Kiss' Paul Stanley: 'Prayers and Sympathy Are Not Enough' After Odessa Mass Shooting

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Kiss’ Paul Stanley called for action on gun violence in America following the latest mass shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas, where seven people were killed and over 20 injured.

“We don’t have more ‘crazy’ or ‘mentally unstable’ people in the US. What we DO have are commonplace mass shootings with automatic and semi-automatic high powered firearms,” the guitarist tweeted Sunday. “THAT cannot be disputed. Tell me what we and our government must do. Prayers and sympathy are not enough.”

On Saturday, the shooter – described in news reports as a white male in his mid-30s with “an AR-type weapon” – went on a shooting rampage in Odessa, a Texas city less than 300 miles east of El Paso, which also recently witnessed a mass shooting. Following a routine traffic stop, the shooter “proceeded on a shooting spree in the City of Odessa” and hijacked a mail carrier before authorities killed the suspect during a shootout in a movie theater parking lot.

Stanley’s tweet drew the usual ire of Second Amendment defenders, who told the Kiss singer to stick to music. “I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER but am asking for everyone’s thoughts. Anyone who thinks I should ‘stay in my lane’ should leave now,” Stanley responded.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kiss-paul-stanley-odessa-mass-shooting-879066/

[Iggo]

1. Thanks, Mr. Stanley.

And not for nothin', but who did you vote for?

[CDerekGo]

2. to all of those 2nd Amendment folks I respond

[FoxNewsSucks]

4. I don't know if I'd want to hear the answer.

It might be "still wouldn't matter".

POS Steve Scalise was nearly murdered, but he still worships the NRA and gets his orders (and checks) from Wayne ThePeter.

[Newest Reality]

3. I think we all have a vested interest in this crisis.

So, is it time to dig deeper and get to the cultural issues that are contributing to it, or do we just float on the surface and react?

Politicians and pundits are often missing the point and, if we want to stem this and turn it around, that won't do the trick in my opinion. We may have hundreds or even thousands of individuals who are ripe and ready to go, and that's disturbing. Why do I say that? Well, because you can find a deeper, systemic and cultural problem here that needs to be studied and addressed.

We see many reactions to this, shock and disgust, thoughts and prayers, fear and hysteria, and also specious fingers pointing to violent video games and/or mental illness. To me, that is all superficial. While anybody in their right mind who is paying attention knows that we have a serious problem with guns, their procurement and the magazines and assault weapons that are readily available, that is still not getting to the heart of the matter.

It is not like there are no studies or that no one is investigating this phenomena and what might be fueling it and why it may not only prevail but increase as conditions change.

You would think that this would be a priority, yet, for some reason, despite the gravity and grave nature of mass shootings. the mainstream is not getting to the marrow, yet. The impact of these horrific events goes even beyond the suffering, death and shattered lives of individuals and families and communities, it also reverberates loudly through our country and will echo into the future with many deleterious results to come. Think about children growing up like that and paranoia and caution people might start to feel about attending events and even going shopping.

Rather than resort to more ridiculous, ineffective and downright dangerous ideas about fighting fire with fire, (guns with guns) or turning schools, events and stores into something like bunkers in war zones, (which could be an outcome) we could be nipping the problem in the bud and putting our attention and resources on it now.

But no, we are not in an environment, politically and economically, where priorities like that seem to be important or even fashionable. And if it hasn't occurred to you yet what I mean specifically about the context and circumstances involved here, then find out more, do a search.

[Aristus]

5. I guess Paul Stanley isn't as far to the right as his KISSmate Gene Simmons.

Good to know...

[Skittles]

6. thanking Mr. Stanley

I appreciate people speaking out

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. The NRA doesn't have the right to tell anyone to "stay in your lane."

This is OUR country and WE decide in which lane we want to be.

FUCK the NRA.