'I Don't Want Prayers. I Want Gun Control': Mother of Borderline Bar Shooting's Victim Sadly Protests

November 12, 2018

The tragedy is not only the death but also the people who have to live after losing their loved ones. The soul-shattering pain of a mother seeing her son die is unendurable.

Around 11:20 p.m. on November 8, a hooded Marine combat veteran wearing a black jacket barged in Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. He stunned his upcoming victims with smoke grenades and opened fire with a handgun during a college night event going on, before taking his own life. This incident killed a sheriff's sergeant and 11 other innocent people. More than a dozen families are left devasted to mourn these defenseless murders!

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The Borderline Family sends our love, prayers and deepest condolences to the victims and their families in the wake of this horrific tragedy. Thousand Oaks is more than the community we do business in but rather our brothers, sisters, dads, mommas, friends, family and neighbors. We love you and together we will stand strong. #BorderlineStrong Help support the victims by clicking the Go Fund Me link in our Bio.

A post shared by BorderlineBar (@borderlinebar) on Nov 8, 2018 at 12:31pm PST

The motive of this merciless act remains unknown but its effects should be addressed as they can be easily identified. The tool of this violence is guns!

Interview of the victim's mother

27-year-old son, Telemachus Orfanos was shot dead during the Thousand Oaks massacre. His heartbroken mother, Susan Schmidt Orfanos was done receiving meaningless sympathy and protested for better gun control. Her boy had previously survived Las Vegas shooting but this time he didn't return back to her.

Her voice was shaking with painful grief and rage when she expressed her feelings to ABC7 News:

He didn't come home last night, and I don't want prayers. I don't want thoughts. I want gun control, and I hope to God nobody sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns.

“I hope to God no one sends me anymore prayers. I want gun control. No more guns!” - mother of shooting victim Telemachus Orfanos. She says he survived the #LasVegasShooting but did not survive the #ThousandOaksMassacre. @ABC7 @ABCNewsLive pic.twitter.com/UMqTY1RATK
— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) November 8, 2018

No one can literally imagine Susan's sorrow but hers suggested and protested demand is all anyone can take notice of. Many other parents have lost their only child in this traumatic tragedy.

Gun violence in America

While it is impossible to estimate exactly how many guns civilians own around the globe but by every calculation, Americans with approximately 270 million licensed guns is leading this dreadful trend. According to BBC, in more than 13 percent of the cases, the FBI does not have any record of the weapon used. Apart from this non-existent data, the overall ratio of gun incidents in the US, the proportion of gun-related deaths results to 73 percent of homicides.

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A post shared by alex anteliz (@real_anteliz23) on Nov 8, 2018 at 9:09pm PST

Another thing to mend in our society is making mental health awareness which leads to this unhinged desire to hurt others and ultimately one own self. Share this mother's message to disarm the hate!