#uvalde shooting reform

[politijohn]

Nothing to hide if you did your job…

Release the records

[mightymorphinnegro]

This is Amerikkka

[strawlessandbraless]

Another Day, Another Mass Shooting in Texas

There have been more mass shootings than days in this year, that’s 192 mass shootings at the time of post. Enough is enough

See full thread with all links on Twitter

[aalt-ctrl-del]

Don't listen to those gun nuts. None of them, and I mean absolutely none of them, understand statistics. They couldn't tell me the difference between a p-value and a z-value, let alone how to calculate either. They throw out stats they don't understand. Nothing you said was wrong. We are desperately in need of common sense gun reform, and the good news is we are working getting there. If you can, vote and encourage others to vote too. The right candidate is on your ballot, but they can't help usher in the gun reform without your support.

True.

They love to talk about their guns and how the guns will keep us safe. Then when you discuss the people that get shot up in places where we don't expect, like groceries stores, places where you don't expect confrontation likes clubs, they can't handle it.

This was like one of the first shots of the police I saw when we got the bodycam footage

Good officers put their lives on the line for the people. They go out there to serve in these sort of situations, recognizing they may not make it home. Unlike Uvalde, where the cops were armed to the teeth in tactical gear and armor, Nashville's enforcers went in like they just got called out of the street (an oversimplification and does not warrant the time it took to prep for this engagement, in less than 10 minutes).

But the shooter had AR high caliber weapons. People killing guns. I know gun phillics like to defend these light-weight but powerful rifles, so that they can manage pest animals like 'prairie' dogs, but the yield of these weapons decimates the body. Forensic Investigators need dental records on some of the victims to identify who was slain. They're torn to pieces.

And that is just the children. Adults are larger, more hardy in structure. But a good clear shot will splint the head and eviscerate everything atop the spinal cord. If the body doesn't go down first, which is what did happen to the shooter - cause Nashville did try to apprehend without putting the shooter down.

This pixel right here

A body. Understandably, it was blurred. The officers called this person, knowing they were close to the shooter. This was right after they pass the pictures on the wall with the children.

So there is this thing with gun ownership, as with dealing with any sort of weapon. You need to comprehend the responsibility and undertake an amount of respect for the weapon. This is not a prop, this is not a 'hobbyist' collectors item. This is a functioning tool with a history attached to it. No other asset can be owned, that has the sort of history a gun or sword, or whatever sort of weapon like a deactivated grenade might hold.

Guns are vastly different. They have a difficult and sordid history, and people need to understand that when they think they should own this weapon. Because this is a weapon with a purpose, and that is part of the ownership of this tool.

One of the aspects of the tool is understand what to use it for. And for whatever reason, the correlation between this tool and its intended result... should be scrubbed. The gun philics don't want to associate their collectors item with a weapon of terror or slaying children - which is what it is now. You try and describe to them what these weapons are meant to do, what the lack of gun reform and dismissal of improved legislator will do, and they want to spit 'statistics' about violence in 'the hood' the technical term for 'mass shootings', and all the good that guns do for people.

Which valid. People have been allowed the right to protect themselves from small time thieves and opportunistic predators (human, btw). People have defended their families, their friends, because a gun was involved. To be American is to have that right that is listed in the constitution, and we should be proud of that right.

At the same time, these gun philics are very proud to own AR and high caliber weapons, people killer guns. Weapons meant for the chaos and messiness of war, the battlefield, the "kill them before they kill you" situation.

It is the equivalent of owning a severed finger. Or the skullcap of a child. or collecting the molars of people from the grocery store. The jawbone of a grandmother picking peaches from the produce section.

There is a balance with rules and rights. I have these rights, and so do others in the same category. I acknowledge my rights can be misconstrued, violated by those with unethical agendas. The factor that I would like this right, can be abused by someone else, and there are consequences for that right, for this privilege.

Gun philics demand to have their right, but revoke wanting to contend with the consequences. Rather work to better improve this right and prevent mass shooting events, they bawl "MY RIGHTS ARE BEING INFRINGED ON!! YOU CAN'T HAVE ALL MY GUNS!"

Then go bury their guns in a bunker like a demented squirrel.

You say, "These are the people slain by a weapon meant to kill people. This is what having those rights has done, and if we don't work now to fix it, we can expect more of this."

Then they scream, "THIS IS LEFTIST PROPAGANDA! YOU'RE SWAYING PEOPLE TO YOUR IDEA OF THINKING."

Propaganda would entail, I have adjusted the thing or presented it in a fashion which misconstrues the truth of an event. Or, I have fixed in in a manner which hides some facet of the context of the situation.

The forensic investigators and morticians have gone onto the stand for the trial of these mass shooting events, and that has been called propaganda. Telling the truth and nothing but that ugly truth, has been labeled propaganda. How the police doing their job, happening to march by a dead body maimed by a mass shooter, is suddenly propaganda, is beyond morbid. That is a dead body, we are going to look at this person, they are no longer going to be with their family, they will no longer visit friends. They were killed in the hallway of an elementary school, a few feet from pictures of smiling children.

And people will be upset for pointing that out. "it's too soon to pass legislate on guns." "We can't pass reform or study the laws today".

We should be looking at the dead bodies. We should be looking at the faces of the law enforcement as they march into these situations, to DO THEIR JOB CORRECTLY AND WITHOUT HESITATION, and instead of praising them for the masterful job they did or saying they are heroes, do better to pass reform, so they are not going into these narrow hallways to hunt down an active shooter.

The fact of the matter is, we are making the streets unsafe for the police force who are doing their job. We've left schools vulnerable to attack by these people, because the ones who seek a weapon for killing people with intent to kill people, either seek our children or vulnerable citizens in a space that should be safe. There will be no "good people" with guns, because the "bad person" with the gun has the people killing rifle, and whoever is the good person with the gun is more likely to be carrying a pistol and not in the right stance or position to go Rambo like they envision them self doing in the astronomically low value situation of someone coming into their area to shoot up a cinema.

A last note, people don't really get how fortunate Nashville was, that the shooter confessed they were going to go out and shoot up a school. That the police got there and got inside, and that everything did go as it was meant to. But despite all that, we have casualties. It could have been worse, it could have been better, but the fact of it all is that it should not have happened in the first place.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

NEARLY FOUR HUNDRED???

[wondernwriter]

I cannot imagine that pain & rage

[cyarsk52-20]

[rhpotter]

Let's talk about new developments from Uvalde and policy....

Beau lays down some hard truths about what arming teachers REALLY means.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

You know, at this point I think Republicans actively want more school shootings because they hate public schools and want parents to pull their kids to be homeschooled instead. They've proven time and time again that they DO NOT GIVE A SHIT WHETHER CHILDREN LIVE OR DIE, it's disgusting, it's monstrous, they're fucking demons! There will never be any reforms, no changes, no solutions, just more death, over and over and over, forever! When Uvalde happened, I told myself that I didn't want to forget it. I didn't want to forget the names and faces, but these shootings happen so often they all just blue together and politicians pretend it's no big deal. There will never be a tipping point for them. This is completely normal. This is what they want. This is what half the fucking country wants, and I just can't wrap my head around how fucking vile that is. We are trapped in a society of sociopaths! What will it take to fix this? The only answer I can think of is illegal to say, and even then they would refuse to budge. I fucking hate this country. I want nothing more than to move away. God damn the United States.

[injuredcyclist]

Nothing says ‘hey, we’re assholes!’ like voting to censure a guy that represents Uvalde, TX for voting for a gun reform bill.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Parents and family members of children who were killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, demonstrated in front of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) mansion early on Saturday morning, demanding that he call a special session of the legislature to address gun violence.

The family members, joined by members of the gun reform organization March for Our Lives, gathered around 5:15 am on Saturday to protest the governor’s inaction. Some of the parents held portraits of their children who had been murdered. They also played audio of their children laughing and playing over a loudspeaker, pausing at times to shout the names of their children and to condemn Abbott’s refusal to promote gun reform legislation after the May shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.

“Our kids are going back to school and asking, ‘Will I be next?'” said Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was among those killed in the shooting.

The family members demanded that Abbott call a special session of the state legislature to raise the age to buy assault rifles and other semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21.

“You do not give a damn, you care more about our guns than you do our children…We remember them, and we are going to make damn well sure that you do to,” said Brett Cross, uncle and legal guardian to Uziyah Garcia, who was killed in the massacre.

The early morning protest was followed by a larger demonstration on the steps of the State Capitol building, where family members continued to call for gun reform, including Ann Rodriguez, the mother of shooting victim Maite Rodriguez.

“I want to be able to speak about her but also talk about how her life was so meaninglessly taken by this 18-year-old kid who was able to purchase these weapons of war and ammunition, and how I am demanding that the age go up in a special session,” Rodriguez told NPR. “I’m not going to ask — I’m going to demand.”

A spokesperson for Abbott wrote in an email to HuffPost that the governor is leaving "all options" on the table to address gun violence, and that "more announcements are expected in the coming days and weeks as the legislature deliberates proposed solutions."

Abbott has rejected formal requests by the Uvalde City Council, the County Commissioners Court, and the Uvalde school board to hold a special session on the issue. He has also told Uvalde family members directly that raising the age to buy assault rifles would be unconstitutional and that mental health initiatives should be the focus in reducing the number of mass shootings.

But experts say right-wing claims that mass shootings are driven by mental illness shift the focus away from holding gun manufacturers and legislators accountable, and could have detrimental outcomes for people who are mentally ill.

“People with serious mental illness who have access to firearms are no more likely to be violent than people living in the same neighborhoods who do not have mental illnesses,” wrote Brent Teasdale, a professor of criminal justice at Pennsylvania State University, and Miranda Lynne Baumann, then a doctoral candidate at Georgia State University’s criminal justice and criminology program, in a 2018 article for Truthout.

Putting restrictions on people with mental health issues could lead people to avoid seeking treatment, they added.

“There is certainly an argument to be made for the temporary removal of firearm access for individuals actively experiencing mental health crises,” Teasdale and Baumann added. “However, the threat of permanent loss of one’s Second Amendment right could cause harm. People might avoid treatment for fear of losing their guns.”

[reasoningdaily]

I know y'all are not planning on letting this mass murderer out of jail knowing that he is mentally unbalanced and still totally in need of care

This weekend marks 25 years since Thurston High School student Kip Kinkel murdered his parents, then opened fire on classmates in a cafeteria the next day.

Two students, Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson, died, while two dozen others were wounded.

The bodies of Bill and Faith Kinkel were discovered in their Springfield home shortly after. Their 15-year-old son was ultimately sentenced to 112 years in prison for four murders and multiple charges of attempted murder.

Dan Hagengruber visits the Thurston Memorial and Wall in Springfield, Ore., on May 20, 2023. He was among the staff at Sacred Heart Hospital who treated two dozen shooting victims from Thurston High School on May 21, 1998.

Brian Bull / KLCC

“Sacred ground,” he said, taking in the scene. “It’s good to be here. Good to see what’s been done, and the memory of those who were lost and injured, and some of the heroics that happened that day.”

Though it was Hagengruber’s first visit to the memorial site, he’s very familiar with the details of the shooting.

On May 21, 1998, Hagenbruber was on duty as an anesthesiologist at Sacred Heart Hospital in Springfield. He remembers seeing more than 20 kids rushed in that day: all had been shot by their classmate, Kip Kinkel.

“I grabbed as many drugs as I could hold in my pockets, not knowing how long I’d be there, or who I’d be taking care of,” he said. “I’d never responded to something like that.”

At the time, the Thurston school shooting was seen as an anomaly. It preceded the mass shooting at Columbine by nearly a year.

In the decades since, mass shootings in schools and elsewhere have become a frequent occurrence in the U.S., including Sandy Hook, Parkland, and Uvalde. Gun control, juvenile justice reform, the role of mental health in mass shootings, and school security remain issues in a recurring debate.

Not only did he handle shooting victims from Thurston, Hagengruber said, but he would later see a couple more from the 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College. Despite the tragic deaths of the two students and Kinkel’s parents, Bill and Faith Kinkel, Hagengruber said, he’s heartened by seeing the survivors grow up and live their best lives.

Related: Years after school shooting in Springfield, Oregon, wounded student’s life has taken on a remarkable trajectory

“Hope we can use this as a place to reflect and learn and grow, so that we can be a safer society overall,” he said.

Kinkel is 25 years into a 112-year prison sentence. The Oregon Supreme Court recently rejected his petition for a murder review hearing, which his attorney says he was entitled to after concurrently serving his four 25-year sentences for murder. Kinkel’s attorney says they will now go through the “more typical channels of legal review.”

In a statement shared with KLCC ahead of the anniversary, Kip Kinkel said he continues to have “tremendous remorse” for the harm he caused in May of 1998. He said he’s declined requests for interviews out of respect for the victims of his crimes and their loved ones, adding that “the sound of my voice may cause additional and unnecessary trauma.”

A file photo from May 2018, when roughly 200 people gathered in Springfield's William S. Fort Memorial Park to hold a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Thurston school shooting.

yes I deleted the replies of the other person because they became downright disrespectful. I also blocked them so don't expect to see any whiplash

[beardedmrbean]

Joe Biden misstated the date of the Parkland, Florida, attack that killed 17 people and injured 17 back in 2018, which at the time was considered the deadliest mass shooting to take place at a US high school.

While applauding lawmakers for the passage of a bipartisan gun reform bill that was signed into law in June, the US president began delivering remarks that stressed the need for more action to be undertaken by elected officials to protect the public from gun violence.

Mr Biden began citing recent incidents while also calling back to historic mass shootings to underscore the ongoing need to get gun legislation passed. He recalled the recent Uvalde, Texas, shooting that left 19 elementary-age children dead and the Highland Park Independence Day massacre where seven people were killed in broad daylight while attending a family parade.

“Fort Hood, Texas, 2009, 13 dead, 30 more injured. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 1918, 17 dead, 17 injured,” the president said, getting the dates and figures correct for the first mass shooting he cited, but mistaking the date of the 14 February Parkland attack as occurring 100 years before it happened.

On Valentine’s Day in 2018, expelled student Nikolas Cruz entered Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire on classmates using a legally purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

“In both places, red flag laws could’ve stopped both those shootings,” the president added, highlighting a portion of the $13bn (£10bn) measure that calls for states to adopt red-flag laws, which make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people deemed to be dangerous by law enforcement or family members.

The latest misquote from the US president arrived on the heels of a New York Times poll which found that most Democrats queried – more than 60 per cent – in the survey said they didn’t want the current commander-in-chief to seek reelection in 2024. A sizable 33 per cent of the respondents cited the 79-year-old president’s age as a chief concern. Three per cent noted that they didn’t believe he had the mental acuity to run for a second term.

In tandem with stating the incorrect date for the Parkland shooting, Mr Biden’s remarks on the South Lawn were also briefly knocked off kilter when he was interrupted mid-speech by a father whose 17-year-old son was killed during that 2018 Valentine’s Day mass shooting.

“We have to do more than that! I’ve been trying to tell you this for years,” said Manuel Oliver, a fierce advocate for pushing for stronger gun legislation since his teenage son’s untimely death.

Mr Biden, who asked the infuriated Mr Oliver to “sit down” and hear the rest of what he had to say before challenging him, asked the White House security to let the Florida-native stay. The man was escorted off the premises shortly after making the interruption.

Outlined in the gun reform bill is the inclusion of stricter background checks for young gun buyers, alongside programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

Speaking to the Miami Herald after the incident unfolded, Mr Oliver told reporters that there was “nothing to celebrate” because the recently passed gun reform law, in his opinion, doesn’t go nearly far enough to prevent the kind of mass shooting that robbed his 17-year-old son’s life more than four years ago.

“It’s a big lie. We lie between ourselves thinking we have a solution to this when we actually don’t. There was no need for this event. At all,” Mr Oliver said to the Florida newspaper. “It was my chance to say something to the president, and that’s a chance we don’t have every single day.”

Prior to the event, Mr Oliver had the chance to meet with the president, the White House said, during which Mr Biden agreed with the grieving father that more progress needs to be made on gun legislation.

“The president met with him earlier today before the event,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday at her daily briefing. “He agrees that we need to do more.”

[silvermoon424]

You know what? We can't let the higher ups forget about what happened in Uvalde. I'm still pissed off about it because alot of deaths been prevented!!! This isn't fucking normal! School shootings should NEVER be normalized and kids and teenagers shouldn't live in fear everytime they go to school! I hate this country so much! I honestly don't care if the USA collapsed. I'm sick of the BS that happens everyday in the USA.

I honestly hope and pray that Uvalde will be the straw that broke the camel's back for a lot of people when it comes to how we view the police at least. Well, white people in particular. POC have known the truth about the cops since forever, and a lot of white people did wake up to the truth following the George Floyd incident (and similar incidents in preceding years), but I've noticed that a lot of white people have finally gotten sick and tired of making excuses for the cops after witnessing them literally stand around being cowards for hours while children were murdered.

Is it fucked up that we had to get to that point instead of white people just listening to POC? Yeah, of course. But I do think we're finally getting to a point where the true nature of the cops- that they're a bunch of spineless thugs who abuse their power and uphold systemic oppression but can't be depended on to protect the people when it actually matters- is becoming too obvious for even brainwashed Americans to ignore anymore. "Defund the police" may still be controversial, but at least a lot of people are acknowledging that police reform is desperately needed (someone needs to tell that to the politicians who keep throwing money at cops tho).

That being said, I do think we're still hopelessly lost on the issue of school shootings. Conservatives refuse to budge an inch on gun control while simultaneously refusing to do anything about mental healthcare (which they claim is the real culprit). I really hate to say it but I don't think any amount of murdered children will ever change American conservative's minds on these issues.

[theyoungturks]

During a House committee hearing with major gun manufacturer CEOs, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brilliantly cornered the CEOs on their roles in perpetuating the gun violence epidemic in the country. AOC showed advertisements that featured white supremacist militia-branded weapons and a man with a tattoo associated with white supremacy, bolstering her argument that gun companies knowing pander to domestic terror groups, increasing the chances of another hate-fueled shooting happening in the future. Ana Kasparian and Emma Vigeland discuss on The Young Turks. Watch LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live Read more HERE: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/aoc-guns-mass-shooting-congress-b2132789.html "New York Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez confronted CEOs of gun manufacturer companies during a tense hearing on Wednesday. Testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the parents of one of the children killed in the Uvalde massacre, Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel and Ruger CEO Christopher Killoy maintained their companies have played no part in the epidemic of mass shootings in the US. During the hearing, Ms Ocasio-Cortez showed one Daniel Defense 2017 ad featuring an image of a shooter with a tattoo of a Valknot, a Norse symbol that has become increasingly popular among far-right and white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys, the boogaloo boys, and the Oath Keepers." *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews 220728__TA02_AOC_Confronts_Gun_Makers by The Young Turks

[90363462]

Matthew McConaughey’s White House Speech on Gun Control Hit Different – Here’s Why

Bianca MercuriJune 13, 2022

Tuesday, June 7, 2022, Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey appeared at the White House press briefingto ask congress to pass gun control legislation on behalf of the children and teachers who were killed in the Uvalde massacre.

RELATED: Teflon Tom: Why Tom Cruise Remains Hollywood’s Top Gun – Despite His Controversial Reputation

Mass shootings in the U.S. are more common than many citizens would like to admit, with more than 250 mass shootings taking place in the US in 2022 alone. The May 24 Uvalde elementary school shooting hit a little too close to home for McConaughey. The Texas native is actually from Uvalde and addressed growing up in this warm Texas town.

What Did Matthew McConaughey’s White House Speech Say About Gun Control?

(Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)

McConaughey’s plea for gun control might have been the most compelling case for gun reform from a celebrity yet, given his connection to Uvalde. He prefaced by saying, “Uvalde is where I was taught to revere the power and the capability of the tool that we call a gun,” he stated. “Uvalde is where I learned responsible gun ownership.” 

But for McConaughey, it’s more than that: he’s also a gun owner, himself, saying that he and others are “fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals”.

RELATED: The Truth Behind Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock’s Secret Relationship

His stance on guns and his Uvalde roots set a particularly telling stage, particularly as his plea became more impassioned and emotional. McConaughey shared stories of and spoke on behalf of the victims who could not be there to do so. 

He and his wife, Camile Alves, spoke about the time they spent time with the families of those who were killed. He used his White House speech to show pictures and artwork of the children, as well as the actual shoes that were used to identify the body of a little girl. 

Because the shooting was perpetrated using an AR-15 rifle, most of the bodies were mutilated to the point where only DNA tests or pieces of clothing, like the shoes of that little girl, were able to identify them. This was not the only time emotions ran high in the totality of his 20-minute call for action, though.

McConaughey’s speech truly was a call for action to congress. “How can the loss of these lives matter?” he asked, “While we honor and acknowledge the victims, we need to recognize that this time, seems that something is different.” 

He asked Congress for background checks for gun purchases as well as to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 and similar rifles to 21 from the current minimum of 18-years-old. He also suggested a waiting period for purchasing AR-15-style rifles and “red flag” laws. McConaughey made these demands with the fierce opinion that he wants “gun laws that won’t make it so easy for the bad guys to get the damn guns.”

Celebrities and the Uvalde Elementary School Mass Shooting

Piers Morgan, a British journalist, and media figure, is usually known for his controversial and strong opinions. This time around, he had the majority of people siding with his New York Post article responding to McConaughey’s White House speech. He admitted that, like many others, McConaughey’s words evoked tears and raw emotion. He even went as far as to say, “There’s never been a more powerful or gut-wrenching moment in the White House briefing room.”

While McConaughey’s cry for gun control in the midst of a national crisis had the deepest impact, many other celebrities weighed in on the issue. Another Texan star, Selena Gomez, posted a thread on Twitter expressing her concern for the situation: “Today in my home state of Texas 18 innocent students were killed while simply trying to get an education. A teacher killed doing her job. If children aren’t safe at school where are they safe?” 

She then followed up by expressing, like McConaughey, that those in power need to change the laws in order to prevent these mass shootings from continuing to occur at an alarming rate. Gomez also used her enormous online platform to share a resource where people can get involved and donate. 

RELATED: Why Matthew McConaughey’s Wife Stopped Him From Doing More Rom-Coms

The Kardashian family also spoke out about the shooting, and gun violence in general. Kris Jenner expressed how the tragedy broke her heart, saying, “No words can make this better. There is much that needs to change. Law makers – Please stop failing our children.” Kim, Kourtney, and Kylie also used their social media platforms to bring awareness to the issue of mass shootings in America, but it was Khloe’s statement that made the most impact. “It was ‘enough’ ten mass shootings ago. It was ‘enough’ after Sandy Hook,” Khloé’s Instagram story read, “What good is our freedoms when there is no protection of our lives?”.

Many athletes such as Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, as well as famous NBA players Steph Curry and Lebron James, made statements in light of the Uvalde mass shooting. In fact, Kerr’s speech was shared extensively online, warranting a response from Taylor Swift who said that “Steve’s words ring so true and cut so deep”.

How Can Celebrities and Social Media Invoke Change?

Social media can be an amazing tool for sparking change. Not only do we have access to global networking and connections at our fingertips, but we have the opportunity to reach new audiences. As individuals, we can use our smaller platforms to change the communities around us. On a much greater scale, celebrities have the reach to change the world.

RELATED: 5 Daily Habits to Steal from Matthew McConaughey, Including His Penchant for Mixing Work and Pleasure

This might seem like an overly optimistic statement to make, but optimism in times of hardship might just be what we need. Many of our favorite celebrities have hundreds of millions of followers. Think about the impact that one statement from someone so influential can make. Not only do they have the resources to make a difference in the form of donations, but by simply sharing resources and bringing awareness to what’s going on in the world, they can inspire change.

The domino effect is the idea that change can start with one person and become a chain reaction. This is the power that celebrities hold, and we have seen it work this way in the past. From McConaughey’s meaningful speech to the plethora of Tweets and Instagram posts, we can already see that society is responding in a powerful way.

The Uvalde mass shooting is not a political issue; it’s an issue of humanity. In the words of McConaughey himself, “Regulations are not a step back; they’re a step forward for a civil society and — and the Second Amendment.”

KEEP READING: 

Why Matthew McConaughey’s Decision To Open Up About His Trauma Is Powerful