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    ideasleepfuriouslyAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:50am

    There always going to be some twisted reason for someone to commit acts like this. We should focus on the means (i.e. the powerful and efficient weapons that are readily available to anyone who wants them) instead of the motivations.

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      Nicole Wattersonideasleepfuriously
      6/13/16 10:57am

      Because we could never possibly criticize gun culture AND religion! Nope! No siree!

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      ideasleepfuriouslyNicole Watterson
      6/13/16 11:00am

      Criticize religion all you want. But religion isn’t the common factor in all these tragedies.

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:56am

    1. US Citizen.

    2. Investigated by FBI twice for possible terrorist connections.

    3. Was still able to purchase a gun legally.

    4. 100 people dead or wounded.

    5. Fuck the NRA.

    6. Fuck Donald Trump.

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      kamla deviJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/13/16 11:02am

      I’m seriously considering making screen-printed t-shirts that say “Fuck Trump”.

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      I'm Knitting a SweaterJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/13/16 11:08am

      7. Fuck Rick Scott

      8. Fuck Pam Bondi (FL Attorney General)

      9. To the people of this state who voted for them, realize that as violence begets violence, so too does hate speech.

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    fortheloveofbeetsAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 11:43am

    Owen Jones walked off of his TV segment yesterday when the the idiot across from him refused to acknowledge that this was an attack specifically against LGBT people. It was courageous:

    It’s absolutely maddening for people to try and claim the tragedy by saying “well, this tragedy is REALLY about terrorism/Islam/misogyny/guns/Republicans/whatever else.” It is about all of those things, sure, in addition to being about homophobia. But it is important to acknowledge the LGBT aspect of this, and not to diminish it.

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      AnglKatfortheloveofbeets
      6/13/16 11:57am

      Omg I would have punched these people in the face. They are being deliberately obtuse. The man refuses to acknowledge that it was a hate crime, and the woman was saying that even if it was a hate crime, that’s not what was important. This is seriously rage-inducing.

      I mean yes, the US needs gun control. Abso-fucking-lutely. But don’t diminish the people who were targeted in having that conversation.

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      Mike Pipper Super GIF Enthusiastfortheloveofbeets
      6/13/16 11:59am

      “It’s about all of us.”

      Yeah, sure it is. As those same people oppose and outright block equal protection under the law for the LGBT community.

      Fuck y’all and your “thoughts and prayers.”

      How about some gorram legislation, assholes?

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    Masshole JamesAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:58am

    His former colleagues are now saying that he hated women and was a raging racist. And his dad is clearly a lunatic so there may be mental illness in the family as well. This is probably a combination of factors, from hate, to mental illness to religious fanatacism, all coming together in a shitstorm of free-floating rage.

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      benjaminalloverMasshole James
      6/13/16 11:05am

      Clearly there’s a constellation of factors which exacerbate each other, not negate each other. Violent misogyny PLUS homophobia PLUS radical Islam PLUS the type of guns private citizens should simply not have access to.

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      Slow MutantMasshole James
      6/13/16 11:12am

      Shooting gay dudes is a really strange way of acting out one’s hatred of women.

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    MaryTylerMoore'sHairFlipAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 11:57am

    I want to focus on why we are still able to purchase semi-automatics if not just to kill a shit ton of people.

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      helgaperezMaryTylerMoore'sHairFlip
      6/13/16 12:29pm

      I had a coworker who swore it was the perfect weapon for hunting wild pigs. Many other people believe it is not only their right but their duty to own a weapon that can be used to protect them against the government.

      I am able to sympathize somewhat with the first reason. Even though I am not a hunter myself, many people I know enjoy guns and hunting. I don’t sympathize with it enough to think the fun of hunting wild pigs outweighs public safety.

      I think people who believe a gun of any sort will allow them to overthrow the US government are deluding themselves.

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      MaryTylerMoore'sHairFliphelgaperez
      6/13/16 1:30pm

      A semi-automatic weapon would ruin meat. I guess if you’re killing for sport and not to eat, it works. There are other methods to take them down. Also, if you are killing a wild pig and not eating it or giving it to someone who will, you are an asshole. Also, our first amendment doesn’t give us rights to semi-automatics, it gives us the right to bear arms. We’d need nuclear fucking weapons to be on par with the government, so yeah, they are deluded.

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    DuchessODorkAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:59am

    Homophobia is a sick disease. You don’t need to be religious to have it, you just have to have some really bad self esteem issues and possibly some repressed gay feelings yourself. Five bucks says this guy was terrified he might be gay.

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      BlergDuchessODork
      6/13/16 11:01am

      Ok, five bucks he was completely straight like the vast majority of violent homophobes.

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      GELLA - LLAPDuchessODork
      6/13/16 11:07am

      Homophobia is a sick disease.

      it’s not a disease, it’s plain hate toward others, because others are not like you.

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    SheeshTheseNamesAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:59am

    People seem to have a hard time understanding that a person can have more than one motive for something. It sounds like he was not a stable individual, and may have had some mental health issues. He was also known to be very homophobic and racist. On top of that, though all reports except for one describe him as not particularly religious, he decided that he was down with ISIS for some reason. He committed this hate crime with a terror attack flavor for ALL of these reasons, it seems (based on what we know so far.) In my opinion, it seems like homophobia was his most pressing reason, given the victims he targeted.

    I also find it interesting to note that he was quite interested in police work and becoming a cop. This really is the kind of person that job frequently attracts.

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      titttSheeshTheseNames
      6/13/16 11:26am

      And don’t forget that he actually worked as an armed security guard, and a security guard at a facility for juveniles (so he could police children instead of adult criminals I imagine). This guy had a lot in common with a lot of all American types.

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      SheeshTheseNamestittt
      6/13/16 11:33am

      Yup.

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    TabithaAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 11:02am

    Basically this is the equivalent of people hijacking the #blacklivesmatter issue and turning into #alllivesmatter.

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      Hedda BopperTabitha
      6/13/16 11:27am

      Yes, but no. The most visible coalition of LGBT America is cis, white, educated, fairly heteronormative gay men. That’s been a longtime criticism of the movement for equality but it’s also a trump card—our white moms now know their nice gay sons are being gunned down in clubs. Due to the realities of privilege in America, #BLM comparisons don’t stick.

      Honestly, making an enemy of the gays is the worst decision the NRA ever made. We look just like them but with better haircuts and nicer socks!

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      swaggyjaygarrickHedda Bopper
      6/13/16 3:22pm

      how many white people actually died in this shooting tho

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    Blueberry JonesAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 2:24pm

    This is probably a really stupid question so be nice: So, I know ISIS has “claimed” responsibility for the attack. Is there anyway that they’re just saying they did because they’re assholes? Mateen is dead and can’t speak for himself and be questioned about his motives. Possibly Mateen just acted on his own as a bigoted hateful asshole?

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      MeatLolzBlueberry Jones
      6/13/16 3:53pm

      ISIS had zero to do with this attack. They are “claiming” it because it does align with their brand of hate/fundamentalism. But no, they had no prior knowledge of it or (more than likely) the man who committed it.

      Just as ISIS was a convenient ideology for Mateen to identify with, this tragedy is a convenient act for ISIS to endorse.

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      Nom de pixelBlueberry Jones
      6/13/16 4:09pm

      That is what I think happened. ISIS seems determined to prove that they are the most terrifying force on the planet since Ghengis Khan. If they can get credit for killing a lot of people, even if they had nothing to do with it, they will take it.

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    AceMagnumAnna Merlan
    6/13/16 10:49am

    Mental illness, folks.

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      ideasleepfuriouslyAceMagnum
      6/13/16 10:54am

      Mental illness with a quick-firing weapon. My favourite kind.

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      justfornowtwoAceMagnum
      6/13/16 11:10am

      That may be a component, but is a facile answer. Millions of people have mental illnesses and do not commit these atrocities. This is due to a complex confluence of things that were put in place long before yesterday.

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