NRA

Thank you Mr President. A tough battle we can win if #GunControl advocates all pitch in. huff.to/10zpMyc #StopTheInsanity

Via Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- In a bold and potentially historic attempt to stem the increase in mass gun violence, President Barack Obama unveiled on Wednesday the most sweeping effort at gun control policy reform in a generation.

"This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged," Obama said. “We can’t put this off any longer."

The proposal, which comes at the end of a month-long review process spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden, is broken down into four key subsections: law enforcement, the availability of dangerous firearms and ammunition, school safety and mental health.

In an effort to touch on all four of those elements, the president recommended requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales; reinstating the assault weapons ban; restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines; eliminating armor-piercing bullets; providing mental health services in schools; allocating funds to hire more police officers; and instituting a federal gun trafficking statute, among other policies. The cost of the package, senior officials estimated, would be roughly $500 million, some of which could come from already budgeted funds.

Because these recommendations require congressional approval, the administration is supplementing its proposal with 23 executive actions that will be taken immediately. Those actions include requiring federal agencies to hand over relevant data for a background check system; providing law enforcement officials, first responders and school officials with better training for active shooting situations; directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence; and many more.

"I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality," said the president, speaking about his full set of recommendations. "If there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try."

The approach is so sweeping that what would have otherwise been a headline-grabbing announcement received second billing. The president on Wednesday will nominate Byron Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to take over the post permanently.

In total, the proposal goes beyond what most gun control advocates were hoping for at the start of Biden's review process, during which he held 22 different meetings with 229 different organizations and 31 elected officials.

"This is a monumental moment. It's a long time coming and we're thrilled the president's putting the full weight of his office behind this," said Josh Horowitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "We're ready to push this thing through." more

Via Huffington Post

nh

Sad that it takes an event like today's to bring me back to my site.  But the madness that is guns can no longer be ignored.  I can't sit idly by on the sidelines anymore.

27, 28 dead.  Maybe 18 children, maybe more.  Teachers too.  Does the number matter other than the fact that larger numbers get more news coverage?  Larger numbers also must give the shooter some sense of accomplishment.  There is after-all an ongoing challenge to be in the record books as the #1 mass murderer in US history.

But maybe it really is a secret NRA award that much like terrorists dying to make it to paradise and the 72 virgins, the NRA member with the most deaths notched on his gun at his death will spend eternity in the company of other second amendment freaks.  In their version of heaven, every man has a gun which he uses to shoot women and children who disobey.

So, I really can't think of much so say.  Guns don't kill!  NRA contributions Kill by prolonging the madness that is unregistered gun ownership in the USA.

NH

A few sources.

AP seems to be down or having a hard time keeping up.

Huffpost

USA Today

Mother Jones Awesome service

So did you hear the joke about a guy dressed up like a Batman nemesis?  He walks into a crowded movie theater with a rifle and wearing a mask.  Then he proceeds to randomly shoot kids who were out for the fun of being first to see the new flick.

Funny huh?  The NRA thinks so.

I've found it necessary to come out of my self imposed hybernation due to the recent rash of insanity relating to the use of guns.  I just can't keep quiet anymore.

Thursday night my entire state was glued to our TVs as a wild west shootout took place in a nice New England town.  The people of Greenland lost a police chief and 3 other cops are in the hospital with gunshot wounds.  You can follow the story here on our local news http://livewire.wmur.com/Event/Armed_Officers_Respond_To_Greenland_Situation?Article=0

It always gets me when the news tells us we can get live updates on a story about someone being killed by a gun.  Am I supposed to be waiting for you to say he's alive?  CNN would most likely call this a "developing story".  What's to develop?  The guy is dead, the shooter is dead, 4 cop families and a community are in shock and the neighbors who complained about the drug house will finally be able to let their kids outside.

This is not a developing story CNN.  It is not a story.  It is just another tragic chapter in our capitulation to the lies of the killing industry.

That's what I've decided to call the gun industry from now on.  The Killing Industry.

Yes indeed.  The family of the little girl, the families of Gabriel Gifffords(survivor) and the families of the others killed in Arizona today can rest easy in knowing that the NRA, it's supporters, gun manufacturers and the gun used, did not kill them.  Because as we are often told, Guns Don't Kill,  People Do.

I used to be 100% anti-gun, then some logical soul explained to me that guns are not killers.  It is the insane, socially confused or just plain mean people who do the killing.  The fact that they commit their acts with guns is incidental. 

Teen gun supervisor testifying in Uzi death trial: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Yep.  That 8 year old kid was not killed by a gun.  He was killed by the stupidity of his father and others who allowed an 8 year old to shoot an UZI.

I won't go into other examples like I tend to do when I write this post each year.  You know the stories of the grandmother killing her grandson when he came home late.  Or, the typical family annihilation that occurs once a month or so in this country.  Those dads, it's always a man, those dads killed their wives and children, not the gun.

I still agree.  Guns don't kill.  Each and every member of the NRA, everyone who stands against sensible gun laws, everyone who pulls a trigger, they are the guilty ones.  You are all guilty but, you can be very happy with the knowledge that guns don't kill.

Yep, here I go again.  sharyn sent me this thought provoking article by Ed Dionne of the Washington Post.  He says so much of what I believe about gun control and the gun lobby that I just had to share it with my friends.

Due to fair use rules I will not post the whole Op-Ed and ask you to please visit WAPO to read the entire piece.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602189.html

Arm the Senate!

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Monday, July 27, 2009

 

Isn't it time to dismantle the metal detectors, send the guards at the doors away and allow Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights by being free to carry their firearms into the nation's Capitol?

 

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What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons?

By JIMMY CARTER
Published: April 26, 2009

New York Times

THE evolution in public policy concerning the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons like AK-47s, AR-15s and Uzis has been very disturbing. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and I all supported a ban on these formidable firearms, and one was finally passed in 1994.

 

When the 10-year ban was set to expire, many police organizations — including 1,100 police chiefs and sheriffs from around the nation — called on Congress and President George W. Bush to renew and strengthen it. But with a wink from the White House, the gun lobby prevailed and the ban expired.

 

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Me either.

The man used two semi-automatic handguns. The man who borrowed the Toyota has two handguns registered to him.....

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-04-newyork-shooting-saturday...

He needed those guns for protection, to keep under his pillow at night.  Nah.  Well maybe he needed them for deer hunting since that area along the NY PA border has deer like we have squirrels.

I'm sure the all American NRA will spin this as the immigrant's second ammendment rights.  We surely won't hear anything against the guns now that the NRA owns the Democrats.

Arguments to follow: 

It's too late.  There are already too many guns and if we outlaw guns only the outlaws will have guns.  BULLSHIT.  This as usual was no outlaw, just a very sick person.

It's my right to bear arms. BULLSHIT Michelle bears enough for all of us.  But the constitution was meant to be interpreted and I think there is no doubt the founders meant a well regulated militia period.  Your National Guard has guns.  They lock them up at night.