LDS Teenager Murdered at her High School in Parkland

[_Morley]

Asking for your indulgence - I came into work today because my wife was going to be at the funeral for Alaina Petty.

Mourners are gathered at the Coral Springs Stakehouse - very likely far more than would normally attend Stake Conference. As the Mormons on the board will understand, if the parents hold Stake positions, which her parents did, then pretty much everyone in the stake will know their teenage children. That's just the way it works. There will likely be many non-members from her school as well because Alaina was a smart, talented and popular young woman.

Today, LDS parents will have to explain to their young children what happened and why Alaina will not be at Church any more. Then they will have to come up with an answer when the kids ask if the same thing will happen at their school.

Those on the board who are convinced that a 19 year old should be allowed to buy an AR-15 should to go to:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-school-shooting-these-are-17-victims-n848706

and have a look at Alaina's photograph and short biosketch. They need to think about the fact that she will never have the chance to grow up, marry, raise a family, or even have a life. They need to ask if things can continue the way the are in this country when it comes to the laws and culture that permit this kind of tragedy approximately every three days (at least 18 times so far this year).

Then look at the other 16 photographs, and think about the new reality for the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of parents and children in South Florida, Washington State (my daughter's family), and elsewhere, who knew, loved, cared for and even depended on, one or more of these victims.

These were innocent people with families. They were brutally murdered for the simple reason that Republicans are convinced that a 19 year old kid should have ready legal access to a highly lethal military style weapon - one that was designed for no other reason than to efficiently kill human beings.

Today is a holiday so no one else is in the office - no one to be embarrassed at seeing the tears in this old man's eyes.

Thank you for posting this, DrW.

[_Jersey Girl]

It's hard to know where to begin to address all of this. I'll have a go at a couple of things just using this current tragedy as a model. Thinking on the screen here...

FBI background check:

My understanding is that the FBI background checks require a 3-day turnaround time--why? Why can't we make that longer so the FBI can do a deeper check? My own FBI background check took a month. I have no idea what the difference is. I was fingerprinted and did both Fed and State background checks.

State background check:

I've never purchased a weapon myself. I don't know how long a state background check takes for the purchase of firearms. I read somewhere in my online travels, that a state background check for Walmart is done at the register, I'm assuming it uses the DL as the reference. My own state background check took far longer than that. Again, I have no idea what the difference is between a background check for a teaching professional vs purchase of a gun.

Background check failures:

There was no information on the Florida shooter in either the Fed or State database because the folks who were in a position to create an arrest record on the shooter, failed to do so. In some of those incidents, his therapist showed up on the scene, medicated him (wth does that mean exactly? Was he already on meds? Was he compliant?) He'd had upwards of 30 calls for domestic violence or incidents of threatening behaviors, and authorities failed to arrest him. Had they done so, my understanding is that it would have kicked back the background check and he wouldn't have been able to purchase the last weapon, the AR15 used in the mass shooting.

[_Maksutov]

Hypocrisy is politicians taking NRA money and tweeting thoughts and prayers. They don't give a ____. It ain't about me. And unlimited abortion is not directly funded by the government, so you're a liar. You're so desperate to shift blame that you'll throw anything at the wall. Pathetic.

This is how ____ ing ridiculous things are with these people:

Elementary School - Get shot.

High School - Get shot.

College and University - Get shot.

Go to the movies - Get shot.

Go to club - Get shot.

Ok. Go to COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL - Get shot.

Hanging out in my yard - Get shot.

Depressed. - Shoot myself.

Just zero ____ ing empathy to do anything about the problem. Get. Rid. Of. Guns. Treat mental illness. Provide birth control. There you go. This isn't a ____ ing mystery.

- Doc

They have to get shot themselves, like Ronald Reagan. Or maybe have their own kids die.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/opini ... -bill.html

Just out of curiosity, can you pack heat into General Conference?

[_Jersey Girl]

DrW,

I am so sorry for what you yourself are going through today, not to mention your wife, her church family and the family of Alaina. I don't know that we can get through to people until it hits home for them and the tragedy has a face. Or many faces.

Our family went through such a situation that I only allude to and refrain from detailing on this board because it is deeply personal. An incident that involved mental illness that was both hidden and untreated, psychotic break, physical assault, gun related suicide, and the treatment of trauma and complicated grief that lasted for years that also involved at least one suicide attempt on the part of the other person who was present at the time, and multiple hospitalizations following that.

I was the one who recognized the suicide attempt for what it was. Don't think I didn't suffer my own trauma that night.

While we are batting around gun rights vs gun control, while folks are debating what consititutes an assault weapon, while folks are side tracking abortion that only serves to muddy the waters of this conversation, we are screwing with the future of this society.

At the risk of repeating myself, there were 3,000 students present in the school the day of the Florida shooting. Some were not close to the shooting itself, those who were close to the shooting are dealing with PTSD as I write this. No question about it.

Some of them are right now or will later, have auditory and olfactory flashbacks of the incident. They will, in a fully waking state, hear and smell the gun just like my family member did. Any loud noise and sometimes a smell, will trigger them, just like my family member. It could be a door slamming, a car backfiring, someone dropping an object on the floor.

Some will relive via flashbacks, the sensation of laying on the floor of the classroom when one of their classmates falls and DIES ON TOP OF THEM. It's a given that some percentage of that student body were already being treated for anxiety/depression to start with.

It doesn't matter if they were up close to the shooting, ALL of the 3,000 lost their friends, their boyfriends and girlfriends. ALL of the 3,000 are suffering as I type this post.

PTSD is a situation where the victim relives and rethinks the incident on a continuous loop. Even if the victim is medicated early on, the continuous loop is still present. It takes weeks, months, and sometimes years to break that cycle. Some are never able to break it at all.

The students who were present at school the day of the Florida shooting had a right to live a LIFE. They had a right to make plans, set goals and achieve them. Some of those kids would have been our doctors to see us through our old age. They would have been our medical professionals, our teachers, served in the military, taken jobs in business, been our accountants, our restauranteers, our lab techs, our mechanics, our cosmeticians, our barbers, our scientists, (insert any profession you interacted with and depended on in the last week) and we have let 3,000 students be subject to damage that will prevent them from successfully living out the trajectory of what would have been their normal lives.

Why? Because some of us adults aren't willing to trade OUR right to own a damned gun for the lives of these 3,000 students. An inanimate object that this week, had the capacity to “F” up the lives of 3,000 critical participants in our future society.

The situation is such that now America's children are taking it to the streets because America's adults care more about their damned guns than they do their own children.

[_Maksutov]

The situation is such that now America's children are taking it to the streets because America's adults care more about their ____ guns than they do their own children.

Gun fanatics are relying on the implied threat of their guns to quell much of their opposition. It has worked somewhat, in tandem with legislation, lobbying, etc. But if the situation does not improve, you are going to risk a mass movement.

Imagine a movement of mothers of murdered children. Remember that Gandhi was able to break the British Empire with soft power and nonaggression, using people who were ready to die for their cause. If the cultists start shooting down the mothers, other gun owners will turn on them and the current regime will fracture. But it might take something that horrific.

[Guest]

Alaina Petty's Funeral

my wife called. As anticipated, she said that the Stakehouse was packed back to the stage, on to the stage, and into the classrooms with speakers. All were filled to capacity.

Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott was in attendance and the service was apparently carried live by the Church satellite network. A remote service with a satellite link was held in Redmond, Washington where the Pettys lived for many years before moving to Parkland.

My daughter and her family who live in Redmond attended. They were good friends with the Petty's when the Pettys lived in Washington State. The service in Redmond was also well attended.

Slides of Alaina's life that were shown during the service included images of my 14 year old granddaughter in some of the group photos. My daughter said that my granddaughter was extremely distraught when she saw them.

Rick Scott (who was an former chief executive and unindicted co-conspirator in the United Health Care criminal proceedings) showed up to help maintain Republicanism among Mormons. He wants to run for the Senate when his term as governor expires. Think he will try to do anything about sane gun legislation? Not a chance.

Back to the comments of Jersey Girl, who stated that there would be hundreds at risk for longer term psychological damage because of the shooting.

Some quick math: at the very least, a thousand people attended the funeral services for Alaina Petty in Florida and Washington. For everyone who attended (like my wife), there was certainly at least one person (like DrW) who did not, but has been affected by the shooting.

Let's mark Alaina at 2,000. We can safely do likewise, on average, for the remaining victims - especially considering some of them were teachers and coaches who would have touched the lives of thousands in their careers.

Jersey Girl's concern for widespread adverse psychological effects, even when just considering friends and extended family, would seem to be well founded. The directly affected cohort (family, friends and acquaintances ), from what is now being called the Stoneman Douglas shooting, is already more than 30,000 people by this back of the envelope calculation. This is in addition to every one of the 3000 student in the school and their parents and families. Where are we now? 50,000?

So that's it. Think about it.

Alaina is no longer able to do so. Neither are 16 others.

[_cinepro]

Just out of curiosity, can you pack heat into General Conference?

I went to General Conference for the first time last fall, and there were metal detectors at the entrances, so I'm guessing "no."

[_DrW]

The students who were present at school the day of the Florida shooting had a right to live a LIFE. They had a right to make plans, set goals and achieve them. Some of those kids would have been our doctors to see us through our old age. They would have been our medical professionals, our teachers, served in the military, taken jobs in business, been our accountants, our restauranteers, our lab techs, our mechanics, our cosmeticians, our barbers, our scientists, (insert any profession you interacted with and depended on in the last week) and we have let 3,000 students be subject to damage that will prevent them from successfully living out the trajectory of what would have been their normal lives.

Why? Because some of us adults aren't willing to trade OUR right to own a damned gun for the lives of these 3,000 students. An inanimate object that this week, had the capacity to “F” up the lives of 3,000 critical participants in our future society.

The situation is such that now America's children are taking it to the streets because America's adults care more about their damned guns than they do their own children.

Students are beginning to mobilize. People down here, students and parents alike, are saying, "This time is different". And they backing it up with action. Unlike Columbine and Sandy Hook, these kids are older and more affluent. Most importantly, they have the benefit of nearly a decade of great improvement and growth in the social media networks.

Likewise with kids in liberal Redmond, Washington (the home of Microsoft), and probably many parents as well. It's likely that metropolitan Seattle will be another epicenter for a groundswell of support for some kind students vs. guns political action movement.

[_Jersey Girl]

Students are beginning to mobilize. People down here, students and parents alike, are saying, "This time is different". And they backing it up with action. Unlike Columbine and Sandy Hook, these kids are older and more affluent. Most importantly, they have the benefit of nearly a decade of great improvement and growth in the social media networks.

Likewise with kids in liberal Redmond, Washington (the home of Microsoft), and probably many parents as well. It's likely that metropolitan Seattle will be another epicenter for a groundswell of support for some kind students vs. guns political action movement.

I mentioned that there was a difference this time in an earlier post. Not sure if it was this thread. What I am seeing is not so much victims who are weakened by this, but an attitude of total outrage that we haven't quite seen before. You would have thought that Sandy Hook would have been the tipping point.

I say that the tipping point is Florida. I don't know why it has taken this long or so many lives lost. But I say the opportunity for real change is here and now.

Parents and young folks alike are lashing out in a way we've never seen before. They are telling the administration and America itself that they can stuff their thoughts and prayers, that they want ACTION. They're angry as hell.

I noticed a sign being held in front of the White House today by students during a lie in protest, it read to the effect "Is Congress or the NRA making our laws?"

Our children aren't stupid. They are awake and aware, and they are rising up in their own defense. How pathetic a statement is that on who we are as a nation?

Of all the reports I've seen regarding the Florida shootings, THIS is the one that made me think that something is different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cmaeYG3EIE

That's a mother who is in full on outrage. She's putting President feet to the fire. That's the hand that rocks the cradle right there. She's wounded, she's grieving, she's damned mad as hell. It seems to me, that she is one of the voices that has changed the tone of the narrative.

[_Jersey Girl]

Two student reports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoM2_0qvaIU

Please take a moment to watch and listen.