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| Claire Davis, once a student with her whole life ahead of her. Now the latest gun violence statistic. |
A 17-year-old Colorado student shot in the head earlier this month by a gunman at her high school died on Saturday at a hospital with her family at her side, the facility and her family said.
Claire Davis was the only person wounded by gunfire when Karl Pierson, an 18-year-old senior at Arapahoe High School in suburban Denver, entered the school on December 13 and opened fire with a shotgun, police said.
"Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire's fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life," Littleton Adventist Hospital posted on the facility's official Facebook page.
Pierson shot Davis in the face at point-blank range as she sat outside the library with a friend during in the 80-second rampage, police said.
Pierson committed suicide in the library as an armed deputy stationed at the school cornered him, police said.
The gun rights people will make the argument that it was the gun held by the security guard that saved lives, but I cannot get past the fact that it was the gun in the hands of an angry young man that put those lives in danger in the first place.
This was not the "bad guy with a gun" that "the good guys with a gun" are supposed to protect all of us from. It was a kid, going through his turbulent teenage years, who had access to a tool that gave him far more power over life or death than he was emotionally able to handle.
Armed with a bullhorn he would have shouted his frustrations.
Armed with a rock he would have broken a school window.
But armed with a gun he ended two young lives.
But the 2nd Amendment is important. Without just imagine what terrible things might befall our citizens.
Just imagine.
Not a peep from Sarah Palin about this shooting and this poor girl's death but Sarah went out of her way to fight for a trailer park homophobic jerk.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that if Sarah Palin had to choose between unlimited gun slinging or her children's lives, she would choose the former. According to Palin, this poor girl's senseless death is less of a tragedy than restricting, in any way, by any person, access to any and all guns. People like Palin aren't fazed at all by innocent bystanders being murdered by gun lovers, because they consider it to be simply collateral damage Guns mean more to them than life. So this tragic victim's life would not elicit even a tiny shrug from the likes of Sarah Palin.
DeleteNot a peeps from any of them!!! Usually on a shooting the NRA sends a few porn links or something to mess with your computer not ONE flippin' peep out of them on this.
DeleteWe should FLOOD twitter and everywhere about this.
RIP Claire.
The past week-plus must have been agonizing for Claire Davis' family.
ReplyDeleteNo one's really talking about it, but from that simple one sentence description of how she came to be a victim, she must have been horribly injured, perhaps as badly as that poor woman several years ago who'd been attacked by a chimpanzee -- or worse, really, because Claire had brain swelling due to the shotgun blast.
I honestly feel it was a mercy to Claire herself that she died. Her suffering has ended.
I hope her family's grief after private mourning turns to the same activism the families of Newtown have. More and more pressure must be brought to bear on improving and funding gun regulation/enforcement laws.
I don't know about Claire's specific injuries, but I've worked with enough people with traumatic brain injury over the years to think you are probably correct.
DeleteI cannot even imagine the amount of damage that was done by a point-blank shot in the face by a shotgun. If she had survived, her life would likely have been short and filled with pain for her and her family.
What an unspeakable tragedy for her, her family, and the whole community.
Boys will be boys, right Sarah?
ReplyDeleteRIP Claire
I guess Sarah will be going out and buying another gun to celebrate Claire's murder.
ReplyDeleteOT if you are bored and want some entertainment I would suggest you go read the Bristol article on radaronline.
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/12/bristol-palin-defends-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson/
DeleteThe article itself doesn't offer much new, but the COMMENTS are priceless!
Priceless= juvenile and shows how hypocritical liberals are.
DeleteHere's my favorite comment:
Delete"Bristol Palin isn't qualified to talk about this because she had unprotected sex with Levi Johnston while they were on a camping trip and got knocked up at 18. They weren't even married. Levi's sister Mercede said that Bristol wanted to get pregnant and had unprotected sex on purpose. Mercede also said that the engagement and Levi's public appearances with Bristol back in 2008 were PR ploys because Bristol's baby bump was easily noticeable at the Republican National Convention and they didn't want to offend their fellow right wingers too much by having the unmarried 18 year old pregnant daughter of the Republican VP candidate on stage. I thought that sex outside of marriage was against the Palin's right wing Christian beliefs? Typical hypocrites."
The truth hurts, doesn't it, Bristol at 11:47?
Go suck an egg, 11:47,
DeleteI thought many of them were very "Christain" reminding Bristol that she would have been stoned to death for being knocked up before marriage and that her bastards son and the next ten generations of his family would not be welcome in heaven. I love when people use the bible back at bible quoters.
DeleteAnonymous11:47 AM
DeletePriceless= juvenile and shows how hypocritical liberals are.
*****
Butthurt much snortin' sarah? don't do too much meth tonight ya hear!
We want to see you have a "Happy Holidays"
In Wayne LePierre's (sp) sick twisted mind everytime someone dies cuz of a gun an angel gets its wings. RIP Claire.
ReplyDeleteWalking around with his gun, then deciding to put a bullet in young Clair's face--one that eventually took away her life, her dreams, her hopes for the future. My heart goes out to her family who must be devastated with enormous grief and pain,
ReplyDeletemaybe sarah, in another act of civil disobedience, can give toad or one of her spawn an assault weapon for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Colorado, a little ways away from Arapahoe HS, but I was down in Aurora the day after it happened. Everyone was in shock. There's a lot of gun-related heartache in that little corner of America. You would think people would cling to their firearms a little less, but unfortunately, many think we still live in the wild west.
ReplyDeleteMe too. 10:30. All I could think of were those assholes who recalled 2 Dem Reps for voting for gun control. How many more kids have to die here for their 2nd Amendment Rights? Would Sarah Palin change her mind if one of her grandkids found her pretty little pink pistol in her purse and shot themselves or Todd or Sarah? Or even Bristle who bought it for their mom? All for their precious Freedumbs!
DeleteMy heart breaks for the senseless, unnecessary end to this beautiful young lady's life. A life on the brink of becoming fully hers, as an adult, as a loving (if she chose) mother and wife, as an important person in her world, and in society.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in this country for more than 60 years and I have NEVER seen the kind of gun proliferation and ensuing gun violence in all those years. This is truly of epidemic proportions that make EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US possible victims of gun violence, even when we are simply going about our everyday lives, as this girl, and so many like her (movie theatres, shopping malls) were doing. She's in school, for god's sake, which should be the safest place to be -- where our children are. And yet, even those places are under attack.
And the tragic cases where a child's natural curiosity results in them shooting themselves, usually to death.
And NO ONE is paying any consequences, except the victims. The perpetrators commit suicide and no longer can be held responsible. They 'get away with murder'. And the victims and their grieving families never even get the satisfaction of 'justice' being served for the crimes committed.
It's so depressing.
Excellent! Let's take away ALL of the guns out there and issue EVERYONE a musket! Level the playing field and they must carry it over their shoulder it all times! As so stated in the 2nd Amendment.
DeleteThis was a totally sad and tragic event. My condolences to Claire's family.
DeleteBut to say after 60 years you've never seen this kind of gun violence means you haven't been paying attention, and these recent cases have been getting blown out of all proportion. Gun violence has been dropping steadily since the 90's when gun laws started being relaxed.
This case could have been prevented if this kid's prior threats had gotten him arrested and prevented him from legally purchasing this gun.
Provide a link with details, 11:09.
DeleteThis is anon @11:09 here's a link for you.
Deletehttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/gun-deaths-u-dropped-nearly-50-percent-over-211424998.html
And 11:56, I'm not an NRA member even though I'm a gun owner. I have some difference of opinions with them. That does not change the fact that gun deaths have dropped significantly in the last 20 years. A FACT which you can't seem to handle.
11:09 again here's a direct quote which you can verify at the center for disease control website.
Delete"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show there were 11,078 gun homicide deaths in the U.S. in 2010, compared with 18,253 deaths in 1993."
And one more...... some of the findings will probably surprise you, like #7 and #5.
Deletehttp://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2013/06/handguns_suicides_mass_shootings_deaths_and_self_defense_findings_from_a.html
Do you think 11,078 gun homicides is a good number?
DeleteCompare our homicide rate to some other countries if 11,078 still gives you a warm fuzzy.
1993 was the peak of ALL violent crime which has steadily declined since. Gun violence is violence and has decreased accordingly. There are a few reasons for the decline in violent crime. I would love to see you try and prove the loosening of gun laws is a causal factor.
DeleteRe: #5, of course mass shootings aren't the problem. They are outliers.
Re: #7, why would it surprise me that guns can be effectively used in self-defense?
Look, I was challenged on my comment that gun violence has significantly dropped since the 90s as gun ownership soared. I proved my point which was, 10:35 was off track implying that gun deaths are worse than they've ever been in the US.
DeleteTo say that 11,000 deaths give me the warm fuzzys is asinine. But you already know that because that was your point.You can't defend your position, so you attack me, not the inconvenient facts.
I am 12:20 and 5:29 and had no other comments.
DeleteThe truth is that, while violent crime (and, specifically, gun crime) has declined since 1993, the rates have been pretty stable in the 2000s and have, in fact, returned to the level of the mid 1980s.
I agree that the rate of gun deaths are not worse than they've ever been and, as I stated earlier, that mass shootings are anomalies (at least at this point).
My problem with your original statement is you implied John Lock's argument (more guns, less crime). Historical trends paint a much more complex picture that may actually have nothing to do with gun laws whatsoever, at least at the ecological level.
Oops, meant to write "John Lott's."
DeleteWell said. It is so depressing and terrifying. RIP Claire.
ReplyDeleteI think it way past time that Americans work WITH President Obama and AGAINST Republicans and the NRA and get in place gun law that PROTECT Americans. We are an embarrassment to the world when looking at all the people that are killed in our nation annually due to GUNS!
ReplyDeleteIt's way past time we begin caring for each other and not follow the evilness - hate - racism of the majority of Republicans in our country. Republicans need to be voted OUT of the U.S. Congress.
Pay attention Americans! We can turn this crap around by voting in more Democrats. We need to stop the killings of innocent children.
I think the saddest thing regarding liberals is when you calmly and nicely point out how rude and juvenile they are and how their lie-spreading behavior is wrong, they treat you like a truly evil person and take away your right of speech.
ReplyDeletego take a quaalude, k sarah?
DeleteGo back to school and learn what freedom of speech actually means.
DeleteNo one has hurt your freedom of speech and unlike the peepond Gryphen has let you post on his privately owned blog.
Deletego snort some more meth sarah!
DeleteWay to highjack a post about a murdered young woman.
DeleteNo words can describe how awful it is to lose a child, and in such a fashion, being right there at that wrong moment. And as horrible it is in enduring this loss, I imagine this young girl possibly had special plans for the holidays and that no doubt provokes so many emotions for this family. They'll no doubt be in shock still.
ReplyDeleteI know that some people say how it is so hard to go through the phase of accepting. It's said that some still can't believe their loved one is gone and expect them to come walking in the door any minute. These episodes keep happening every few minutes. Dear God, it's too much and all the fuss about Robertson and Duck Dynasty by the right-wing, it tells a lot about their betrayal of compassion, when their focus is on saving some stupid reality TV show.
Delete+1
I look at her and see my own daughter. We have a close friend who lost a teen son to gun violence around the time of Gabby Gifford's injury. The parents, to this day, are still grappling with grief and coping with his loss. The holidays and his birthday are the hardest.
How does one reconcile a strong belief in the right to life while defending lax gun laws?