2ndRyan
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 329
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Post by 2ndRyan on Feb 19, 2018 12:41:07 GMT -5
I have written my US Rep and one Senator asking them to push for a ban on assault weapons. Maybe it’s time to go single issue. Children’s lives vs. any trigger, anytime. I know where I stand.
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hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,201
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Post by hoya9797 on Feb 19, 2018 17:16:34 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2018 3:41:47 GMT -5
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,194
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 20, 2018 4:59:19 GMT -5
My oldest and closest friend is the former superintendent of schools for the Conejo Valley School District, west of the San Fernando Valley. He penned this open letter to this generation of students. I know he wouldn't mind me sharing this with the board.
I have been unable to stop thinking about the latest "new normal" shooting . Maybe it has been the sickening responses from our president and "leadership". Kicking walls didn't seem to help. So I put my anger on paper and sent it to a variety of media. I also wanted to share with all of you. Please feel free to share with any kids you know.
z
An Open Letter to the Children of Our Community I have spent all of my adult life with one career and one passion – education. I have followed that passion as a teacher, principal, Superintendent, parent and grand-parent. To me there has been no greater reward or more important job than helping someone learn. I am proud of what I and all of the talented people with whom I have worked have done. But tonight, I have to face the brutal truth that despite incredible achievements as a community and country, my generation has failed you. Seventeen. They were students and staff. The only reason they weren’t here is that they were somewhere else – this time. The images, the protests, the anguish play like a never-ending loop. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, San Bernardino, the Pulse night club, Las Vegas, and now Florida. And each time, we the adults, “promise” to make you safe. And each time we find excuses not to. So whose problem is this? Our President sends condolences, but never utters the word “gun” in responding to this tragedy and conveniently ignores the fact that he made it easier for people with mental illness to buy weapons. His actions are testimony of his failure to protect you. And seventeen more die. Our Congress decries the violence and demands action only to be silenced by the gun lobby and the need not to act “in the heat of the moment”. Following Sandy Hook over 80% of the country supported tougher gun regulations, yet the silence from the majority of the Senate and House became their testimony of their failure to protect you. And seventeen more die. And all of us as citizens have the responsibility to vote. We have the responsibility to elect officials who will understand our priorities and act upon them. We then must hold them accountable when they don’t. Our record low voter turnouts are our testimony of our failure to protect you. And seventeen more die. Right about now the NRA and its supporters will be on defense, reminding us of the importance of the Second Amendment. To the children of our community – I urge you to heed that call. It’s time for you to learn. Learn about that amendment and our Constitution. It’s a remarkable document. The men who crafted it understood the complexity and challenges of governing. That’s why our Constitution was designed to change and adapt to the times in which we live. It has done so when it ended slavery, gave women the right to vote and guaranteed civil rights to everyone. We now live in a different time. It is time for a change again. Our founding fathers saw the critical need for citizens to have the ability to protect themselves through a “well regulated militia”. Nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to own high powered semi-automatic weapons with bump stocks that can kill more people in a matter of seconds than died in all the opening battles of our Revolutionary War. It is time for the next revolution. It is up to each of you, the students and future leaders of our community, to lead the revolt. No other civilized country allows access to these types of weapons as does the U.S. We should have the right to protect ourselves. No one should have the right to create mass murder on a monthly basis. No more students have to die. So to each and every student who reads this I urge you to learn. While my generation may have failed you - you and your friends have the power to make a difference. You can do it by making your voices heard. Ask what your parents will do. Ask what your Congress and President will do. Write them. Call them. Be relentless. Use the power of Social Media to make your voices heard. Register to vote and then vote. Demand more of those who represent you. You can save the next seventeen. Donald M. Zimring, Ph.D. Superintendent (retired) Las Virgenes U.S.D.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2018 10:53:39 GMT -5
Trump/MAGA media is doing opposition research on a bunch of teenagers and the Presidents son thinks it's great? “Son of an FBI agent” is a slur now?.... I have no idea why this kids father working at the FBI is scandalous to them but apparently it is. Why are these people so awful?
So let me get this straight. On one hand theres nothing we can do to stop a bad person from doing bad things, on the other the FBI should have stopped this bad person from doing a bad thing.
I saw on the news the police had been to this kids house 36 times. 36...They couldn't arrest him because he hadn't done anything illegal. They couldn't legally commit him to mental health treatment...What does MAGA media think the FBI could have done?
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tashoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,318
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Post by tashoya on Feb 20, 2018 12:11:33 GMT -5
Trump/MAGA media is doing opposition research on a bunch of teenagers and the Presidents son thinks it's great? “Son of an FBI agent” is a slur now?.... I have no idea why this kids father working at the FBI is scandalous to them but apparently it is. Why are these people so awful? So let me get this straight. On one hand theres nothing we can do to stop a bad person from doing bad things, on the other the FBI should have stopped this bad person from doing a bad thing. I saw on the news the police had been to this kids house 36 times. 36...They couldn't arrest him because he hadn't done anything illegal. They couldn't legally commit him to mental health treatment...What does MAGA media think the FBI could have done? That is truly stunning.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2018 9:54:37 GMT -5
Trump/MAGA media is doing opposition research on a bunch of teenagers and the Presidents son thinks it's great? “Son of an FBI agent” is a slur now?.... I have no idea why this kids father working at the FBI is scandalous to them but apparently it is. Why are these people so awful? So let me get this straight. On one hand theres nothing we can do to stop a bad person from doing bad things, on the other the FBI should have stopped this bad person from doing a bad thing. I saw on the news the police had been to this kids house 36 times. 36...They couldn't arrest him because he hadn't done anything illegal. They couldn't legally commit him to mental health treatment...What does MAGA media think the FBI could have done? That is truly stunning. Unfortunately, it's not. This administration and family have feasted on the worst instincts of many Americans (to great advantage for themselves). They're not going to stop now.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2018 11:24:16 GMT -5
Smh...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2018 12:23:00 GMT -5
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,194
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 21, 2018 20:57:22 GMT -5
I give this two giant thumbs up, despite the fact, of course, that it's just propaganda organized by those of us radicals who want to strip God-fearing Americans of their right to own every firearm imaginable.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2018 11:20:11 GMT -5
Imagine if everybody had a gun... Nobody would shoot anybody.
Always a tweet...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2018 12:07:08 GMT -5
Imagine if everybody had a gun... Nobody would shoot anybody. I'm imagining my mother-in-law (a 2nd grade teacher) being told "Hey, part of your job now is to potentially shoot people. You'll have to get firearm training, and plan to always be packing heat while on the property." Not to mention: she already has to go into her own pocket to buy Editeding art supplies for the students. Will she have to pay for the gun and training, too? Yeah, this will work. The whole "good guy with a gun" argument is insane. A shooter starts firing in a school. Kids starting screaming and running everywhere. Dozens of "weapons talented teachers (and others)" pull their guns. Now we have dozens of people with firearms pulled, ready to take down the "bad guy with a gun", and none of them know who the actual "bad guy" is. But they can see a lot of people with guns. Remember: every time a cop is on trial for shooting someone they shouldn't have shot, the defense ALWAYS reminds everyone how difficult it is for them (TRAINED POLICE OFFICERS WHO DO THIS FOR A LIVING) to react in the heat of the moment. Now, imagine a "weapons talented teacher" in the heat of the moment. This will not end well. Unless, of course, we all wear giant Editeding signs on our heads that say "Good Guy" or "Bad Guy". But we hear this stupid from the NRA all the time. Basically, they just want to get the entire country to a state of Mutually Assured Destruction among its citizens. Insane.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2018 12:29:03 GMT -5
Imagine if everybody had a gun... Nobody would shoot anybody. I'm imagining my mother-in-law (a 2nd grade teacher) being told "Hey, part of your job now is to potentially shoot people. You'll have to get firearm training, and plan to always be packing heat while on the property." Not to mention: she already has to go into her own pocket to buy Editeding art supplies for the students. Will she have to pay for the gun and training, too? Yeah, this will work. The whole "good guy with a gun" argument is insane. A shooter starts firing in a school. Kids starting screaming and running everywhere. Dozens of "weapons talented teachers (and others)" pull their guns. Now we have dozens of people with firearms pulled, ready to take down the "bad guy with a gun", and none of them know who the actual "bad guy" is. But they can see a lot of people with guns. Remember: every time a cop is on trial for shooting someone they shouldn't have shot, the defense ALWAYS reminds everyone how difficult it is for them (TRAINED POLICE OFFICERS WHO DO THIS FOR A LIVING) to react in the heat of the moment. Now, imagine a "weapons talented teacher" in the heat of the moment. This will not end well. Unless, of course, we all wear giant Editeding signs on our heads that say "Good Guy" or "Bad Guy". But we hear this stupid from the NRA all the time. Basically, they just want to get the entire country to a state of Mutually Assured Destruction among its citizens. Insane. Art supplies will be paid for with the 'packing heat" bonus. Not joking..... We're about 5 seconds from debating wether it's a better idea to train teachers to be soldiers, or to train soldiers to teach...
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njhoya78
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,765
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Post by njhoya78 on Feb 22, 2018 15:53:03 GMT -5
My daughter is a high school guidance counselor. I barely trust her with car keys, let alone a firearm.
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,194
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Post by hoyarooter on Feb 22, 2018 20:20:59 GMT -5
My daughter is a high school guidance counselor. I barely trust her with car keys, let alone a firearm. Not to worry, your daughter will not be one of those highly qualified people. I'm sure what our esteemed president envisions is having a combination of Rambo, Jason Bourne and John McClain working at every single school in the United States. This is truly the most insane malarkey I've ever had the misfortune to read. By the way, I'm sure it will be a comfort to everyone to know that my friend who wrote the letter that I printed earlier has been receiving his share of hate mail (but no death threats, fortunately, unlike some of the Stoneman families) informing him that he doesn't understand the Second Amendment and that any sort of limitation on gun ownership rights would result in all of us becoming slaves to the government. Sadly, with Trump as president, these lunatics truly are running the asylum.
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 18,253
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Post by SSHoya on Feb 22, 2018 21:45:53 GMT -5
My daughter is a high school guidance counselor. I barely trust her with car keys, let alone a firearm. Not to worry, your daughter will not be one of those highly qualified people. I'm sure what our esteemed president envisions is having a combination of Rambo, Jason Bourne and John McClain working at every single school in the United States. This is truly the most insane malarkey I've ever had the misfortune to read. By the way, I'm sure it will be a comfort to everyone to know that my friend who wrote the letter that I printed earlier has been receiving his share of hate mail (but no death threats, fortunately, unlike some of the Stoneman families) informing him that he doesn't understand the Second Amendment and that any sort of limitation on gun ownership rights would result in all of us becoming slaves to the government. Sadly, with Trump as president, these lunatics truly are running the asylum. This demonstrates how ridiculous Trump's insane proposal is. If a supposedly trained school resource officer whose job is to provide security freezes under stress, what's a school teacher going to do with a gun?? FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The armed school resource officer assigned to protect students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took a defensive position outside the school and did not enter the building while the shooter was killing students and teachers inside with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday. www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/02/22/armed-sheriffs-deputy-stayed-outside-florida-school-while-mass-killing-took-place/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_pn-fladeputy-625pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.505cd89808ab
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tashoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,318
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Post by tashoya on Feb 23, 2018 0:22:04 GMT -5
They're teachers. Not SWAT team. I work with teachers that, while they're constantly told by their principal and super to lock up, consistently forget to lock their doors when they leave their rooms both during the day and when they leave at the end of the day even on days when there are special assemblies in their schools about the most recent school shooting including those that happened that day. Now they're supposed to secure a weapon and stand up as a defense to active shooters in their schools?
For the 99% of the time that there isn't a shooter in their midst, how are we to ensure that they'll keep their weapons cleaned, operational, and secured but close enough to be accessible? What if a teacher has mental health issues and decides to shoot up his/her own class after being pushed to their limit? What are the chances a weapon is left unsecured and a student that never had access to a weapon legally grabs the teacher's gun and shoots up the class/school? This could not be any more moronic of an idea. It's even worse in practice. This is the worst possible way in which to put teachers on a pedestal. Look, there are plenty of average and bad teachers. It's why, like in every profession, the great ones are so memorable and special. But, because we put all teachers on this different level as a rule, now we're trusting or, worse, expecting them to be security guards/sharpshooters/hostage negotiators? That's flat stupid and unfair. They're teachers. At it's highest level, that requires a TON of time and concentration. Let's just put gun turrets in every hallway. That should offer same deterrent that this idiot of a president is proposing.
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tashoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,318
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Post by tashoya on Feb 23, 2018 0:23:29 GMT -5
My daughter is a high school guidance counselor. I barely trust her with car keys, let alone a firearm. She didn't get into guidance for the chance to police her school while strapped? How strange. Surely she can take some classes?
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tashoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,318
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Post by tashoya on Feb 23, 2018 0:30:00 GMT -5
Do we really need to wait for this to happen to envision a teacher that snaps locking 25 kids in a room and shooting all of them because the teacher has a weapon and there's nowhere for the kids to hide? I'm sure that would be the wrong time to talk about guns in classrooms. Even after the 20th time it happened.
Not to mention, it's not exactly the most difficult job to get. Teachers are at a premium. It's entirely feasible to have clinically insane people or terrorists getting teaching degrees for the exact purpose of being assigned to a classroom in which they are allowed or required to have a gun for the express purpose of killing children. I'm not saying that that's the most likely scenario. Only that this stupid philosophy puts it in play in a very real way.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2018 8:48:09 GMT -5
Do we really need to wait for this to happen to envision a teacher that snaps locking 25 kids in a room and shooting all of them because the teacher has a weapon and there's nowhere for the kids to hide? I'm sure that would be the wrong time to talk about guns in classrooms. Even after the 20th time it happened. Not to mention, it's not exactly the most difficult job to get. Teachers are at a premium. It's entirely feasible to have clinically insane people or terrorists getting teaching degrees for the exact purpose of being assigned to a classroom in which they are allowed or required to have a gun for the express purpose of killing children. I'm not saying that that's the most likely scenario. Only that this stupid philosophy puts it in play in a very real way. You know how the NRA mitigates that when it comes, right? Open-carry for ALL students as deterrence. The endgame for the NRA is that EVERY single American citizen is carrying a weapon at all times. Mutually assured destruction is the only solution palatable to them.
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