Stephen King on the NRA...

[babylonsister]

[graham4anything]

1. Should be a sign in every single street in America, north, south, east west

like anti-cigarette ads

90% of the public used to smoke
now, 90% of the public don't

[CrispyQ]

2. The youngest victim had eleven gunshot wounds. Eleven.

His jaw was shattered. Can you imagine the parents, viewing their precious child's body?

No words, just tears.

[alphafemale]

20. Reminds me so much of Emmitt Till.

Both strikingly beautiful children.

Both murdered so callously.

I can understand the wish for privacy.

But I believe it was the photos of Emmitt in his open casket that were unforgettable. And unforgivable. And inexcusable. But found NOT GUILTY by a farce of a trial.

Noah' s jaw was shattered off his face. Again...the child's jaw was gone.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Emmet Till's mother WANTED the world to see her son....

She wanted everyone to see the brutality he suffered.

It changed the world because it touched on our common humanity.

Makes me wonder how many pro-gun types would reconsider their intractable position if they actually SAW the results of one of their macho weapons used on little kids.

[ShadesOfBlue]

73. totally agree

I was thinking the same thing. As painful as it may be to the family and to the nation, I wish the autopsy pictures of the young boy had been released to the public. Let people see how truly monstrous some of these weapons are.

[samsingh]

3. kick

[JoeBlowToo]

29. Quit reading from this point...a poster below is equating Stephen King with NRA death merchants...

[libdem4life]

4. Has he not gotten rich off the describing and vicarious experiences of normal human beings

buying/paying for the literary mental images of real-life horror? An unsubtle advertisement and ingenuous social statement perhaps?

[Hayabusa]

7. This again?

[libdem4life]

8. What again? Never read a Stephen King novel?

[Hayabusa]

11. I have and find them delightfully gory on occasion

but I resent the anti-violent rhetoric that is thrown about in threads like these. Your post was essentially calling him a hypocrite for saying that because he writes books that are violent and at times gruesome.

[libdem4life]

15. Rhetoric? I didn't write the delightfully entertaining gore. And yes, he is a freaking hypocrite

...how I have come to love that phrase, as to the horrors of graphic, literary and financially friendly human carnage. Lord give me strength.

I respect the right for anyone to vicariously produce and/or ingest said horror, gore and carnage and all their fellow apologists whether by word or video image. Just don't turn around and dis it...good lord have mercy.

Disclaimer: I watch Castle and The Mentalist, even though I cover my eyes from time to time.

[Hayabusa]

22. There is a massive difference between fictional violence and real violence

and you are not a hypocrite if you produce or consume the former and completely abhor the latter. I've bashed about 15 skulls today with a mace in Skyrim, but I absolutely hate real-life violence. That makes me a hypocrite in your words. Am I?

[libdem4life]

26. No, not a hypocrite at all unless you bash what I presume to be online gaming. Go for it...just

don't bash online gaming violence. That's all. Just be consistent.

[Hayabusa]

31. That's not what you said

You said that King was a hypocrite because he wrote a realistic piece that stated that if the NRA leaders saw the very real results of a gun that they would change their minds about reasonable gun control while at the same time writing horror novels and short stories that contain violence and gore. You also said that reading that was "vicarious".

[Wednesdays]

40. How many people did Stephen King kill?

If he did, THEN he'd be a hypocrite.

[Hayabusa]

41. Over 100

fictional, that is. You're exactly right.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

57. You're not very good at this, "lib" "dem" for life. Let me help.

Your claim is that if someone writes a fictional account of violence, or portrays it on screen, then that person should never "dis" violence of that type. Where in the holy fuck did you learn to "think"? Would you like 87 examples of what a stupid hypothesis this is, or are you beginning to get the point? I'll give you one to get started: fictional accounts of serial killers comprise a popular genre--there are lots of serial killer authors out there. You just told me, DU, and the rest of the world that these authors should never dis serial killers, or the weapons they use, for that matter. Oh wait, you also mentioned that your rule applies to anyone who consumes this content (the reader). I've read fictional tales of serial killers. So have millions of others. Your little rule would impose a gag order on anyone who has read such a book, preventing them from saying bad things about serial killers. Jesus-with-a-frontal-fucking lobotomy, what were you thinking when you dreamed this up?

[libdem4life]

66. Fiction and Non-Fiction/Fact. One is created in the mind, the other has a real history.

Not my rules...libraries are organized around that distinction. A literary/mental trip to the morgue is fine in a novel...names and places and horrors referencing real children, dead or alive, just no. No news reporter (fact) would be allowed to print that...and we know why.

So, we can agree to disagree.

[Squinch]

78. This reminds me of a bit of Sarah Palin word salad. It makes no sense at all.

[Squinch]

77. There is also a big difference between writing about violence and abetting violence as the NRA does.

[Paladin]

79. Bullseye. Thank You. (nt)

[CitizenPatriot]

43. Books don't kill people

But people with military style assault weapons do. Also, see really stupid people who leave their guns unprotected and loaded in their homes. Also see gun shows (not so safe for gun buyers these days). Last person killed by Stephen King's typewriter?

Oh, never mind. You are so right. Books and movies! Hey, do I have an app for you!

[libdem4life]

47. Neither do guns...so I hear. He's not a real good spokesperson for non-violence.

Maybe Dr. Seuss should be quoted instead...chill, y'all.

[CitizenPatriot]

50. So now certain people who write fiction should not speak

their mind, lest they offend -- but for FREEDOM, we can' t silence dangerous people with guns. Sounds like a great plan

All you fiction writers, SHUT THE HELL UP! You are endangering the safety of Americans! Come to the Gun Shows where everything is safe.

[libdem4life]

52. No, they should not link it opportunistically to real-life gore. Fiction on, but stay out of the

real-life morgue...in thoughts or in clever descriptions. Newtown Connecticut and La Pierre's NRA fantasies are not Law and Order or Castle or John Wayne...hard for some to believe, but there is a difference.

[CitizenPatriot]

54. I am quite sure your ability

to discern differences far eclipses my own. Help me out.

How is he being opportunistic? He spoke up during the election which didn't help his book sales, but no matter- how does writing about gore = not talking about real life gore? Who better to do it? The more we discuss this, the more I'm thinking he was the perfect person to do it.

He has a platform and he used it - your ideas about his motives remain A BIG ISSUE for sure, though. Impressive crystal ball. Maybe you can use it to help spread the news that guns actually do kill people

[libdem4life]

58. If we need a fiction novelist to help people understand that people use guns to kill people...

it does seem a bit dense...but not requiring a fictional or actual crystal ball. A lot of us already got that, but from the heated responses...can see how it might be very important to others.

[CitizenPatriot]

59. Dense?

Let me introduce you to America.

Yes, it does take a prominent voice to make certain points. For instance, you will not be heard by King and yet you heard his point.

You have not further informed me re King's motives which you said were self-serving. I'm sorry the crystal ball is broken right now. Let me know when you know exactly why he did this so I can join you in condemning him for speaking his opinion while being a fiction writer of GORE.

[Scootaloo]

72. They should not speak opinions that challenge libdem's preconceptions

THE GUN IS GOOD

[jaded_old_cynic]

86. Zardoz!

That was an interesting Sci Fi film. Not to mention watching Sean Connery run around in an orange diaper is entertaining all by itself.

[RebelOne]

9. I assume you do not like him. n/t

[libdem4life]

16. Nope, just hypocritical.

[Wind Dancer]

27. Wrong!

[Matariki]

10. That's got to be the dumbest false equivalent I've seen in weeks.

Good job!

[libdem4life]

18. He referred to a current blood and gore event...it's the outrage of producers of fiction that

refer to those real life events that is false equivalency.

[Matariki]

39. Seriously. Are you just upping your post count?

Because I don't believe you don't know the difference between fiction and reality.

[hifiguy]

19. + a fking googolplex.

Supernatural horror fiction =/= gunned-up psychos mowing down little kids in real life. Jebus wept.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. F-I-C-T-I-O-N

He writes fictional novels, dude.

What happened in Newtown and in other places is not fiction. It was real.

There's a world of difference between the two.

[libdem4life]

21. Really? I will even buy part of that in a literary, liberal, apologist kind of way, but "Dude",

don't try to apologize for so-called art imitating real-life fiction. Even Sarah Palin's crosshairs didn't pass muster. The real life execution of his vicarious mental images don't rise to the art of social criticism of gore and carnage as expressed by the real-life local Medical Examiner.

[Squinch]

80. Sweetie, seriously. Are you scrambling up the refrigerator word magnets for these posts?

"so-called art imitating real-life fiction?" "real life execution of his vicarious mental images don't rise to the art of social criticism?"

What in god's name are you talking about?

[libdem4life]

83. Sweetie? Hmm. I get you don't get it. LaPierre juxtaposed against fantasy morgues doesn't cut it.

Gratuitous. Carry on. Proceed. Whatever. And leave god out of it, Dude.

[Squinch]

85. Fantasy execution of your vicarious mental gratuities juxtaposed with words doesn't cut it. Dude.

Last edited Sun Jan 27, 2013, 01:53 PM - Edit history (1)

God says so.

[graywarrior]

17. Careful where you tread

His friends are fiercely loyal.

[libdem4life]

23. So glad this is cyberspace ... LOL

[graywarrior]

33. On the internet, no one knows you're a cat.

[tuvor]

25. That changes the substance of his statement not one bit.

Many who have not "gotten rich off the describing and vicarious experiences of normal human beings" (whatever that may mean) appear to agree with the statement. Myself included, and I'm no King fan.

[libdem4life]

28. It means what he graphically described, but OK...hypocracy noted.

[graywarrior]

45. Trust me, you wouldn't even be on his radar.

[CitizenPatriot]

56. Surely Stephen reads DU and is right now

distressed over his decision to speak his mind due to the fact that he writes fiction They banned fiction writers a while ago from political statements -- right before the FEMA camps.

[graywarrior]

61. Actually, he's writing his next book based on DU characters that live on another planet but think

they're here on earth.

[CitizenPatriot]

68. So he's reading this thread

Watch out for dangerous books; you will know them by their fiction.

[graywarrior]

69. Well, actually....he writes ALL the posts. He's everyone.

[CitizenPatriot]

70. SHHH! I was hoping you wouldn't out me. n/t

[graywarrior]

71. Sorry, Cujo.

[baldguy]

32. Rational people can tell the difference between reality & fiction.

Apparently you can't.

[Puzzledtraveller]

87. But not video games?

Just saying because in all the blame game next to the NRA video games were the other culprit by several on DU and in the media.

[werknotgoin2takeit]

46. Proud to be a constant reader!

Alright, I have to pipe up here and I mean no disrespect to you, I’m sure your heart is in the right place, but, wow! are your judgments misplaced. I am too big a fan to just let that lie. And you can bet your bippy I am fiercely loyal to this man (not blindly though, there are a few books he has written that are stinkers) who has given me so much pleasure over the last 30 years.

King may have used the demons, monsters and many times just men who populate his stories to make himself wealthy but that was never the point. He is a writer and he writes what is in his head, he digs it out like a sculptor digs the form out of stone. In “On Writing” he describes beautifully how he writes and why he writes what he does. To write any differently would be untrue to whom he is as an artist and THAT would make him a hypocrite. His purpose in writing is not to make money, it never was. It just so happens that what he writes makes him money because people like me will always buy his books. He does not glorify violence, it is a plot mechanism for sure, but it is never done gratuitously. Someone mentioned the Dark Tower and that guns were glorified in it. I see the exact opposite. Guns, in this world, were rare and considered so dangerous that only those who were Gunslingers, trained from childhood in how to use & RESPECT them, were allowed to have them. They were the Knights of this world and had to abide by a strict code of conduct. Only when the hero (or some might say anti-hero) loses his way and starts to use his weapons in a way that his code does not allow, do we know this person has hit bottom. It is an incident that haunts him and one of many in his life that he wants to make amends for but does not know how, that is one of the threads of this series. Many of the stories he writes concern good vs. evil and though the price is usually high and we lose those characters we have grown to love, good will most of the times triumph with love and faith by overcoming a foe willing to use only violence and hatred. He is a storyteller and it is the good and the bad in man that makes what he writes so compelling. He also has a special place for children and they are often his heroes, so I know Newton must have been especially painful for a man who can paint such vivid pictures with his mind.

Plus, the man is a staunch Liberal Democrat and is always willing to put his money where his mouth is, giving away millions a year to different causes. His car accident almost killed him and it was a long road out of the darkness for him. He is softer now then he was in his youth and it is reflected in his storytelling. He has worked his way through alcoholism and drug addiction. He is a soft-spoken, gentle man with a wicked sense of humor. He is honest about those dark sides of himself and tells the truth. His books have many horrific things in them but to say because he does that he cannot speak out about the horrors in the real world (which often times are far worse than anything he has put to paper), to accuse him of hypocrisy, just shows that you don’t understand him at all. King is not everyone's cup of tea and I know what I wrote here won’t change your mind and that is fine, we are all different, but I felt I had to say it.

Feel free to flame away!

[libdem4life]

51. He crossed the Line. When he linked himself with LaPierre, he crossed the line between fiction

and the up-to-date reality of what a whole bunch of real life people understand better than they did a few weeks ago. The first hand experience of the gore and carnage he writes...and now speaks of...as if he's the Medical Examiner. I don't care if he is the fuc### Pope. He crossed the line, Dudes. And it's pretty much to sell some books...to his fan club...speaking of flames.

[SomethingFishy]

53. Who's line did he cross? Yours?

"He crossed the line"... only the one in your imagination. Your assumptions about King are as arrogant as your claim to be the person who draws the line.
People who read him know him to be a kind decent human being, with a dark side. Just like most of us.

One other thing, King is not just about horror, he writes fantasy, romance, drama, and non-fiction as well. La Pierre is about nothing other than arming the entire population. The only answer he has is "more guns", the only thing he knows is "more guns".

[libdem4life]

55. There really is a difference and a line between imagination and reality. Amazing to have to state.

It's not my "line", however. Entire libraries have segregated all written literature based on this distinction.

[werknotgoin2takeit]

64. I think that too

Those who read King understand that. He stands in the light and is a good person. I for one am happy to have an Ally such has him in the fight. In his case especially, the pen is mightier then the sword!

[werknotgoin2takeit]

65. I never said that

I never equated what he felt with the suffering of those families! I just said that he could see it clearer then most. I cried for these people I never met for 2 weeks. What I meant was that he could SEE it more then I ever could. You seem to hate him personally and I guess I just don't understand why. That is why I wrote what I did. I never meant to make you angry and I apologize for that.

[tavalon]

74. He's our allie and you just dissed him

Wow, upside down world we got here.

[Bonobo]

62. If there is no award for stupidest fucking post of the decade, there should be...

And you would win!!!

[bluedigger]

63. He got rich telling stories people wanted to read.

And to accuse him of opportunism and self promotion in taking a stand on gun control is laughable.

King, known for being a Democrat, is a gun owner, stating in the piece that he owns three handguns. He also has a tangential relationship to previous school shootings, as a number of teenage gunmen in the 1980s claimed to have been inspired in part by King's novella Rage. That story was originally written by King as an adolescent, and is about a teenage gunman. It was later published under the pen name Richard Bachman. Following the shooting incidents, King requested to his publisher that the story be pulled from circulation.

In Guns, a strongly argued personal essay written in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, King discusses these earlier incidents:

“It took more than one slim novel to cause [these teenagers] to do what they did. These were unhappy boys with deep psychological problems, boys who were bullied at school and bruised at home by parental neglect or outright abuse.
...

My book did not break (them) or turn them into killers; they found something in my book that spoke to them because they were already broken. Yet I did see Rage as a possible accelerant which is why I pulled it from sale. You don’t leave a can of gasoline where a boy with firebug tendencies can lay hands on it."

He goes on to attack both politicians' and media responses to gun tragedies, and also dismisses many of the arguments put forward by gun owners, writing that "plenty of gun advocates cling to their semi-automatics the way Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson clung to the shit that was killing them."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/stephen-king-ebook-guns-_n_2551128.html?utm_hp_ref=books

[libdem4life]

67. I am unconcerned about his political affiliations ... he needs to stick with what he does...Fiction.

I don't think a mental, albeit fictional, trip to the morgue will change anyone's real time and well-defined opinions on guns...pro or con. Gratuitous. Perhaps he will rethink this event, as well.

[Squinch]

81. By that reasoning, unless your career is to voice your opinions on websites, you should stick with

what you do too. Otherwise, by your logic, you don't have the right to be voicing your opinion on the subject, and you are overstepping a line into an area in which you don't belong. According to your logic, you are a hypocrite.

[libdem4life]

82. Whatever. But I don't profess to speak for anyone but myself. Sorry. Fail.

[Squinch]

84. Sorry, fail yourself and no backs! (That seems to be the level at which you would like your

discourse, so I'll comply.)

He's not speaking for anyone but himself either.

[Marrah_G]

75. This might be one of the most absurd arguements I have ever seen on DU

And there have been quite a few.......

[spanone]

5. k&r...

[Lady Freedom Returns]

6. Leave it to the King of Horror...

To paint, with words, the picture that people like LePierre needs to see.

[Th1onein]

12. Rock on, Stephen!

Well said.

[Puzzledtraveller]

14. Big King fan, Dark Tower best series I ever read

but even this kind of things irks me, guns are a central element in many of his stories and very well glorified in the Dark Tower series. It's just come across as flaky.

[Cleita]

35. It's fiction, not real life.

I like sword and sorcery fiction, but I wouldn't want everyone running around with swords in real life.

[Puzzledtraveller]

49. I know, but there's a lot of guns in his books

and for the record I don't own a gun and don't plan to, every side thinks they get a pass, video games, hollywood, now authors.

[alphafemale]

24. Go find the jaw of that little boy NRA. nt

[RevStPatrick]

30. I'm surprised nobody has posted yet where this quote comes from...

He just released a Kindle Single called "Guns."

http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B00B53IW9W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1359156802&sr=1-1&keywords=guns+stephen+king

Spend the 99cents.
It's a good, quick read...

[farminator3000]

38. i like this quote, too

guns are more a fetish than addiction. but i still agree with him!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014380726

"He goes on to attack both politicians' and media responses to gun tragedies, and also dismisses many of the arguments put forward by gun owners, writing that "plenty of gun advocates cling to their semi-automatics the way Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson clung to the shit that was killing them."

He also speaks out personally against Wayne LaPierre and the NRA, in graphic terms:

"One only wishes Wayne LaPierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of these [violent] scenes, where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestine still containing the poor wads of half-digested food that were some innocent bystander’s last meal.""
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/stephen-king-ebook-guns-_n_2551128.html

[OldDem2012]

34. I do have one major criticism of King's comment....

....he forgot to mention the smells associated with violent death and bodies torn to shreds, along with the vomiting sounds/smells of those exposed to such horrible scenes. How unlike Stephen to miss a major detail he never excludes from his books.

And yes....I'm a major fan of his books.

And no....I don't see ANY connection between a writer of fiction and a perpetrator of a violent real-life crime. He would be the first to be horrified by such thinking.

[logosoco]

36. I am a huge King fan. I think I have read all of his books at least once.

The thing I get from them is that there is good and evil in life. Overcoming evil is what most people do most of the time.
Preventing the evil is something maybe we can all do. I like to think we start off with more in the good column, but not everyone stays there.
I have never held a gun. Never plan to. This held me off from reading the Gunslinger series. I am glad I got over that, because I enjoyed it very much. Guns did have their place in that story.
Guns are a part of real life. So is horror, unfortunately.
It seems to me we could prevent SOME of the horror (unfortunately not all) if we regulate weapons.
The worse horror in my life could only have been prevented if someone had been able to win out over the evil in their mind. There were no guns involved in that case (although I know three people who died from gunshots, two suicides, one "accident&quot .
Being good is the best way to overcome horror. Having more guns does not seem to be the path to good, as the NRA wants us to think.

I would also like to add that when the most horrific thing that happened in my life happened I was glad I had spent years reading the works of Stephen King. It somehow made it just a little less of a shock (just somewhat).

I would also like to point out that King himself owns handguns. This is not a "take all the guns away" bandwagon. It is more of a thing were we, as a society, need to think long and hard about the capabilities of these objects and ask ourselves things like are they more a problem or a solution. The NRA thinks they are the solution.

[Honeycombe8]

42. Spot on. nt

[Brigid]

44. Best piece of writing Stephen King has ever produced.

[MrSlayer]

48. I said every single member of congress should have been made to walk through that classroom.

Every single one of them.

Then let them bleat about how we shouldn't do a damn thing about it.

[Odin2005]

60. Yup!

[joe_sixpack]

76. Though I have always enjoyed reading King's work,

I don't really feel that I need such a visceral description of the gore and carnage of a tragic real-life event from a horror-fiction writer in order to feel sadness, grief or outrage. If the level of empathy in our world has sunk so much that he feels he needs to use his talents to describe it to us, then I believe this is only the tip of our problems.

Rather than a diatribe against guns, he actually might be better suited to speaking out on the mental issues that cause someone to commit such a heinous, unthinkable act of violence, since almost all of his books contain at least one character with severe mental dysfunction that goes on some sort of evil, violent spree of slaughter.