Mindy McCready |
I am not a country music fan but it was tragic to hear that
singer Mindy McCready had taken her life…with a gun. On Monday, 4 people were shot in Spokane, 2 at
a night club, 2 more nearby. And then on
Tuesday a gunman went on a shooting spree in Southern California that left 4
people dead, including the shooter. Does
the question, “What does it take?” come to mind? Abby Rogers in Business Insider says, “A History Of Gun Control Laws Shows US Citizens Don't HaveAn Absolute Right To Bear Arms.”
Something I have blogged about for months.
Rogers tracks the history of gun control laws from 1860
through 2010. There were the early laws
in the 1930s covering the manufacture and transfer of firearms along with
another that regulated interstate commerce in firearms. Then came the 1968 Gun Control Act following
the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. There were others like California’s law
restricting the use of assault rifles, the Brady Act of 1993 imposing
background checks and then the federal assault weapons ban in 1994 which was
allowed to expire in 2004.
Most recently New York passed one
of the toughest gun control laws ever and they did it with a GOP controlled
Senate along with a Democrat-dominated assembly. Are the Republican politicians more
intelligent in New York, or do they simply favor human life over worshipful gun
ownership? And then on Monday, the Colorado House voted in a package of gun control
measures that included a ban on concealed weapons on college campuses. Also included is a fee for state background
checks. It now goes to the Senate.
Adam Winkler on gun control:
Former U.S. Rep. from Arizona, Gabby Giffords and her
husband Mark Kelly have formed a gun control group called Americans for
Responsible Solutions. Giffords was
seriously wounded in the 2011 Tucson massacre by Jared Loughner where 18 others
were shot and 6 died including a nine-year-old girl. And then less than a week ago, MoveOn.org announced it will spend six-figures on a TV
spot titled, “The NRA doesn’t speak for me.”
Jerry Thompson, a gun owner and defender of the 2nd Amendment
is the spokesperson who says in disgust:
“For years I’ve watched Congress take money from the NRA and then
oppose any kind of reform that helps keep us safe.” Further, "I've had enough. So here's my
message to Congress. You take money from the NRA and then continue to do their
bidding, we're going to remember that come election time. The NRA doesn't speak
for me, and they don't speak for the vast majority of Americans so stop taking their
money"
81% of gun owners support background checks which would
close the gun show loophole. 40% of gun
buyers purchase their weapons at gun shows where private sellers are not
required to make background checks. Seem
like a no-brainer? Not for Wayne
LaPierre and his gang of gun bubbas at the National Rifle Assn. (NRA). These gun nuts are fighting background checks
as well as any other meaningful gun control legislation. Other gun rights advocates say:
“Our
backs are against the wall,” “We are in
for the fight of our lives. I have never seen anything like it.” This is a statement by Scott Wilson,
president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun rights group
following the Sandy Hook Elementary carnage.
The CCDL also conceded that the assault weapons and high-capacity
magazine bans just might make it through Congress.
What is it about New York, Illinois, Colorado
and California gun control reasoning that the rest of us don’t seem to
assimilate? New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg credits the state’s tough gun laws for decreasing his city’s gun
violence significantly. If it can work
in the largest metropolitan area in the country, it should be able to work anywhere. Contact your congressional leaders, U.S. House, here, U.S. Senate here.