E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

No need to wait for Congress to address mass shootings
[The Hill] After three mass shootings in the span of a week left 53 wounded and 34 dead, pressure is mounting on Congress to respond with legislation to restrict access to guns and ammunition. But there is no need to wait for new laws. There are steps that can be taken immediately ‐ ones unlikely to be controversial ‐ that evidence suggests could help prevent attacks or reduce the death toll from them.

Dozens of terror plots have been foiled by members of the public in the last 20 years after a tip-off (widely known as "see something, say something" since 9/11). Mass shootings and other forms of domestic terrorism might similarly be prevented if there were wider awareness of what exactly warrants a report to law enforcement.

In some cases, would-be perpetrators have posted pictures or videos of their weapons online, along with plans. But there are indirect warning signs that might also be worth reporting, such as someone studying how to carry out mass killings more effectively; being in active contact with a terrorist or extremist organization; acquiring (or trying to acquire) weapons specifically in order to engage in violence; or undergoing training or travel to join a violent cause.

If such red flags appear in social media feeds, especially by someone a user knows is not making a joke or trolling, it also needs to be easier to forward them to law enforcement. Facebook and Twitter and the like make it easy for users to report concerning posts (e.g. for violence, terrorism or suicide), but those reports, unless the company’s reviewers discern an imminent threat, remain internal to the company, and are used simply to determine whether to delete the post or suspend the account. There is no mechanism to forward a social media post directly to law enforcement to assess whether a full investigation is warranted. Facebook’s help page on reporting inappropriate or abusive posts just tells users to contact law enforcement if they feel threatened.
Posted by: Besoeker 2019-08-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=548734