This Dark Corner Of The Internet Celebrates Mass Shootings, Creating A Hateful Culture That Breeds Gunmen
These online forums, like 8chan, that extol shooters, mass violence, and other toxic ideals are becoming a battleground for law enforcement to find the next possible threats to public safety. But the anonymity in which they thrive can make the process difficult. Meanwhile, in other gun violence news: San Francisco designates the NRA a "domestic terrorist organization"; President Donald Trump hints at a coming proposal; active shooting drills becoming a frightening norm for school kids; politicians in red states walk a careful regulation line; and more.
The Wall Street Journal:
‘So What’s His Kill Count?’: The Toxic Online World Where Mass Shooters Thrive
Less than two weeks after a gunman killed more than 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand, law-enforcement officials found a disturbing piece of graffiti outside a San Diego County mosque that had been set on fire. “For Brenton Tarrant -t./pol/,” it read. The cryptic message, which paid homage to the alleged New Zealand shooter and a dark corner of the internet where such shootings are celebrated, foreshadowed a string of violence. In April, one month after the graffiti appeared, John Earnest, the man who police say vandalized the mosque, allegedly attacked a nearby synagogue, leaving one person dead. Then, in August, a shooting in an El Paso Walmart killed 22. One week later, a Norwegian man allegedly opened fire at an Oslo mosque. (Wells and Lovett, 9/4)
The New York Times:
San Francisco Declares The N.R.A. A ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization’
Unsettled by recent mass shootings across the nation, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution this week declaring the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization. The resolution was introduced by Supervisor Catherine Stefani on July 30, two days after a shooting at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif., in which three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured. (Padilla, 9/4)
Politico:
Trump Teases Action On Gun Control 'Soon' But Is Coy On Specifics
President Donald Trump maintained Wednesday that he hopes to quickly see legislative action to address a spate of mass shootings, but he remained coy about what exactly he would support. Fielding questions from reporters following a White House event on the opioid crisis, the president said that any gun reform proposal would need to be bipartisan. (Oprysko, 9/4)
The Associated Press:
Facebook Ads Underscore Trump's Mixed Messages On Guns
President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that he wanted to move quickly on gun violence legislation, but his new push came just days after posting an ad on his official Facebook page that defended the Second Amendment and warned that Democrats were looking to seize Americans' firearms. Under growing pressure to deliver some form of gun control package following mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, Trump told reporters in the White House, "I would like to see it happen soon." (Lemire, 9/4)
The New York Times:
When Active-Shooter Drills Scare The Children They Hope To Protect
After the first day of school at Mark T. Sheehan High School in Wallingford, Conn., Mackenzie Bushey, a 15-year-old junior, came home upset that a teacher enforced a no-cellphones policy by confiscating students’ phones before class. She needed her cell, Mackenzie told her family last month, to notify police should a gunman attack her school. And also, she said, “to say my final goodbye to you.” Mackenzie’s mother, Brenda Bushey, blames her daughter’s fears on monthly active-shooter drills at Sheehan High. (Williamson, 9/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Authorities Suspect Man Of Making And Selling Gun Used In Texas Shooting
Law-enforcement officials said they have identified a person of interest they suspect of illegally manufacturing and selling the rifle used in Saturday’s mass shooting in West Texas. Authorities were in the process of investigating the Lubbock, Texas, man, whose identity they haven’t released, and were seeking to question him late Wednesday at his residence, officials said. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been trying to piece together how Seth Aaron Ator was able to purchase the AR-15-style rifle he used to kill seven people and wound 22 before police shot and killed him. (Frosch, Gurman and Elinson, 9/4)
The Associated Press:
Texas Governor Resists Calls For Quick Votes After Shooting
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday rejected calls from Democrats for immediate votes on new gun safety measures in Texas following a violent August that began and ended with mass shootings that left 29 people dead and injured dozens more. The Texas Legislature doesn't meet again until 2021. That means any new Texas laws in response to two gunmen — both armed with assault-style rifles — opening fire at a Walmart in El Paso and an hour-long rampage in West Texas are at least two years away, unless the governor takes the rare step of ordering an emergency legislative session. (Silber and Weber, 9/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Martha McSally Walks Careful Line On Guns Ahead Of 2020
To open a meeting of local Republicans here last week, Butch Kuentzler had this message: “Red flag” laws, which allow families and law enforcement to remove guns from people deemed dangerous, are unconstitutional. Those laws are at the center of the current gun-policy debate, whose complicated politics are expected to dominate the legislative agenda when Congress returns to Washington next week from a recess scarred by a string of mass shootings. (Duehren, 9/5)
PBS NewsHour:
What Middle America Is Saying About Climate Change And Gun Violence
Catastrophic damage from Hurricane Dorian is putting natural disasters, and their potential connection to climate change, front and center in the U.S., but gun safety and a flood of Republican congressional retirements are also occupying public attention. Chris Buskirk of American Greatness and Colleen Nelson of the Kansas City Star join Judy Woodruff to discuss the politics of the three topics. (9/4)
Vox:
Caliber, Cartridges, And Bump Stocks: Guns, Explained For Non-Gun People
This past Saturday brought yet another mass shooting in the United States, yet another push for aggressive gun control from presidential candidates and the public alike, and reminders from President Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that they will resist efforts to implement new background checks or gun limitations. Gun control supporters are getting more ambitious in their rhetoric; presidential candidate and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke told a reporter that under his plan, if you own an AK-47 or AR-15, “you’ll have to sell them to the government.” That promises new debates about banning “assault weapons,” and with them discussions about what an “assault weapon” even is. (Matthews, 9/4)
