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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 17, 2023

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CNN: "Accused shooter in Kansas City shooting of Black teen who went to the wrong house is White man in his 80s" Archive: https://archive.is/NcFb5

Edit: Andrew Lester is the 84 year old white man and is facing charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Clay County attorney Zachary Thompson states there was a racial element but hate crimes is a lower charge so will not be brought. "There is no evidence that the teen entered the home and preliminary evidence shows Lester opened fire on the teen through a glass door with a .32 caliber revolver"

Ralph Yarl is the black teen that was shot outside of Kansas City, Missouri. Early it was reported that he was shot twice in the head but now his family's attorneys are saying that Yarl "shot twice and struck in the head and arm" and Yarl has now been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

The white man in his 80's "was taken into custody on April 13 just before midnight and was released less than two hours later at 1:24 a.m. on April 14."

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a Sunday news conference a “homeowner” was placed on a 24-hour investigation hold following the shooting. After consulting with the Clay County prosecutor’s office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation.

By all accounts I am seeing Ralph Yarl is a band geek which places my heuristic chances of aggression on his part as low. If I found the correct streets the subdivision is one of the last developments before hitting mostly farms and the street names are really confusing with the developer using the same number twice and then alternating between "Street" and "Terrace."

Of course, still waiting on details but in my opinion this could likely be what some people consider to be the quintessential example of a "racist" shooting. If that's the case and the only quibble between Red Tribe and Blue Tribe is if it would have made a difference if the kid was white or black does this story gain a much traction with that little toxoplasma or does it more go the way of the Eric Garner and Philando Castile killings?

A black teenager enters your front door past 10PM, actively searching for something, and maybe announces he's looking for his brothers. You are physically defenseless as an octogenarian, watching society actively collapse around you, what exactly are you expected to do in that split second? Trust in society?

Is that pure speculations or are there allegations that Yarl entered the domicile?

suggests a level of implicit trust

People with non-zero levels of trust don't carry a gun with them to answer the door. If you go armed to your front door, you are expecting trouble.

To add onto ThisIsSin's explanation, consider also this video.

To this day, I still have no idea how "rack" any sort of gun at all.

Assuming you're right handed, the part of the gun your left hand holds moves. You pull it back towards your body until it stops, then push it all the way forwards (it locks in this position). It's like pumping a Super Soaker (that isn't actually why they call guns that require you do this to cycle them "pump action", but it's close enough).

Unlike rifles and handguns, it's a really bad idea to store a shotgun with a round chambered because the most prolific shotgun designs have had no provision made to prevent them from firing if dropped.

So if you're storing this kind of shotgun safely, you thus have to get a round from the magazine into the chamber, so you have to cycle the action and in doing so make "the noise".

And "the noise" is made simply because there are a bunch of large loosely-fit parts that all move back and forth when you cycle the action- it's distinctive in a way chambering a round into a rifle or pistol is not (and movies/video games exaggerate it, too).

Gun culture 2.0 takes a dim view of this sort of "negotiation", but also kind of ignores the fact that if the potential adversary hasn't started shooting yet they probably don't intend to and that the cops (in the areas where this is a more valid strategy) are for most intents and purposes non-existent until a few hours after the fact (in a way that they aren't in denser suburbs and urban areas), hence the potential usefulness for a signal that armed security is present to deter the simpler kinds of mischief.