r/USNEWS • • 1d ago

Youngest victim of Oregon elementary school shooting that killed four named as Rhoam Summer, five

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16214953/rhoam-summer-silver-rail-elementary-oregon-bend-shooting.html
1.7k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Fangbang6669 1d ago

My daughter is 3 and goes to special education prek because she's autistic. Both classrooms are in a small building detached from the actual school. I'm now worried even more something might happen to her.

I fucking HATE it here.

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u/biscuitsandburritos 1d ago

They have the prek/early intervention ASD kids in a portable?! The high elopement risk kids?!

Mom of an ASD 7 year old. It’s not just Tylenol and institutions/loss of community options, they literally gun for our kids. Pun intended.

Fucking hate it here. But let’s be the good that makes it better. Hugs if you want.

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u/Fangbang6669 1d ago

YEP!! I was shocked, but every door has a special lock on it, and to get in you need to be buzzed in so at least there's that.

And im trying every day to stay positive but BOY is it hard. Thank you for the hugs, hang in there friend🫂

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u/Responsible-Toe-1385 1d ago

He targeted the special ed kids I assume because he’s special needs himself. Here’s an article from 2020 with his mother saying she had trouble teaching him during shutdowns during the pandemic as she’s not a special ed teacher. (She’s a medical aide at an old folks home and has a history of drunk driving btw).

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u/biscuitsandburritos 1d ago

He fucking knew when these kids and the sort of kids, age range wise, would be in that class space from being in the NEST program it looks like… ugh.

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u/Responsible-Toe-1385 1d ago

That’s what I think. Maybe he was going for a specific teacher or something? Fucking heinous

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u/Hawkmonbestboi 1d ago

I can 100% believe it was targeted at a specific teacher... spec ed teachers can be BRUTALLY horrible in a way that just is not talked about often enough. The majority of my school era abuse came from spec ed teachers.

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u/TheQuinnBee 1d ago

Ok fine, but why kill the children who could be OTHER victims?

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u/Helpful-Conference13 1d ago

I don’t think anyone is excusing it.

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u/RunningTrisarahtop 1d ago

The teacher could be horrible, but also… there have been amazing teachers who are kind and gentle and still hated by their students because the students can’t understand or process things in a typical way. A teacher could be targeted and a good person

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u/thesagaconts 1d ago

What a lil bitch! 

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u/rei0 1d ago

I can’t imagine the pain they are experiencing.

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u/Lumpy-Crew-6702 1d ago

Too many people in this country can , yet we as Americans continue to let this happen without holding our government accountable

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u/3rd-party-intervener 1d ago

It’s really sad.  

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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 1d ago

Its heartbreaking and soul crushing

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u/jeromevedder 1d ago

Unfortunately too many can to the point where a group will reach out to this family and the next family and the family after that and link them with families who have also experienced this to help them process their trauma and grief

Really cool society we built ourselves

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u/TepidTraveller 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's so fucking unnecessary. So much suffering.

How many more children must die, how many more lives must be destroyed, before we finally DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUNS???

I'm so tired of voters prioritizing their fun toys over the lives of innocent kids. I'm so tired of the deflections ("but mental health," "but we need to defend ourselves against tyrannical government").

These guns will never protect the American populace from their government, which can wipe them out with a few keystrokes directing a few drones. These guns are not a fucking hobby. They are designed and intended to do only ONE thing, which is to kill. They should not be in the hands of the average citizen, full fucking stop.

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u/fountaincokes 1d ago

Throat goat

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u/Onuus 1d ago

Yeah I don’t know he was very loud on the way out

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u/Helpful-Conference13 1d ago

Counting or not counting the geyser

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u/bblulz 1d ago

(Insert “Live Charlie Kirk Reaction” meme)

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

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u/thesagaconts 1d ago

He was committed to his beliefs. 

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u/The_Tooter_Snooter 1d ago

This is why he will always be my favorite left leaning influencer 

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u/PatacusX 1d ago

I was gonna say in before some slack jawed fool comes around and defends him or says some variation of "ohh no that's not what he meant!!!" But. I guess the lemmings have already shown up.

(Also, not fun fact, the whole myth about lemmings was completely fabricated, and actually super fucked up)

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u/Jaded_Antelope_598 1d ago

Reddit banned my last account for mentioning this.

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u/cedarvhazel 1d ago

His mother gave him the shot gun. WTF

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u/Glittering-Owl-6964 1d ago

And yet is quoted in the article if she could have stopped it, she would have. Freaking idiot. She needs to be charged like colt grays dad

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u/Soggy_Iron_5350 1d ago edited 1d ago

Exactly,  it's like the Sandy Hook mother who took her maniac son  to a shooting range and also bought  him numerous guns.... Sick all around. My heart breaks for the innocence lost at the hands of these maniacs. The parent(s) are equally culpable. 

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u/SCHawkTakeFlight 1d ago

No 16 yr old needs a shotgun. If they want to learn to hunt, a rifle, under parental supervision.

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u/shaunrundmc 1d ago

The mother needs to be made an example, charge her ass an an accomplice. She should kept that gun locked up, and maybe her mistake of a shit child wouldn't have been able to do this

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u/difficultinnit 1d ago

I've met her. She is exactly how you're thinking, but worse. Those grace points you're awarding because you understand nuance? Don't.

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u/VVsmama88 1d ago

She had the gall to be quoted as saying "I couldn't have stopped this, if I could have prevented it, I would have." She sounds absolutely deplorable.

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u/thatturtletouch 1d ago

There have already been a lot of examples made of parents who did this and it makes no difference.

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u/shaunrundmc 1d ago

Its only done a few times, do it all the time. Those have historically been exception to the rule, im saying make it the rule. That includes if a someone's legally registered gun "disappears" isnt reported missing and its used in the commission of a crime.

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u/No_Fondant691 1d ago

For real. Nothing happens immediately…until laws are enforced and people actually worry about the repercussions. 

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u/thatturtletouch 1d ago

I absolutely agree we need to make it a federal law that you must report your gun lost or stolen within say 24 hours of the loss, and if it’s later used in a crime and you failed to report it, you are held criminally and civilly responsible for that crime.

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u/Oh_Kerms 1d ago

I dont think that would matter in this case. She bought him the gun for his 16th birthday. She knew he had it.

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u/AsleepHedgehog2381 17h ago

Omg what a fucking monster

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u/Starlit_Buffalo 1d ago

We cannot know how many other spree killings by teens have been prevented by parents securing their guns better.

I think making prosecuting parents standard practice can only help.

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u/Oh_Kerms 1d ago

The difference here is that she bought him the fucking gun. As a gift. She even told reporters that if she couldve prevented this, she couldve. Except she bought him the fucking gun!

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u/wickednyx 23h ago

2 cases is not my definition of “a lot” and these were very recent.

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u/fore___ 1d ago edited 1d ago

We could have changed this in 1999, but we chose not to. They said it was too soon.

We could have changed this in 2007, but we chose not to. They said now was not the time to politicize a tragedy.

We could have changed this in 2009, but we chose not to. They said thoughts and prayers.

We could have changed this in 2011, but we chose not to. They said we needed good guys with guns.

We could have changed this in 2012, but we chose not to (twice). They said it was a mental health issue.

Then again in 2015 twice, 2016, 2017, 2018 twice, 2019, 2021, 2022 three times, 2023 twice, 2024, 2025, and 2026 twice. But we chose not. That’s not even an exhaustive list, I only mentioned the ones that dominated news headlines.

They said guns don’t follow laws. They said guns don’t kill people. **They said a whole lot but they never did anything.**

The best time to plant a tree was right after columbine. The second best time is now. But I guess it’s too soon, and we shouldn’t be politicizing a national tragedy, but they have our thoughts and prayers, and guns don’t kill people, and we should be more worried about immigrants than troubled youth.

Shit as long as it doesn’t happen in my neighborhood. As long as it’s not my kids. It’s a good thing I wasn’t there. It’s a good thing it hasn’t happened to me. It’s a good thing my kids not dead. What’s on the news? Trump said something stupid again. Wait, there was a mass shooting today? I didn’t even see that on Reddit.

Well fuck all that. I was in Isla vista in 2014. That shit never leaves you. I still have nightmares.

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u/lightsonnooneishome 1d ago

I grew up about 30 minutes from Sandy Hook. My school was in lockdown for hours. I watched Obama’s heartfelt speech and my parents cry, assuming politicians would do something to address the murder of kindergarteners. They didn’t, and at 15, I learned that politicians really don’t give a shit.

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u/SELFINCRIMINAT1NG 20h ago

none of the schools i attended k-12 were ever targeted in a shooting. but i’ve been through lockdowns for various reasons at all of them, elementary school, two middle schools, and a high school, in two different states. at my first middle school, a kid got arrested for selling bullets to other kids on campus. my high school went into lockdown my first day of sophomore year because there was a shootout in the apartment complex next to the school. my second middle school (along with other area schools and my brother’s elementary school) once went into lockdown because a photographer had been spotted in the neighborhood with a tripod, and someone thought it was a long gun.

what i would give to have grown up going to school and never once having to text my family “i love you” as i huddled under a desk

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u/TomNookOwnsUsAll 18h ago

I have no words for how sorry I am that you did — and still do — endure that in such a personal way. When Sandy Hook happened, and nothing changed, that was when I knew that nothing will ever change under our current system. It was a horrifying realization then and remains just as horrifying with each passing child who dies.

If we, as a country of 300 million people, can watch the most vulnerable of school children be gunned down and say well, but, the second amendment, there is absolutely no hope for us. We chose, in that moment, guns over the lives of the most innocent among us. Full stop. No other way to frame it.

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u/Apprehensive_Idea758 1d ago

Rest in peace.

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u/Responsible-Toe-1385 1d ago

He targeted the special ed kids because he’s special needs himself. Here’s an article from 2020 with his mother saying she had trouble teaching him during shutdowns during the pandemic as she’s not a special ed teacher.

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u/AggravatingPeak6982 1d ago

She bought him the shotgun he used in August for his birthday

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u/Designer-Contract852 1d ago

The shooters name was John j Griffin.  The kid in the article is named Griffin Nickerson.  They are not the same person. 

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u/flowerred_up 1d ago

that picture of him with his dad, who also has long hair, is so cute and now so heartbreaking.

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u/GrandPorcupine 1d ago

I’m a gun owning Midwest hick and I haven’t spoke to one other firearm owner who isn’t open to safer regulating.

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u/OkFigaroo 1d ago

Safer regulating -> less profit -> more lobbying -> no new legislation

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u/tpain2017 1d ago

That's funny, I've never met a gun owner who IS open to safer regulation.

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u/CoolBrownBoots 1d ago

I’ve met gun owners who are and are not open to it and typically what I find is that gun owners who are not treat guns like an accessory, gun owners who are open to safe regulations treat guns as a tool.

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u/greetcloud 1d ago

I have met plenty of them. A lot of gun owners want universal background checks. They want more money towards mental health care. It's the NRA and it's supporters who don't want either. Most gun owners aren't affiliated with the NRA.

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u/Helpful-Conference13 1d ago

They must not be those “rare” lefty gun owners. They act like we don’t exist.

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u/Worth_Alternative925 1d ago

Funny, I haven’t met one who isn’t

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u/theglossiernerd 1d ago

Most responsible gun owners have zero issue with safer regulation.

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u/Asaneth 1d ago

This is what happens when we see things as only black or white. I'm an elder, female, open minded person who finally bought a gun after feeling unsafe. I'm all for tighter gun laws, background checks, more regulations, etc. Not everyone who owns a gun is a wackdoodle who thinks there should be no restrictions.

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u/TrainDifficult300 1d ago

I believe Oregon has some gun control laws in place.

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u/JCMGamer 1d ago

Genuinely curious about what law you believe would have prevented the shooter from illegally taking his mother's rifle, entering a gun free zone, and shooting children

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u/reservior-puppies 1d ago edited 1d ago

Better safe storage laws, for one. Blanket gun bans haven’t done anything but make Dems lose elections over and over again. But safe storage laws, red flag laws, enhanced background checks for certain weapon types are all proven to be effective.

From what I understand, the shooter in this case used a shotgun. Completely legal in every state, and every country in Europe. But this wouldn’t have happened if the gun was properly locked, or if the family could have removed the weapons before this tragedy occurred.

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u/Economics_Troll 1d ago

I don't know how you enforce proper safe storage laws. Especially in America, even the most left leaning gun owners aren't going to be open to the police / some third party entering their private property to check their gun storage once a quarter. And even then they probably just lock it up when they know the inspection is coming.

If it was against the law to leave a shotgun out in the open, you could now charge the mother in this case. But people that leave guns out are going to leave guns out.

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u/The_Tooter_Snooter 1d ago

If people want guns, they’re gonna have to make concessions. Simple as that. I say that as a gun owner willing and ready to comply. 

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u/JCMGamer 1d ago

You should completely give up your guns to prevent crimes.

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u/Icy-Contact6577 1d ago

Blanket gun laws worked to stop school shootings in Europe Australia and Canada

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u/reservior-puppies 1d ago

Kind of. All of those countries still have mass casualty events, sometimes with guns and sometimes without. Australia just had a terrible mass shooting, and Canada has had quite a few.

Mostly, all of those places have structural aspects going for them that keep violence down. They have politics that are friendly to workers and the middle class, they’re homogenous and they’re wealthy. America has an endemic culture of violence, massive wealth inequality and has wildly different cultures state to state, and even within states. All that to say, if we ban all guns tomorrow, we’re still going to have far more mass casualty events and a higher homicide rate than any of the countries you mentioned.

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u/omg_cats 1d ago

“Blanket” dramatically oversimplifies, there is no blanket gun law across Europe. Finland, Austria, Switzerland and Czechia have high civilian gun ownership.

School shootings were already rare there so it’s not reasonable to chalk it up to gun laws. Lower overall violent crime, different school sizes and structures, stronger mental health systems, and less media contagion all differ between the US and these countries. These factors predate the laws and plausibly drive the gap.

IMO the problem is that nobody has put forth a realistic solution for a country that already has an epic ton of guns in private hands. Short of going door-to-door, what’s the plan? And if you went door to door, why wouldn’t the criminals just hide?

The cat is out of the bag for better or for worse - any plan needs to address that reality instead of some pie in the sky “poof all guns are gone!” pipe dream

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u/TheNatural14063 1d ago

Yep but we have emotionally and intellectually stunted adults in this country who will continue to worship guns like the sick selfish pieces of shit they are so unfortunately these shootings are going to continue to happen despite evidence showing that gun control does work (as you showed).

Even the deaths of gun cutltists like Charlie Kirk who stuck his neck out to justify people owning guns at the expense of human deaths doesn't change the minds of these people. No good guy with a gun defended him

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u/JCMGamer 1d ago

Did you want someone with a handgun to pull it out and blast the sniper with it?

Let me ask honestly, would you support if Trump called for mass confiscation of firearms?

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u/JCMGamer 1d ago

Do you honestly believe thay 16 year old isn't able to go around safeguards to access a gun safe?

If it was elementary school student thats one thing, but high-schoolers are not that dumb.

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u/The_Tooter_Snooter 1d ago

I mean … at 16, I don’t think I would be able to break into my current gun safe. I did at 36 because I lost my key but I don’t think 16 year old me would have been able to. I’m old enough now that I understand power tools, lock assemblies, etc but on high school? Probably not. 

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u/AspieAsshole 1d ago

How about laws requiring the mother to keep it locked away so the kid can't access it??

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u/JCMGamer 1d ago

-A 16 year old could have been taught how to access the weapon in case of an emergency.

-Oregon does have a safe storage law, that was either ignored or bypassed.

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u/AspieAsshole 1d ago

Sounds like the mom should be charged 🤷‍♀️

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u/Red-Lightniing 1d ago

She probably will be. Still doesn’t retroactively prevent the shooting.

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u/TrainDifficult300 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, but that doesn’t change the outcome.

I wonder what causes a 16 year old to become so enraged to kill people / kids he doesn’t even know

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u/Butters5768 1d ago

If parents are considered co-conspirators to murder when/if their child takes an unlocked weapon from them, I think we’ll see more parents locking up their weapons and not an inconsequential number of shootings prevented.

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u/Psych0PompOs 1d ago

They are likely the same type of person who consistently cries about "fascism" while begging for citizens to lose even more ground and have less checks and balances.

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u/ShinyTotodile24 1d ago

I can at least see the logic in some kid shooting up his high school to get back at their bullies and whatnot (obviously still an evil thing to do). But how does it ever even cross someone's mind to attack a fucking elementary school??

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u/biscuitsandburritos 1d ago

Not just an elementary school, but the special ed department. The seven year old in critical condition was already a wheelchair user.

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u/ShinyTotodile24 1d ago

Shit like that makes me want to believe that hell exists

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u/biscuitsandburritos 1d ago

Shit like it makes me believe we live in Hell if one does exist

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u/Spare-Opportunity-30 1d ago

Hurt people hurt people

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u/ionlyjoined4thecats 1d ago

It’s more insidious than that. A lot of these shooters are part of online communities that laud mass shooters. They do it to feel like they have a place in the world and to impress their “friends.”

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u/PLGP 1d ago

I have a 5 year old, my heart breaks for this family. I cannot fathom the pain.

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u/VVsmama88 1d ago

They all hurt, but there's a particular pang when it's a dear child who is the same age as yours. Also a parent of a 5 year old, and my heart is aching.

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u/BuddyBevi 1d ago

Americans!!! Do something about this!!! It’s not someone else that is going to change this!!! IT IS UP TO YOU!!!!!

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u/yrfrndnico 1d ago

You dont think we know this? The issue is >50% of the country see tragedies like this as a necessary price to keep the privilege of basing their entire personality around how many guns they own. Because without them, theyd have nothing to live for and feel insecure & small.

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u/shaneh445 1d ago

It's called Charlie Kirk derangement syndrome. Totally not made up on the spot but a real medical condition /S

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u/TheNatural14063 1d ago

And Kirk tragically died as a consequence of the stupid causes he stuck his neck out for like gun ownership.....

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u/dirtysnow8 1d ago

his death wasn't tragic

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u/carr0ts 1d ago

Stuck his NECK out for seriously

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u/SphericalOrb 1d ago

In the U.S. population there is a majority that supports common-sense gun reform like background checks and safes. Making sure that their representatives actually vote in line with that is the battle, especially when the gun lobby has deep pockets. https://www.searchlightinstitute.org/research/americans-surprising-bipartisan-acceptance-of-gun-control/

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u/BetteMoxie 1d ago

Half the population loves their guns more than their kids, or their cognitive dissonance is so strong that they can justify this. At this point, I literally don't think there's anything we can do.

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u/BigGayGinger4 1d ago

As a taxpaying, working American, this was already the state of my country when I turned 18 and gained the right to cast my vote. If I organize a militia against my government, I will be jailed (and I would probably die first anyways).

I get to cast a vote that influences federal policymakers once every..... two years. And only once every four years for the individual who is designated to personally select some of the highest posts in our land -- something I can never vote for.

Someone can pick up a metal tube and blow up some gunpowder inside of it every day during the course of those two years. You can actually accomplish this in pretty much any place on the planet where you can get your hands on some machinery or find a neighborhood where gangs will take your money and give you a gun.

What would you have me do to fix this?

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u/druidmain69420 1d ago

We vote to change things, its just the people are genuinely disenfranchised thanks to Republicans rigging the system for decades.

When an uneducated yokel in bumfuck nowhere has the same effective voting power as 250,000 "coastal elites", its an uphill battle to overcome without rebuilding the system as fair to everyone.

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u/slightly_overraated 1d ago

Yeah? And what do you suggest we do?? We aren’t exactly sitting on our hands over here.

The people with the money and the power always win.

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u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 1d ago

dO sOmEtHiNg?

Fuck you want me to do? So tired of seeing this histrionic comment, the people on reddit seeing this aren't the people voting for it

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u/Seekerma 1d ago

Honestly we need legislation that protects hunting while stopping the purchase of military grade weapons.  But that would require educated discourse. Before anyone piles on many Americans do rely on hunting to feed themselves. Including my family.  But we certainly don't need military weapons to do it. We also need medicine for all including mental health care. We need more resources in schools to help kids falling through the cracks.  More teacher assistants and intervention.  We need to deal with this scientifically but many politicians will not do that. 

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u/Emmyjen 1d ago

Sadly, if America didn’t take actions after Sandy Hook, Columbine, Uvalde, etc. they never will. 😞

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u/_TheTurtleBox_ 1d ago

I hate when people outside the USA go "Why do Americans allow this?!!!!!"

They don't. They actively vote against it.

The laws aren't written by the people they should be protecting, you know?

Banks have armed guards but the Republicans refuse to put them in schools because "resources and budget."

I've seen more armed security at weed dispenseries than any school I've ever been in.

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u/catsporvida 1d ago

We only look like a democracy. It's smoke and mirrors.

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u/needless_booty 1d ago

What a beautiful boy. I'm sick

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u/Bioinformatics_94 1d ago

It’s utterly sad!

You Americans either shoot little kids or vote for a president (government) who FUCKS little kids.

FIX YOUR SHIT!!!

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u/Initial_Ad8488 1d ago

As an American, I agree and am deeply embarrassed by my country. I truly wish that I could move literally anywhere else.

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u/Lucinda_Null 1d ago edited 1d ago

That’s a crazy generalization to make. Do you think all Americans actually think this way? The majority of us are trying to get safer gun laws and we hate Trump but sure, keep insulting us. We’re the ones who go to school every day in this country. We have to deal with these tragedies. 

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u/benelope96 1d ago

You think in a country of over 300 million people there aren't tons of us enraged over this?

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u/-SkeptiCat 1d ago

After literal MULTIPLE DECADES of this, I'm really losing hope that things will change in America. This shooting will spark the same feelings, comments, and debates. We're just living life on repeat mode and hoping that change comes by itself.

Wtf are we even doing

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u/dailymail 1d ago

Rhoam Summer, 5, was named by Kelik Summer as one of three children who was murdered inside Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday. 

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u/Figmentdreamer 1d ago

I just want it all to stop. I’m so sorry to all those families of the dead whose lives were stolen.

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u/Responsible-Poet2329 1d ago

Insane that large part of the country sees no issue, just a little sacrifice for ''freedom''. INSANE.

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u/Iskaru 1d ago

Nooo, don't you see the reason the US has to accept school shootings is that the US needs guns so they can defend democracy if the government ever turns into a tyrannical fascist regime...

Oh wait, nevermind, guess that was just a joke Americans repeated for decades.

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u/Bethw2112 1d ago

Colorado has already started taking action but without all states having the same rules people will run to a neighboring state for high cap mags, or people will stop obtain a concealed carry because of the renewal requirements for a class and actual shooting on a range and instructors will figure out how to falsify attendance/completion.

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u/BubinatorX 1d ago

Nobody is coming to help.

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u/JimmyV080 1d ago

Republicans love school shootings and dead children so much they will not do anything about it.

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u/WigwamTheMighty 1d ago

I hope only pain like this reaches the members of the NRA.

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u/tpain2017 1d ago

this just makes them want more guns

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u/EffectiveDue8242 1d ago

I don’t understand why every school is not protected by at least one officer. They don’t curb crime they don’t stop bad drivers they at the very minimum could protect kids in schools. Unless you are in Texas.

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u/Apart-Zucchini-5825 1d ago

A lot of schools and counties did away with these officers because they were prone to harassing black kids.

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u/Livid-Builder-1230 1d ago

In addition to the officers not actually engaging with active shooters

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u/AspieAsshole 1d ago

There have been too many occasions of them harming students (or forgetting their gun in the bathroom)

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u/Dababolical 1d ago

If the police kids don’t attend the school, don’t expect anything heroic. Officer safety is the number one priority to them, and we saw that first hand with Uvalde.

They’ll just wait for more backup to arrive, which will also wait for more backup to arrive, until the attacker had all the time to finish their plans.

I understand you don’t run into these situations with no resources or plans, but the cops just wait around until the killer has had time to do whatever they want because they have become too risk averse.

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u/AdUpstairs7106 1d ago

The Uvulde police officers were cowards. That said a few years after Uvulde there was that school shooting in Tennessee where the first officers arriving did not even wait for back up. They arrived and move towards the gunfire.

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u/Dababolical 1d ago

There were also individual cops at Uvalde who wanted to move in and act, but they were told to stand down by superiors.

I agree that heroic individuals still exist and some of them work as police, but as an institution generally, law enforcement has become too risk averse with officer safety being a top priority even above public safety. It shows in everyday policing and is strikingly obvious during events like Uvalde.

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u/consoletopia 1d ago

You mean like in Uvalde where the resource officer ran outside and wouldnt go back in? Police are COWARDS. The dont care about the kids, they only care about themselves.

Resource officers are terrible for schools. Its school not prison. Those officers overreach and step outside their lanes on a daily basis.

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u/HiddenHoneybadgerz 1d ago

Or like the shooting in Nashville where they targeted a school specifically without a resource officer and then the swat team rushed in as soon as they got there? Not really a one shoe fits all situation no matter how much reddit wants to make it.

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u/Ambitious_Weekend536 1d ago

I’m in Texas and my grandkids’ public school has a police officer stationed at the front doors and the doors are all locked.

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u/Lukersf 1d ago

When I was in college I worked inside nyc public high and middle schools and they all had an armed officer at the entrance and metal detectors.

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u/Rdbjiy53wsvjo7 1d ago

Grew up in Illinois, 6.5 hours south of Chicago so relatively rural, graduating class of about 450 so decent size high school.

When Columbine happened, our public school security head was the former police department chief and said our town was perfect setting for similar incident (ton of guns from hunting being so prolific, small town where everyone knows everyone for multiple generations, no other schools to transfer to if something goes wrong like bullying).

So metal detectors and back pack searches every day, and locker searches less often and with dogs, armed officers at every entrance. 

I didn't mind, I knew it was still possible to happen, but WAY less likely. There really aren't many other options until mental health + gun control changes in the US.

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u/CheapEater101 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m for this too but Majory Stoneman Douglas High School also had an armed officer and he ran away from the building that the shooting was coming from. The Supreme Court also said that officers aren’t obligated to save people over themselves. Idk nothing is 100% fool proof but something is better than nothing.

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u/AdUpstairs7106 1d ago

In the military there is an article in the UCMJ that addresses cowardice in the face of the enemy.

Perhaps a federal law that charges cops that act as cowards.

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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 1d ago

Because it's a school. They shouldn't need armed body guards to keep it safe, in a sane country

Why don't other countries need guards at their school?

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u/CoolCyberCat 1d ago

Cops in school usually did more harm than good. People respond to situations in line with how they are trained and cops aren't trained to help kids cope in stressful situations or for good de-escalation. Instead cops are trained to respond to issues by making arrests, physical manhandling and barking out orders that can be confusing by design.

Kids also will clam up around police and may feel more unsafe due to law enforcement being there. Or that getting law enforecement involved is too much of a escaltion. If the kid is unwilling to talk about their issues those problems will fester unseen and make it harder for educators, councilors and admin to catch onto issues when they are still small.

In essence. Cops in schools leads to daily problems being worse in general, kids getting legal troubles over pointless shit, and puts innocent kids on edge in a envoorment they need to feel secure in.

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u/DfreshD 1d ago

My local area has a police officer at every school, im in NW Arkansas and I’ve seen police presence at schools in SW Missouri as well.

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u/DragonTacoCat 1d ago

We have an SRO in every school in the county in my area. The local sheriffs dept makes sure all of them has at least one. And it's a big county. It's one thing in my area I can say is we take care of our kids here.

We had a couple incidents (one last week) if a loaded gun and it was taken care of very quickly. And any time there is a report it's immediately acted upon.

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u/Roddy117 1d ago

Worked as a paramedic for a bit, cops are not good for much but they’re definitely not good in a school setting.

Plus that’s just a reactive reaction, reactive measure never work to curb anything, you need pro active answers.

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u/Appropriate_Hold_532 1d ago

police in schools have been shown to be worse for the students and not a deterrent. The answer is not making schools into prisons. We need money out of politics so we actually get what people vote for. Not accidentally, our fanatical SCOTUS has ruled against gun regulation when an honest reading of the Constitution - in place for generations - said otherwise.

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u/HalfSphynx99 1d ago

I have seen the opposite. Recently at least.

Good cops at schools that are not a fear. They don’t arrest. They have social working skills.

That said…I think I work with schools and communities they have pushed for this.

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u/T-sigma 1d ago

Why do they have to be cops then? The only reason to have a cop is to have an armed guard who is able to legally detain and arrest people.

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u/Rdbjiy53wsvjo7 1d ago

In Colorado, in our district the elementary schools have security guard and rotating officer, then middle schools and high schools have a permanent officer + 1-2 security guards.

I'm sure it's different at every school, but every morning and afternoon the 3 of them at our middle school is out to greet the kids and parents, join in the school activities. They try really hard to build that trust.

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u/Ih8melvin2 1d ago

We have a school resource officer (member of the police department) at the high school only and the kids love him and he is a great resource for the community. I did think it was odd when I first found out about it, but having him in the school strengthens the bonds between the community and the police.

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u/Specific_Box4483 1d ago

"Good cops" are a rare commodity

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u/Mattrad7 1d ago

This was a thing for a bit until the officers started shooting kids

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u/the-apple-and-omega 1d ago

Because police aren't very good at protecting kids but are good at harassing them? And it inherently adds guns to schools which is bad?

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u/moreobviousthings 1d ago

Because ACAB. Which is another big problem which also happens to be gun-adjacent. Americans need to wean themselves off of our blood lust. And greed.

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u/ProsciuttoPizza 1d ago

I have a 5-year-old. I feel sick. This country is fucking sick.

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u/RecklessCube 1d ago

My heart breaks for this poor innocent child. Absolutely gut wrenching

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u/2pam 1d ago

I cannot imagine. That poor little boy. I am holding my baby boy in my arms. I wouldn't want to live anymore if something like this happened to him. Life would seem too bleak. My heart goes out so much to these parents and the devastating pain they must feel...

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u/Fluid-Layer-33 1d ago

I am so sorry sweet little Rhoam. I am so sorry we as a country failed you. I am so sorry that your parents are mourning instead of planning a fun weekend.... This whole thing is horrific and makes me angry. Politicians need to actually do something.

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u/ilikefoxess 1d ago

i know it’s a news outlet but there is absolutely no need to be calling their parents and asking for comments. if they reached out whatever, but their kid just passed away in the most tragic way yesterday. targeting the special ed’s kids is disgusting.

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u/Federal_Share_4400 1d ago

This hurts my ❤️ 

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u/AGeekNamedBob 1d ago

My own son is 5 and looks so much like him. Heartbreaking

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u/fuckDJT2026 1d ago

Melt the guns

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u/ImprovementTrick9492 1d ago

So who was the killer? Let’s hear it…

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u/Refrigerator_Primary 1d ago

Over the past few years, there's been more of a push to stop naming/showing photos of the shooters in headlines, as one common motive of shootings like this is to gain notoriety. So while you could find the killer's name if you read the article, it's for the best it's not in the headlines. It also is to prevent copycats.

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u/TheLegacies21 1d ago

This. Show the victims, say their names, tell their stories. Fuck the monster

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u/MeInSC40 1d ago

You mean when they’re white. Based on the fact that none of the articles are saying 16 black male or 16 year old hispanic male im presuming hes a white kid who was probably just a little “troubled”. I hope his mother is arrested and charged.

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u/SpookiestSzn 1d ago

This is so funny you the exact opposite rhetoric on when the news/cops report gang shootings. Just "14 year old male is a suspect at large" shit like that lmao

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u/nintendoinnuendo 1d ago

An American male of course! Just like the great majority of school shootings, non-school shootings, or literally any other type of violence perpetrated in this country.

Hope this helps!

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u/ionlyjoined4thecats 1d ago

Well it’s not a girl/woman, I can tell you that much.

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u/shittycomputerguy 1d ago

Some 16 year old kid.

Doesn't matter how many good guys with guns are laying in wait: the killers are almost always taking someone with them before they go.

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u/Madwoman-of-Chaillot 1d ago

A white kid (no, I am not kidding/making this up) named John J. Griffin.

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u/Kwynn1229 1d ago

Killers name is mentioned in the article

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u/CYAspecialist 1d ago

You can click the articles?

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u/Lazy-Main1782 1d ago

Some fucker named John Griffin. I’m not religious, but I hope he’s currently burning in hell. Let’s also hope the hero shooter gets praised for his actions. This could’ve been another Sandy Hook.

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u/MinnesotaNiceTry 1d ago

A male, just like the 98% of mass shootings.

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u/MagicPigeonToes 1d ago

The left says: the right did it

The right says: the left did it

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u/BoyNamedNabe 1d ago

Spit balling here bc I don’t think we will ever get to restricting gun access. 

Schools should be made with one entrance and several reinforced garage doors that only open in cases of fire.  A police officer should be stationed at that door at all times. 

Besides actually voting in common sense gun control laws all schools need to be redesigned to eliminate any possibilities of a shooter getting into a school.

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u/FinsT00theleft 1d ago

Unfortunately a violent person with a gun, bent on killing children, doesn't have to get into a school to do it. They can do it on a school bus, at a soccer game, during recess, or when kids are arriving at or leaving school. The PROBLEM is that our society is a factory that is churning out a lot of defective products and until we find a way to quell peoples' desire to commit mass murder. Those mass murderers will find a way.

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u/ZealousidealStore574 1d ago

It’s not like people inherently have a desire for mass murder, this seems to be a mental health issue. Anyone who is a school shooter obviously has intense and severe mental illness

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u/FinsT00theleft 1d ago

Yup - but as a society it seems like rather than acknowledging the root cause, we'd rather treat the symptom.

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u/noksucow 1d ago

Kind of sounds like prison

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u/Separate_Delivery724 1d ago

This breaks my heart because why should our children have to go to school in a fucking PRISON because some asshats have to be irresponsible gun owners and/or murderers. It sucks man.

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u/OG_LiLi 1d ago

Sadly that puts them in harms way from other issues, like fires.

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u/FormerRep6 1d ago

Schools cannot have only one entrance. It isn’t safe. What if there’s a fire? A flood? Reinforced garage doors would take up a great deal of room to be strategically positioned for everyone to exit when necessary. That would likely be cost prohibitive. Who is going to pay for schools to be rebuilt to be more secure? My elementary school, junior high, and high school all had separate buildings. There were many ways to gain access to each of them. No way can the district afford to replace each one. Lucky for me that I graduated before school shootings were a thing.
Sane gun laws and better mental health would help but I really don’t know what the answer is. We are a violent society in the US and value guns more than we value safety for children.

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u/adumbswiftie 1d ago

it isn’t the doors oh my god it’s not the doors. it’s the guns.

i work in schools and trust 99% of them are very well secured now. this shooter shot through the glass. it’s the guns

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u/Seekerma 1d ago

Some school police officers have a history of hurting students. 

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u/RunningTrisarahtop 1d ago

How does one entrance work for large schools? Or schools where parent drop off and buses aren’t on the same side? Or where the playground is out back?

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u/philwee 1d ago

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF THE FREE.

Americans in reddit discussing ways to prevent students getting shot in the head because they went to school… how many school shootings you guys at for this year? Like 150? In 2023 there were 352. ALMOST one per day. A uniquely American problem.

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u/Meb2x 1d ago

The number changes a lot depending on what you count as a school shooting, but CNN reports 52 school shootings (Kindergarten through college) this year and at least 370 mass shootings leaving 350 people dead and 1,575 people injured.

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u/LeftHandedScissor 13h ago

A school shooting is often any discharge of a firearm on or near school grounds. A lot of statistics count 3+ people as a mass shooting. The stats are getting duped and artificially inflated by being over inclusive.

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u/ACTSATGuyonReddit 22h ago

The only armed person at the school, a gun free zone, was breaking multiple laws.

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u/LordNoFat 1d ago

This is ridiculous. How about being afraid of everything, we start holding people accountable?

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u/cruelbeanss 1d ago

How would you even fund this if they won't even pay teachers?

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u/MinnesotaNiceTry 1d ago

This school was built a few years ago and literally has a waiting room designed for this exact thing.

Another capitalistic school hardening technique that failed without addressing the real problem.

Watch the documentary “Thoughts and Prayers” if you want to see just how fucked up that industry is.

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u/DasherMO85 1d ago

Yeah, because criminals and mentally ill idiots are gonna follow the “law.” Get a clue

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u/Haunting-Traffic-203 1d ago

Since the shooter was killed before he could harm more children by a students father who himself was armed, and Uvalde showed us the police will stand there while our kids are being murdered I’m not sure restricting law abiding people from gun ownership is the right direction (speaking as a father of young kids here)

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u/duddy33 1d ago

Don’t give up on common sense firearms reform. Stay up to date with local elections and vote people in that will work towards it that aren’t paid off by the NRA. We have to fix all this from the bottom up.

The downside that I see with redesigning schools like you describe is that single entrance will work two ways for the attacker. It’s much easier to hole up and block the one door.

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u/Significant-Dog-8166 1d ago

Well that five year old died to a "well regulated militia" according to the Supreme Court. So get used to it. Next!

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u/U_S_A1776 1d ago

No they died to a mentally disturbed person

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u/Mahnamahna10000 1d ago edited 1d ago

That wasn't part of a well regulated militia.

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u/U_S_A1776 1d ago

That isn’t the slick comeback you think it is historical context for well regulated means in well working order, and it is working because a citizen properly utilized his right and stopped the shooter before the cops did

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