Re: <nettime> Ocular fictions

[Keith Sanborn via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

There are nearly 25 million AR-15 style weapons in private hands in the US. The vast majority purchased since 2001.  This is due to the expiration of certain patents and the expiration of laws against private ownership of such weapons. Mostly in the hands of “gun enthusiasts” because they can with minor ingenuity be customized into something approaching an automatic weapon.. The Wikipedia article is instructive. 

I like the false flag operation as a counter narrative to the ones declared by J. D. Vance and others  ( Biden is responsible because he called Trump a danger to Democracy) against the common  sense observation that Trumplestiltskin’s own calls for violence brought these chickens home to roost. The Vance version is nicely parallel to the deepstate narrative, which fails to note that the gunman was an enthusiastic registered Republican autodidact amateur rather than a highly-trained professional who wd not have missed. My observation is that if T hadn’t turned his head to his right the bullet wd have entered the side of the target’s head instead of clipping his ear. Look in the mirror and see how much more of a target a side view offers than a head-on view. 

That said, I think the gun handling skills of the far right are over-estimated. Most are simply incompetent deer hunters in PA who need multiple shots to bring down their quarry. For those who don’t know: many  Pennsylvania schools close on the first day of deer hunting season to allow fathers and spawn a moment of shared violence.  I grew up shooting guns (shot guns and small caliber rifles) and these AR-15 enthusiasts are mostly bad shots as well as violence prone fascists. 

But the invitation to Civil War seems quaint according to Mao’s show us your tanks, except for the fact that deepstate rhetoric has infiltrated the US Armed Forces and moved from there into the highly armed police forces. Protecting and defending the constitution has been warped into an excuse to side with a rising fascist state. 

I breathlessly await what SNL will do with this. I hope the ear piercing or Van Gough narratives will save the day. But for what?

Keith Sanborn



> On Jul 14, 2024, at 3:40 PM, Andre Rebentisch via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org> wrote:
> 
> From a European perspective the surge in private AR-15 style firearm possession in the US is part of the larger picture.
> Quite telling: No one expects US gun control discussions.
> 
> - A
> 
> 
>> Am 14.07.24 um 09:46 schrieb Dan S Wang via nettime-l:
>> 
>> The shots were fired from the roof of a large shed-like out building, the weapon used, apparently, was an AR-15. The distance was 125yrds/115m away. These basic details eliminate probably 99% of the country's Trump haters as realistic suspects, though Trump and Co will try to blame precisely that 99%. The typical individual identified with the grassroots American left couldn't for the life them pull off such a stunt even when dearly wanting to.
>> 
>> Further, how did a guy get himself up there toting a long gun, with tons of people around and presumably through standard Secret Service perimeter sweeps,
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