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A guitarist's viral tweet explains why he changed his mind about gun control.

'My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn't realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it.'

"I've been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night," began a tweet from Josh Abbott Band guitarist Caleb Keeter.

Just hours before, Keeter and his bandmates hid as bullets flew through the air at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, killing more than 50 and injuring upward of 500 people. The band performed earlier in the day on Sunday and were watching the other acts when a gunman opened fire on the unsuspecting crowd.

"I cannot express how wrong I was," Keeter tweeted. "We actually have members of our crew with [Concealed Handgun Licenses], and legal firearms on the bus. They were useless."


Keeter's tweet is a sober reflection on how living through a mass shooting changed his mind in such a huge way.

"We couldn't touch [the guns] for fear police might think that we were part of the massacre and shoot us. A small group (or one man) laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power. Enough is enough."

As Keeter alluded to, the "good guy with a gun" theory might sound great to lawful, trained gun owners; it's just not necessarily backed up by a lot of data. He notes that one concern was the chance that officers might misidentify them as shooters, which is something that sometimes happens, according to a 2014 report by the FBI. Additionally, the Las Vegas shooter reportedly was firing from a hotel room 32 floors up. Firing back up at him with handguns from the ground would only put others in the hotel at risk.

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images.

Gun violence has gotten "completely and totally out of hand," Keeter wrote.

"Writing my parents and the love of my life a goodbye last night and a living will because I felt like I wasn't going to live through the night was enough for me to realize that this is completely and totally out of hand. These rounds were powerful enough that my crew guys just standing in a close proximity of a victim shot by this fucking coward received shrapnel wounds. We need gun control RIGHT. NOW."

"My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn't realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it. We are unbelievably fortunate to not be among the number of victims killed or seriously wounded by this maniac."

There aren't any positives in a horrific event like this — no silver lining. Still, there's hope that we can learn from tragedy.

Caleb Keeter had a revelation Sunday night. That's worth something.

In response to Keeter's change of heart, people have been critical of the fact that previous mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook or the Pulse nightclub weren't enough to open his eyes, and others have been welcoming of his presence in the fight for common sense gun control. "It's frustrating that some don't call the fire dept. until the blaze is at their own front door," one person tweeted. "But we need more ppl on our side. Welcome."

For his part, Keeter has acknowledged that he could have — and probably should have — changed his mind on the issue a while ago.

That any of us can see the absolute carnage gun violence creates in this country and not acknowledge that there needs to be some restrictions on what the average citizen should be allowed to carry speaks to the power of lobbying and messaging of groups like the NRA. Hopefully, with the help of Keeter, some of that damage can be prevented in the future.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

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According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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"I don't think anyone actually enjoys eating lobster. I think they've just been convinced that it's a high-class food for a really specific reason,” Pargin says in his controversial video. He then describes how just a few centuries ago lobster was once used as prisoners' food and ground into fertilizer.

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Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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Pop Culture

This 1940s guide on 'how to be pretty' for teen girls has some surprisingly modern suggestions

In a resurfaced video from the 1940s, Mary Stuyvesant, a Ponds beauty consultant, spoke to a group of high school girls about "how to be pretty."

1940s guide on "how to be pretty" is surprisingly modern.

Often, when we think of the 1940s and the messaging that was sent to women and girls back then, we tend to imagine lessons about how to get and keep a husband. But it turns out that all messaging wasn't the same and some girls were receiving a much more progressive message about their appearance.

In a resurfaced video from the 1940s, Mary Stuyvesant, a Ponds beauty consultant, spoke to a group of high school girls about "how to be pretty." Surprisingly, the advice is rather timeless and not at all focused on becoming the best wife and mother you can be, but on learning to care for yourself. Stuyvesant refers to your physical appearance as icing on a cake and that good icing tastes nice but the cake is the most important part.

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Weatherman rescues a chicken in a blizzard and now they're friends.

There's a little-known saying that every weatherman needs a chicken. OK, it's little known because I totally just made it up, but you have to admit, it's just random enough to make you wonder if you missed out on a weird colloquialism. But in this case, it may be a new saying because weatherman David Neal found a stray chicken while reporting on a blizzard, and they've somehow become best friends.

The chicken, now named Penelope, was running around in the snowstorm while Neal was filming, so he tried to catch her so he could make sure she was warm. Penelope had other plans and gave Neal a literal run for his money. Eventually, with the help of a bystander who was likely as confused as the chicken, Neal was able to get Penny in his arms.

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Today Info/Youtube

Taylor Swift "diving" below the stage of her Eras Tour concert

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Case in point—a video from the “Anti-Hero” pop star's kick-off concert that’s making quite the splash online.

In a mesmerizing blend of live performance and hologram wizardry, audiences saw Swift, clad in a flowy red dress, dive into a pool built into the stage. She then swam across to emerge through waves in a shimmery jumpsuit, just before climbing a ladder and disappearing into a cloud.

Basically, it was like a romantic fairy tale brought to life.

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