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knight-of-ashes · 2 years

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If I see one more liberal call for a revolution immediately after calling for a ban on "military style weapons" I'm gonna fucking lose it and start digging a tunnel

Every single jackass who posts that AR-15 versus predator drone meme then posts a picture of Wonder Woman with a sword and says that's how they're gonna defend the right to abortion is a brain dead imbecile

Every single comment about common sense regulations I see is about extra laws that would empower police to decimate inner cities and would never actually get semiautomatic weaponry out of the hands of disillusioned and violent young men. I see no one talking about weapon storage or ways to empower schools to actually get help for these men and I just see people talking about magazine restrictions and banning AR-15s which aren't even the most powerful or most high capacity guns on the market. They're just what's currently ubiquitous because of the military industrial complex and they're about to get replaced by the new SIG 6.8mm rifles. Nobody wants to ban AK-47s even though they're just as easy to acquire and higher caliber. Everyone dismisses gang violence in these conversations like young Black men don't deserve a chance to get out of that hell.

I have so many ideas for policies and regulations for just the firearms side (not even talking UBI and universal healthcare) that would actually solve these massacres and I'm too fucking angry at my friends to even say them because they have to share their stupid fucking Star Wars and Discworld memes to make sure everyone knows how sad they are about another batch of kids dying before they go back to consuming endless streams of Disney content and voting for Democrats who won't lift a finger on this issue.

I have a friend who's not allowed to legally own firearms for a few more years because she was forcibly hospitalized after crashing her car into a tree at night during a suicide attempt that she regretted before the hit happened, and meanwhile her brother has never been hospitalized and still can legally use guns despite ranting and raving in a manic fugue state in his front yard and threatening to kill people while the cops stood there laughing. How the fuck are you going to get every AR-15 off the streets when this is our normal? When cops just let any man light enough keep their guns even against department policy? When schools repeatedly report problem kids and get ignored until after the problem kid has finally shot everyone up? How are you going to stop shootings by banning the sale of only one style of semiautomatic rifle and not doing anything about any other type of gun, or working on any sort of training minimum requirements? Are we gonna talk about how ICE was waiting at the school to arrest any undocumented parents, and how ICE has been implicated in multiple firearms smuggling schemes while using even the slightest suggestion of illegal activity as an excuse to kill any Latino on site, and how undocumented Latino workers often have unregistered firearms because they know cops will not protect them?

23 people are dead. Two adults, 19 kids, and the shooter himself, an 18 year old who was a week away from graduation if his grades were good enough for that. We need a solution, not useless platitudes, and banning exactly one type of gun then calling for a revolution like you have emptily for the past five years is a useless platitude. These are people who hid at home during the BLM protests who think they're gonna change something.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE YOUR REVOLUTION WITHOUT WEAPONS?

#raid mom's safe #buy right before the shooting #there are so many things we could do #raise the age for purchasing all guns and not just handguns to 25 #raise that for joining the military too #require safes and create a licensure framework that involves a free but extensive class on both the mechanical and use side of firearms #and on force usage de-escalation legal and moral frameworks and ethics #make testing requirements with a minimum of five years between tests for renewal and make it so taking the test is mandatory time off #make voting that too #all gun stores and ranges and police stations must provide a free and easy to use firearm lockup with no questions asked #domestic violence is an automatic no ownership offense and dv convicts must face tests that are much more thorough than other felons #to get their rights back #and must submit to yearly inspections #part of licensure should frankly be safe storage inspections by non-police legal professionals #safe storage is part of self defense and I'm tired of the 2a community pretending it isn't #i would only accept at home ammo storage restrictions if there was a price cap on ammunition just like there should be for gas #that way it's not a burden to buy a small amount to practice with at the range #and frankly ammo restrictions feel against the idea of labor being armed ala marx #so im still working on that concept #perhaps community ammo banks become a thing #this kid blew fucking $2000 minimum on two daniel defense rifles and 370 rounds of .223 then killed his grandma and shot up a school so #perhaps just restricting the amount you can get in one purchase (again with a price cap) is the way to go #we do occasionally see stockpiler shooters but thats very rare compared to or #from either stores or straw buyers

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jtargaryen18 · 2 years

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His Inheritance ~ Chapter 22

Part 22: Doppelganger

Series Masterlist

Words: 4.6k

Pairing: Mobster Steve Rogers x Mobster daughter reader

Warnings: Kidnapping, non-con, rough sex, explicit sex, slapping, choking, gaslighting, oral sex (M receiving), orgasm denial, threats, domestic violence, references to gun wounds, references to prescription drugs. This is a dark fic. Please read responsibly.

Disclaimer: The author of this work claims no ownership of characters aside from the reader, and original secondary characters mentioned. This work is not intended for those under the age of 18 due to explicit sexual content and darker themes. By reading this work or any works on my blog (jtargaryen18), you agree that you are at least 18 years of age. I do not consent to have my work hosted on any third party app or site. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but archiveofourown and tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission.

Summary: For @alexakeyloveloki. Your father is the head of one of the most powerful crime families in Boston but he’s protected you from that life. In your quiet home outside the city, you’ve been cared for and protected. When the desires of a more powerful man with the will to dominate bursts into your life, all your illusions are shattered as he comes to claim what is his.

A/N: Thank you to Abra for the emergency beta job. 💕

~~~

Lloyd Hansen’s men wisely gave him a wide berth as he ran for the SUV. His driver’s eyes were wide when he climbed into the back, bleeding like a stuck pig. He didn’t give a shit about the jacket and turtleneck ruined by the shot. The blood running down his white slacks? That pissed him off.

Fucking looks like I forgot my maxi pad.

The driver got the vehicle moving, eyeing him in the mirror every few seconds.

“You good, boss?” he asked in a rare show of bravery.

Lloyd had to laugh, using the heel of his hand to put pressure on the wound to staunch the bleeding. There was no exit wound. The round was still in his fucking shoulder, and he was really hoping it wasn’t a hollow point she got him with.

“Just get me back to the house,” Lloyd directed.

“Who shot you, sir?”

Lloyd shook his head. Yeah, his chest and shoulder hurt like a bitch, but he had to appreciate the totally ludicrous fucking situation.

“Mrs. Rogers shot me,” he told the man with a smirk.

With that, the driver’s gaze went back to the road and stayed. Oh, Lloyd knew most of the men who worked for him were too afraid to react to most things he said. What if their reaction was the wrong one? It made him happy they felt that way. That they feared him. Once in a while when they were fairly confident in their answers, he’d unload on them. Sometimes the attack was verbal. Sometimes it was physical.

Either way, it kept them on their toes.

They reached his place in minutes, his driver pulling into the garage. Lloyd climbed out, the pain in his shoulder and chest worse. He’d have to dig out the fucking bullet, take something for the pain.

“Sir, did you want any… company tonight?” His driver pulled the door further open for him, not meeting his gaze. “Probably don’t feel like it after that.”

Was that a challenge? Lloyd couldn’t have his men thinking he was weak now, could he? Vulnerable? Fuck that.

Besides, Lloyd knew just what he was in the mood for.

“I would like some company,” he told his driver. “Someone special.”

The driver’s gaze met him, perked up and eager to please. “Want me to bring you Milly?”

The girl was a local. Milly didn’t work the streets. She kept a small list of regular clients, and she was one of the rare few who would negotiate for the little extras he required. It was tempting and she was a very good actress most of the time.

Lloyd just wasn’t in the mood for role play. He wanted something authentic.

Lloyd shook his head. “No, bring me the girl from the donut shop. You know the one.”

His driver wasn’t expecting him to say that. The man’s mouth dropped open and then he closed it.

“Something to say, Harry?” Lloyd taunted him.

“She’s not…” Harry’s voice shook. It was satisfying. “She’s not a professional.”

Lloyd walked around him to the side door of his house. “I’m aware. Go get her.”

“Yes, sir.” The reply didn’t sound confident.

Lloyd really didn’t give a shit.

Leaving Harry to bring him his treat, he wandered into his house, flipping on lights as he went and swearing at the trail of blood he was leaving across the floor as he went. Making it to his guest bathroom because it was closest, he flipped on the bright light and winced. When he took in his reflection in the mirror, Lloyd blew out an exhale. He’d looked better.

Stripping off the jacket and shirt, he took in the bullet wound, still seeping blood.

Mrs. Rogers got him good.

Lloyd chuckled as he reached under the sink, pulled out the medical kit he kept there. He gave himself a local anesthetic to take the edge off and sterilized the forceps while he waited for it to kick in. It took some doing but the bullet came out in one piece. It nicked a rib, might have done deeper damage. He’d have one of the medics that worked for him to take a closer look tomorrow.

By the time he got the wound sterilized and sutured, he heard the door open from the garage. Harry was back. Did he have what he’d asked for?

The girl from the donut shop was terrified of him which he always enjoyed. But that wasn’t why he wanted her.

She looked a lot like Mrs. Rogers.

Harry tapped on the bathroom door as he was climbing into the shower. “Boss?”

"You have what I asked for?"

"Yes, Boss."

It was just the reply he wanted.

“Take her to the room,” he called, grinning as he climbed under the hot spray of water. "Make sure she stays there.”

It would have been really easy to just pull on a robe to go play with his new toy, but Lloyd was proud of his showmanship. He took his time cleaning up, heading up to his room. He picked out black slacks, a black and white argyle sweater.

By the time he finished his hair, Lloyd grinned. His little guest had to be drowning in anxiety by now and he couldn’t wait to smell that perfume. It was one of his favorite scents.

Harry waited in front of the door of the room where Lloyd liked to entertain certain guests.

“Has our guest given you any trouble?” Lloyd asked him, not trying to keep his voice down.

Harry shook his head. “Can I get you anything else, boss?”

“That will be all,” Lloyd told him.

He waited for Harry to make it down the hall before he opened the door and let himself in, curious as to what he would find.

The girl he’d sent Harry to fetch him, he didn’t remember what her name was, sat on the edge of the king-sized bed with her hands twisted in her lap and her teeth worrying that full lower lip.

Her eyes were on him then, wide in fear. Lloyd shook his head. While that tiny bit of blood on her lip pleased him, he was disappointed in the lack of effort.

This was going to take a fuck-ton of suspension of disbelief. The young woman looked enough like the woman he wanted to be her sibling.

But she apparently had little of Mrs. Rogers’ spirit. Lloyd just knew if he’d managed to ger her in his little playroom, she would have been working on a way out of there. Lloyd wouldn’t have been able to take his time with his grooming as he had tonight.

It got him hard just thinking about it.

“Please, Mr. Hansen.” Tears were welling up in those big eyes. “I… I don’t understand w-what I’m doing here?”

Strolling over to her, her came to a stop right in front of her, making her look up at him.

“You’re here because I wanted you here,” he told her with a smile. “You’re here because someone else isn’t.”

The confusion was easy to read on her lovely face. Now that she had in common with Mrs. Rogers. Both were an open book.

“Now get up. I didn’t say you could sit on my bed,” he told her in a friendly tone. “You need to earn that.”

She didn’t hesitate, scrambling off the bed to stand a few feet away from him. Casually, Lloyd took her seat, watching her as she stood there squirming under his gaze.

“Did I do something w-wrong or…”

Boring.

“No,” Lloyd said, blowing out an exhale. “You’re here because you look like someone I want.”

That stopped her in her tracks. She was honest-to-God trembling when he rose from the bed.

“Someone who shot me,” he said casually.

When he marched forward and backhanded her, he sent her flying. Unsurprisingly, she curled up like a kicked puppy on the floor, holding a hand to her cheek.

“I’m s-sorry,” she stammered.

“You’re not yet, princess,” he told her with smirk. “But you will be.”

Marching towards her again, it was all he could do not to laugh as she scuttled away from him like a little crab. She misjudged his reach, trying not to scream when her grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her back to the bed.

It wasn’t hard at all for him to drop her onto the floor at the end of the huge bed, to loom over her until she was lost in his shadow. Lloyd took his time in returning to his seat there. Once he’d settled, he grinned at her.

“Strip.”

“W-what?” Her wide-eyed bit was getting old fast, but he loved that little o shape she made with her mouth.

When he went to get up, she held her hands up in surrender. “Okay.”

“Stand up,” he ordered.

She shook like a leaf as she pulled herself off the floor. Her hands shook so badly, he wasn’t sure she’d be able to work the buttons of the simple blue shirt she wore. He’d seen her wear it at the shop where she worked – a shop on Rogers’ territory no less – and it ruined the illusion for him.

Beneath it was a cream-colored lacy bra. Much better. He could see Mrs. Rogers wearing that. She pushed down the jeans, revealing panties that matched that bra. They were modest.

Lloyd grinned. “Get rid of the socks.”

When she peeled those off, Lloyd saw that her little feet were perfect. The toenails were painted. He wasn’t crazy about that. Mrs. Rogers’ feet were different. They often had blisters and marks from her dancing. Her long toes were all crammed together no doubt from hours being taped up to fit in pointe shoes.

And Lloyd loved watching her dance. It was something that was just his. Her own husband at this point had never seen her dance. Lloyd could say he liked the graceful moves of her dance.

Honestly, he loved her discipline more. There was no teacher there. Just her, working to perfect her movements in the mirrors they’d installed in her studio. That was dedication to her craft, hard work to be the best of the best.

He respected that.

When she reached behind her to unfasten the bra, Lloyd shook his head. “Leave it for now,” he told her. “Put the socks back on.”

He didn’t miss her confusion, but she didn’t hesitate, covering those feet back up in those simple navy socks. With those piggies covered, Lloyd decided they could proceed.

The young woman had a nice figure like Mrs. Rogers. She didn’t have the same muscle tone. She was softer but then that could be said of her entire being. Soft. She worked in a donut shop making baked treats for people to pay her way through grad school. The donuts that didn’t make it to the case he picked from each day? She took them out in bags and gave them to hobos on the street near her apartment. She volunteered at an animal shelter on the weekends.

Boring.

Eventually, she’d find a boring young man and marry him, have kids. If all that inherent goodness and softness didn’t get her naïve little ass killed first.

She didn’t have the fire Mrs. Rogers had.

That fire made the woman he wanted special. Like the woman before him, she was young and lacking in life experience. She was a ballet dancer for fuck’s sake. She couldn’t have fought him off if she’d tried but she knew that. She couldn’t outrun him or talk her way out of it.

And he dared her to pull the trigger when she pointed that gun at him. It had been impressive. There had been fear in those big eyes, in her too-still stance.

And then she had pulled the fucking trigger. The shock on her face had matched what he felt. But she got over it, aimed at him again. He was fucking lucky she missed the second time.

It was a matter of time before he got what he wanted. Got her. Until then, he’d make do. They were both prettier than his normal preference, but all the plumbing was the same.

Lloyd spread his thighs wide where he sat at the end of the bed, pointing to the space on the carpet between them. “You sit right here,” he instructed, pointing to the spot.

Like she was bound for the gallows, she slowly walked closer, sinking to her knees just where he wanted. Annoyingly, she kept her head bowed.

“Eyes on me, princess,” Lloyd told her, waiting patiently for her to look up and meet his gaze.

“You sorry she shot me?” he asked after a moment.

He watched her throat work as she tried to swallow down the fear. He liked how that action looked. Only it wasn’t fear she would be swallowing. Finally, she nodded.

Lloyd slapped her little face. Not hard enough to hurt. But he meant for it to sting. Her mouth gaped open in her fear. It was doing wonders for his dick.

“I didn’t catch that.” Lloyd smirked at her. “Are you sorry she shot me?”

An eager nod this time. “I-I’m so sorry.”

Lloyd slapped her again, the other cheek. “Boring. Are you sorry you shot me?”

Tears welling up in those big eyes. Better. He liked the way her lower lip trembled as she contemplated what to say. He was about to slap her again when she spoke.

“I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t m-mean to hurt you.”

He made the next slap hurt, knocking her off balance. For a beat, she stayed down.

“Don’t disappoint me,” he told her, chuckling. “You sure as shit did mean it. Didn’t you?”

She froze, cowering on the carpet. She wasn’t getting it.

Faster than she could react, he leaned down to grab her face in his hand, clamped on it like a vice. Hauling her up that way, he got in her face. “Did you mean it?” he demanded.

“Yes.” It was garbled because of the way he held her face, but it was what he was looking for.

“You’re going to make it up to me, right?” Lloyd wanted to know, releasing her. “You’re going to show me how sorry you are?”

“I’ll d-do whatever you want,” she whined, tears flowing down her face now. Better. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

Lloyd liked her begging. If he squinted, he could pretend it was her. And she would beg for him by the end. He guaran-damn-teed it.

“Actions speak louder than words,” he told her. “How sorry are you?”

Her gaze roamed over his manspreading, and he had to laugh when it occurred to her what he expected. Lloyd waited patiently as she pushed off the floor, and again sat between his thighs. Her hands shook as they moved slowly towards the front of his slacks. The minute she touched him, he slapped her again.

Staring at him wide-eyed, she waited for an answer.

“Oh, princess, you don’t get to just do what you want here,” Lloyd informed her. “You have to ask.”

The fact that she was looking at him like he’d lost his mind played well into the illusion. Mrs. Rogers would have been downright indignant.

Blowing out a nervous exhale, she gathered her strength and looked him in the eye. “Can I please touch you?” she asked slowly.

“Sir.”

“Can I please touch you, sir? Please?”

Now she was getting it. That second plea did it. Lloyd himself undid the fine leather belt, pulled open the front of his slacks, revealing he wore nothing beneath them. Slowly, not breaking eye contact, he pushed them down his hips, past his thighs, and down to pool around his ankles.

Like a good girl, she started moving toward him. He caught her chin first, gently this time.

“Don’t be stupid, princess. I like a little pain but only when I say. I feel a second of teeth and I’ll knock them out of your goddamn head. Is that in any way unclear?”

She shook her head, a quick, desperate movement. Dropping his hand, he leaned back and let her take him in. Again, those small hands reached for him, and he hissed a little because they were cold when she grabbed his shaft. Immediately, she froze.

“Remember what I said,” he told her meaningfully.

She got her hands on him, stroked him carefully. Her movements were unsure but as the seconds passed, she got more confident. When she got her mouth on him, Lloyd realized she’d had experience with cock. She wasn’t half bad. At least she knew what she was doing with her tongue.

Once she got him wet, showed him she wasn’t a novice, Lloyd craved more. His hips started moving until he was fucking her face and she wrapped her lips around her teeth. When she started to resist, he grabbed her ears and held her there. Lloyd loved her fighting his hold, fighting to breathe. She was drooling all over him and it made him so hard, he ached. Finally, he hit an angle that took him to the back of her throat, and he held onto her as she gagged and sputtered. Lloyd painted the inside of her mouth and throat, holding her there to swallow it down. He didn’t let her go until he was sure she had.

The fear in those eyes when he released her blended with the tears streaming from her eyes. Her nose was running. She was already such a mess and that was just the appetizer.

Lloyd grinned at her as he tried to catch his breath. “I love those tears,” he admitted.

She nodded, swiping at her nose and mouth like a cat trying to clean its face. “Okay, I’ll…”

Chuckling, he stood then, stepping out his pants. “Oh, don’t worry. You’re not going to need to pretend. They’ll be real.”

Carefully, because his shoulder still stung, he peeled off the sweater and tossed it away. Her eyes darted to the gauze he’d taped over the wound at his shoulder. Leaning down, he pulled the black leather belt from his slacks and surprised her by looping it around her neck. Threading it through the buckle, he made it into a leash, enjoying the way her jaw dropped at his actions.

Climbing onto the end of the bed, he pulled her up after him. Lloyd stretched out in the middle of the bed, got comfortable on his back. The leather of his belt was wrapped around his fist, wrapped around her neck.

She didn’t touch it. Smart girl.

With his other hand, Lloyd began stroking himself, ready for round two.

“You’re going to have to do the work here, princess.” Lloyd grinned at her. “I’m wounded… Leave the socks on. Take off the rest.”

Reaching behind her, she undid the bra. She had nice breasts, and he couldn’t resist grabbing one, testing its weight in his hand. The young woman wasn’t shaking as badly when she pushed down the panties, seeming resigned to her fate.

When she didn’t seem to know what to do next, he yanked on the belt, urging her toward him. Reluctantly, she straddled him. When he held himself up for her, she positioned herself over him and began to sink down. Her little snatch was tight, and he loved the feeling of splitting her open. All that slick heat was gripping him like a fist.

When he was fully seated, Lloyd pulled on the belt like a reign. “Ride me,” he told.

She was adorably awkward when she started moving. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, she adjusted her stance. Finally, she settled her hands on either side of him, found a position that worked. It felt fucking good, and not just for him. Her body was weeping around him after a couple of minutes, so tight it almost took his breath. Now there was a real bonus.

He kept the makeshift leash in his hand, applying just enough pressure to her lightheaded as she fucked him. With his other hand, he smacked one ass cheek hard.

“Faster,” he ordered.

Her ass was bigger than Mrs. Rogers’ and he liked that. Loved the way it jiggled as she worked him. Yeah, he’d be paying for the exertion later, but Lloyd moved with her. Before long he was doing just as much as she was, fucking up into her with swift, hard thrusts of his hips. Randomly, Lloyd smacked her ass, kept it jiggling as he got closer to getting off.

“Do you ride Daddy’s cock like this, princess?” Lloyd taunted her. “Does he like it?”

Pulling on the belt just a little, her breath caught between riding him, fear, and the oxygen he was slowly denying her. But Lloyd didn’t care about the answer.

“Don’t you dare come,” Lloyd warned her, yanking on the belt again. One small hand came up to try to loosen it, something. Lloyd smacked her face hard, her pussy clenching around him when he did. “You come before I say, I’ll choke you out with this belt.”

That hand went back down to the bed, and she rode him in earnest. That little ass was jiggling, her breasts bouncing. She was struggling to breathe on top of it.

Lloyd punched up into her, making her take him. He alternated between slapping her ass and her face, keeping pressure on the belt to limit her air. He loved the fogginess creeping into her expression. The tears that flowed in her desperation. It had him so close to the edge. His dick was throbbing.

He couldn’t help himself. Lloyd rolled her under him, wrapping his hands around the belt to grab her neck as he powered into her hard. Now, she fought him, her hands trying to pry his away. She gasped for air as he fucked her into the mattress, his hands squeezing.

“You’ve been dreaming about this, haven’t you, princess?” Lloyd’s voice was rough, release riding him hard. “You’ve been dreaming about being fucked by a real man… No one can fill you up like me, can they?”

More twitching while her hands fought his. Her little pussy was clamped around him like a fucking vice. He squeezed a little more.

"I'm going to take you away from your Daddy," he went on. "You'll be my princess. And I'll fuck you like this every night. No one else can fuck this pussy like me, can they?"

She couldn’t answer him because she didn’t have enough wind. It was just what he wanted.

“Can they?” he yelled, lifting a hand to slap her face while the other kept the pressure one. “Come now, damn it!” He slapped her again. And again. “Come!”

Her pussy started fluttering around him. Her entire body seizing up like it was his to control, not hers, and Lloyd let go. It was so fucking good as he emptied himself into her little body, pumping into her over and over.

Lloyd rolled off her, onto his back. His breath came in a rush, but the endorphins dulled the pain at his shoulder. He was content in that moment. It had been a while since he’d had sex that good.

And the woman gasping and coughing next to him, tears running down her face, wasn’t even the woman he planned to claim. Sex with her? He just hoped he survived it.

Knowing he’d need something for pain if he planned to sleep, Lloyd sat up, unwinding the leather belt from her throat. She looked horrified, one hand looking like it was going to slide down to the mess between her thighs.

“Don’t be like that,” Lloyd told her. “I’m shooting blanks right now. If and when I want to have children, I’ll make that decision.”

And he’d have the vasectomy reversed then. No surprise kids, no pressure points. It was just how he operated.

Grabbing up his clothes, he climbed off the bed to head to his own room. He could feel her eyes on him. Turning, he pointed at the door to the bathroom.

“Go have a soak in the tub,” he told her. “Make yourself comfortable. You’re going to be my guest for a little while, okay?”

Until I get her.

Her body didn’t move, just her eyes. He waited, fully expecting her to start asking questions.

Are you going to kill me?

Please let me go.

No, she just whispered. He barely heard it. “Thank you, sir.”

Huh. She really was smart.

Harry was heading up the hall when he walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. His man waited for instructions.

“What would you like to do with your guest, sir?” Harry asked him, looking more than a little worried about the potential answer to that question.

Lloyd grinned at him. “She’s going to be staying for a little while. I trust you didn’t leave a trail when you went and got her for me.”

“I didn’t, sir.”

Lloyd nodded. “Make sure she has dinner,” he told him before heading for his own bedroom. “And find me some Vicodin, would you? And some vodka?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry called after him.

@valsworldofcreativity

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#His Inheritance #Lloyd Hansen #Lloyd's Captive

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conurecc · 1 year

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what's never addressed is how exactly half-measures like these work in practice

the first targeted class will be surprised by a shooting unless you can somehow preempt it so it essentially makes death in the first the alarm bell for the rest - same for arming teachers

this "safe room", armed teachers, or kevlar backpacks all go into effect AFTER the shooting starts

we as a society have to stop shootings BEFORE they happen & the way to do that is incredibly complex

as someone who's pro-responsible firearm ownership this is something i want to see good policy to address - gun bans are a bandaid

nearly 60% of mass shootings have a domestic violence connection - red flag laws, wait times, & closing the "boyfriend loophole" try to address this

additionally, corporal punishment or "spanking" is child abuse & has been linked to increased aggression & anti-social behavior in children

banning it in schools nationwide & getting parents to stop could help - as well as actual investments into mental healthcare for everyone

#only in america #school shootings #gun violence #domestic violence #politics #republicans #are a danger to children

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29daffodils · 7 months

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@luveverlong's KinnPorsche Triggers (and if they were results of the vegaspete madness)

hello OP! apologies for hijacking your post, but your reblog made me giddy and i didn't want to bombard your post with vegaspete in case they are not your thing!

okay, so @luveverlong made this post which i reblogged and then i started wondering how many triggers actually were there, and thought i'd count and classify which i feel were results of vegaspete madness 😅 here we go.

DISCLAIMER : i probably got some of them wrong, because i keep forgetting certain things happened (like, ken losing his head) . don't take this too seriously!

total triggers (so far) : 57

vegaspete contribution : 30

%age contribution : 52.6%

conclusion : so i was wrong, it's not 90% but it's more than 50% which is saying SOMETHING lmao

abuse >> gun and korn

alcohol use >> pretty much all the theerapanyakul cousins (except tankhun, maybe?)

animal death >> vegaspete + khun spikes 🥹

ass eating >> definitely vegaspete (and he did it with such enthusiasm too!!

assassination >> who??

attempted assassination >> definitely on kinn

attempted murder >> whose??

attempted underage drug use >> lmao porchay

attic wifery >> nampheung goes whoop!

blood >> vegaspete (first & foremost, but also everyone else since mafia)

bondage >> vegaspete (bcz kp are too damn vanilla lmao)

cheating >> who??? who's cheating??

child abuse >> vegaspete (my poor liddol meow-meow and my sweet summer child 🥹

choking >> vegaspete, sensually, but also kinnporsche literally

death >> vegas (i'll never forgive him for that, but also pete aiding in the undeath, hence, this is primarily vegaspete, i take no arguments

decapitation >> vegas (and pete watching from the distance)

edit : okay, it was ken. apologies for my bad english 🥲 (p.s. : i also did not count it under vegaspete in the original post! hence why vegas and pete are written separately, and not as the ship name!)

degradation >> vegaspete

dehumanization >> vegaspete

domestic violence >> technically also VP bcz their dads were shit, but let's count them out of this one because I'm not too sure

drugging >> oof, vegas (but not VP)

electrical torture >> vegaspete *evil laughter*

emotional blackmail >> vegaspete + granny saengtham lmao

flashing lights >> vegaspete (in their neon lit sex room)

force feeding >> vegaspete

gaslighting >> don't think this was VP, but let me know if i forgot a specific scene

gore >> vegaspete (iykyk)

guns >> okay, VP, but kinnporsche can have this one. that one spinning+shooting scene was epic.

gunshot wounds >> vegaspete wins this one. motherfucker survived 5 gunshots, and pete gave him one of them

hostage situations >> vegaspete go whoop!

illegal fighting >> lmao porsche

incest (???) >> definitely NOT VP (they are the only ones not involved in cousin fuckery and yet the most unhinged out of all of them)

kidnapping >> omg chay 🥲

manipulation >> vegaspete, via granny saengtham

munchausen by proxy >> i have no idea what this is, sorry

murder >> pretty much everyone lmao

mutilation >> vegas!!!

ownership >> vegaspete

panic attacks >> okay, I can't remember who got panic attacks, help out a fella here

petplay kink >> vegaspete

poisoning >> heh? somebody was poisoned??

prostitution (???) >> who??

scars >> vegaspete

self-harm >> vegaspete go whoop!

sex scenes >> vegaspete (but also kinnporsche) (but I'm biased and vegaspete were superior so……)

sexual assault / dubcon >> NOT VP 👀

sexual torture >> vegaspete (!!! 😳)

smoking >> pete alone can add up the points for this one lmao

stalking >> vegaspete lmao

stockholm syndrome >> vegaspete (but I'm rolling my eyes)

suicide >> who??

suicide attempt >> definitely only vegaspete

tasering >> vegaspete

theft >> vegaspete at its very core (iykyk)

torture >> vegaspete

vegas >> lmaoooo, he is a trigger warning by virtue, but accentuated by pete

verbal torture / abuse >> gun theerapanyakul 😤

vomit >> porsche 😂 (i think?)

#vegaspete #vegas theerapanyakul #pete saengtham #kinnporsche the series #kpts #kinnporsche la forte #my posts #source : 29daffodils

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reasonandempathy · 2 months

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This is a rambling thought so apologies in advance if it starts a shitkicking war in the notes.

Do you think ine of the reasons that more left leaning people tend to be less favourable on gun rights is because of the core of where the rights come from, in principle?

Like... healthcare, abortion, housing, etc. All (at least to me) boil down to bodily autonomy. Without the right to bodily autonomy you lose rights to these things, and you can't have tru autonomy without those things.

But guns... that's not true. Yes you CAN use guns to defend yourself, but you don't have to.

Like, in my head, the right to bear arms is kind of like if you insisted on the right to a 3 bedroom single family home. It's too specific. A right to shelter might include 3 bedroom homes, but doesn't guarantee it. Same thing with guns.

Does that make any sense?

TLDR; You're missing some aspects, but you're mis-identifying "left-wing" and "liberal".

_____________________________________________

It makes sense, and I can se the logic, but there are 2 things to consider.

"You go far enough Left and you get your guns back."

The people most consistently anti-gun are left-leaning Liberals. When you start getting to pro-gun leftist you're starting to approach people who are leftist even on the international stage. Not all leftists are pro-guns, but the belief in/respect for gun ownership starts increasing.

2. What you're saying makes sense, but you're touching on a few different things.

2a. the difference in the specificity largely comes from the promise of "guns = physical safety." We are going to sidestep the assholes who say that disingenuously for now. If you are a liberal and in the US and you fully believe in the inherent Goodness of the people, the systems, etc. then you are more likely to view guns as unnecessary for individual safety because you have Police, and the Rule of Law, etc. supporting your safety, and if there's ever a systemic need for you to fight then surely it'll be a draft or something, which isn't in the conversation.

Obviously, if you lose faith in the systems, or view the systems as inherently corrupt, bigoted, etc. you lose faith in the theoretical equal protections offered. It doesn't fully mean if you don't believe in the cops you'll go get an long rifle, but you're certainly less resistant to the idea.

2b. A lot of the left-wing or Liberal gun control measures tend to not be about principles but about practicality. So the Bodily Autonomy thing doesn't particularly factor into it.

For example:

It is, objectively, a fact that people with domestic abuse records are massively more likely to enact violence (and hence gun violence) on people around them, so it becomes a balancing act between that person's right to a gun (and what that means/is valued) vs. the foreseeable outcome that they're going to escalate their violent behavior to shoot somebody.

You'll see this in a lot of the rebuttals of right-wing gun framing, where the theoretical value of the gun isn't dismissed, but rather debunked in how people use it.

"You don't need it for safety"/"you're in more danger if you have a gun"

or when gun advocates/republicans say "the 2nd amendment protects the others" the response (rightly) is "When have you ever cared about the others?"

2c (bonus). Right-wing gun ownership has been celebrated in the US for decades now, and left-wing gun ownership has been the cause for entire political movements to be repressed, jailed, and killed/fire-bombed in the US. Part of the discrepancy you're observing is the natural result of Leftisists with Guns being called Terrorists and Right-Wingers with Guns being called Patriots.

#gun rights #gun control #left-wing #right-wing #politics #rights #original content #blm #black panthers

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trans-girl-nausicaa · 1 year

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the Washington State HB 1240 “assault weapons ban” passed the house and senate. fucking annoying.

with this bill, existing “assault weapons” are grandfathered in meaning that rich right wingers get to continue to enjoy their superiority over minorities in terms of how many guns they own.

And of course law enforcement and military are exempted. Cops still get to pull out the rifle whenever they fucking feel like it. this bill will serve as a tool of maintaining state control over the masses.

This bill will not reduce gun violence, which is overwhelmingly committed with handguns, and even if you live in a fantasy world where this bill would make all the “assault weapons” in ownership in washington disappear, neo-nazis can still just drive over from idaho next time there’s a protest (where we’re not allowed to open carry!) (concealed carry is still allowed but it’s impossible to concealed carry a rifle) and do a mass shooting. (Keep working on drawing from concealment, folks!)

the socioeconomic causes of crime are completely unaddressed in washington state, where rents keep going up, homelessness affects so many people, so many people have drug addiction and mental health issues that they cant get effective help for, etc.

you know what is the #1 source of gun deaths in washington? suicide. but good luck getting help with that when you gotta pay for therapy and psychiatry and medications and who’s NOT gonna keep being depressed when they’re being crushed under the bootheel of neoliberal capitalism?!

gun related deaths in washington state, 5 year average, 2015-2019:

Suicide: 75%

Homicide (including domestic violence): 20%

Police: 3%

Other: 1%

Mass shooting: 1%

And the other thing about these rates is that Washington was measured as having the 40th highest rate of gun violence in the country.

(Source) (This factsheet is put out by an anti-gun organization so let me know if there’s anything wrong with their stats)

I think that US assault weapon bans are misguided, strengthen state power, and are a token in the “culture war.”

#gun control

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top-secret-suicide · 2 years

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The 10 states with most gun deaths per capita compared to their rank in gun ownership:

Mississippi (28.6) -> 7th, 55.8%

Louisiana (26.3) -> 13th, 53.1%

Wyoming (25.9) -> 2nd, 66.2%

Missouri (23.9) -> 20th, 48.8%

Alabama (23.6) -> 8th, 55.5%

Alaska (23.5) -> 3rd, 64.5%

New Mexico (22.7) -> 25th, 46.2%

Arkansas (22.6) -> 6th, 57.4%

South Carolina (22) -> 17th, 49.4%

Tennessee (21.3) -> 14th, 51.6%

The 10 states with lowest gun deaths per capita compared to their rank in gun ownership:

Hawaii (3.4) -> 47th, 14.9%

Massachusetts (3.7) -> 49th, 14.8%

New Jersey (5) -> 50th, 14.7%

Rhode Island (5.1) -> 49th, 14.8%

New York (5.3) -> 46th, 19.9%

Connecticut (6) -> 45th, 23.6%

California (8.5) -> 43rd, 28.3%

Minnesota (8.9) -> 33rd, 42.8%

New Hampshire (8.9) -> 35th, 41.1%

Nebraska (10.1) -> 27th, 45.2%

The 5 states with the least amount of guns are also the 5 states with the least number of gun deaths. 5 of the top10 states in gun ownership are also in the top10 in gun deaths. While New Mexico and Nebraska are right in the middle of gun ownership but opposite ends of gun deaths, there is still a definite correlation in gun deaths and gun ownership.

None of the 10 states with the most gun deaths require a background check to purchase a firearm, a permit to purchase, or require you to register a firearm

Compared to the 10 states with the lowest gun deaths, 5 of the 10 states require a permit, background check and you have to register firearms. 8 of the 10 require a permit and background check.

Other countries deal with mental health issues, they deal with domestic violence, they deal with criminals, they deal with poverty, they deal with all these things... yet NO FIRST WORLD COUNTRY HAS ANYWHERE NEAR THE MASS SHOOTINGS WE DO. Stop with the bullshit excuses. The answer is simple, the solution is simple.

I'm so fucking over this... this isn't a political debate, this shouldn't be happening. This isn't a matter of opinion, If you are against common sense gun reform laws (background checks, permit to purchase, registering all firearms) then you're either NOT A GOOD GUY WITH A GUN (cuz if you were you'd be able to do all those things) or you're so unbelievably selfish and ignorant that thousands of innocent lives lost is okay to you as long as you dont have to go through a minor inconvenience to buy your guns. Despicable. And if the youre the 2nd one... then go fuck yourself and stop ruining this country, you are despicable.

#democrats #politics #political #gun control

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ssolson8550 · 7 months

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toxoplasmewsis · 1 year

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The decades-old US law barring domestic abusers from possessing firearms contradicts the nation’s “historical tradition” of access to guns even for pe ople who may not be “model citizens,” an appeals court said in a ruling that prompted a Justice Department rebuke.

The statute is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to Congress to determine who qualifies as “law-abiding, responsible citizens” when it comes to gun ownership, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday. A unanimous three-judge panel wondered: who’s next?

“Could speeders be stripped of their right to keep and bear arms? Political nonconformists? People who do not recycle or drive an electric vehicle?” the New Orleans-based court asked in the decision.

The ruling vacated the conviction of a Texas man, Zackey Rahimi, who pleaded guilty to violating the law by keeping a pistol at home despite being subject to a civil domestic-violence restraining order for assaulting his former girlfriend. It’s the latest fallout from a US Supreme Court ruling in June that paved the way for courts to reconsider a wide variety of gun restrictions.

“Rahimi, while hardly a model citizen, is nonetheless part of the political community entitled to the Second Amendment’s guarantees, all other things equal,” said the appellate panel, comprised of two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump and one by Ronald Reagan.

Rahimi’s home was searched after he was involved in five shootings in a two-month span, including firing at a law enforcement vehicle in December 2020, firing at a driver after getting in a car accident and shooting multiple rounds in the air in January 2021 “after his friend’s credit card was declined at a Whataburger restaurant,” the appeals court said.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Congress passed the law 30 years ago after determining “that a person who is subject to a court order that restrains him or her from threatening an intimate partner or child cannot lawfully possess a firearm.”

“Whether analyzed through the lens of Supreme Court precedent, or of the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, that statute is constitutional,” Garland said. “Accordingly, the department will seek further review of the Fifth Circuit’s contrary decision.”

Rahimi’s lawyer, James Matthew Wright, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the decision “dangerous,” noting that firearms are used to commit more than half of all “intimate partner homicides” in the US. He said restraining orders in his state still bar possession of guns and urged residents “to utilize these life-saving tools.”

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement that the 5th Circuit decision should be overturned.

“This extreme and dangerous ruling is a death sentence for women and families as domestic violence is far too often a precursor to gun violence,” Shannon said. “When someone is able to secure a restraining order, we must do everything possible to keep them and their families safe — not empower the abuser with easy access to firearms.”

Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates gun-safety measures, is backed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.

The case is USA v. Rahimi, 21-11001, US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans).

Link to article

It was not very popular the last time I said this and I know adding more guns to the equation isn’t gonna solve the problem, but i really really think it’s time women learn self defense, including gun training and possibly owning one.

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trmpt · 7 months

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#scotus #gun violence #american guns

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

Photo

Salt Lake Tribune

* * * *

Putting More Guns in the Wrong Hands :: Joyce Vance

First the Supreme Court decided Heller, a case that extended the Second Amendment notion of well-armed militias to permit Americans to possess virtually any kind of firearm that wasn’t fully automatic or short-barreled in their home, under a self-defense rationale. Then came last term’s decision in Bruen, a New York case, that struck down what it decided were unreasonable limitations on public possession of firearms. So we knew it was only a matter of time until a court took it even further. After all, over the years the NRA has advocated for the right of blind people to carry firearms, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the only federal agency tasked with oversight of the gun industry, is so notoriously underfunded by Congress that it cannot fully perform that role.

This week the 5th Circuit entered the fray, ruling that the domestic violence provision of 18 U.S.C. 922(g) contradicts the nation’s “historical tradition” of access to firearms even for people who aren’t “model citizens.” The three-judge panel (two Trump appointees and one Reagan appointee, for those who are counting) held that the statute is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to Congress to determine who qualifies as “law-abiding, responsible citizens” when it comes to gun ownership.

The court worried about who might lose their right to possess firearms if they permitted the prohibition against people with a demonstrated propensity towards violence against their partners to stay on the books: “Could speeders be stripped of their right to keep and bear arms? Political nonconformists? People who do not recycle or drive an electric vehicle?”

The court vacated the conviction of the Texan man Zackey Rahimi, who pleaded guilty to having a pistol in his home following the issuance of a civil domestic-violence restraining order for assaulting his former girlfriend. Texas, which we know denies women abortion access to protect the lives of unborn fetuses, apparently thinks it’s acceptable to risk that same woman’s life at the hands of a man with a firearm who has already shown a willingness to do violence to her. The court wrote that “Rahimi, while hardly a model citizen, is nonetheless part of the political community entitled to the Second Amendment’s guarantees, all other things equal.”

The 5th Circuit contorted itself to ignore the use of language like “law-abiding citizen” that prior cases have used to determine the reach of Second Amendment rights. And while the decision is limited to the 8th subsection of the statute, which we started out with above, there is little reason to believe litigants won’t proceed to challenge other parts of the statute.

And none of this is theoretical. Prosecutions for possession of firearms by disqualified persons have risen steadily over the years. The most recent numbers available from the U.S. Sentencing Commission show that in 2021, there were 7,454 offenders convicted under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). That was an increase from 6,032 offenders in fiscal year 2017. Illegal firearms possession cases are also significant as a percentage of DOJ’s total criminal docket. For instance, in fiscal year 2016, there were 5,391 offenders convicted under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), accounting for 8% of all offenders sentenced in federal court.

DOJ has already announced it will appeal the Rahimi decision in a statement from Attorney General Garland: “Nearly 30 years ago, Congress determined that a person who is subject to a court order that restrains him or her from threatening an intimate partner or child cannot lawfully possess a firearm. Whether analyzed through the lens of Supreme Court precedent, or of the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, that statute is constitutional. Accordingly, the Department will seek further review of the Fifth Circuit’s contrary decision.”

What should we expect the Supreme Court to do? In a 2019 case, Rehaif, the Court considered whether the government had to prove a defendant was aware they had the status that made it a crime for them to possess a firearm (in that case, that they were not legally in the United States). The Court ruled that the government did, without in any way suggesting that the statute itself was unconstitutional. However, this Court has been less mindful of precedent than the Court has been at any other point in our lifetimes. Given its recent trajectory on firearms and Second Amendment issues, it’s hard to feel optimistic that all of the public-safety-based restrictions on firearms ownership in 922(g) will survive.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

#Joyce Vance #gun violence #gun madness #Opus Dei SCOTUS #Corrupt SCOTUS #Rule of Law #DOJ

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uncloseted · 11 months

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not meaning this to sound confrontational or any thing but if you believe in abolishing the prison system, what do you think should be done to those who have committed extreme crimes? Murderers and p*dos are mainly what I'm referring too. I agree that most people would benefit from support and rehabilitation but in those two extreme cases I don't see these things working for those two groups. And they shouldn't be people in our communities since the risk is too great

Edit: Apologies in advance if my thoughts on this aren't super coherent. It's 1:30am where I am but I know I won't be able to sleep unless I finish this 😭

I don't think this is confrontational at all! This is a concern that a lot of people have and one that I think is really understandable. It's really counter-intuitive to suggest that the best approach to dealing with crime is to work on helping the criminals. But I think this concern is based on a set of flawed premises- that our current system is arresting and convicting the people who commit these types of crimes, that prisons are preventing those people from committing crimes again, and that there are certain crimes in which people are 1) morally liable but 2) unable to be redeemed. While I do think those premises have some truth to them, I think it's much less than people expect.

Starting with people who murder other people. In the US, there were 26,031 homicides in 2022. Of those, 20,958 were homicides caused by firearms- about 81%. So, just separately to the bigger question here about what to do with people who commit crimes, reducing the number of firearms that people own, increasing firearm training and safety, and running thorough background checks on individuals looking to purchase a firearm would drastically reduce the numbers of people who die by homicide. The US has significantly higher homicide numbers than other industrialized nations, and our levels of gun ownership coupled with relatively lax gun safety is a big reason why.

But now let's dig into what those numbers actually represent a little bit. Of those homicide deaths, only 706 were deaths in mass shootings. Gang-related homicides only account for about 2,000 deaths each year. The biggest culprit by far is familial or intimate-partner violence. 76% of female murders and 56% of male murders were perpetrated by someone known to the victim.

So, at least for me, these numbers paint a more complicated picture than, "some people are evil murderers who murder because it's fun." Surely people want their significant other or family member to stay alive, right? There's not a ton of research on the motivations of people who commit homicides, and especially not intimate-partner homicide (at least, not that I could find), but one study suggested that about 40% of people who murder their intimate partner are a, "jealous substance abuser with a gun". That same study found that intimate partner violence had previously occurred in 70% of the relationships where one partner was later killed.

So to me, that seems like an issue that's horrible but not insurmountable. If we intervene at the first sign of domestic violence, help individuals work through their substance use issues and underlying emotional issues (including jealousy), incidents of intimate partner homicide are likely to go down. Other factors that increase the likelihood of intimate partner homicide include poverty, unemployment and family stressors, including disagreements over money, sex and children. These are problems that are difficult, but ones that can be solved with couples counseling and social support networks if they're addressed early enough. Part of the problem here is that we're leaving these emotional, interpersonal, and mental health issues until they become critical, and by then it's much more difficult to intervene.

In terms of how effective our current system is at dealing with this problem, in 2021, only 51% of homicides were cleared (meaning that they ended in an arrest, death of the offender, unwillingness of the victim to cooperate, etc). But only 3.2% of inmates in prisons are there for homicide, aggravated assault, OR kidnapping offenses- about 60,800 people total. Think about that- that's anyone serving time for homicide, aggravated assault, or kidnapping- it's not just people convicted in 2021. The vast majority of homicides result in the person who committed the homicide walking free.

Moving on to pedophiles and childhood sexual assault, I think that again, it's not really so simple as "children are sexually attractive to me and so I sexually assault them". Certainly, there are people who are attracted to children or teenagers sexually (about 1-5% of the population) but this actually doesn't seem to be the majority of people who perpetrate sexual assault towards children, and people with those urges may never act on them. Power, control, anger, and the gaining of personal affirmation are more likely to be the primary motivators for committing this type of crime than sexual gratification is. Compared to non-offenders, child molesters are more likely to exhibit disruptive behaviour, substance abuse, aggression, poor social skills, depression and dysfunctional intimate relationships. We also know that children who do not live with both parents as well as children living in homes marked by parental discord, divorce, or domestic violence, have a higher risk of being sexually abused than those who don't. It seems kind of simple or trite, but I do genuinely believe that if we can get individuals help early enough- if we can intervene in their desire for power or control, their feelings of anger, their maladaptive behaviors- and if we find ways to reduce life stressors, we can reduce this type of crime as well. And if we create safer, healthier environments for children and teach them how to be aware of people in their life who are trying to take advantage of them, that will help reduce this type of crime, too.

In terms of how well our current system is dealing with this, data on this is also kind of hazy, but in 2021, there were approximately 140,132 people incarcerated in the US for sex offenses involving children. That's about 11% of the total prison population in 2021. That's not people who were convicted or sentenced that year- that's anyone who was serving a prison sentence for sex offenses involving children in 2021. But self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident. That means an estimated 83 million to 99 million people in the US alone experienced at least one incidence of childhood sexual assault or abuse in their lifetime. If every individual who committed sex crimes against children were in that 140,132 people currently imprisoned, they would have all had to have at least 600 victims. So as with homicide, the vast majority of people who have perpetrated this kind of crime are never arrested. And, as with homicide, perpetrators are known to their victim. In the case of childhood sexual assault, about 90% are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. About 30% are relatives of the child, and 60% are non-relative acquaintances, such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbors. Plus, research suggests that incarceration in and of itself fails to prevent new incidents of child sexual abuse, nor does it reduce or prevent recidivism.

If our goal is to remove dangerous people from our communities and prevent them from offending again, we're doing a really bad job of it right now.

For comparison, we can look at the Scandinavian countries. They have small prison populations, opting instead for fines and community service as the consequence for non-violent offenses. Denmark has a rate of 72 prisoners per 100,000 people, Sweden 74 per 100,000, and Finland 51 per 100,000, while the US has 505 prisoners per 100,000 people. Despite that, in 2021, Sweden has 1073 cases of sexual assault or abuse against children, and 113 homicides. Finland and Denmark have similarly low numbers. Scandanavian countries also have a much lower recidivism rate than we have in the US- in Norway, for example, only 20% of inmates re-offended within 2 years, while in the US, 66% are re-arrested within 3 years of being released. I'll leave it here for now, but this is just to illustrate that countries with a less carceral and more humane justice system do exist, and they're doing well. If you're interested in reading more about that, this article from The Atlantic is a good place to start.

I recognize that this kind of approach requires a massive, societal shift towards empathy, support, and community. It requires us to look not just at ourselves, but at the people around us, and ask how we can better support them. It requires us to destigmatize mental health issues and seeking mental health support, and for us to normalize teaching coping mechanisms and behavioral modification. It requires a huge investment in creating a mental health infrastructure that can effectively and empathetically help individuals who may be at risk of perpetrating a violent crime. I'm under no delusion that that kind of shift would be easy or even that we could convince people to undertake it. But I do think it's our obligation to try. People don't commit crimes because they're "bad people" in some sort of existential sense. They commit crimes because they're human and they've been led down such a path in their life that the action they take makes sense to them or feels like a valid option or feels like their only option or is the only way they know how to express what they're feeling. I don't, in good conscience, feel like we can just lock those people up and throw away the key. I feel like we, as a culture, have failed these people. We're failed their victims infinitely more. But we've failed their victims by not preventing offenders from offending in the first place. I don't think we're failing their victims by trying a different tactic to prevent them from offending again.

And that's not to say there aren't some people that may need around-the-clock supervision. Maybe there are some people who can never and will never be able to exist in our larger society without them being a danger to themselves or to other people. I honestly don't know about that. But I don't think those kind of people deserve to be imprisoned and dehumanized, either. I think they're often people dealing with the most intense emotional, neurological, or psychological issues, and we should treat them that way. And because of that, I don't think it's really fair to abandon them, because it's not their fault that they are the way they are, you know? In my view, they're people who got supremely unlucky with some mix of genetic predispositions, environmental stressors, traumatic backgrounds, and a lack of care early enough in their lives. So I think we're still obligated to try and help, even if it's just to give them more autonomy and well-being within some type of humane mental health facility.

That said, while I'm idealistic and I have my opinions about the ethics of imprisonment and culpability, I'm not naive. I understand that we need a pragmatic approach to make any actual difference. Those types of people who have committed violent crimes are the last priority on a long list of people who need to be helped first. Overall, about 75% of inmates in the US committed a non-violent crime. Even if we just found a different way to deal with all of those 1.4 million people, it would make an enormous difference in the health, well-being, and safety of our society. If we could reduce our prison population just to violent offenders and improve prison conditions, that would be an incredible win.

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schraubd · 11 months

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Bruen's Goose Does Apply to the Gander

I hate on the Eighth Circuit a lot on this blog -- prerogative of a former clerk -- but one thing I do like about it is that it has largely abjured the over-long, meandering, 100-page for every opinion trend of its sister circuits. The typical Eighth Circuit opinion is, as these things go, short, sweet, and easily digestible. Occasionally this means that some important issues or arguments I believe that deserve parsing in detail get short-changed, but more often than not it simply means they're avoiding navel-gazing and padding.

Yesterday, the Eighth Circuit filed an interesting decision in United States v. Jackson* involving the Second Amendment's applicability to restrictions on gun ownership by non-violent felons. Coming in at a compact 16 pages (8 of which are on other issues), it's easily led by the lay person. But what makes Jackson noteworthy, in my view, is that it expressly avoids a pitfall of the post-Bruen Second Amendment world that I've seen afflict conservative courts and commenters alike. Namely: it recognizes that Bruen's prohibition on means-ends analysis, and treatment of history as the be-all-end-all, applies just as much where the history licenses greater gun restrictions as when it licenses fewer such restrictions.

Quite a few conservative actors have, after happily citing Bruen's history-is-all-that-matters test, turned around and been aghast at the idea that a given historical interpretation might license more gun control than they, personally, are comfortable with or think is defensible as a policy matter. These objections have been leveled with respect to laws that bar persons previously subject to mental health orders from owning firearms (without a showing that they are currently mentally ill) and laws which bar persons subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms (even without a conviction). In both cases, the complaint was that even to the extent there arguably was historical precedent supporting laws like this (not perfect analogues, of course, but Bruen expressly disclaims the need for a "twin"), the practical consequences of applying those precedents to a case like this would be unreasonable or unfair as a matter of gun policy -- precisely the sort of reasoning that Bruen purports to take off the table.

Jackson, which is about prohibitions on gun ownership by non-violent felons, raises similar issues. It may be "unreasonable" to ban persons convicted of non-violent drug offenses, with no showing that they are in a meaningful sense "dangerous", from possessing firearms. But those arguments have no place in a Bruen world, which exclusively asks what the historical record does and does not permit. And unlike many, Jackson gets this right. It observed:

To be sure, the historical understanding that legislatures have discretion to prohibit possession of firearms by a category of persons such as felons who pose an unacceptable risk of dangerousness may allow greater regulation than would an approach that employs means-end scrutiny with respect to each individual person who is regulated. But that result is a product of the method of constitutional interpretation endorsed by Bruen:

Indeed, governments appear to have more flexibility and power to impose gun regulations under a test based on text, history, and tradition than they would under strict scrutiny. After all, history and tradition show that a variety of gun regulations have co-existed with the Second Amendment right and are consistent with that right, as the Court said in Heller. By contrast, if courts applied strict scrutiny, then presumably very few gun regulations would be upheld.

Heller v. District of Columbia, 670 F.3d 1244, 1274 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting). Cf. Kanter v. Barr, 919 F.3d 437, 465 (7th Cir. 2019) (Barrett, J., dissenting) (concluding before Bruen that Congress cannot dispossess felons based solely on status, and that “a very strong public-interest justification and a close means-end fit” is required before a felon may be subject to a dispossession statute based on dangerousness) (quoting Ezell v. City of Chicago, 846 F.3d 888, 892 (7th Cir. 2017)).

This does not, to be clear, make Bruen a good rule. In many ways, it demonstrates its arbitrariness. But at least correctly applied, Bruen both gives and takes away when it comes to gun regulations. Where the historical record permits a type of gun restriction, legislatures are allowed to impose it no matter how ridiculous or outrageous it might appear. Where the record does not license a type of gun restriction, legislatures are forbidden from utilizing it no matter how essential or necessary it might be. That is not a good rule. But at least its randomness may lash out equally.

* There's no such thing as a "liberal" panel on the Eighth Circuit, but this panel was not an especially liberal one. The opinion was authored by Judge Colloton (viewed for many years as a SCOTUS contender for a Republican President), joined by Judge Benton and Chief Judge Smith. All three judges were Republican appointees (unsurprising, given that only one judge on the entire circuit is a Democratic appointee).

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#constitution #gun control #guns

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