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Hi all. This is heavy stuff - and hoo boy, a big Arise Church announcement too. So been busy working on that (Brent and John are goneburgers - I have this news as the congregation is probably being told).

This gun stuff is a lot and I hope you are all coping with it OK. I am going to have a read of the comments soon and reflect, and offer some thoughts if they are worthwhile. Some of the comments are just heartbreaking and poignant and there is nothing I can even begin to add.

So much aroha

me

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

I am a teacher and a parent. My own children are the same age as the victims of this shooting, and I teach the little ones- the 5 and 6 year olds. I am not American, I live in NZ. Our country has deep seated social issues- a terrible family violence record, woeful mental health funding, large pockets of desperate poverty. Like all countries we have angry, lonely, disturbed individuals. The difference is that we do not have ready access to weapons designed to kill as many as possible. The determination of US politicians to reach over the piled bodies of children and snatch their pieces of silver from the NRA makes me ill. I know that most Americans are desperate for change, and are so angry that elected officials do not represent the will of the people. I find myself wondering what happens when a large proportion of a population are governed by minority rule, with seemingly no way to have their wishes acted upon. Historically those conditions have led to revolution.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

I was born and grew up in the UK, I remember clearly in 1996 when the Dunblane massacre happened. I was 17 at the time and we had never had anything close to the horror of a school shooting before. An evil bastard I don't even want to name went into a primary school and shot 16 students and a teacher. With 2 younger brothers it felt too raw for me to comprehend, a violence I couldn't fatham, I just wept as I thought of the poor victims and their families. Over the next few weeks the country felt united in our horror, there were petitions and an inquiry. The Cullen report. In response to the uproar two new Firearms Acts were passed outlawing private ownership of most handguns within the UK and we haven't had a mass shooting since.

At 20 I moved to Los Angeles where I remained for 10 years and I can't deny there was always a weird sense of weariness and disgust I felt toward the Cavalier audacity some people held towards the right to bare arms. I had a boyfriend that LOVED his gun collection, he slept with a fucking gun under his pillow when we first met, complete knob head. I would visit gun ranges with him occasionally and while it was fun to shoot at targets it just always felt like the guns were a desperate need for power I couldn't grasp the importance of.

I have family members living in the US now with ridiculous gun collections and we agree to disagree on the fascination.

I recently visited new Mexico for 3 months to work on a production and we had crew that had been present on Rust when the accidental shooting took place killing Halyna Hutchins. It was the first time I had ever witnessed Americans with such a collective agreement that change is needed on sets when it comes to the handling of firearms, and it's happening.

At no point do I believe the country will collectively come together to overcome the power house that is the NRA or update out of date rights that have no place in today's world. I won't consider returning to the US permanently until my kids are out of school age, I couldn't risk it or even consider the possibility. It's madness to me that a country who will take a way a woman's right to abortion for the sake of the unborn child WILL allow classrooms full of kids to be slaughtered each year...but as you pointed out, they answer to the money.

The politicians who take money from the NRA have blood on the hands in my opinion, how dare they even send their empty thoughts and prayers. Disgusting hypocrisy that just adds insult to injury.

My heart breaks for the families and honestly The Onion is spot on. I saw first hand a country come together and say no to slaughtering kids, amend and update laws, and put a stop to it, at the time it felt insane to consider any other response! America is far too far down the lobbying rabit hole... Heartbreaking.

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I am former kindergarten teacher of 15+ years in North Carolina (Peace out Madison Cawthorn). I grew up in the Midwest in northern Indiana (American-as shameful as that feels sometimes to admit).

It feels at the moment like we are driving behind the wheel of an 18 wheel truck on a mountain road and our steering has just gone out. Things are out of control. Its hard to keep up with all the news of all the terrible things happening around our world with out getting sucked into the dark Donny Darko rabbit hole we call our reality.

I say to myself, my teacher friends and family is this real life? Feels like a dystopian novel. I can not imagine having kids in this day and age. For myself it is one of the many reasons I chose not to have them.

For me, money, corruption and power are at the forefront of all of these issues. The past presidency seemed to open my eyes to immense amount of humans in this country who would drink the purple Kool-Aid. The radical thinking, that must have been there all along, just waiting to rear it's ugly head. When you think that there are enough people to ELECT individuals who promote hate, intolerance, eliminating women's rights and so on it blows your mind. Most of whom run on a God/religious basis! They don't even hide it they use it as a weapon boastfully!

Aside from politicians getting money from the NRA and other agencies I look to the people who elected them. Did these people always feel these things and we just didn't hear it as much? Or do they just feel safe now to spread their hateful views and thoughts to connect with the other crazies who feel the same way? Is it too much literal interpretations of religious text? Or do they feel threated by the movements to give voices and votes to the humans who have been marginalized and silenced for so long? Their "white power" felt like it could be taken away? IS that what sparked their revolution?

When you feel powerless as I do sometimes within all of this it is time for those of use who have sound mind and thoughts to ban together, speak up and VOTE. Not enough people do their in depth research and vote on the topics that are important. Nor do I think that they know how to find the real information behind the lies and big media control.

The past few months I cry at least once a week about everything going on. Not just out of sadness but out of fear and anger. To add some context I usually never cry.

The problem feels so vast and deep that I don't know how my one drop in the ocean of a voice can be heard and make a difference.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

One point: prof. Heather Cox Richardson pointed out that the right to "bear arms" when that was written meant the right to participate in a militia, not merely to own/carry arms. She has a historical take on this aspect of American culture. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-24-2022?s=r

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May 27, 2022Liked by David Farrier

I replied to the newsletter via email and David suggested I share my response here:

I live in Texas. We got an email from our daughter’s daycare center reassuring us that they do ‘emergency preparedness’ drills every month. She’s 2 years old. The same message said ‘we’ll continue to protect your sweet babies with all the resources we have’, and I believe them, but what resources are going to protect a 2 year old from an AR-15, and why should it be up to daycare teachers to figure it out? I’m terrified to drop her off at school.

We move back to New Zealand in September (which I was a bit miserable about until this week) and I’m wondering if I keep her in daycare for another couple of months. Do I believe in my heart of hearts we can make it another four months without kids being shot to death at school? Is she safe? Is this gun obsession going to creep outside of America anyway?

I don’t talk to people about it because I don’t want to hear about people’s obsession with guns. Whenever I see pro-gun bumper stickers and t-shirts and whatever else I feel sick.

It’s all depressing as total fuck.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

I feel like I’m trapped in a car that’s sinking in a lake, slowly watching the oxygen bubble out, and the water fill up. I have a 4 year old and I am genuinely scared for her future. If it was easy to leave the country, I would. I feel like we are on a path to civil war, but how would that look? It’s not really a regional difference. I live in NY and the Buffalo shooter lived about an hour north of me. You drive around upstate and see people flying confederate flags from their porches. How does something like this shake out? It hurts thinking about it.

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I found it so hard to read after those tweets from the senators who have taken money/bribes from the NRA. This makes me so mad and I can't even believe they are still going ahead with their annual meeting in Houston - talk about tone deaf.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

Everytime I hear these death dealing fuckmuppets talk about "hardening schools" I cringe, and pity the kids who actually have to go to these schools and conduct their active shooter training drills. Like, when the fuck did a place of education and fostering young minds need to be a secure facility? No wonder the upcoming generations are riddled with anxiety.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

I was a teacher in the US where I recall my middle school going into lockdown because of threats of shootings (undercover cops came onto campus and everything) and then a teacher in NZ (in my 1st year here I took a box cutter off a student because back home it would be considered a weapon but here it turned out it was for his tech class). It took a while to stop worrying about violence so much. I don't know if I could teach in the US again as its so much worse now.

I do think social media needs to be held accountable for spreading right-wing / NRA spin. The NZ gun buy-back policy was seen by my conservative American family members as authoritarian boot-stomping because facebook 'red feed' tells them so. I would say the gun problem has to be treated as a public health problem requiring multi-sector cooperation but for decades the NRA and GOP blocked the CDC from even collecting data related to guns and shootings. 100 people a day die from guns in the America - most of them from suicide - with high concentrations in veterans. You'd think the GOP would have their back with all their talk but that's a fat NOPE. Even Democrats have been weak af to make any actually brave moves.

The US didn't seem to do a great job in terms of collective action against Covid - BUT - it did do SOME collective action that was relatively unprecedented. That same scale of action is required and on some of the same fronts. Fight misinformation. Provide resources and incentives to shift behaviors. Empower organizations that have been doing the hard yards behind the scenes (there are NGOs and CBOs with strategies, and school shootings have led to parent-led groups - give them what they need to reach other parents with their message, to collect and protest any politician with NRA backing, etc). Get Meta et al to put just as many warning links on probable bullshit gun propaganda as they did for Covid.

I'm grasping. I just know the onus should not be on teachers and kids to 'train' for the battle the Democrats lost.

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The hardest part of all this is that most Americans DO want to change this, we so desperately do, but all we can do is tell these people who swear they will help, we vote for them because they say they will change things, and then they go to DC and do nothing. It's infuriating.

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

The blame for the mass shootings sits squarely with the Republican senators who have blocked the necessary legislation for the last 5 years

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The reason America's horrific gun problems aren't solved is the same as the reason why NZ's housing problem isn't being solved. Politicians don't have the inclination to fix it because it's too big, too hard, or too unpopular. The people who profit from the crisis are too powerful. People get hurt, children die, families are torn apart and destroyed, world over probably, in the name of "pragmatism". I'd be fascinated to find out just how many political people went into politics for the right reasons, or with ideals, and just got worn down or easily compromised their morals for the sake of power. God help us...

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The NRA is too powerful for anyone to stop. They have too much money. For every person in the US, there are three guns. These people call the 2nd Amendment their God-given right, but none ask themselves if Jesus would be a gun owner, much less their white nationalist God. As a voter, I feel utterly helpless. Anyone know of any countries seeking Audio/Media work? Visa or bust, anywhere but here. Please?

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I’m England it took 1 single gun attack on a school to get guns banned and it’s never happened since, I cannot fathom having guns around - not just in schools but in shops or public transport or anywhere, not even homes!

I don’t think gun laws in America will ever change, if you can let children die and not change anything then what will?

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May 26, 2022Liked by David Farrier

Well written David.

What I don't understand is how donations to corrupt politicians translates into a freeze on change the majority wants. Sure, the politicians vote they way they've been bribed, but who votes for them? Is it not possible for those wanting change to out bid the NRA? When will the hand wringing and praying convert into useful outrage and resource the politicians who have courage and morality?

I don't believe America has a lower average IQ than the rest of the world, but it might be a logical conclusion.

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