I feel like the earth just moved. My 68 year old brother

[KPN]

who has been an ultra conservative right winger for the past 20 years or so just left me a voice mail. He called to let me know he has changed his mind about 2nd Amendment rights after yesterday’s Texas school shooting and would now even support all guns just being banned. He said he just “can’t allow this stuff to go on anymore”.

I’m still processing this thinking what in hell took him so long.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good for him!

When beliefs are so firmly entrenched (as his undoubtedly were) it takes a huge earthquake to dislodge them.

Looks like he got his quake!

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. Wow! I hope there are thousands more out there

just like him. Good for him.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Steve Kerr Quoted A Statistic Last Night

Kerr is a known liberal who head coaches the Golden State Warriors. His father was assassinated while working in the middle east. So, he knows how those families feel, to great extent.
He used a stat showing 90% of Americans support universal background checks.
I looked that up, and found the very number he used. Also, over 80% approved of at least a 15 day waiting period.
He called out the 50 R senators, in no uncertain terms, as well.
He was LIVID!!!

[FM123]

3. Wonderful to hear.

Always a shock when hearts and minds change, but sometimes they do.

[SoonerPride]

4. Ask him if that includes voting for Democrats

Because we need Democrats to make that happen.

[Wednesdays]

5. "...what in hell took him so long"

Better late than never!

[elias7]

6. Wish my brother would come around

[usonian]

7. Breaking an addiction or cult membership often takes a real shock, or "hitting rock bottom"

The man has lifted a great burden from his soul.

[peppertree]

8. May there be a 10 million+ realizations just like your brother's.

It's clear he's a good man who loves his country sincerely - not just the flag-waving, gun-toting, GI-Joe box set image.

Batteries sold separately.

[llmart]

9. This is all well and good but as my late father would say...

"talk is cheap". What will your brother do now with his new found revelation? Will he contact his Congress people and tell him that? Will he then vote for Democrats that support gun control and a ban on automatic weapons? If not, then, as I said, his talk is worthless.

[electric_blue68]

34. Jeeebz give the man a little more time to get to the place

[mwb970]

38. He's HAD time.

[FakeNoose]

10. If your brother lives in Texas, I hope he supports Beto

This could make all the difference!

In any case maybe he'll convince his rightwing gun-loving friends to see the light like he has.

[beaglelover]

11. Hopefully more people on the right will adopt your brother's feelings.

It's amazing we are currently have more mass shootings per year than there are days in the year. There is something seriously broken in the USA. I don't know what the problem is or what the solution is, but it's heartbreaking what is happening to the USA.

[Warpy]

12. Funny, I'm not for banning all guns

I live out west and people who live outside the city need that hunting rifle and/or shotgun. This is bear, cougar and coyote country.

What need to go are all those semiauto killing machines, whether pistols or long guns. There is no way they should be allowed in a civilian population. It's insane, people, and I don't care how many people hove only fired them at a gun range. Their hobby is just too fucking expensive. They need to find a new one.

[soldierant]

24. Agreed, nor am I for banning all people from owning.

But some guns and some people should never be allowed in proximity.

[Warpy]

27. Unfortunately, it seems 90% pf tjpse guns were sold to exacly those people

People tell me they love the AR 15 for coyotes after their sheep. They need to practice their skill with their old 30-06. Oddly enough, those do more damage if they hit a human being. They just do it with far greater difficulty.

If these gunhumping hosers go into withdrawal after Precious is gone, let them join the military or the NG or go to a garden spot like Yemen, where they can own full auto. They'll be in a war, but hey, full auto!

[murielm99]

36. I agree completely.

I live rural. We are retired farmers in the Midwest. Every farmer up and down the road has a rifle or shotgun. No one needs an AR to take care of varmints or destructive critters. I can't imagine shooting a diseased possum with an AR 15.

[BadgerMom]

13. The right is now so extreme that they are radicalizing the majority of Americans--to oppose them.

We must work like crazy to get out the vote, expand the Senate to a true majority while hanging on to the House. Then, we must move with power. Drop the filibuster, expand the SC, make DC and Puerto Rico states if they so desire, expand voting rights, control guns and put women’s health in the hands of women. I’d love to think the DOJ could open a RICO investigation into the GOP. I understand how radical these ideas now sound thanks to corporate-owned media and the decades long rightward slide of the Overton window, but I fully believe only bold action will salvage our democracy at this point. The well has been poisoned over the years so that bold ideas by Democrats are villainized while Republicans like Sen. Lee can state that the US wasn’t conceived as a democracy, everyone yawns and the news cycle grinds on. Something’s gotta give.

[flying_wahini]

14. My new mantra..."Repeal the 2nd"

[soldierant]

25. It certainly i no longer needed.

Some history:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-24-2022

We have completely lost the intention, and furthermore, it has been turned into a fundraising scam.

[people]

15. The earth moved

That's good to hear. I hope more minds were affected in the same way.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Good that he's changed his mind about guns, but ...

... will he vote for Democratic candidates to make that happen?

[DFW]

17. At SOME point

Even Republicans figure out that their leadership, for whatever (to us) unfathomable reason, considers unborn children to be sacred, and children already born to be target practice.

Maybe SOME of them are finally arriving at the conclusion that there is something horribly perverse about that stance.

[AlexSFCA]

18. is it possible that some hardcore "2nd amendment supporters" feel guilt?

after all, those innocent kids would probably have likely lived if not for their continuous support of free access to guns of all kinds. I hope that some start to feel that guilt and change their voting pattern. Pictures of kids before and after would help accelerate the process.

[BootinUp]

19. I understand, great, but I'm not holding

my breath

[calimary]

20. Finally had enough, I guess. Even for him.

Thanks for sharing this moment with us, KPN.

Glad he finally got there, but I'm in anguish about those 19 innocent little lives and how THEY had to die for him to finally get to "I've had enough." MSNBC just did a brief segment about some of those lost little loves, those sweet little angels, and I cried all over again. It's beyond imagining.

And frankly, I don't want to hear ANY MORE from Greg Abbott about mental health. That's ALWAYS the fall-back. That's ALWAYS the excuse. FUCK YOU, Abbott! There are hundreds of millions of people across the globe who have mental health issues to deal with - and THEY DON'T GUN UP AND GO MASSACRE A CLASSROOM FULL OF LITTLE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like YOU are the one with the "mental health" issues, Abbott!

[Karadeniz]

21. He finally listened to the soul part of Mind... it just may be the start of awareness of others!

[Demovictory9]

22. Ok..vm.means you didnt dream it

[The Jungle 1]

23. I just sent this to my rep. VILE warning

Did your repuke friends in texass use a dump truck to move the dead babies.
I bet you think I am the sick one. DO SOMETHING!!! (he will not respond)

Did I go to far? I think we need to get some attention.

[Mozeltov Cocktail]

26. Good for you and your brother...

It gives me a small measure of hope.

Face it, if we're actually waiting for a mass shooting event to sway republicans, it will never happen. There is no bottom to their depravity and ability to brush away mass murder. Their opposition to masks and vaccines killed hundreds of thousands, a handful of slaughtered children is a mild inconvenience.
I'm extremely happy for your brother's epiphany and I hope for a million my more...

[live love laugh]

28. For now... until propagandists change his mind.

And make this about “the Democrats” or some other BS.

[Fresh_Start]

30. Thank him profusely....and see if you can get him to talk to his friends

and change more minds.

[Aussie105]

31. Good on him!

One more American finally gets it!

You can't have safety and peace if half of the country is geared up for war.

[Joinfortmill]

32. My guess. Too many children be shot to death.

[Turbineguy]

33. Millions of people need

this simple epiphany.

Your Brother made a good start.

[treestar]

35. Good for him

Always good for someone to see the light.

[SpankMe]

37. We need the balls to start a movement to repeal the second amendment

It'll take 50 years. But it'll be worth it. Republicans waited 50 years for their abortion ban. We should start a 50-year project for a gun ban.

[pansypoo53219]

39. tell him to vote for it.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

40. I hope he doesn't take it back.

Like the Rs who criticized Pissolini immediately after the insurrection.

[barbtries]

41. what took him so long?

it's something to wonder about isn't it. there weren't enough dead bodies until now? But best not to bring it up to him i think. I'm glad he's changed his mind.

[Bengus81]

42. He'll flip right back when Dems again try and ban assult rifles

He'll be screaming about the 2nd Amendment and his freedums.

[pandr32]

43. One down--millions to go!

Each and every drop in the bucket is progress.

[BobTheSubgenius]

44. Better late than never?

I know. That bromide is really weak tea, but it springs to nimbly to mind.