U.S. ‘Do something!’: Republican senator heckled as she blames mass shootings on mental illness

[JEDIYoda]

I don`t think the gun issue is going to be swept under the rug this time around......

https://www.yahoo.com/news/something-republican-senator-heckled-she-234309302.html
A Republican senator was booed and heckled by her constituents when she was challenged about America's gun control laws.


At a town hall in her home state of Iowa, a teacher told Joni Ernst that she had recently been asked to listen to sounds to "determine if they were gunshots or not."


The educator who did not reveal her name, added that she had "asked to be trained to man a family reunification centre to provide counselling to parents seeking their children following a catastrophic event."

Questioning the senator, she said: "When can I plan to get back to trainings that simply teach children to read and write?"

Ms Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2020, replied: "A lot of the incidents we've seen do come back to mental illness."

The crowd immediately broke out into boos, while some shouted “do something!” and “what about the guns?”

As Ms Ernst responded by saying that America had been through many hardships, a member of the audience cried out: “It’s not the same.”

As she went on to suggest that America was “short on” mental health resources, a member of the audience called out: “We’re short congresspeople that take action.”

The crowd applauded.

The town hall took place two weeks after back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio led to calls for politicians to reconsider US gun laws.

Led by president Donald Trump, Republicans have questioned the mental health of the killers.

Others have blamed violence in video games - a theory which has been widely discredited.

Ms Ernst meanwhile, moved went on to claim that she was in support of gun control laws already in existence, and attempted to steer the town hall towards other issues.

But over half the audience’s questions concerned gun control laws, according to the Iowa Starting Line website.

One member shouted: “We need you to protect us.”

Ms Ernst, who was not helped by a moderator replied: “So we’ll go ahead and move on?”

 

[SlowSpyder]

100+ innocent victims died from second hand smoke today. It'll be the same tomorrow. No one discussed what rights to further whittle away to resolve this issue.

 

[JEDIYoda]

100+ innocent victims died from second hand smoke today. It'll be the same tomorrow. No one discussed what rights to further whittle away to resolve this issue.

Actually again you are lying!
Why do you think there are smoking bans? Why do you think in many places people cannot smoke with in certain distances on building? The problem you have is your example is Bull shit!! Tell me one person who dies instantly upon smelling second hand smoke?
Now tell me how many people dies from mass shootings where the goal was to just kill anybody??
See they are not the same at all!! You lose!!
You know as well as i do that regardless of if you are law abiding gun owner who has no history of mental illness that this hun issue eventually will not end well for gun owners!

 

[Jhhnn]

Gee, whiz, Joni. It's clear that a lot of people were suffering from a form of mass insanity when we elected Trump. He didn't make 'em that way all on his own. The GOP has been fucking with their minds for decades. When Trump looked out across the sea of well conditioned chumps, he knew instinctively what to do. Great con artists always do.

 

[sportage]

True! That smoking needs to be address as well. However, one national catastrophe at a time, please.
Smoking kills over time. You don't light up then everyone around you is suddenly blown away and taken away in body bags.
Is introducing the issue of death and smoking your attempt of a Trump worthy distraction?
Where to begin... Where to begin...

And by the way, the tobacco lobbyist are just as real and just as powerful as are the gun lobbyist.
Why do you think tobacco so hates the new fad, vaping?
People that vape don't use tobacco. And that means less cigarettes sold.
So is it any wonder that vaping has come under fire in attempts to "scare" people back into using tobacco?
See how that are.... those damn lobbyist with with their tobacco and their guns.
And how the congress will do their bidding even when it directly leads to many deaths.

They don't care about people, they only care about their money. Their fiscal bottom line.
So some kids and civilians are shot up in the school or in a night club, not to mention at the local Walmart.
And so some people die of heart attacks and cancer and die from countless other diseases.
What do they care?
Their only objective is to control the politicians that we the people elect, the same politicians that we the people should be doing all the controlling of.
But while we the people may have all the votes, the lobbyist have all the money.
Guess which side wins out.

 

[HomerJS]

100+ innocent victims died from second hand smoke today. It'll be the same tomorrow. No one discussed what rights to further whittle away to resolve this issue.

and far more from suicide. Nobody bringing that up either.

 

[Victorian Gray]

and far more from suicide. Nobody bringing that up either.

And I hear that they often use guns when doing so. Who'd a thunk it.

 

[dawp]

100+ innocent victims died from second hand smoke today. It'll be the same tomorrow. No one discussed what rights to further whittle away to resolve this issue.

smoking is BANNED in most public places, guns, not so much, and if you had you way there be guns in delivery rooms handed out to newborns.

 

[DrDoug]

100+ innocent victims died from second hand smoke today. It'll be the same tomorrow. No one discussed what rights to further whittle away to resolve this issue.

Somewhere there's a cloud of second hand smoke with your name on it. Please find it.

 

[TheVrolok]

Actually again you are lying!
Why do you think there are smoking bans? Why do you think in many places people cannot smoke with in certain distances on building? The problem you have is your example is Bull shit!! Tell me one person who dies instantly upon smelling second hand smoke?
Now tell me how many people dies from mass shootings where the goal was to just kill anybody??
See they are not the same at all!! You lose!!
You know as well as i do that regardless of if you are law abiding gun owner who has no history of mental illness that this hun issue eventually will not end well for gun owners!

Don't bother he's just a troll/paid propagandist.

Well over a year ago, when he started with this second hand a smoke nonsense I linked him a massive pdf of the history of aggressive anti tobacco legislation as compiled by the Surgeon General's office. He admitted he wouldnt read it and kept babbling on about how we've never done anything about second hand smoke. It's such an obviously stupid argument that it makes it immediately apparent he's a troll.

 

[brycejones]

Don't bother he's just a troll/paid propagandist.

Well over a year ago, when he started with this second hand a smoke nonsense I linked him a massive pdf of the history of aggressive anti tobacco legislation as compiled by the Surgeon General's office. He admitted he wouldnt read it and kept babbling on about how we've never done anything about second hand smoke. It's such an obviously stupid argument that it makes it immediately apparent he's a troll.

The only solution for slow is out him on ignore.

 

[TheVrolok]

The only solution for slow is out him on ignore.

I don't bother, I've never used my ignore list and don't plan to now. It's easy enough just not to engage him. He drives so much P&N traffic (tongue-in-cheek I wonder if he's being paid to keep the forums afloat sometimes) that it would be so quiet without hearing all the rabble he causes.

 

[Zorba]

And I hear that they often use guns when doing so. Who'd a thunk it.

You forget, gun deaths via suicide don't count.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Don't bother he's just a troll/paid propagandist.

Well over a year ago, when he started with this second hand a smoke nonsense I linked him a massive pdf of the history of aggressive anti tobacco legislation as compiled by the Surgeon General's office. He admitted he wouldnt read it and kept babbling on about how we've never done anything about second hand smoke. It's such an obviously stupid argument that it makes it immediately apparent he's a troll.

He uses it because it is an effective method. He managed to get it in the second post and it is now the only thing that is discussed in this thread. He has not even returned to defend it. It was a derail and run.

 

[glenn1]

Progressives want to go back to the simpler days of their youth when mass shootings still happened but they were blissfully unaware and unafraid of them. Kinda like how conservatives had zero issues with transsexuals in bathrooms before they knew what a "transsexual" was.

 

[Sunburn74]

Progressives want to go back to the simpler days of their youth when mass shootings still happened but they were blissfully unaware and unafraid of them. Kinda like how conservatives had zero issues with transsexuals in bathrooms before they knew what a "transsexual" was.

I think the data is clear that the numbers of mass shootings are rising, not shrinking. Its not simply a matter of awareness.
Also you equate assault rifles gunning people down in public gatherings to someone taking a piss inside a stall without disturbing anyone?

 

[TheVrolok]

He uses it because it is an effective method. He managed to get it in the second post and it is now the only thing that is discussed in this thread. He has not even returned to defend it. It was a derail and run.

That's his MO. He had a pretty basic playbook that he runs without fail.

 

[glenn1]

I think the data is clear that the numbers of mass shootings are rising, not shrinking. Its not simply a matter of awareness.
Also you equate assault rifles gunning people down in public gatherings to someone taking a piss inside a stall without disturbing anyone?

Mass shootings have been around for a long time, decades if not centuries. Just like with lots of other modern "fears" the drive to limit the source of that fear in 2019 is basically 100% a politically driven exercise.

 

[Commodus]

Progressives want to go back to the simpler days of their youth when mass shootings still happened but they were blissfully unaware and unafraid of them. Kinda like how conservatives had zero issues with transsexuals in bathrooms before they knew what a "transsexual" was.

Sorry, but that's just a red herring.

The fact is that mass shootings have been rising in frequency (and to a degree, intensity) over the past couple of decades. We're paying closer attention because they now occur so often that they're considered 'routine.' For goodness' sake, there were two mass shootings within 24 hours in the most recent incident -- do you really think that was happening 20 or even 10 years ago?

What we want is politicians to actually do something about them and reverse this trend of more (and more lethal) mass shootings. That means more sensible gun restrictions, such as tougher background checks, the elimination of loopholes and curbs on semi-auto rifles. It means more accessible mental health care, greater economic opportunities and better education. And the funny thing is that no matter which of those you think is the best solution, it still involves voting Democrat.

 

[K1052]

Republicans won't do anything once again but I think this time it's going to cost them politically which was not the case before.

A new poll conducted by a premier Republican polling firm shows that about 3 in 4 suburban women favor stricter gun laws. The Republican Main Street Partnership, which supports moderate Republicans and has endorsed “red flag” bills under consideration in the House, commissioned a Public Opinion Strategies survey of 1,000 registered voters across five suburban House districts: Colorado’s Sixth, Kansas’s Third, North Carolina’s Ninth, Pennsylvania’s First and Virginia’s 10th. The group shared with me the topline results among women in these suburban areas:

• 72 percent said they think gun laws should be stricter, compared to four percent who said they should be less strict and 23 percent who said they should be kept as they are now.
• 55 percent said they think stricter gun laws would help prevent gun violence.
• 90 percent support requiring universal background checks for gun purchases at gun shows or other private sales, which would require all gun owners to file with a national firearms registry.
• 88 percent said they would support requiring a 48-hour waiting period between the purchase of a firearm and when the buyer can take possession of that gun.
• 84 percent back a national red flag law that would permit law enforcement to temporarily retain firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves.
• 76 percent said they would ban the purchase and use of semi-automatic assault-style weapons like the AK-47 and the AR-15.
• And 72 percent would support banning the sale and possession of high-capacity or extended ammunition magazines, which allow guns to shoot more than 10 bullets before needing to be reloaded.

The female respondents were read six issues and asked which they want their lawmaker to focus on the most. Working to prevent gun violence was No. 1, selected by 30 percent of suburban women. Health care was No. 2, with 24 percent, followed by addressing illegal immigration (14 percent) as the No. 3 priority. Further down the list were improving the economy, balancing the budget, improving the country’s infrastructure and strengthening national security.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ac88e0fa30c9cc1cc4/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

 

[Jhhnn]

Republicans won't do anything once again but I think this time it's going to cost them politically which was not the case before.






https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ac88e0fa30c9cc1cc4/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

The NRA still has too much money for the GOP to change their tune.

 

[Sunburn74]

Mass shootings have been around for a long time, decades if not centuries. Just like with lots of other modern "fears" the drive to limit the source of that fear in 2019 is basically 100% a politically driven exercise.

Yes but the problem is getting worse.
And again you equate using bathrooms peacefully to massacres?

 

[soulcougher73]

Progressives want to go back to the simpler days of their youth when mass shootings still happened but they were blissfully unaware and unafraid of them. Kinda like how conservatives had zero issues with transsexuals in bathrooms before they knew what a "transsexual" was.

Ah, the “so lets do nothing” approach.

 

[HomerJS]

Yes but the problem is getting worse.
And again you equate using bathrooms peacefully to massacres?

It is getting worse

 

[K1052]

The NRA still has too much money for the GOP to change their tune.

The NRA is nearly broke. Their political strengths do remain in organizing and outreach to GOP pols. The Republicans are too afraid of their own primary voters to do anything even if inaction could cost them dearly in the general election.