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SecularMotion

(7,981 posts)
Mon Sep 21, 2015, 05:15 AM Sep 2015

What does gun violence really cost?

It was a mild, crystal clear desert evening on November 15, 2004, when Jennifer Longdon and her fiance, David Rueckert, closed up his martial-arts studio and headed out to grab some carnitas tortas from a nearby taqueria. They were joking and chatting about wedding plans—the local Japanese garden seemed perfect—as Rueckert turned their pickup into the parking lot of a strip mall in suburban north Phoenix. A red truck with oversize tires and tinted windows sideswiped theirs, and as they stopped to get out, Rueckert's window exploded. He told Longdon to get down and reached for the handgun he had inside a cooler on the cab floor. As he threw the truck into gear, there were two more shots. His words turned to gibberish and he slumped forward, his foot on the gas. A bullet hit Longdon's back like a bolt of lightning, her whole body a live wire as they accelerated toward the row of palm trees in the concrete divider.

The air bag against her was stifling, the inside of the cab hot. She managed to call 911. "Where are you shot on your body?" the dispatcher asked. "I don't know, I cannot move. I can't breathe anymore. Somebody help me," she pleaded. "I'm dying."

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There was a rush of cool air, and a man leaning over her. Then a flood of bright lights. "Am I being medevacked?" she asked. "Those are news vultures," the EMT told her. He shielded her face with his hand as they rushed the gurney into the ambulance. She couldn't stop thinking of her 12-year-old. "Tell my son I love him," she said.

Half of her ribs were shattered. Her lungs had collapsed and were filling with blood. As the ambulance screamed toward the hospital, Longdon, an avid scuba diver, clawed at the oxygen mask. She kept trying to tell them: "My regulator isn't working. My regulator isn't working." The EMT held her hand as she faded in and out.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/true-cost-of-gun-violence-in-america
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
What does gun violence really cost? (Original Post) SecularMotion Sep 2015 OP
It cost me an upgrade from a 6+1 380 to a double stack 9. ileus Sep 2015 #1
Any comment SecMo? GGJohn Sep 2015 #2
Jennifer Longdon: "I don't think we should ban guns. Not at all,"... discntnt_irny_srcsm Sep 2015 #3
WATCH OUT, folks. They're out. Say pleeze & tankyew at all times. We are "cowards," you know. Eleanors38 Sep 2015 #5
Post removed Post removed Sep 2015 #4
Whatever the cost is........ pablo_marmol Sep 2015 #6

ileus

(15,396 posts)
1. It cost me an upgrade from a 6+1 380 to a double stack 9.
Mon Sep 21, 2015, 06:02 AM
Sep 2015

Now I admit it's a price I don't mind paying, but that money could have went toward a CZ 75 SA instead.



discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,565 posts)
3. Jennifer Longdon: "I don't think we should ban guns. Not at all,"...
Mon Sep 21, 2015, 10:38 AM
Sep 2015
Longdon does a lot of advocacy for people with disabilities. And she also works on gun-control measures, particularly since the 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson and last year's Newtown school massacre in Connecticut.

She's testified against measures to increase access to guns and supports universal background checks, but she does not take it as far as you might expect, given her personal experience.

"I don't think we should ban guns. Not at all," she says.


http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/jennifer-longdon-wears-her-heart-on-her-facebook-page-6457800


I was going to add comments here but...

Response to SecularMotion (Original post)

pablo_marmol

(2,375 posts)
6. Whatever the cost is........
Tue Sep 22, 2015, 12:59 AM
Sep 2015

........it's AT LEAST offset by defensive gun use -- since DGU is as common, or more, than offensive use.

Next case.
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