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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI'm going to tell you a personal story which has a moral...
I want to state at the outset that if you are excessively squeamish, you may not want to read this post. In no way shape or form am I intending to upset anyone, but I believe this needs to be said out loud and I have wanted to make this point online for ages.
When I was in school and took a pathology course, which, of course is required, one day a forensic pathologist came to lecture us and showed slides of his work. He was involved with the Connecticut state police, and obviously saw every conceivable result of accidents, suicides, and assorted other horrifying moments in our civilization.
There were two photographs which I will never ever be able to get out of my mind: the first was a man who hung himself in a storage closet, and was not found for many weeks. His lower body separated from his neck and most of his spinal cord. So there in the photo were his torso and legs splayed out on the ground and the noose around a rotting neck and purple head in awful state of decomposition, suspended in the air above.
The second photo was of a woman who had been run over by a truck which on it description does not sound so bad except this truck tire ran over her head alone and squashed it flat. Words alone cannot describe the horrifying scene.
This is why in my opinion, the photos of these poor people murdered in shopping malls, schools, religious institutions, and anywhere else by high-powered weaponry, or even traditional methods of killing people, should be shown in print media and on television, because I believe that it would move the needle sufficiently that the masses would think twice about voting for candidates who do not want to restrict weapons at all whatsoever.
Many people say, “something has to be done”, and this in my opinion this is exactly what has to be done.
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TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)Germans who couldn't or wouldn't know what went on behind those walls, visit the camps and know the survivors.
Allies agreed it was not simply Nazis, but a national sickness and had to be cleaned out
It's different in scale here, but not so much in sustance.
Rorey
(8,514 posts)The families of these victims are already suffering horribly. Would it be more hurtful to them to have photos displayed? 
I lost a best friend to a random act of violence, the news showed his arm as he lay in the street and it was agaonizing to see just his arm. Knowiing that arm belonged to my friend who I'd never get to talk to again was very painful. The families should have control of these images being shared or not.
A parent's dead child's body isn't a prop to be used to make a point, no matter how good that point is.
I would like to think that I, myself, would be able to allow photos to be shown for the greater good, but I'm not okay with making that decision for others, and I'd never judge someone for wanting to keep them unseen.
I'm very sorry you had to endure the pain of the loss of your friend, and the pain that the photo caused you.
Probatim
(3,285 posts)Parents of the children at Sandy Hook had to sue that asshole into oblivion because he said their dead kids were props - not even real children and that they were crisis actors.
And while I have my suspicions that a small number of people will state the same thing, the religious right has used photos of "abortions" to show how awful they are - we should do the same.
Part of me thinks some parents would be very willing to do that to feel like they're preventing someone else from experiencing the horrors they went through.
Rorey
(8,514 posts)It would be an emotional decision for anyone, and I'd have to respect their choice.
Probatim
(3,285 posts)post those photos.
CrispyQ
(40,969 posts)I can't even begin to speak to this, but it seems I'd want to do something, anything to stop this senseless slaughter. I am so sick of the fucking 2nd amendment being twisted to justify this daily horror.
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)The families have to be considered.
BonnieJW
(3,124 posts)I would give my permission to have them shown on national news. Just like Emmet Till's mother. If my little girl's face was destroyed, I would request that it be shown next to her school picture. Just having someone report "another mass shooting " with the death count is much too easily ignored.
Rorey
(8,514 posts)I could only guess.
Warpy
(114,614 posts)We've sanitized death to the point that most people don't believe it really exists except when Grandpa went to the hospital, he didn't come out again except to be made up and put on view in a box, clean and tidy and in his best suit.
I've seen a lot of death, some horrific and some not. I've seen what gunshots and bombs do to the human body, not to mention fires, failed suicides, attempted murder, and car crashes. I can't unsee any of it.
I'm sick of murder scenes without blood and screaming. People need to know what having this country buried in weapons of war in the hands of maniacs is really doing to us. It's the snowflakes we're protecting from reality who really need to see it, since they're the ones who have no idea what 400+ million guns are doing to us.
ETA: I'm not suggesting up close and personal shots of the dead. I want the scene shown before the guys with the power washers show up to remove the blood. I want the sound of the scene played, the screaming and moaning of the injured, the sound of the crowd of families whose members have not come out. Let people see personal items like the dropped purse, the shoe, the backpack, all spattered and forlorn without their owners. This the kind of thing that will bring reality home to the oblivious.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,954 posts)CrispyQ
(40,969 posts)Is society already so desensitized to violence that photos won't be enough to move people to action? Also, can people who vote republican ever stop?
Rorey
(8,514 posts)I do think that many are desensitized to the gruesome aftermath of violent acts. It's only real when it actually happens to them, in a lot of cases.
PCIntern
(28,365 posts)Then, again, perhaps not. The statement which I made in the beginning of the post is that I have never been able to get those photos out of my mind. They are indelibly printed, and are among my most vivid memories of anything in my existence. The reason is that they were the first photos of that type which I had ever seen that were that explicit in their horror. I would submit that photos of this nature, would cause not a few people to finally realize the incredible life-ending damage which ammunition such as used in weapons inflicts. .
And as far as answering the question of whether a parent would give permission, I would venture to say that many parents would give permission if it would stop even one incident from happening again. Or if it would provoke debate and perhaps even changing of laws to restrict sales or distribution of weapons of war.
You know, a lot of people did not like with Spielberg did when he portrayed the D-Day landing, but it gave many people a much more realistic understanding of what happens in wartime. And this is my friends, is wartime.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,954 posts)
plimsoll
(1,690 posts)So you wind up with
Know and don't care. | Don't know and don't care
Know and are repelled | Don't know and are repelled.
In this day and age I think the don't know and don't care would be about 30% of the don't know group, call them Republicans. How big that don't know pool is unknown, but I think getting any of those 70% of the rest behind finding a solution to this problem would be worthwhile.
On the other hand the hardcore of the 2nd amendment fans always tell us what can't work, but they never have proposals that actually might. So far, more guns and and an armed society being a polite society would seem laughable if the results weren't so tragic.
MiHale
(13,032 posts)My uncle was a photographer during WW2 he left some photos laying around in a box that my Dad eventually found after my uncle’s passing. B&W but the effect was chilling, to this day I can “see” those people.
The argument about upsetting the victims families is a valid one permission must be granted or it’s a no show. But…I would release pictures of my wife and kids if in a situation like that. WHY? …if those pictures led to a ban on assault weapons their lives would not have been in vain. Sometimes people don’t think long term it could save future people from the same fate.
Back in the early 70’s when I was in Basic Training, we were shown a video of just what a M-16 did to a body. A goat was placed in a pen and shot with a 3 round blast, one quick trigger pull,
it literally exploded. If people saw that I think they’d change their minds quickly.
CrispyQ
(40,969 posts)Not just the horse scene, but all the shooting, the bullet wounds, the blood, & so much of it. When I watched it again, sometime in the early 90s, I was uneasy, knowing my reaction the first time, but instead I was stunned that the violence hardly looked violent at all by then. The horse scene still had an element of shock to it, but the rest of the violence seemed mild, commonplace, almost.
world wide wally
(21,836 posts)
lastlib
(28,260 posts)...to the Senator who claims to represent my state (it's "Runnin' Josh" Hawley)--needless to say, those photos didn't move his needle, and he's still a pathological asshole.
PCIntern
(28,365 posts)But perhaps many of his constituents would
barbtries
(31,307 posts)then maybe just maybe he would begin to listen to them.
i'd be happy just to see AR-15 type weapons taken out of the hands of everyday people and off the shelves. At least for now, that alone would save lives.
the theory behind this as I see it, is to get the people riled up enough to make the noise required to force the legislators to act.
Baitball Blogger
(52,344 posts)I remember the B&G film in driver's ed. I still remember the photo of the young kid whose first job as a trucker ended in death. He was hauling metal pipes, and when he slammed on the brakes, the pipes continued on its track and broke through the cabin and smashed into his head.
And, I'll never forget the one that was suppose to teach kids about how fires destroy natural environments. They started with a beautiful meadow and you get to see it through the eyes of a little yellow duckling. Then the fire sweeps over and the duckling races back to its safe place, a nest. And there, in all gore, you got to see it burn to death.
I can understand the B&G shows. No one went out of their way to kill that driver, but used his misfortune as a cautionary tale..But that one where the duckling died was all kinds of wrong, because we knew that someone had to sacrifice the life of the duckling to try to prove a point. Instead, the opposite happened. Because it wasn't a documentary. It was an intentional decision to cause harm to this poor duckling.
rsdsharp
(12,002 posts)we used to gather on a hillside in the evening. Usually, it was to listen to guest speakers, but one night it was to see a film by the Ohio State Patrol. It was in color, and showed as many bloody accidents as they could cram into 30 minutes or so.
Later that fall, back in high school, the film was shown again; this time in a classroom. Students were in their desks, and for some reason, so was a male student teacher. Suddenly, as we sat in the dark, there was a loud crash. The student teacher had fainted dead away, and taken the desk with him.
I don’t know that the film had any real impact on how I drove, but in the sense of the OP, it isn’t lost on me that the national outlook on the war in Vietnam began to change when we began to see it on the evening news. Seeing kids with bloody bandages, and thousand yard stares had an impact on whether people supported the war; and the images shown weren’t nearly as graphic as they might have been. The same thing might happen with these shootings.
EYESORE 9001
(29,727 posts)starting in Navy boot camp. They were shown repeatedly.
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)in driver's ed in the 80s at my high school.
csziggy
(34,189 posts)I couldn’t bear the thought of people being horrified by the sight of my son. But on the other hand, I felt the alternative was even worse. After all, we had averted our eyes for far too long, turning away from the ugly reality facing us as a nation.
Let the world see what I’ve seen.
-Mamie Till Bradley
In September 1955, shortly after fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, who was visiting family on summer break, was murdered by white supremacists in Money, Mississippi, his grieving mother, Mamie Till Bradley, distributed to newspapers and magazines a gruesome black-and-white photograph of his mutilated corpse. Although the mainstream media rejected the photograph as inappropriate for publication, Bradley was able to turn to African American periodicals for assistance.
Asked why she would do this, Bradley explained that by seeing, with their own eyes, the brutality of segregation, Americans would be more likely to support the cause of civil rights. “The whole nation had to bear witness to this,” she insisted.
Bradley’s brave gesture represents one of the most decisive moments in the civil rights movement. The publication of the photograph in Jet and other black periodicals helped transform the modern movement, inspiring a new generation of African American activists to join the cause. It also affirmed the capacity of visual images to jolt Americans, black and white, out of their state of denial or complacency.
Photos at link: https://fatwts.umbc.edu/the-power-of-a-photograph-the-lynching-of-emmett-till/
KS Toronado
(23,727 posts)" the capacity of visual images to jolt Americans.....out of their state of denial or complacency."
We should use everything at our disposal to curb gun violence. 
csziggy
(34,189 posts)It might make as much impact as her courageous act. I know she had to hurt, but she was willing to hurt to help prevent other deaths like her son's.
I don't blame the parents for not doing this. They are at one of the worst points in their lives. But courage is what is needed now to stop the killing.
LoisB
(13,027 posts)enjoy seeing the pictures, and maybe a large enough segment who would look and be so appalled they would be moved to be more circumspect in candidates they vote for. Maybe, I just don't know.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,954 posts)and print them off, mail them or blow them up into posters and carry them around if they think it would be effective.
Docjohnson
(57 posts)Required to have a health disclaimer printed on them, maybe the same could be done on guns. A big orange sticker on the big part thing next to your shoulder saying a statistic about gun violence. The next step would be requiring anywhere selling guns to have pictures of gun victims displayed at the entrance and behind the counter so "customers" can see what their purchases are contributing to.
LittleGirl
(8,999 posts)Great idea. I like that.
Torchlight
(6,822 posts)had a week of films showing various results of auto accidents. Some hard core stuff that sure as hell stuck with me (to this day, I can vividly remember the grainy, black and white film #2). This was fall of '82.
Maybe I was naive, or just not as evolved as the hipper-than-thou crowd who cracked wise throughout the films, but those graphic images still keep my hands at ten and two 40 years later.
May not have worked on everyone, or even most, but it damn well worked on me.
Joinfortmill
(21,162 posts)
Tree Lady
(13,282 posts)off record they make you watch auto accidents.
Joinfortmill
(21,162 posts)
PatrickforB
(15,424 posts)PCIntern
(28,365 posts)Horrifying. Who could get that image out of their mind?
Scottie Mom
(5,838 posts)I was in undergrad school at the time and this pic and the pics of Kent State went a long way to make me who I am today.
Scottie Mom
(5,838 posts)Many, many years ago in undergrad school I work in the ER as a tech. Seems I had the skill to keep a suture tray sterile where others did not so I was placed in the ER! (This was a small 99 bed hospital on the edge of a major recreation area with boating, sky diving, etc., and people who liked to drink and do this dangerous activities and this hospital was the first stop for major trauma with DOAs not being unusual.)
Needless to say, since we were the first stop on the way to major trauma centers, we got horrible accidents. I have to say not as bad as the pictures you saw, but bad enough when I was in my 20s to make me realize that some things truly were horrible. Thankfully, I realized way back then there were some things I would never do, even if totally sober.
Yes, they NEED TO SHOW the destruction from the shootings. PERIOD. No excuse for not doing this. Yes, this is EXACTLY what has to be done.
Excellent post IMO. Thank you.
usaf-vet
(7,811 posts)...... teenagers arrested for DUI to spend their weekends in ER to experience trauma firsthand. I don't know how long that lasted. But It's an idea that might work again today.
I had a job in a hospital as an orderly. Doing all the tasks no one else wanted to do. I used to gravitate to the ER to see what needed to be done there.
As it turned out, I was grabbed one night when they were short-handed and had several trauma cases. My first memory was being told to put on gloves and hold a compression bandage on a lower leg wound to limit the bleeding while the doctors were busy with facial and head wounds.
Apparently, I was helpful because they asked to have me assigned to the ER. I saw a lot and learned and learned a lot.
When I enlisted in the military in 1965 and was asked what I wanted to do for a job after basic training, I said I wanted to be a medic.
Six months later, after field medics training and advanced training, I was an OR (Surgical Tech). I spent the next three years "scrubbing." I love that job and thought I might try med school after the military. I did manage to get my B.S. in Biology on the GI Bill.
But life has a way of directing some of your options. Med school never was one of those options.
My wife and I have been married for 52 years.
We have a 50-year-old son who is a volunteer EMT in his local community. And we follow him and the local emergency service in the surrounding communities via a scanner.
Scottie Mom
(5,838 posts)You and I are most likely about the same age -- mid-70s -- and waaaaaaaaaay back then things were different. Yes, it was not only OK, but a good idea for the next generation to see and understand reality. It was not merely a cartoon where a car went off a cliff and the main cartoon character walked away --- without a scratch.
The worst ER cases to me were burn cases and I saw too many of them -- auto accidents where the ever popular VW bug was hit and a fire resulted with the occupants being trapped. One of my worst evenings in the ER...ever...horrible accident with terrible injuries.
I wanted to go to med school, also. However, I have absolutely no ability to do the necessary math. I changed to pre-law and now I have seen in a courtroom in pictures and videos a lot of what I saw in the ER, up close and personal. I have done a lot of PI Plaintiff cases in my many years and, yes, the reality of the injuries I have seen remains in my mind's eye...forever.
Congrats on the long marriage and hope you and your wife have another many wonderful years. 
usaf-vet
(7,811 posts)..... of the world today.
As it turned out, when I got to go to grad school, the time was such that desktop computers were just coming out.
Apple sent every government agency a new APPLE IIc. It arrived in our lab in a box with a rainbow on the outside. No one was expecting it, so it sat there for weeks. Curiosity got to me one day in the middle of winter, and I asked if I could open it.
By summer, I had figured out the hardware and how to write a program that could crunch the data I had gathered during the past field data-gathering season.
After grad school, we moved back home, where I expected to find a job as a field biologist.
It turned out no one wanted a field biologist. But several agencies wanted someone who knew how to use "desktop computers."
Twenty-five years later, I retired as a computer consultant, having taught computers to a whole new generation of potential users.
I have never taken a computer class to teach me how to use a computer or to teach others how to teach the next generation of users.
After all these years, I have learned that I am an independent learner.
At 76, I'm still teaching myself new hobbies. These will remain hobbies and not new jobs.
Scottie Mom
(5,838 posts)Yes, we are about the same age. I am just a little over a year younger. But...I cannot believe I am really, really THAT old!
Interesting about your computer experience. I have a very close friend who has set up, fixed, upgraded my computers over the years, nearly 30 years now. He is pretty much self taught with computers. He tried out for a major local school district -- without a degree in computer science -- to head one of their major school computer departments that ran all of the computers for a large part of the district. There was a skills test and he scored higher than anyone else who took the test, computer degrees and all.
He is now also in our age group and he has retired, moved out of SoCal and I am not sure how he got this gig, but he is a "beta" tester, one of very few in the US, for a major internet TV company. If he approves of something, it goes directly into use! He pretty much started out with computers due to a problem with a desktop computer in a law office where I worked. He was the brother of another atty who also worked there. All of us were completely frustrated with this computer. Well, my friend figured out the problem, fixed it, and it all started there.
LOL, my new hobbies was trying to figure out all of the BS on the dashboards of new cars. I have given up. Give me 4-wheel drive, good heating and air-conditioning and a factory built-in disk player, and I am a happy gal! A sunroof would be nice, but not necessary. So...I have basically "re-done" a 20+ year old Honda because all the computerized "stuff" in new cars was beyond me and totally useless as far as I was concerned! What can I say!
usaf-vet
(7,811 posts)Some of my early students were college professors in the education department of local colleges and universities.
I taught four "graduate level classes" for the university. The fifth was to teach database management to people who have/had no idea what database management was.
Two years before, I contributed to a book to teach database management to high school kids.
In prep for the new class, the administration reviewed my CV when they discovered I had never had a university class in computer science. Which at the time were so outdated they were not relative to the course I was ready to teach. Two things immediately occurred to me. The first four classes I had taught to university staff made them comfortable, thinking they were prepared to put together their own offerings.
In the final meeting, they told me I wasn't qualified to teach the proposed class so they would cancel it.
I had brought along a copy of the gallery proofs for the book that was scheduled to be printed and available to be used in the following year in public schools.
I put the galley proof on the table where the committee was giving me the reasons they had come to their decision. I asked them to pass it around and at least look at the first few pages. Some just took the book and quickly thumbed through the pages.
The third or fourth person did what I asked. Then look at me and said is this you in the list of authors. I said yes. I wondered if anyone else wanted to see the book. When they were done, I picked up the book, said thank you, and walked out of the meeting.
What they didn't understand was that their skills were grossly outdated, and I had already moved on to learning about building-wide networking and new generations of computers that would soon be capable of being wireless and available campus-wide.
Now at 76, I am outdated and know that I have other things I want to learn.
Scottie Mom
(5,838 posts)He was discussing the issue with me of his "lack" of formal computer training. Like you said, it now would be totally outdated. On his own, he moved on and was current. He started way back when people began to have laptop and desk top computers, taking them apart and putting them back together to see how they worked. Never stopped doing this and made a very successful career out of it.
What is interesting, is his totally curious mind. I flew him back to California to re-do my computer set ups -- I have a new client and will need to be totally on top of everything. Well, with all that is and has been going on with Trump, my IT pal asked legal question after question. I literally taught him an overview of the first year of law school -- torts, contracts, and crim law and procedure -- while he was here in April last.
His curious mind fascinated me. He took a ton of time with the Bragg indictment of tfg on the elements of mes rea and actus reus. we went over those elements as well as the issue of the statute of limitations beginning with Indictment No. 1. I would not be the least surprised if he now began taking law school classes. It all began with his question when he asked me, in essence, why: "When they have someone with the murder weapon and a tape of him shooting the victim, how can the defendant plead 'not guilty."" That started a discussion which continues via the internet on a daily basis.
A curious intelligent mind is a glorious thing to behold! Congrats on yours!
enigmania
(457 posts)from the film in fifth grade showing the rabbit's beating heart lying next to the poor creature. The voice over continued clinically with something about arterial blood pressure as the aorta was was severed. Fifty-six years later it still makes me sick. Probably why I'm an avowed animal love, rehabber, and defender.
H2O Man
(79,048 posts)I think that there are both good and bad potentials of publishing those pictures. I remember Emmett Till's mother opting for an open casket, and the photograph that resulted from that. And last night, with this topic in mind, I watched a short documentary on the Tet Offensive, in which it was claimed the infamous photo of a man being shot helped end the war. I was a bit disappointed it did not say the films from Tet convinced many Americans that the government was lying to them, which I suspect was at very least as important as the one photo. More, the picture of the little girl running down the street burning from napalm was likely as important as anything, for it got Dr. King to speak out against the war a year before Tet.
Film and pictures from the bombed Birmingham church were likewise powerful. Though often forgotten, these included pictures of those four little girls in the morgue. I feel sick just remembering these things.
At the same time, there is the negative potential. Some deranged people love gore, seek fame, and would be encouraged to express their hatred by having pictures shown. Normal children would likely have an increased sense of fear. Yet, I don't think desensitizing the public is a risk. Just the opposite.
I'll end by saying this, as your post brings it to mind. It's not about the trigger-happy patrolmen out in public. Rather, it is worth considering the impact on investigators who see the types of scenes you describe time and again.
PCIntern
(28,365 posts)AS USUAL. (…and thank you!)
barbtries
(31,307 posts)it worked for Vietnam.
gwbush is the one who decided that people should not see the bodies landing at Dover. he told the people to go shopping and then went and threw himself a war in which an uncounted number of people were killed. at least 100,000, as many as a million I have read.
my daughter was run over and killed and we were urged not to look at her after she died. We did not. My oldest son and I went to the hospital in the morning and asked to see her. We were put into a room and a nurse came in, holding Bekah's file. She gave me the timeline. She explained the nature of Bekah's injuries. As she went on I looked at my son and said, "We will never see Bekah again."
I obtained every piece of documentation related to her death except the pictures. To this day I prefer to remember Bekah alive, beautiful and vital. for this reason I believe the pictures shared should be redacted to avoid identification, to prevent the heartache and horror of their loved ones. I think the families should be consulted either to refuse or to take steps to avoid having to look themselves.
i struggle, wondering would I feel the same way if that was my loved one whose picture was shown on the news after she died? Honestly I don't know. I hope I would still feel the same way, that if it might save a life it would be worth it. Nothing else is working.
I read every document. It took a while before I could sleep because every time I closed my eyes, in my mind's eye I saw Bekah dying over and over. Flying over the car, being dragged down the street, ending up a football field away from where her shoes came off.
I would shudder and open my eyes.
I second-guessed the decision to forgo seeing Bekah after she died, but it was validated on more than one occasion, including in grief counseling, by the funeral home person who had picked her body up from the coroner, and by a paramedic who became involved with her best friend (who was devastated when she learned that there would be a closed casket) and looked at her file. He told her friend, "She was one of the bad ones. You could still tell she was pretty...."
area51
(12,691 posts)
barbtries
(31,307 posts)not trying to hijack the thread but speaking as a mother who had to make a choice.
timms139
(543 posts)when you get a call of shots fired at a party of a group of young people,and when you
get there and a fifteen year old layed on his parents bed and messed with his fathers gun,
you never forget that scene. Head ripped like a tin can and the splat of brain matter dripping from the bed into a puddle on the floor kinda makes it impossible to ever forget .
halfulglas
(1,654 posts)Seriously! We're watching TV and the alert comes on, we learn more. The first impression is a bunch of cops in various uniforms or plain clothes and tactical vests and carrying guns, guns, guns responding. We hear the excited tones of people doing their job. We start hearing about numbers of dead or injured. But the impression is still authorities, more cops, reporters describing the horror scene, describing the carnage, sometimes catching a glimpse of blood on the floor or sidewalk, or whatever. A little later memorials with stuffed animals and candles in the street. But still, the most prominent impressions from a mass shooting because it's so visible from the first reports on are tactical police with more weapons having the situation in hand, if late.
Something has to change this dynamic. The real horror is still not shown. Maybe this would be a start (if the families agree).
Prairie_Seagull
(4,688 posts)It has changed dramatically for the worse. Consequently we all need to rethink our own personal risk assessments. IMO. Unfortunately this includes, in the aftermath of mass shootings. There is heightened risk now. I feel horrible for those effected by these truly horrific acts and I admit that what I feel does not approach what these people are feeling. However If this problem could be solved by heaping even more sorrow on these people and potentially save the lives of countless more, What are the options? If dollars will ease the burden somewhat, then pay them and publish.
Just one older dude who is beyond livid for my fellow travelers. This can not go on. We have to try something.
The Jungle 1
(4,552 posts)Sterilizing this horror from the public is not the right way to go. The mutilations will continue until we force change. Publishing the images will save lives. Their deaths will not be in vain.
The pictures should be hung in the halls of congress until they "Do Something"
Sitting on our hands and rocking back and forth is not a solution.
There is clear historical evidence that showing the graphic details alters the narrative.
Do it.
AverageOldGuy
(3,831 posts)While I agree with you that publishing photos of shooting victims would move public opinion, I disagree with this part of your comment:
I believe that it would move the needle sufficiently that the masses would think twice about voting for candidates who do not want to restrict weapons at all whatsoever.
I live in a ruby red rural Virginia county that voted 70% for Trump in 2016 and 72% for him in 2020 -- that is, after four years of Trump MORE of my neighbors voted for him than voted for him previously. Republican candidates at local, state, and federal level win my county with 65-70% of the vote no matter who they are or what they believe.
In November we will vote for members of our school board, board of supervisors, state senator and state delegate. One of the school board candidates and one of the supervisor candidates both are well-known in the county as being dumber than a post, yet, they are endorsed by the county Republican Party and they will win. Trump 2024 signs are already appearing in yards.
One of our volunteer fire departments held a raffle in which the first prize was an AR-15 rifle and the second prize was a "streetsweeper" shotgun. And they have done the same thing for the past four years. When asked about the raffle, our county sheriff said nothing wrong with it -- he's the president of the volunteer fire department.
Individual Republicans and the people for whom they vote lay the blame on mental illness and issues other than the gun.
I may be wrong and I hope I am, but, I live with these people daily. They will not be moved.
NoMoreRepugs
(12,075 posts)than social media.
mgardener
(2,360 posts)My dad was killed in a plane crash when I was 10.
I saw a picture of the crash site, no bodies. Just the mangled wreck
It was traumatizing, up to that point I could imagine my dad dead, but not torn apart.
About 20 years ago I found his death certificate. Death due to "catastrophic injuries".
I am not sure what the answer is.
But I want people to understand what having those pictures on the internet mean to the surviving families and friends.
Maybe some brave family will allow it. Maybe it would be the tipping point for some re sensible control of guns
I am not sure I could.
PCIntern
(28,365 posts)I have no quarrel at all whatsoever with any individual who feels this way. Each has the right to be a human being and be able to live with oneself. No “buts”.
electric_blue68
(26,856 posts)of any victim who accidentally came across a photo. Yikes! 😔
I'll share a different but indelible photo story re 9-11
(w warning) and my opnion .
Born & bred NYC'r. Watched the WTC slowly rise above the the closer buildings in The East Village, and The
Village when I was in Art College.
Worked in South Tower 2 from 9/80 through late Aug '81.
(NE corner office 73rd flr w a gorgeous view!) Spent a lot of time in Lower Manhattan for work, and fun. The Atrocity was devastating.
Some of you may know that American TV sanitized certain imagdry. I read this _x_ years later. Some our USA'rs who moved outside the USA before 2001, or our International DU'rs would know.
It's True. How do I know?
In 2016 I was in Switzerland invited by my Artist Aunt to make art in her studio part of her's & my uncle's gorgeous house in a little Village in the western part of the country in early to late Sept.
On 9-11 my uncle and I watch the Ceremony (later afternoon for us) from The Memorial. I used to go with a family member down to see The Tribute In Lights for ?10+ yrs. Been to The Memorial, too. It's so sad, but very beautiful.
I also would go on line to look at images less as the years rolled on. But now I was outside the US. It didn't occur to me even decades later...
🚨 TRIGGER WARNING 🚨
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While "relatively mild" compared to the worst stuff...
Some of the photos I saw on line in Switzerland were and I saw a lot of 9-11 photos back then in '01 were of ?half a sreet, or more with big blood splatted maaaybe with bits if "stuff" areas up, and down the sidewalks. Gah.
These were never shown on American TV nor in any typical American newspaper or magazine.
But then I looked down and saw a partly smashed human being. It probably was a jumper. Dear Life! Gak! I will spare you the details. I turned Off the photos right then!
THAT photo haunted me off & on for a few months plus. The biggest problem was I wouldn't tell my aunt, not with her suffering from Parkinson's m, but also...
Turned out from an earlier conversation with my uncle on a previious day - he was squemish!
I certainly wasn't going to tell him! So I was stuck with it in my memory.
Luckily I only recall it rarely rarely now. A bit of the gruesome details are getting a bit blurred, too. Thank goodness!
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🚨 END Trigger🚨
So that's why I have a "maybe" reaction.
There might be some small amount of Americans mulling it over. I say small bc I think a very, very high percentage of Americans have string feelings regarding gun control.
But if showing this Carnage might change a few minds, and in perhaps districts where changed minds might make a difference in local, or State laws? Maybe. Again only with the family's permission.
But I would worry about the especially close friends of those victims. Of course, their family, too, but they would have gone through the trauma of deciding to go public. Hopefully with serious mental/emotional support.
That's my current thinking.