It wouldn’t be an American holiday weekend without a mass shooting. Sadly, this is the truth. Over the long weekend, a gunman killed seven people and wounded 23 after he opened fire in a seemingly random rampage in Texas. Police are still investigating the shooting and looking for a motive, but details about the gunman have been released, and a lot of them point to the fact that enforcing stricter gun laws could have helped prevent this tragedy from occurring, if you can believe. Here’s what we know.
He had failed a background check
Texas Govener Greg Abbott tweeted that the gunman had previously failed a background check, and didn’t go through a background check for the gun he used in the mass shooting. John Wester, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, confirmed the gunman had previously failed a federal background check for a firearm. Details about when this background check was and how exactly the gunman obtained his weapon for the shooting have not been revealed.
The House of Representatives has already passed a bill to expand background checks — something that 93 percent of Americans favor (including 89 percent of Republicans). But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to bring the bill to a vote in the Senate.
He had a record
The gunman was arrested for a misdemeanor in 2001, according to online records. It is important to note that a misdemeanor would not prevent him from being able to purchase a gun.
People were afraid of him
In an interview with the Associated Press, the gunman’s neighbor, Rocio Gutierrez said that he was a “violent and aggressive person” who would shoot at rabbits at all hours of the night. Cute. Gutierrez added, “We were afraid of him because you could tell what kind of person he was just by looking at him. He was not nice, he was not friendly, he was not polite.” A family friend of his, who asked to remain unnamed, told the New York Times that he had a history of mental issues, trouble with the law, and making racist comments. They said, “The man should have never had a gun near his hand ever.” AGREED.
He made troubling calls to the police and FBI
The morning of the shooting, the gunman was fired from his trucking job. He and his boss both made calls to the police, apparently making complaints about the other over the firing. The police showed up to the gunman’s place of work, but he had taken off by the time they got there. The gunman also made a call to the FBI tip line to make “rambling statements about some of the atrocities that he felt that he had gone through,” according to FBI special agent Christopher Combs. Apparently, no violent threats were made.
He used and “AR style” weapon
The exact model of the firearm has not been given, but has been described as an “AR style” weapon. Surprise, surprise…
The gunman has been named as Seth A. Ator. He opened fire on troopers after being pulled over for failing to use a turn signal in Midland, Texas. He then proceeded to go on a shooting spree, hijack a postal service van, and carry out his massacre. This sh*t needs to stop. The definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Doing nothing about gun laws in this country is literally crazy.
We now legally have to take back any mean or snarky thing we’ve ever said to or about teenagers and hand them the keys because they are literally driving our country to higher ground. Last night there was a CNN town hall called Students Stand Up where survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting spoke with elected officials and rifle shills NRA representatives about gun control. The teens harnessed their powers of unapologetic and acerbic wit to drag these grown adults who think gym teachers who can’t keep the teachers lounge microwave clean should have assault rifles. Here were the highlights.
Marco Rubio Getting Booed
Marco Rubio has the gall to tell a father whose daughter was gunned down last week that guns aren’t the problem. The crowd reacts appropriately.
Marco Rubio gets booed for refusing to ban assault weapons. Absolutely amazing. pic.twitter.com/AD7nnEq5GH
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) February 22, 2018
Dana Loesch Getting Booed
In a shocking turn of events, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch turns on law enforcement saying it is their responsibility to keep schools safe. Never thought I’d see the day that the NRA is going after cops. The crowd, once again, boos.
Loesch is booed off the stage after she closes the CNN forum by arguing that mass shootings are a law enforcement problem, not a guns problem pic.twitter.com/5xMonHhBy2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 22, 2018
A Cop Call The NRA On Their Bullshit
The cop obviously has to retaliate after being thrown under the bus by the NRA and tells Dana Loesch she’s tripping. The crowd changes tune and instead of booing, cheers!
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel gets a huge ovation after he tells Dana Loesch that “you’re not standing up for until you say, I want less weapons.” pic.twitter.com/bq9xFfA4An
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 22, 2018
This Dad Gets “Brutally Honest”
The same dad called Rubio and Trump “pathetically weak” and his brutal honesty is making my knees seriously weak. I could watch Rubio’s face, wishing he could evaporate, till the end of time.
Marco Rubio gets eaten alive here. Absolutely amazing. pic.twitter.com/Yu3Ebvl9tV
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) February 22, 2018
This Musical Message
Okay so this isn’t really a “savage” moment. Unless you considering being good at singing savage, which I low-key do. Anyway, like true fucking stars, these teens were like, “We have an audience not only will we drag politicians but we will sing.” That is the mark of a true icon. Get these teens a record deal. And uh, take note, Fergie.
???? “You may have brought the dark, but together we will shine the light” ????
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students gave a moving performance of the song “Shine” at the end of the CNN #StudentsStandUp town hall https://t.co/5lgjV5UNCH https://t.co/VB4jNrkOYk
— CNN (@CNN) February 22, 2018
Heads up, you need to keep up with the news. It’s not cute anymore. That’s why we’ve created a 5x weekly newsletter called The ‘Sup that will explain all the news of the week in a hilarious af way. Because if we weren’t laughing, we’d be crying. Sign up for The ‘Sup now!
As is the unfortunate reality with every mass shooting, every person with a mouth and an opinion has been shouting/tweeting/skywriting their stance on gun control on every possible platform since the Parkland shooting took place last week. Between politicians, teachers, parents, and a reality TV star the president, Republicans and Democrats are super divided on the issue and are fighting over guns like a couple fighting over who gets to keep the dog after they break up. Coming as a shock to literally no one, the most mature and proactive contributors to the gun control debate have been the students who had to live through the actual horror of hiding under their desks from a madman bent on murder. So yeah, I’d say maybe it’s worth listening to them for a hot sec.
On March 24, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and their families will take to Washington D.C. and lead the March For Our Lives to protest gun violence and the silence from lawmakers when it comes to making changes to prevent these atrocities. So far, all that has been offered from many Republican politicians is the load of shit they like to call “thoughts and prayers.” Thoughts and prayers didn’t work when I tried to wing my college finals having never opened a textbook, so they sure as hell are not going to work in preventing another unhinged person with access to firearms from taking innocent lives.
Students who just had their entire high school experience destroyed: So you’re just gonna do nothing to fix the way guns are sold and regulated in this country?
Republicans:
The students in Parkland are also firm that there is no such thing as “too soon” to start talking about enacting change. Less than 24 hours after the massacre, senior David Hogg spoke to CNN saying, “We’re children. You guys are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together. Come over your politics and get something done.” Translation: get the fuck over yourselves and stop acting like actual teenagers when you don’t even have to deal with things like acne and awkward sexual tension anymore. Oh wait, those never go away? Fantastic.
Other students have been taking to Twitter to demand action and call out the ridiculous and offensive statements made by Trump and human spiked seltzer hangover, Tomi Lahren. In case you also avoid following the orange ball of gas on Twitter for fear that you’ll lose a few brain cells, allow me to direct you to the tweet where he literally blames the victims for not being able to stop a mentally ill classmate from aiming a gun at their faces. And here’s another where he makes the issue about himself by claiming the FBI could have stopped the shooting if they weren’t so preoccupied with the Russia investigation. *slams head against keyboard*
Emma Gonzalez, another student survivor with a badass Charlize Theron buzzcut, gave a powerful speech in response to the lack of action, calling out flimsy statements from politicians and insisting that Parkland will be the “last mass shooting” if the government gets their shit together and enacts change. Emma brings the heat for nearly 12 minutes, literally getting a crowd of people to chant “WE CALL BS” at lawmakers, which is the same strategy I used when I realized my ex still kept in touch with Tinder girls. I can confirm, it’s v effective.
Leading up to the March For Our Lives, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and their supporters have no intention of ending the conversation on gun control, which may be a major shift from the usual cycle of nothing ever changing after mass shooting events in the US. Just like the Women’s March, a bunch of sister marches are being organized in different states on March 24 to show support, which you can officially register for here. I, for one, have already prepared what to write on my sign in response to officials who won’t get off their Second Amendment high horse long enough to remember that children are dying:
Heads up, you need to keep up with the news. It’s not cute anymore. That’s why we’ve created a 5x weekly newsletter called The ‘Sup that will explain all the news of the week in a hilarious af way. Because if we weren’t laughing, we’d be crying. Sign up for The ‘Sup now!
