data doesn’t include 2021-2022.

So

The number is higher than that! That’s a lot of blood on his hands.


But hey he’s so ProLife that females lives don’t matter over the life of the unborn.

[bringthePaine]

25. cowardly, utter capitulation🤬fucking thoughts&prayers my ass

[Warpy]

26. Right wingers hate children

When I was in first grade, we were issued military dog tags that we had to wear every day (they checked) in case some stupid man in government somewhere started a nuclear war, which cowering under our desks in drills was supposed to allow us to survive. The dog tags were to identify those who didn't cower enough. But hey, men got to be tough, backed up by nuclear firepower. Nobody gonna tell them what to do, no suh.

Now kids have to be constantly afraid some two legged rabid dog with a gun will burst in.

The DNA sampling is stupid beyond belief. DNA can be obtained post mortem. There is no reason to keep frightening children and their families with this bullshit. I have to wonder if the law isn't after something else.

What they need to do is stop selling the fucking guns to two legged rabid dogs.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. A big, fat K&R! n/t

[FakeNoose]

28. K & R because ... no words

[sarisataka]

29. Putting children at risk. It's sad that a good thing

Is being co-opted by Shannon Watts and gun control groups with false information.

These kits have been around for years and are intended to help authorities when a child is missing; a far more likely scenario than a school shooting. I have such kits stored in my firebox for both of my kids. We did them when they were toddlers and update them every couple years with new photos.

Normally there is a cost to order these kits but it is being done free of charge in Texas schools.

Unfortunately due to the falsehoods being promoted for the purpose of these kits, some parents may choose to not do this for their children.

Texas facts- https://centerforthemissing.org/child-id-kits/

FBI information on similar kits- https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2006/july/idkits072406

[AndyS]

31. It's wonderful that the big hearted sons of bitches in Texas government

are dedicating so much effort in protecting kids from being lost with a kit that has been around for years.

Wonder why they didn't promote this before Uvalde . . .

You and I both know what this is about and why now.

[sarisataka]

33. Big hearted sons of bitches can see the future?

The kit distribution comes on the heels of the Uvalde mass shooting, causing some parents to raise eyebrows. However, they were actually mandated by the state legislature back in 2021.

https://abc13.com/texas-student-id-kits-students-collect-fingerprints-and-dna-sample-response-to-school-shootings-national-child-identification-program/12341583/

[AndyS]

45. Oh, beg my pardon, I forgot that Ualde was the first ever shooting

that left it's victims unidentifiable. First ever in history! Surely the first ever in Texas!

Curious that such identifying dna, which is quite useful, is mandated to be available in schools. Is it legally mandated elsewhere?

It's like everything else about gun violence in the US: after the fact and reactionary.

[sarisataka]

46. Since the claim is being made it is connected to Uvalde

It makes sense to compare those dates. Let's leave those goal posts in place, agreed?


Since you asked-

December 16, 2021

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES PILOT PROGRAM WITH NATIONAL CHILD IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

Partnership With Raoul’s Office to Provide 175,000 Kits to Illinois Kindergarteners

Chicago  — As children around Illinois are out of school for the holidays, Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced his office is expanding the resources it offers parents and guardians to help keep children safe.

Attorney General Raoul was joined by NFL Hall of Fame Player and Coach Mike Singletary to announce the Attorney General’s office is partnering with the National Child Identification Program (NCIDP) in a pilot program that will provide Illinois families with free child ID kits. Raoul’s office, working with the NCIDP, local law enforcement agencies and school officials, will facilitate the distribution of the kits free of charge to tens of thousands of Illinois families. Raoul also announced, as part of his office’s continued work to protect children when they are online or using social media, a new website that will allow parents, guardians and educators to access resources that help children and teens have healthy online interactions.

“My office is committed to giving parents access to resources to keep their children safe, for instance by offering trainings and encouraging involvement in children and teens’ online activity and awareness of who their children are interacting with virtually, because even though a child is at home, parents may not know who they are really interacting with virtually,” Raoul said. “Our partnership with the National Child Identification Program is just the latest initiative as part of that effort. We are providing these kits hoping that families never need them, but should the unthinkable happen, parents can be prepared with the vital information needed to help law enforcement locate their missing child.”

https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2021_12/20211216.html

I have not researched how many states do this but I know Utah also passed a similar law.

[AndyS]

48. Can these good hearted sons of bitches

see into the future? Was the legislation connected to Uvalde? Will there ever be another school shooting? Was there ever one before? Could it be this is about shootings like Uvalde?

Being as you are in charge of goal posts I'll leave it at that.

[sarisataka]

49. I have to note

Your lack of comment on Illinois.

Is Kwame Raoul just another good hearted son of a bitch?

[AndyS]

57. Yeah, an honest one.

Synopsis As Introduced
Appropriates $100,000 for FY2007 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of State Police for grants to local law enforcement agencies to conduct DNA testing in cases involving the murder of children under 17 years of age. Effective July 1, 2006.

You were saying about kidnapping and shit, right? Because kidnapping and runaways so often result in mutilation that requires DNA testing to identify the body.

You and I both know what this is all about. Lipstick on a pig if you want, it's still a pig.

[Vinca]

30. That's just sickening. I hate fucking Abbott and I hate fucking Texas and I hate fucking guns.

[Paper Roses]

34. It seems like everyday there is a new trespass on our rights.

This proposal is beyond belief.

[sarisataka]

35. The kits are kept by the parents

Not the state. The program was approved a year before Uvalde and is intended to help identify missing and trafficked children.

Unfortunately some people are willing to put a false spin to further their agenda. Even if it puts the children at risk.

That spin is what news outlets have pounced on.

[ashredux]

36. Don't do it.... Nothing coming from Greg Abbott is safe for you

[sarcasmo]

37. USA! USA! USA!

[Aviation Pro]

40. That way when the po-po recover the disfigured bodies of seven-year olds

They can give the news to grieving parents with a high degree of accuracy.

Bloated Tick cultists give zero fucks about kids. That's why their own offspring hate them.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. This is a really dumb plan

Link to tweet

[Skittles]

44. repukes are fine with this

books, not so much

[ecstatic]

52. Already creepy to request that even without the added Uvalde context. Wow!

Just wow. I can't.

[purr-rat beauty]

56. oh....so now BIG government is ok

rather than rational gun laws that can help prevent mass shootings they want dna for the potential dead