Gun Land

10, 581 Americans have died by gun since January 1 of this year. Of those TEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-ONE dead Americans, 462 died in mass shootings.

What constitutes a “mass shooting?”

The current FBI definition of mass murder, commonly accepted by the media as a proxy for “mass gun violence”, is three or more people murdered in one event. (source)

There have been 354 of those suckers in the US since the beginning of 2016. Today is the 266th day of the year. IF no one goes all shoot-em-up happy today – in a mall, a movie theater, at a birthday party or wherevs – this works out to 1.33+ mass shootings PER DAY right here in the good ol’ US of A., Land of the Gun (formerly known as Land of the Free).

With the latest insanity, yesterday in Burlington, Washington, the number of humans murdered in death bonanzas totals 462. But I repeat myself.

This, by the by, works out to just about two friends, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, husband, wives, sisters, brothers, grands and other assorted loved ones killed EACH day and that’s JUST at the big Death-Mob events.

Meanwhile, ~ 40 Americans die EACH DAY by some gun-wielding, toad brained, blobfish faced, asswipian cretin OR by, ya know, a curious toddler. By May first of this year, toddlers had shot, at least, 23 (themselves or others). In April alone, there were at least seven of these horrifying accidents.

• On April 20, a 2-year-old boy in Indiana found the gun his mother left in her purse on the kitchen counter and fatally shot himself.
• The next day in Kansas City, Mo., a 1-year-old girl evidently shot and killed herself with her father's gun while he was sleeping.
• On April 22, a 3-year-old in Natchitoches, La., fatally shot himself after getting hold of a gun.
• On April 26, a 3-year-old boy in Dallas, Ga., fatally shot himself in the chest with a gun he found at home.
• On April 27, the Milwaukee toddler fatally shot his mother in the car.
• That same day, a 3-year-old boy in Grout Township, Mich., shot himself in the arm with a gun he found at home. He is expected to survive.
• On April 29, a 3-year-old girl shot herself in the arm after grabbing a gun in a parked car in Augusta, Ga. She is also expected to survive. (source)

gratuitous Valhalla dawn pic

 Can they really, truly be termed accidents?

Accident: any event that happens unexpectedly, without a deliberate plan or cause.

No, the parents didn’t deliberately set out to have their wee ones shoot themselves BUT if you’ve a gun in your home AND you keep it loaded, is it any fucking, big surprise that a kiddle can get hold of it? Mr. and Mrs. Negligent, Feeblebrained Gun Owner didn't plan on this happening but how much bloody forethought does it take to make sure it can't happen?

Kids are inquisitive little beasts. They explore the world around them. That’s what they do! If your gun isn’t locked up, shit’s gonna happen. That’s all there is to it.

But, back to the general topic – Death by Gun:

A) If a foreign power was responsible for killing 10, 581 of us, we'd be at war. I don't understand why anyone bothers to kill American citizens – we're doing such an excellent job of it all by ourselves.
B) It's time to vote the On-The-Take assholes out of the House and Senate. They will always vote for what benefits their lord and master, the NRA – NOT for what's best for us. Also too, it's past time to classify the NRA as a terrorist organization.

MoveOn.org has a petition up. I signed. I don't know what else I can do. Any thoughts?