When the only tool you own is a gun, every problem is a target.

[kpete]

This week's Good Gal with a Gun

Yesterday raging gun nut Christy Sheats chased her two daughters into the street with a gun. One of the daughters, Taylor, was already wounded and collapsed in the street. Sheats' husband, Jason, shouted, "Don't do this, they're our kids!" Sheats went back inside, reloaded, and returned to the street where she shot the unwounded daughter, Madison, in the back as she tried to flee. When police arrived they found Christy Sheats standing in the street, holding the gun she'd used to murder her children. They ordered her to drop the weapon and surrender. She didn't. Fearing that she would shoot the children again, they shot her dead. One of the daughters was pronounced dead at the scene, the other died later in the hospital.

Why?

Why did this happen?

Because this is what gun nuts do.

This is how people who are obsessed with guns solve their problems. This is how gun nuts resolve disputes. For gun nuts, this is the ONLY solution, every time. The gun gives them power and that power warps their thinking. They dream of using the power, being the hero, forcing others to do what they want. The gun makes them mighty. The gun makes them brave. The gun makes them ten feet tall. The gun makes them right. The gun makes them righteous. The gun makes them GOD. You do what I say or I'll fucking kill ya.
That's how obsession works.

This is why gun nuts like Christy Sheats are so utterly terrified somebody will come to take away their guns. Because to them guns are power, the One Ring, My Precious, and the thought of losing that power terrifies them.

It's an obsession. And this is how it always ends, right here.

When people are fed a constant diet of fear, anger, and rage and are enabled by a culture of violence and paranoia and exceptionalism and told over and over that guns are the answer to every situation then THIS is how they solve their problems.

This isn't an accident, or a moment of insanity, this is NORMAL in America and you can see it reflected in every aspect of our society from those who are afraid to go to the grocery store without a gun to TV shows that solve EVERY problem with a gun to sovereign citizen militias that intend to shoot down the rest of us with their guns to average citizens who believe they have a right to overthrow their government with guns to our police forces who increasingly resolve every confrontation with guns to our nation's foreign policy which is largely based on guns. It's all part of a set piece.

This, right here, is who we are.

When the only tool you own is a gun, every problem is a target. Couple that to a constant state of rage and insecurity and easy access to firearms and the end is inevitable.

https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/posts/1039436726091730

[CanSocDem]

1. Well said!! k&r (eom)

[aikoaiko]

2. We all have tools other than guns to solve problems.

As the facts of this case are revealed, in particular possible warning signs of abuse and mental illness, I hope we develop laws that remove firearms with due process from individuals who have shown themselves to be dangerous.

[Jerry442]

5. We should all be on the lookout for signs of irrational behavior...

...like, oh..., feeling a need to always go armed to the grocery store, say.

[aikoaiko]

7. I think the focus should be on dangerous behavior, but YMMV depending on your level of fear

[Human101948]

8. Dangerous behavior is owning twenty guns and stockpiling ammo...

because Obama is coming for your guns.

[aikoaiko]

10. Mere possession is not dangerous by my way of thinking.

And let's be clear, banning some guns which are very popular among recreational/competitive shooters, hunters, and people interested in self-defense has been attempted and supported by the Obama administration.

[Human101948]

11. Which ones specifically?

Which bills in Congress? You should stop listening to the NRA, they lie constantly.

Barack Obama has been called the "most anti-gun president in American history." Fears that Obama would try to ban guns fueled record sales of weapons during his presidency. But how many gun laws did Obama sign? And did any of them actually place restrictions on gun owners?

Gun Laws Signed By Obama

During his first term Obama didn't call for any major new restriction on guns or gun owners. Instead he urged authorities to enforce the state and federal laws already on the books.

In fact, Obama signed only two major laws that address how guns are carried in America, and both actually expand the rights of gun owners.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/Gun-Control/a/Gun-Laws-Signed-By-Obama.htm

[aikoaiko]

13. Do you believe Whitehouse.gov?

The President’s plan includes:
1. Closing background check loopholes to keep guns out
of dangerous hands;
2. Banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity
magazines, and taking other common-sense steps to reduce
gun violence;
3. Making schools safer; and
4. Increasing access to mental health services.

January 16, 2013
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf

And then voila:

H.R.437 — 113th Congress (2013-2014)
Introduced in House (01/29/2013)

Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to ban the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon, including:

a semiautomatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a pistol grip; (2) a forward grip; (3) a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; (4) a grenade or rocket launcher; (5) a barrel shroud; or (6) a threaded barrel;
a semiautomatic rife or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds;
a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine and has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a threaded barrel, (2) a second pistol grip, (3) a barrel shroud; (4) the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip, or (5) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm;
a semiautomatic shotgun that has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; (2) a pistol grip; (3) a fixed magazine that can accept more than five rounds; (4) the ability to accept a detachable magazine; (5) a forward grip; or (6) a grenade or rocket launcher;
a shotgun with a revolving cylinder;
firearms that are specifically listed as prohibited by this Act and copies, duplicates, variants, or altered facsimiles with the capability of any such weapon;
all belt-fed semiautomatic firearms;
any combination of parts from which any such prohibited firearm can be assembled; and
the frame or receiver of a prohibited rifle or shotgun.

I know that Obama has not signed any gun restrictionist legislation, but that is because all such legislation was defeated in congress. He really can't take credit for that.

[Press Virginia]

27. If gun control were really about reducing gun violence they wouldn't be

targeting the type of gun that is used to kill fewer people than shotguns.

They'll shriek about mass shootings while ignoring the actual numbers associated with those crimes....numbers that show it's not the weapon of choice for the killers and the body count (since 2009) is lower than the number of people killed by lightning over the same period.

According to Every Town USA : Since 2009 there have been 133 mass shootings, 17(I adjusted their number to include the last 2 shootings with AR style rifles) involved "assault weapons". 160 killed and 275 injured

500 people are beaten to death in a given year

[Jerry442]

9. Yeah, some days those avocados are badasses. NT

[eppur_se_muova]

16. But if a gun is the only tool you UNDERSTAND ... it comes down to the same thing. nt

[pangaia]

3. So accurate.

The entire American culture of violence, fear and guns is insane.

[Chan790]

4. This is also an apt metaphor...

for the US dependence on military action over diplomacy and compromise since the end of WW II.

We won (well, we take credit for winning...it was a team effort and the Russians did more of the work than we did) and now our first response to any international conflict is to swing our lead-firing dicks around.

[redstatebluegirl]

6. K&R

Very well said. When I saw this yesterday and heard everyone on TV saying "she must be mentally ill" I wanted to hurl. She is a gun nut. She sees every problem solved with a gun, including problems with her kids.

Another thing to think about, if she had been black, she would be portrayed as a "thug with a gun" not a "mentally ill mom".

[wiggs]

12. that's right. that's what makes the US different. A gun culture that supports

problem solving with guns. It's part of our history...the wild west. it's part of our current pop culture....every other minute on TV shows and movies is a shootout. I grew up playing cowboys and indians. cops and robbers. Cap guns. bb guns.

It's in our DNA as a nation.

[LWolf]

14. When the only tool you own is a gun, every problem is a target.

This is real, and it's fed by the propaganda convincing people to fear losing their guns, and to fight back by insisting on using their guns for everything.

Living in a rural area, I hear it all the time.

Here are 2 recent suggestions made to me:

1. I don't let my cats go out, which means a dog can't go out while I'm at work, either. Besides the coyotes on the other sides of fences that cats can easily clear, there's a great horned owl that nests in the tree by the back door, and hunts quite boldly right in front of me and around me. The suggestion? Shoot the owl and let the cats out.

2. Living rurally, I'm periodically invaded by rodents. Said cats do handle most of that problem. One cat, though, prefers to play with the mice, repeatedly catching and releasing over a couple of days until the mouse finally dies. The suggestion? Shoot the mouse. Yes. Shoot the mouse. When I mildly pointed out that perhaps there were better ways than blowing holes in the floor, the suggester shrugged and said, "Sure, but not as fast or satisfying."

[moriah]

19. At the same time, though, I imagine you do have a firearm....

... of some sort, living that rurally. When I have lived where bears and mountain lions were present, as well as small children, one of the requirements for me to be left as the primary adult was the ability, if required, to fire both a shotgun and a rifle. The only targets I ever had to shoot were on paper, and the nice thing about a shotgun is the noise does more to get a predator away than anything else (plus it's forgiving of bad aim).

Fortunately Agnes, the local mama bear who had cubs occasionally, was scared out of a neighbor's house (had not realized the owner was home, he was sleeping and she smelled his stored food) just by him yelling at her, and while I wish the Game and Fish Commission had taken our reports about the mountain lion eating our free-range chickens that ranged a little too freely because perhaps they could have tranquilized and relocated it before it killed our neighbor Leigh Ann Cox, I probably couldn't have brought myself to shoot it unless it was directly threatening the kids even had I been armed when I saw it. (Now Arkansas admits they are here, but allegedly not breeding, but then they flatly refused to investigate big cat sightings in the Ozarks.)

[LWolf]

20. I don't.

I've had 3 experiences in my 56 years, all unpleasant, to say the least, and I've never wanted to own or shoot a gun.

The first was when, in my early teens, I spent a couple of months with the father who didn't raise me, who I didn't even know. There was a stepmother and step siblings who hated me and resented my presence. The very first weekend, the father and step mother went fishing for the weekend, leaving all the "kids" at home alone. As they were walking out the door, my father reminded all the kids that his loaded hand gun was in the headboard of his bed, should we need it. I spent the weekend with my back to the wall, being very quiet and doing my best not to anger the steps who hated my presence.

The next...my first ex husband insisted I go out to the desert to shoot targets with he and his friends; it was loud, they were drinking, I was terrified, they insisted I shoot at a target, never having handled a gun before; it was long. I don't even know if it was a shot gun or a rifle. I know that the sound deafened me, the kick left a grapefruit sized bruise, and when I suggested that they clean up after themselves, they asked if I was some kind of tree-hugger.

The last...one of those visiting friends showed up one night to show off his new gun; again, something long. He and my ex decided to go out for the evening, and left it in the front closet. The ex came home drunk and decided to get rough. I decided to leave. He pulled the gun out of the closet, pointed it at me, and told me he'd shoot me if I left him. So I didn't leave. Then. I did as soon as it was safe to do so.

[moriah]

24. Gah.

Only had one similar experience, and it was scary enough even knowing that he wouldn't intentionally shoot anyone, he was drunk, had terrible trigger finger discipline, and my mother was trying to get him (my stepfather) to put it down the "sweet" way, all up in his body space, but he wasn't listening -- intent instead on taking the weapon outside to wave at someone.

I stood between him and the door, got his attention away from Mom, TOLD him to put the gun down, fortunately he did, and I didn't go back into that house without a person I trusted until he got sober.

[DirkGently]

21. Wow. Just Googled this. Interesting example vis a vis guns.

So, this was (is) rural Arkansas, right? And there was apparently some kind of dispute as to what kind of animal killed this poor woman. Couldn't find a news story, but there are several blog posts blaming wildlife officials for supposedly "covering up" a mountain lion attack on the basis they didn't believe there were any in the area. No mountain lion was ever found, apparently.

But one of the main purveyors of the story from the "wildlife officials covered it up" angle reacted by shooting two of his dogs dead on the spot without even examining them for signs of what had happened. He was on his way to shoot all the others when someone convinced him it was a wild animal.

So, not that rural folks don't need firearms, but not a great example of using them intelligently or to protect themselves. All they did here was allow someone to kill two innocent dogs because shooting something dead was the first and only thought in a stressful situation. Problems solved: 0. Needless deaths: 2.

I took my pistol out of the dresser drawer and without first checking for blood or other signs of their involvement, shot both dogs right on the bedroom floor. (This may help show the kind of mental state I was in at the time.) I told Barb that I had shot two of our dogs. She replied, "Kill them all."

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nightmare+in+the+Ozarks%3A+they+thought+they+were+living+their+dream,...-a0113456871

[moriah]

23. There are two types of folks out there -- hippies and rednecks.

Last edited Wed Jun 29, 2016, 06:24 AM - Edit history (2)

I lived in the hippie commune to blame for overpopulating the mountain with easy prey. All of us down that road were pretty much hippies, including the guy who woke up to Agnes coming in through the window and scared her off easily enough without having to shoot, living at the bare edge of the grid. Several miles down a dirt road.

The Cox family lived practically on the freeway a few county roads over, and while they were friendly with the hippies (I'd actually stopped by to let them know when another neighbor on the highway's burn was getting out of control cuz this was decades ago and I didn't have a cell, Leigh Ann hadn't moved in yet and they were very friendly, knew more about them from other hippies close to a cousin) obviously far more into guns than anyone down our road. Yes, they came home to find her dead, and in panic, blamed the dogs. And so did the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

It took someone actually shooting one before the G&F would admit they were present here. Which, again, I wouldn't have had the heart to do unless it was directly threatening someone.

Guns should never be a first or only tool. They can be A tool, but again... only in extremity.

Edit: Leigh Ann, sadly, was not of even average intelligence, so it's possible when she moved out there they didn't feel comfortable teaching her how to use a firearm against wildlife. It's possible that despite the rumors circulating through Chimes and Leslie of sightings prior to her death, they thought they were safe in the more developed area they lived in. Our gameplan had always been to get everyone indoors, and whoever was best at managing to get one noiee shot off and in quick succession another actual aiming shot if the noise wasn't enough to be the person who dealt with the threat. Alone, get indoors and stay there, and pray all the dogs followed. She may not have understood.

We over encroaching on wild habit felt an obligation to leave most of the creatures who lived there alone, but not at the expense of human life.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

15. I agree with this

I don't know if everybody who owns a gun is obsessed with ultimately drawing and using them but it seems like all too often situations that would chaotic or difficult (i.e. family drama) can turn into a bullet-ridden bloodbath when and where guns are easily accessible to one or more of the parties involved. I think some people are so gun-crazy that having the guns creates an irresistible temptation to use them at some point- because why spend all that money on guns, ammo, accessories, etc. and not be able to use them for some righteous cause, right? Unfortunately, the way some laws are written in some states, people carrying guns on them at all times have a pretty wide discretion on how and when it is acceptable to use them.

[ileus]

17. you can't replace brake rotors with a firearm.

While a firearm is a valuable tool to have around, it really shouldn't be your only tool.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Not that some haven't tried

[DirkGently]

22. Guns convey zero personal power.

... unless you find yourself needing to kill someone.

Or that zombie apocalypse finally arrives.

That's got to be very frustrating for people invested in the part of gun culture trading on the idea that guns make them "safe" from criminals, terrorism, and intrusive government. Or, as a T-shirt I saw on a skinny kid in the airport security line of all places claimed "a citizen, not a SUBJECT!"

What if you have all these guns and the government still doesn't do what you want? What if your gun doesn't confer respect or ensure you can be more belligerent in your daily life without fear of repercussion?

Wouldn't you end up looking for a way to somehow extract that personal power that was promised to you?

Isn't that exactly what is happening more and more?

[baldguy]

25. What is *NORMAL* is America would not be considered normal in more civilized countries.

Of course, this is **NOT** normal, and never has been.

[Skittles]

26. the people who hysterically cling to their guns

are the last people who should have them

[kimbutgar]

28. These gun worshippers religion is thinking guns are the most important things in their lifes

They live in fear and loathing of the "other' so scared they are loose canons ready to snap at any minute. They brought these expensive killing machines and secretly want to try them out.

The church of 2nd amendment is where they go to worship everyday.

[IronLionZion]

29. We should have never allowed these dangerous people into our country

"It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away," Sheats wrote in March on her Facebook page

[Marengo]

30. Uh, that second image is the symbol for the National Recovery Administration.

[IronLionZion]

31. Nobody expects the National Recovery Administration

which is what makes them more dangerous!

Yup, I just googled NRA logo and posted what came up. My mistake

[Marengo]

32. Easy mistake to make. I sometimes saw that symbol on old store fronts when I was a kid

Back in the 70's in the rural farming town I grew up in. Thought it was for the National Rifle Association until someone gave me a history lesson haha.

[deaniac21]

33. You can actually

use a pistol as a hammer.