53 Comments

I hope this isn't too strong Joyce but I live in Chicago and Darren Bailey is a fucking asshole for this stunt and many other things he's done in the past. I'm so enraged.

The fact that the suspect (who has been arrested thankfully) is the son of failed Highland Park mayoral candidate Bob Crimo (a MAGA lunatic himself) and that this suburb is largely Jewish with a Jewish Dem Mayor Nancy Rotering means this should be classified as a federal hate crime IMO. America is a failed country. There's no two ways about it and most national elected Dems aren't meeting this moment correctly.

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Hi Carrie. As soon as I saw this was in Highland Park, my heart sunk.

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I know. It's so alarming. I really don't know how to function anymore. Our country is dissolving at an alarming rate.

One more thing, I haven't celebrated Independence Day since July 4, 2016. Today is like any other day to me now.

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"The Dems are not meeting this moment." The Democrats have not been meeting "moments" for quite some time. Where there should be strength and boldness, a voracious will to fight, we witness cowardice; even ambivalence. The fate of our nation hangs in the balance. Schumer and Pelosi would rather talk around the problem, than actually work aggressively to solve the problem. Politics is a bloodsport. It is time for a gloves-off challenge to Republicans.

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A very sick country.

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Yep and getting worse by the second.

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You had me at the title of your post....love it! Everything you said is so appreciated and much needed. Thanks, Joyce!

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I remember the Heller case and thought that it was such a reach to divorce the 'well regulated militia' from the rest of the content because of a single comma. I remember looking up the definition of 'arms' because the amendment doesn't actually say 'guns'. Clubs, pitch forks, sticks, all manner of things were considered arms then. Not just muskets. Certainly not cannons. Yet today we have so many people who refuse to face reality. I can't just get and use grenades, although they would meet the definition of arms, since they fit in your hand. I can't use chemical weapons, or a whole host of other things. Those things require licenses and authorizations and training and insurance...like driving a car.

I hope, that one day we will again celebrate this country because we have done the hard work of repairing our wounds and caring for all of our population as if they had been the founders. And that mass shootings are a thing of the past that we finally learned from and stopped. Until then, I can only remain hopeful and help with the work.

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Thank you Joyce for saying the quiet part out loud… we don’t have to respect dumb and crazy. We need to hold onto three things that they don’t have. Faith,hope and love.

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I live in Highland Park, two blocks from where the shootings happened. I heard nothing at the time, including no sirens from emergency vehicles. A friend called me around 11.15a, asking me if I was okay. “Sure, why?”, I asked and she told me about the chaos taking place 2 blocks away. I haven’t seen the lists of dead and injured but I probably know some victims, since I’ve lived here almost all my life.

Like everyone else, I’m saddened and sickened. We must get rid of the AR15s. I was strong for gun control before today, but after today, I’m apoplectic.

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so sad; sick about it all day.

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I grew up in Highland Park and it feels surreal to comprehend this horrific slaughter happened where I ate, shopped, and walked. I’m sure that is a similar reaction people had in Uvalde, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Newtown, Aurora, Orlando, and so many other cities. In 2014 our city, Overland Park, Kansas, experienced the horror of an avowed anti-Semite coming here to shoot Jews. He killed 3 people, none who were Jewish. What has this country become? I feel like we are targets in a shooting gallery controlled by the crazies who are obsessed with automatic weapons. What action steps can I take to keep moving forward, to work towards a goal of equality for all, voting rights for all, bodily choice, and a ban on killing machines? I feel overwhelmed.

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Joyce, thank you so much for taking time out of your vacation to create and share this. Most welcome and much appreciated.

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Bravo!! Thank you for this, I think sometimes we need to be reminded that nonsensical arguments aren’t worth the argument. We have been trying to convince them for too long......

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Aren't you supposed to be on vacation? :-) I knew you'd come back. So sorry that this is the reason though. So depressing. Not surprising that the pics of this kid at a Trump rally have already surfaced.

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The time difference gives me a little time to read and think. I too am sorry it's for this reason.

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So not surprised that the Republican gubernatorial candidate said “Let’s Move On...”

NRA payola is important to him..

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He is proud to include pictures of himself with Trump in his campaign adds. I live in Illinois and would consider moving to Mars if he was elected.

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I don’t believe that the founding fathers meant for their words to hem us in and constrain us from creating a better country with better public safeguards. I think most of them would be horrified that their words regarding what then were muskets that were slow to load and clumsy to use would be applied to weapons that could kill dozens of people in a moment or be so destructive to the bodies of innocent children. I think they would look at how their words have been misapplied and say to us, “Have you no sense? Address this monstrous situation at once!”

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Thank you for being our very smart voice in all this--you really do speak for millions of us.

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There is no where safe anymore. Unbelievable. Speechless

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Well stated - appreciate the insight!

While I was on vacation last week (in a very red area of the country), I overheard a couple of teenage boys (white) talking about a variety of topics, including guns. From the other topics, they were intelligent and heading for professional careers (if I would guess). But they wanted their own place apart from their parents and their own guns. AR15. Even machine guns. They were just saving their money.

For them it's a rite of passage I think - like owning their first car. I honestly don't know how you undo this - its so cultural now. I think they see it as agency to become an adult. Earning respect.

I wonder aloud if military service or civil service as a prerequisite to gun ownership - and perhaps levels of military service for certain guns - is a way to connect that desire for respect in adulthood with service to society - responsibility for the safety and well care of community.

I'm not afraid of a young person with a gun that is dedicated to service to community. I'm afraid of a broken young person with no hope with a gun.

Then, I think we can have a meaningful dialog about what is best for society - if every gun owner cares about their neighbor.

I for one, would like to see medical research restarted into gun violence. As an engineer I'd like to see a limit to the kinetic energy of the bullet - limiting some power to military only. Perhaps not the kinetic energy of a musket - but not an AR15 for sure.

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I have often thought that required two years of service of some kind is an important next step in America. After high school graduation, mandatory service of some kind: military, peace corps, hospital assistance, etc.

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So sad the kids were first to realize what was happening and instructed their parents/grandparents what to do. I don’t accept this as the new normal.

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this is so wrong - i can’t accept it either

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Thank you….it’s been an extremely difficult day & your words always seem to help! May you continue the fight toward true freedom & justice!

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