Lio by Mark Tatulli for August 05, 2022

very nice, Ralph

And this is what’s called freedom. You can have it.

But they can’t tell you to wear a mask because some crazy Florida judge said so.

But don’t worry, your teacher can now go armed. What could possibly go wrong with teachers having guns handy?

Don’t forget your gun, Lio!

Bully-proof?

Nice of them to include the slot for Lio’s cowlick there!

My son is a teacher and — rightly — wants no part of armed teachers. First of all, carrying a gun in school provided opportunities for students to get ahold of them. And many since teachers (like my son) have to use more than one classroom, he would have to carry it out in the hall full of kids while changing rooms. That’s a recipe for disaster. Secondly, he points out that some teachers are disgruntled, abused (by parents, by the school district, by politicians…), and barely holding it together — so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that an armed teacher could snap. Third, it is extremely difficult to keep children calm while at the same time trying to kill a shooter. Fourth, how are the cops (assuming they DO eventually enter the building to go after the shooter) to be sure that the teacher isn’t the bad guy and kill them.

For every “good guy with a gun” story where they actually stop the shooter, there are a hundred where they don’t. And even where they do, the shooter has inevitably (as in the case in Indiana) already killed other innocents. I see all these stupid arguments gun nuts put up for not having regulations, but they’re all meaningless. About 32% of Americans own guns, but the vast majority of those guns are actually owned by a much smaller percentage (the stockpilers). So the majority of Americans do NOT own guns yet are held hostage by the minority. And we know that countries with strict gun laws (which is not the same as taking guns away) have far fewer gun deaths and nearly no mass shootings. THAT is what we want!

By the way, for those who argue that cities with strict gun laws have lots of gun deaths, let’s remember that red states have a much higher percentage, and while it’s true that most gun deaths happen in urban settings, that’s because that’s where most people live. Per capita, it’s safer in the cities than in the rural areas (and I used to live both in NYC AND in the rural south, so I have some perspective on this).

sweet gear, anything worth the work after and before or during the battle at school.

Amerikkka, land of gun care and health control.

Well, if the police would actually go do their job instead of standing by with all their pretty gear while kids are getting shot, maybe we wouldn’t need to worry as much. If teachers who were qualified and willing had guns, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much.

If loners weren’t ingesting daily swill on the internet with poh-rn, violence and self-destruction with drugs, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much.

Perhaps if people went to church more and engaged their families with Christ instead of trash, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much.

If society was oriented toward Good and God and not evil and the demonic, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much.

I think this is clearly an exaggeration. Just ask Alex Jones. . . Oh. Wait. . . . /S

@Free or Not? I agree with your statement, “If society was oriented toward Good”, However, I ask that you keep an open mind about how that is accomplished. Christ and religion are not the only path. I agree they can be a very helpful path, I have met some wonderful Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists who are are dedicated to making the world a more peaceful and better place. I was raised by one parent who was an out atheist and the other who was an unwavering agnostic (a scientist with an open mind). The message that my siblings and I received was clear and repeated often, “Your task in life is not about getting good things, it is about doing good in the world.” For the most part we all lived up to our parent’s admonition. I will graciously accept and support your Christian path toward a “society” that is “oriented toward Good”, if you will reciprocate that generosity. From everything I have read (including the Bible) I think that is what your Christ would have wanted.

It’s like now, crazy guys with guns coming to your school are OK…but trying to wear a mask or get vaccinated, that’s offensive.

He’s in no danger, not since it became official that “guns don’t kill people”.

You know that some school will get shot up by some deranged gunman some where in this country this year!

This is indeed a sad commentary.

How sad kids have to dress like the military makes me ashamed of how we have to protect our children

I really and truly wish I could laugh at this one, but with the school- and other mass-murders happening almost every day, its far, far to difficult to even smile at it. Still, today’s strip is a good one. I’m with Lio on this one.

Worn in defense from the “well-regulated militia”

“Anxious steps every day through the halls of learning

She’s watching every corner, she’s praying for a warning

She’s just a child of 8 years old, already scared to die

And no one’s done a ****ing thing but watch the bullets fly

Our nerves are cobwebbed with the dust of atrocity

The deadly daily spectacle erodes humanity

Jaded and desensitized, a spreading apathy

Fast forgotten thoughts and prayers for numbers on a screen

Another massacre, another day gone by

Is this the new abnormal?

Pursuing illusions as we turn a blind eye

This is the new abnormal." — Lamb of God, “Reality Bath”

Poignant.

Armor manufacturers expect record profits as schools require new uniforms for the 2022-23 school year.