I survived a shooting in the summer of 1990. Today is the anniversary.It was June 1 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and I was 18 years old, looking forward to entering college.
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I survived a shooting in the summer of 1990. Today is the anniversary.It was June 1 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and I was 18 years old, looking forward to entering college.
Thanks for the re-post.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for survivors or the family or friends of victims to come forward with their stories. We don't like to relive trauma, or be treated different, or seen as victims, but it needs done. Our voices are the most important ones, as we are the ones directly affected by gun violence.
Extremists regularly attack us. They call us cowards if we took cover or ran from the shooter, or they call us misled or confused by our experience (even though they have never had such an experience), or they even question if our account is somehow "made up" just because it doesn't fit their fantasies or philosophies. More people need to share their experiences. With 100,000 shootings a year, there's no shortage of us out there.
Survivor? More like a witness, and then you proceeded to chase down an unarmed 16 year old child with your SUV, putting all those other people in danger.
DeleteJesus, Bill, why the hostility and personal attack? I thought it was a well-written account of a very close call. I'm impressed with someone who witnessed someone getting shot in the head at such close range.
DeleteI was very well written witness statement and honestly it was more snark than hostility, but to identify oneself as victim or survivor because of witnessing an incident is a stretch. Instead of using this incident as a jumping board to go on for 22 years attempting to infringe the rights of others, perhaps it would have served the community better had he used the incident to get involved in teen counseling or alternative dispute resolution.
DeleteBy his definition of survivor, I would be considered a survivor of brain cancer, that's what took my father a year and half ago. Maybe, I'm a victim of car violence, because that's what took my wife a year ago, and my girlfriend 25 years ago, and my best friend 33 years ago.
Survivor or victim he is not.
Actually, Bill, I have been involved with other community activity, including counseling teens.
DeleteIf it were a gunman in a classroom who started shooting, would you call a teen in the classroom a survivor or a witness? By your definition, no one other than someone shot and injured would be a "survivor." I define it otherwise.
Your comparison to the situations with your father, wife, girlfriend, or best friend is specious. You were never in danger, unless you were in the car with them. Most people would understand this.
Now we see how much Oregonian cares about people who die, but not due to a bullet. Not a gun death? It doesn't matter.
DeleteI see things differently.
"By your definition, no one other than someone shot and injured would be a "survivor.""
DeleteI would think most people that claim to have survived a gun shooting would mean they were actually shot by a gun. That is a pretty standard definition of survival.
By your definition, everyone that attends the Olympic Games marksmanship competition is a survivor of a gun shooting. Does that sound like a reasonable definition of surviving a gun shooting?
DeleteI think it is reasonable to call someone a “survivor” if they were present during a spree shooting where people were being randomly targeted, and by luck they were not one of the people targeted. With Baldr’s example of a classroom, I would say it is a proper use. For Baldr’s personal example, “witness to a murder” seems more appropriate. One individual was the target of a motivated shooting.
DeleteSurvivor my ass. More like young kid that made countless stupid decisions. What a load of crap.
ReplyDeleteYes, Oregonian was a witness to a violent act, and it traumatised him. Now he's behaving like a victim, lashing out at anyone who has any characteristic similar to the source of his pain, no matter how tenuous the connection. He should get some help and stop trying to take away our rights.
ReplyDeleteWeer'd Beard gives a good analysis of Oregonian's article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.weerdworld.com/2012/kilgore-bears-all/
Good analysis. As an added bonus, it allows commenting!
DeleteI left a comment for Weer'd which I'm not sure he'll publish, which in and of itself is pretty funny. He's been one of the loudest critics of people who moderate comments.
Delete"Weer'd, you're an asshole for using his real name because you know he doesn't like it."
As opposed to the sacrilege of taking the names of Norse gods? That offends me, especially since his whole purpose is contrary to theirs.
Delete