Am I a bad person for finding Sandy Hook FAR more upsetting than Steve Scalise being shot?

[YoungDemCA]

[gopiscrap]

1. Not at all, those were innocent victims

[Bernardo de La Paz]

52. So is Scalise. He did not deserve to be shot. Duh.

Both sets are innocent victims. Both sets did not deserve to be shot. The United States of America does not function and advance by shooting civilians going about their ordinary everyday activities, whether it is studying in school or playing baseball.

Period.

However, we can have more sympathy for a classroom of child victims than for an individual adult. And we can hope that Scalise and other NRA supporters learn the valuable lesson that overly easy access to high powered guns is a societal problem.

I agree with the OP; Sandy Hook was more upsetting.

[demigoddess]

64. he had armed guards, Sandy Hook children did not. As far as I remember.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

66. So? What's your point?

Are you saying he should have more or less sympathy because he had armed guards?

Are you saying he deserved to be shot more or less because he had armed guards?

Are you saying it is more or less upsetting because he had armed guards?

[atreides1]

2. Nope

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Not at all. That jerk is a 2nd amendment jackoff and got shot in the ass. Too bad so sad.

[flibbitygiblets]

50. Irony, meet Fate. And so far the only "action" I hear being floated is more security for Congress

Isn't it bad enough that Congress gets paid more, works less, and gets better health coverage than most of us, now they will be even more isolated from the gun violence we "real Americans" experience. So how will they know it's happening unless they experience it the same as the rest of us? Sorry you got shot buddy, but these are YOUR policies in action.

The nonstop news coverage is really pissing me off. Are we really going to pretend there aren't shootings every damn day in this country?

[Bettie]

55. Gives all the Republicans an excuse

never to appear in public in their districts again.

[elmac]

56. His 2nd amendment remedies turn around and bit him in the ass so to speak. nt

[Ilsa]

4. A bunch of those people died.

That shooting was at closer range, too, IIRC. I think it was much worse than today's shooting.

[elleng]

5. No, but they are both on the same 'spectrum,'

full of misery for this country.

[DanTex]

6. I think Sandy Hook is objectively more upsetting, and it has nothing to do with politics.

Sandy Hook was a guy who walked into a school and murdered a bunch of children. It was horrific.

[marylandblue]

7. No, nothing is worse than the death of a child

[Vinca]

8. No. Not at all.

If those had been little kids on the baseball field, they'd be dead because they don't have armed protection. We have to get rid of the guns.

[dalton99a]

9. There is no comparison between innocent children and Congressional Republicans

Congressional Republicans are evil scum

[SweetieD]

10. No. Sandy Hook shook me to the core. Scalise is still alive and will recover. No comparison. Nt.

[smirkymonkey]

49. I agree. Not even close.

The only thing they have in common was a white guy with a gun he shouldn't have had access to and the similarity ends there.

[msdogi]

11. No comparison

The thought of Sandy Hook still makes me cry, this got no emotion from me.

[barbtries]

12. let's be bad together

if you are.

come on, he survived, he chose to be in a prominent position, he got an A from the NRA, etc, etc.

they were innocents. big differences.

[Raster]

13. NOT. AT. ALL.

None of those kids enabled the NRA. None of those kids did everything they could to inhibit sane gun laws. None of those kids used fear-mongering to sell their agendas.

The Republican Party has been the legislative arm of the NRA and gun manufacturers FOR FUCKING YEARS.

Reap and sow, reap and sow.

[Paladin]

14. Nope. (nt)

[Blue_true]

15. No, you are right. nt

[Doreen]

16. Of course not.

Those were little innocent children and innocent adults. We have Scalise who commiting terrorism on the entire country in fact on innocent children also. Fuck him.

[katmondoo]

33. I agree

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Objectively, in terms of the scale, it was a far bigger tragedy.

I sincerely hope Rep. Scalise and the other three individuals shot this morning make a full and complete recovery. And I hope--although I'm not entirely optimistic--that this incident might serve as an awakening for Rep. Scalise about these types of incidents and how taking steps to lessen their chances outweighs the interests of the lobbying arm of the NRA. Thankfully, other than the shooter himself, there was not a loss of life in today's events.

Both events--as mass shootings--bothered me immensely, but Sandy Hook will always be a special case.

Sandy Hook was Sandy Hook. There's simply nothing that could compare to it in my book. I don't think there's been a news story that has ever bothered me as much as Sandy Hook, not only with the shooting itself but the disgraceful aftermath seeing some people's reactions to it being to run to the nearest gun store. Twenty seven people dead (28 including the shooter), with 20 of them being first graders. And being a father to young kids, the story really, really, really bothered me.

[BannonsLiver]

20. The NRA will just up their legal bribes

The pollyanish media coverage about unity and a come to Jesus moment aside, nothing will change with that crowd. They are souless beings.

[renate]

23. If only your optimistic thoughts came true. I really think that if this does serve as an awakening,

... it will only awaken GOP congresspeople to the need for increased security for politicians. They won't give a second thought to the regular people at other baseball practices around the country who don't have that option.

And if the loon had been shooting at Democrats instead of Republicans, there wouldn't have been security there at all, according to what I heard on TV. They were only there because of Scalise's position as whip. I hope I'm wrong about that--it seems ridiculous to only protect the party in power--but it sounds like not all members of Congress have any kind of security detail. It's chilling to think about how many people might be dead or injured if he'd been shooting at another baseball field.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. As I said in another post, even Ronald Reagan himself getting shot didn't change things.

So as much as I would love this to be a wake-up call, I sadly doubt it will be.

[onenote]

18. I'm upset anytime anyone is shot.

Last edited Wed Jun 14, 2017, 02:45 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm upset that Scalise was shot. I'm upset that a staffer was shot. And I'm upset that Capitol Hill police were shot.

Of course, I was more upset by the Sandy Hook shooting, because that resulted in fatalities, not just of children but also of teachers. And I was more upset about the Virginia Tech attacks than today's shooting, because it too resulted in fatalities (more than Sandy Hook). And I was more upset about the Gabby Giffords shooting than today's shooting, not because Gabby is a Democrat but because it also resulted in the deaths of children and adults and permanent injury to Giffords.

But don't ask me which of those incidents which resulted in fatalities is "more upsetting" -- I can't distinguish between a murderous rampage that kills 26 versus one that kills 32 or one that kills 12 or 6 or any other number.

[jmg257]

19. Not in the least.

[Goodheart]

21. Absolutely not, but I see no purpose to your comparison except to minimalize what happened today.

Frankly, it's uncalled for.

[TNLib]

22. No 20 small children lost their life in Sandy Hook

The congressmen that got shot at today have done nothing to stop another Sandy Hook. Maybe god is trying to tell them something.

[JCanete]

25. No, you're just human. You have an opinion of some people's value over other people's value.

So not a bad person, but articulating this distinction of whose lives you care about more and whose lives you care about less, while representing liberalism, has its downsides, and this kind of post ends up being fodder on right-wing boards to gin up the sense that we are the monsters who don't value some human life.

I see no reason to give people evidence of that. I'd rather them have to pull it out of their ass.

[Lordquinton]

26. It's better compared to the Gabby Gifford's shooting

And look at the response that got.

[bresue]

27. Agreed!

[nini]

28. no and why would you even ask that?

[arthritisR_US]

29. If you are, then so too am I . nt

[haele]

30. Not at all. NT

[malaise]

31. No

Same here

[yurbud]

32. this is not helpful at all.

[B2G]

34. Sometimes the best course of action is

To denounce the violence, offer your condolences to the victims and then shut the fuck up.

[kairos12]

35. Nope. The Reich Wing were screaming False Flag at the dead children before the

end of the day.

[Demsrule86]

36. Kids are always worse...but this was awful make no mistake.

[fescuerescue]

37. It's not really a competition. Murder is Murder

Sometimes I think we over value our feelings. We all do this.

Our reaction to it, in our private homes and workplaces is something that we are entitled to, but has no bearing on the actual crime and impact on the victims families.

Bottom line, unless you expect to get called the witness stand, your reaction to your reaction is your private business.

[beaglelover]

38. NO!!!! Sandy Hook was THE worst mass shooting that has happened in my lifetime.

Since nothing happened on the federal level regarding gun laws after Sandy Hook, nothing is going to happen this time.

[onenote]

39. Can you quantify how much worse it was than, let's say, the Virginia Tech shootings?

Are the lives of college students somehow less valuable than those of elementary school students.

I don't understand how folks can rank these heinous acts. They're all bad. Period.

[beaglelover]

40. IMO killing 9 and 10 years old is infinitely worse than killing college aged kids or adults.

Sorry, that's just how I roll.

[onenote]

41. Infinitely?

[beaglelover]

42. Yep. There's no words to describe a monster who would shoot a poor defenseless 9 year old. NONE!

[onenote]

43. And what words are there for a monster who shoots defenseless 18 year olds?

I have the same word for both: monster.

[Leith]

67. An 18-Year-Old Is Better Able to Defend Him or Herself

than a first grader. The teen can run faster and figure out how to get to a safer place.

Both were horrendous, but Sandy Hook was the bigger tragedy. Today's shooting falls under "reaping what one sows."

[onenote]

69. Did the Capitol Hill police who were shot "reap" what they sowed?

And are the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings partially culpable for their own deaths because they didn't adequately defend themselves?

[Leith]

71. Oh, Quit It

You may be reacting to the horrible events of the day, but you don't need to attack me or my opinion over it.

[onenote]

72. Maybe what I'm reacting to is the fact that I'm acquainted with the family of one of the VA Tech

victims. And it is my opinion that your suggestion that the shooting death of that young woman was somehow less tragic than the death of a younger person because that young woman, in your opinion, could have (and thus, while not stated by you, presumably should have) defended herself, is indefensible.

And statements made on DU aren't immune from criticism just because they're "opinion.'

[LanternWaste]

65. You then expect a precisely equitable concern to all acts of violence? Period?

" don't understand how folks can rank these heinous acts. They're all bad. Period...."

You then expect a precisely equitable concern to all acts of violence? Period? That premise appears irrational and unsupported at best.

[onenote]

70. I see no reason to rank horrific acts as if they're in competition with one another.

The grief and loss suffered by the families of shooting rampages doesn't differ when the person they lost was one of six or one of 30. Nor does it really differ if the person is 10 or 18.

And if you read my original post, I did draw a distinction between acts of violence resulting in loss of innocent life and those that don't.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

44. No, Sandy Hook was a tragedy.

So far as I know, the shooter of Scalise was the only death today. I wish all his victims a swift and complete recovery, but there's no comparison to a group of children being shot to death.

[NobodyHere]

45. I always find it more upsetting when children die than when adults do

[mrJJ]

46. Just Another Day .. Stats for Today NOT entered..

Gun Violence Archives

Total Number of Incidents 27,818
Number of Deaths1 6,880
Number of Injuries1 13,503
Number of Children (age 0-11)
Killed or Injured1 300
Number of Teens (age 12-17)
Killed or Injured1 1,440
Mass Shooting2 154
Officer Involved Incident
Officer Shot or Killed2 132
Officer Involved Incident
Subject-Suspect Shot or Killed2 954
Home Invasion2 1,133
Defensive Use2 939
Unintentional Shooting2 915
Gun violence and crime incidents are collected/validated from 2,000 sources daily – incidents and their source data are found at the gunviolencearchive.org website.

1: Actual number of deaths and injuries
2: Number of INCIDENTS reported and verified

22,000 Annual Suicides not included on Daily Summary Ledger

Numbers on this table reflect a subset of all information
collected and will not add to 100% of incidents.

www.gunviolencearchive.org www.facebook.com/gunviolencearchive

Data Validated: June 14, 2017

[denvine]

47. Nope, not at all!

[lpbk2713]

48. No

This shooting is simply the winner of the outrage du jour award.

[regnaD kciN]

51. Nope...

You don't have to support shooting Republican politicians to think that one shooting where the victim survives in no way compares with the killing of dozens of children.

[no_hypocrisy]

53. Two different shooting events that can't be meaningfully compared.

Each had its unique tragedy.

[elmac]

54. Right wing nut jobs may think your a bad lefty

but I don't.

[bora13]

57. None

all of the bickering should be held at the level of decency we once had in this country.
If we are to get anywhere, though I hear progress is one of the main points of contention with at least one side of this mess.

[backscatter712]

58. Give them whay they gave us after shootings.

Scalise has my thoughts and prayers. And being an atheist, you'll get an idea how much I think those are worth.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

59. Not at all...

I so glad he's going to be ok.

But the repubs have been trying to kill us for how long?

My tears won't burn.

[DesertRat]

60. It's hard to compare the two events. 28 died at Sandy Hook.

All senseless shootings of innocents are horrible, as when Gabby Giffords was shot along with others who were killed beside her that day in Tucson.

[beachbum bob]

61. You are either upset or not. Not like there is scale on any killings or

Attempts.

[maddiemom]

62. You KNOW the answer to that!

[BamaRefugee]

63. Most of the people shot in D.C. today COULD BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED in finding ways....

to LESSEN gun violence.
In Sandy Hook, the victims were helpless AND incapable of changing any laws until they had a chance to grow up.

I have to say Sandy Hook is far more upsetting for me too.

[Leith]

68. It Means You Are a Clear Thinker

Sandy Hook was the slaughter of innocents. Today's shooting was the end result of the laws the victims worked hard to repeal and the ease of getting guns that they fought so hard for.