Largest mass shooting in American history

[MajGenl.Meade]

I found interesting the opinion column of Nicholas Kristof in today's NY Times. An excerpt:

"Over the last two decades, Canada has had eight mass shootings. Just so far this month, the United States has already had 20.

http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

Thought I'd add the URL for statistics.

[liberty]

I have offered a plan that would limited who can buy and own a firearm and that would be only citizens that have been previously checked out and determined to be of little risk.

I still say most NRA type could be sold on the idea; it would make them feel unique. I see many that would wear their militia badges as a sort of bragging right. I think some would qualify and never buy a gun; they would do it just for the prestige.

[Econoline]

What you're forgetting is that the NRA (and the politicians they own) are currently controlled not by the NRA membership, but by the gun manufacturers--and anything that might result in fewer customers, and fewer sales, would be bad from their point of view.



Edited for nit-picky grammatical reasons.

[RayThom]

Directly after the Orlando massacre Smith & Wesson Holding Company (SWHC) went up 7.6% and Sturm, Ruger & Company (RGR) went up by 9%.

SWHC:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/swhc
RGR:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/rgr

If all you care about is improving your financial status in the eyes of your neighbors I suggest you buy practically any gun stock before the next mass shooting. Act fast, the last carnage was almost a week ago.

God, guns, and guts... and may He bless America.

[oldr_n_wsr]

If all you care about is improving your financial status in the eyes of your neighbors I suggest you buy practically any gun stock before the next mass shooting. Act fast, the last carnage was almost a week ago.

With the highly predictable aftermath rhetoric that is bantered about (gun control) of course guns sales are going to go up thus the stock is going to go up.

[dales]

Search Results


Gun company shares rise after Orlando tragedy - USA Today



http://www.usatoday.com/story/.../gun-c ... /85821898/





USA Today




4 days ago - Firearm stocks trade higher after worst mass shooting in U.S. history.


Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger stock prices rise after Orlando massacre



http://www.cnbc.com/.../smith-wesson-st ... -rise-afte...





CNBC




4 days ago - James Hardiman, a Wedbush Securites analyst covering Smith & Wesson, said the stock prices of gunmakers generally rise after such attacks ...




Gunmaker stock prices have surged amid rise in mass shootings - The ...



https://www.bostonglobe.com/.../gunmaker-stock...rise.../...

The Boston Globe




4 days ago - Gunmakers' stock prices have surged over the last five years amid an increase in mass shootings and heated national debate over how to curb gun violence. There are two major publicly-traded gun manufacturers — Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. Five years ago, Ruger's stock price was $19.06 per share.


Gun maker stocks rise in wake of Orlando shooting - The Boston Globe



https://www.bostonglobe.com/.../gun-maker-stocks-rise...

The Boston Globe




4 days ago - Another publicly traded gun company, Sturm, Ruger & Co. of Southport, Conn., saw its shares climb nearly 10 percent, as investors bet on ...


Stock prices of gun companies rise following Orlando massacre — RT ...



https://www.rt.com/usa/346549-gun-stocks-rise-orlando/





RT




4 days ago - Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger & Co, the two biggest US firearms manufacturers on the stock market, saw their share prices increase by ...


US gunmaker shares soar after Pulse nightclub massacre | US news ...



http://www.theguardian.com › US News › Orlando terror attack





The Guardian




4 days ago - Shares in two biggest gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger & Co, rose ... S&W's share price has already rise 39% in the last 12 years, making it one of the best performing investments on the US stock markets.


Gun Stocks Are Up Sharply. You Know Why. - Huffington Post



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.../gun-s ... p-orlando-...





The Huffington Post




4 days ago - Gun stocks trended sharply higher Monday morning, a day after the deadliest ... stock prices surprises no one — not even the gun manufacturers themselves. ..... You talk about banning anything, and the demand will increase.


Gun stocks soar following Orlando shooting - Jun. 13, 2016



money.cnn.com/.../gun-stocks-smith-wesson-sturm-ruger-orl...





CNNMoney




4 days ago - Another spike in gun maker stocks due to expectations of tougher gun .... increase demand, especially since Clinton has made gun control one ...


Gun Stocks Rise Following Orlando Nightclub Shooting | MONEY - Time



time.com/money/.../gun-stocks-rise-orlando-nightclub-shooting/





Time




4 days ago - Shares of firearm makers rose in premarket trading on Monday, after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history sparked renewed fears of ...


Orlando shooting sends gun stocks Smith & Wesson, Ruger higher ...



http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/orlando ... -1.3632727

CBC.ca




4 days ago - Gun companies often see their shares rise in the aftermath of deadly shootings, as such events typically prompt a wave of gun-buying by those ...

[RayThom]

And I hear that gun stocks just keep going up and up. They are, ironically, "bulletproof."

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

[Gob]

[Beer Sponge]

If one child on a playground was hitting the others with a stick...


would you take the stick away, or give every child a stick?



I know what I would do.

[Bicycle Bill]

If one child on a playground was hitting the others with a stick...


would you take the stick away, or give every child a stick?



I know what I would do.

Excellent analogy, Sponge.

-"BB"-

[liberty]

What you're forgetting is that the NRA (and the politicians they own) are currently controlled not by the NRA membership, but by the gun manufacturers--and anything that might result in fewer customers, and fewer sales, would be bad from their point of view.



Edited for nit-picky grammatical reasons.

I don’t know enough or interested enough in gun manufactures, their wealth or political influence, to really have an opinion concerning them, but I do know that gun owners do have political influence; they vote. And truly believe this idea could be sold to gun owners in part for the reason I have already stated,

And if this plan was adopted and enforced the abuse of guns in this country would decrease considerably. However, it appears that too many people are not interested in a compromise and a solution but instead they want a fight.

[BoSoxGal]

[Lord Jim]

What you're forgetting is that the NRA (and the politicians they own) are currently controlled not by the NRA membership, but by the gun manufacturers--and anything that might result in fewer customers, and fewer sales, would be bad from their point of view.

I absolutely agree that the contemporary NRA leadership is completely controlled by, and answerable to, the gun manufacturers. It's probably this shift that explains how they have become so much more absolutist and unreasonable in comparison with positions they took even as recently as the late 90s...

But I don't think "politicians they own" is really the right way to put it. There may be a few who are truly in their pocket, but for most I think it's a matter more of "politicians they've been able to terrify"....

The NRA can't contribute any more money to a politician's campaign than any other lobbying organization, but what they can do is use their vast resources independently to bring down politicos who don't toe-the-line...

The NRA leadership doesn't care what the vast majority of Americans want; they don't care what the vast majority of gun owners want, or even what the vast majority of their own membership wants...

(If they did, they'd be supporting universal background checks)

The whole focus for the NRA today is to keep that 5-10% of the adult population that lives in mortal dread that any day now, the government is going to show up at their door to take away their gun, whipped up into a paranoid frenzy so that they will go out and vote in-lock step the way the NRA says to, based just on the issue of gun restrictions...

And they do a magnificent job of it. And the smaller the overall voter turnout will be, say in a primary, or a special election, the more this clout becomes magnified.

We saw a classic example of how this works when three years ago, the NRA got two state senators in Colorado who voted for legislation they opposed defeated in recall elections...

And you better believe every politician in America saw it too...

With an electorate as deeply divided as it in much of the country, an organization that can reliably control 5-10% of the vote is not going to have it's desires ignored by the average politician...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Crap

[rubato]

If one child on a playground was hitting the others with a stick...


would you take the stick away, or give every child a stick?



I know what I would do.

Good point

[Burning Petard]

I have been a member of the NRA since about 1965. Not a life member. Once upon a time the table of contents for the monthly magazine included a quote "Only accurate rifles are interesting." The organization began after the USofA civil war to encourage the improvement of civilian marksmanship. I first saw the magazine in the home of my future father-on-law. He knew I had developed an interest in long range (500 yards and beyond) rifle competition shooting. Nearly every issue contained tests and descriptions of technique for shooting accuracy. It had interviews of individual competitors at national and international level.
There was an annual national competition at an old military base near Lake Erie that included competition at 1000 yards. All the competition was described in detail, with minute listing of the modifications to equipment and particular ammo used.

Now, the monthly magazine is still called 'The Rifleman" but I can't remember the last time it had a story about a US Biathlon competitor, or a description of the Running Boar match at the ISSF or who is the national champion in 3-position rimfire. The winner of the last Wimbledon Cup (1000 yards rifle match) was listed, but only by score. Nothing was said about how the winner achieved that score or anything I might use to imitate that success.

The NRA is a quasi-governmental organization. It has special status derived from a stream of congressional actions over many decades--now more than a century. It gets surplus military equipment at special prices because it is supposed to be building a reservoir of skill in the civilian world that will provide the military with better shooting infantry. I get phone calls more than weekly and mass mailings more frequent than monthly, all carefully worded to stir up fear that only the NRA can relieve if I send them more money. The most recent issue of the Rifleman has essays from five different officers of the NRA about how I must send them more money to fight against Democrats in the fall election or this may be the end of civilization. Sheer paranoid nonsense.

One article about test results for a current model rifle. It was not what I would call accurate--would not even produce consistent 2 minute of angle groups.
Several stories of historical interest.

I agree with much of the above criticism of the NRA, I believe its influence comes from money, not the ability to deliver the votes of its membership.

(((((snailgate)))))

[Scooter]

Brave young man:

Sam Johnson – considered one of the best teen soccer players in the state of Washington – had kept his secret throughout high school.

But after 49 people were shot to death inside of a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, he decided it was time to tell family and friends – and the world – that he is gay.

‘I have been silent for a very long time. I have listened, I have observed and I have reflected on a proper time and place to do this; but I decided that the time was now,’ he writes in a letter published today on Outsports.

‘You all are aware of what has happened in Orlando, and regardless of your opinions of the topic, a man walked into a bar and targeted people of the LGBT community and killed them, and that is the simple fact.’

Johnson, 18, decided that this anti-gay massacre was not going to force him into the shadows.

‘You grow up being afraid of who are you, and then eventually you come to terms with it. And then something like this happens and you go right back to where you were,’ he writes.

But he’s not where he was.

He’s now out and proud after completing four years as a varsity starter at O’Dea High School located in a suburb of Seattle.

Johnson is now headed to California where he will will play Division 3 soccer for Whittier College.

But he does so with a heavy heart for those in Orlando who lost their lives and for those they left behind.

‘Put yourself in the shoes of the mothers, fathers and siblings of those people who won’t come home after their Saturday night out, put yourself in the shoes of people who have to watch their backs and live in fear for simply expressing who they love.’

My people have a history of rising above these attempts to stomp us down and coming out of them stronger than ever. The depth of courage is only tested in the most painful adversity.

[rubato]

A very brave young man. Good for him.

yrs,
rubaot