'Fearful and trigger happy': flooded with guns and paranoia, the US reels from shootings

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) Waldes Thomas and Diamond Darville were driving for the grocery delivery service Instacart near Miami in mid-April when they drove the order up to the wrong address.

Thomas, 19, and Darville, 18, reportedly told authorities they were backing away from the home when the owner emerged with his son, grabbed on to the driver’s window and fired a gun three times at their car. Antonio Caccavale, who didn’t hit anyone, later reportedly claimed to police who investigated the encounter that he shot because he feared for his and his son’s lives as Thomas and Darville’s car ran over his foot and struck a boulder.

Eventually, police concluded everyone – including Caccavale – acted “justifiably based on the circumstances they perceived”, leading to no arrests.

It remains to be seen whether the police’s interpretation of the case is the final word on the matter. A local prosecutor told ABC News in a statement that he would evaluate whether Caccavale should be charged, adding that “the safety of the entire Instacart community is incredibly important” to his office.

Nonetheless, that case, along with a spate of recent shootings across the country which victimized Americans who approached property owners by mistake or for an otherwise innocent reason, did not only vividly illustrate how the US is flooded with guns. It all also showed how people who are made paranoid by the nation’s bitter political climate believe they can use guns with impunity thanks to firearms laws and self-defense statutes that in many states are remarkably permissive, according to experts who spoke with the Guardian this week.

“A lot of people who shouldn’t have guns, who don’t need them, who don’t know how to use them safely … are fearful and trigger happy,” said the president of Global Action on Gun Violence, Jonathan Lowy. “And it’s inevitable that that will lead to tragedies like we’re seeing.” ..............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/30/usa-gun-crime-paranoia-self-defense-gun-laws

[Buns_of_Fire]

1. "Land of the free and home of the brave." You bet.

I wonder how some of these fools find the courage to peek out from under the sheets every morning.

[70sEraVet]

2. It's frightening to think that every time i use someone's driveway to turn around,

that the property owner feels free to take a shot at me.
'Freedom', apparently. At least, for SOMEONE!

[Irish_Dem]

3. Americans aren't reeling, they are sitting on their hands doing nothing.

We wondered how the Germans could let Hitler kill their fellow citizens with impunity.

How is the current state of affairs in the US any different?

Corrupt politicians insist that Americans become angry, full of rage and have
a strong desire for revenge over made up issues.
And then they give everyone an assault rifle.

So we have an American gestapo who gleefully kills American citizens.

And WE THE PEOPLE pretend they have nothing to do with it.
Refuse to take responsibly and perform their civic duty.

All paths lead back to the American voter.
Same people who look like they are going to vote to end democracy.

Yes color me DISGUSTED.

[DFW]

4. It's not an American Gestapo who is doing the killing

Gestapo is an abbreviation for Geheime StaatsPolizei—Secret State Police. They were organized, chose their victims with precision, and definitely did not like for guns to be in rhe hands of private citizens who might shoot back.

What seems to be slowly developing is sort of a Mad Max scenario. Not everyone is armed, but the crazier you are, the more likely you are to be armed.

By the same token, I was just on a quick visit to the USA, in New York City, northern Virginia, Dallas and Chicago. Outside of cops and airport security, I didn‘t see one firearm.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Dear DFW, we usually agree, but I am going to disagree with you now.

1. There are organized, precise groups here in the US
who wish to bring down the US. And in fact tried to over throw
the US government.

2. I am 100% going to stand by my nomenclature.

There is an American version of the Gestapo here in the US.
Created by the GOP. Who are murdering their fellow Americans.
The GOP creates a hate filled populace and hands them all assault rifles.

3. You are not living in the US. Whether you see guns or not,
the fear is here. Most Americans wonder when their number is going to
come up. At any time we can be killed. No one is safe at all.
You live in a safe country and take it for granted.
Americans know they don't live in a safe country any more.

4. The GOP doesn't care how many people they kill to achieve their
goals of permanent power and total access to US wealth.

[TexasDem69]

6. What version of the Gestapo

In the US is going around murdering Americans? The Gestapo were an arm of the German state.

[DFW]

7. Dissent acknowledged. To your 4 points:

1. No argument with any of what you said, but it‘s not (yet, anyway!) an official federal government organization doing it.

2. Disagree for the reasons above. Another term of Trump or Cheney, and we would get it, but I don‘t think a Democratic administration would go there.

3. True that I‘m living in Germany, and the mortal danger from Federal organizations is pretty much not there, but their extreme permissiveness toward armed organized crime in a densely populated country—continent, really—makes some parts dangerous to get caught in. Not yet as widespread as in the USA, but not totally „safe,“ either.

4. We don‘t have much disagreement here. Their thirst for insatiable wealth and unlimited social control exceeds all conceivable boundaries of civilization. If some AI super computer, labeling itself Republican, were to take over the country, I‘m not sure they‘d even notice.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. What does it take?!

Shooting small children didn't do it - a Republican as a shooting victim didn't do it. Steve Scalise was critically wounded during a shooting, yet he still supports and speaks out for gun ownership. And it's spreading, we had yet another inexpiable death in my-neck-of-the-woods here in New York when a recent high school graduate was shot and killed for turning around in the wrong driveway.