Showing posts with label Eric Holder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eric Holder. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Walmart should set an example for gun control


Walmart is the largest retailer in the U.S. with 4,000 stores, almost half of which sell rifles, shotguns and ammunition.  But one-third of Walmart stores sell what they call “modern sporting rifles,” more commonly known as assault rifles.  The kind of weapon that killed 20 little children and 6 teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December.  The question that this retail giant must answer is whether profit is more important to them than human lives.
Walmart initially declined to meet with AG Eric Holder along with other gun retailers, but thought better about their decision and relented.  No doubt concerned about the public face this displays to Americans concerned about saving the lives of innocent victims like those at Newtown.  Whether or not this will convert into an attitude of cooperation with gun control advocates remains to be seen.  What is sure is the fact that a majority of the public now wants to see new stricter gun regulations and just may shop accordingly.

In 2006 when Walmart started concentrating on urban areas instead of the rural population, it replaced firearms with other sporting goods.  And then the 2009 recession hit with sales and profits taking a dive across the country.  Struggling, they decided to start selling guns again with advertising and promotion targeting rural areas again where the gun culture is definitely more prevalent.  It always seems to come down to the bottom line, even when it involves products designed to kill.

George Zornick in The Nation reports, “Gun sales are a key part of Walmart’s recent sales spike, and have shot up 76 percent over the past two years.”  So do they really want a ban on assault weapons?  But if Vice Pres. Joe Biden gets what he wants, the fact that Walmart is a certified gun retailer will require other independent sellers to go through the chain for their background checks.  In the end, some of these customers could simply change their business to Walmart.


Bushmaster AR-15
Zornick also reported that, in consideration of the Sandy Hook victims, Walmart had removed the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle from its website, an obvious public relations ploy since all other assault weapons remained.  Freedom Group, who produces the weapon, said, if Walmart should reduce gun sales, it could adversely affect their bottom line since 13% of their sales came from the retailer.  However, the Bushmaster AR-15 did remain on store shelves.
What is pivotal in this issue is that Walmart could be the key factor in getting gun control legislation passed.  If the giant should take a reasonable position on gun control, it is very possible that other major firearms retailers like Cabela’s would follow their lead.  Opposingviews.com thinks that if Walmart, along with other major gun retailers, would “partner” with the White House, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) would no longer be considered as representing the American public, leaving only gun manufacturers.
Unlike the sleazy gun stores, particularly the gun shows, both of which appeal only to gun worshippers, Walmart has a public image they must maintain and right now the American public has decided it has tired of gun violence due to the number of firearms on the street.  This is the fault of the gun lobby, most notable wacky Wayne LaPierre’s NRA, plus the Republicans and some Democrats in Congress.  Who will Walmart side with and just how aggressive will their action be?  Rationally minded folks are watching and if they don’t see what they like, many will react with their pocketbooks.

Friday, July 20, 2012

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre bigger con artist than Bernie Madoff


LaPierre's Do-it-yourself lobotomy

Bernie Madoff may have stolen billions of dollars from clients through his massive Ponzi scheme, but that is nothing compared to the thousands that have died as a result of Wayne LaPierre’s deception of the American public that has convinced them, and his lackeys in Congress, that everyone who wants one should have a gun and be able to take it anywhere he wants to.  Over the years, it has resulted in 10.2 firearm deaths per 100,000 population annually.

LaPierre has used the power of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) to bully his way through state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to pass the loosest gun laws this country has ever seen, intimidating everyone in his way including a gullible American public.  It is pathetic to see how members of Congress cow-tow to his every whim because they are terrified of alienating this fanatic and losing millions of dollars in donations.  Not considering the payoff…death by guns.

The guru of guns has meticulously placed in motion his latest conspiracy theory that President Obama is trying to take away his precious firearms and has concentrated on Attorney General Eric Holder and the Fast and Furious fiasco.  In an article by Meenakshi Krishnan in the New Republic, he talks of the criminal contempt against Holder and the NRA’s threat to Congress that their votes would be considered in future candidate evaluations.  This is pure blackmail.

Krishnan comments that, “…there’s little to commend the NRA’s theory that Operation Fast and Furious was part of a grand ‘gun control agenda’ directed from the White House.”  In effect, it was debunked by a recent House Oversight report.  But it has long been known, although rarely acknowledged, that Fast and Furious is actually a product of the George W. Bush administration, called “Wide Receiver” at the time.

Supposedly GWB added transmitters to the guns for tracing, but according to Adam Winkler, professor of constitutional law at UCLA and author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America, only some but not all had the tracking devices.  Robert J. Spitzer, Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at SUNY-Cortland and the author of four books on gun policy claims he could not even verify the existence of the transmitters.

Eric Holder with Pres. Obama
But there is even strong evidence now that the NRA’s dominance is waning, as covered in a recent series of four reports on Think Progress.  Studies were done on four federal elections, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.  It might surprise you, perhaps even be something of a shock, that the study concluded that the “NRA has virtually no impact on congressional elections.”  There is much more to these studies and I will be posting on this at length in the future.

Krishnan thinks that the NRA is desperate for an election year issue.  For years the group’s head wacko has spouted about the big conspiracy to take away guns from the law-a- biding bubbas, and, quite frankly it’s getting old.  LaPierre is focusing on Eric Holder and Fast and Furious as a last-ditch effort to shore up more fear-mongering in Congress, and force its gun nut membership to shell out more of their money to keep the hierarchy in their luxuries.

And, unfortunately, these poor souls will once again come to the feet of LaPierre and pretty much give him what he wants.  The same will hold true for much of Congress which is terrorized by the thought now that wacky Wayne could turn against them between now and November.  In the meantime, gun violence will continue and I will keep publishing my monthly shooting report that documents deaths and injuries just because of loose firearm laws.  Life goes on...or not.


UPDATE: Aurora Movie Shooting

Friday, July 20, 2012 - Aurora, CO -- A gunman armed with two Glock handguns, a tactical shotgun, and an AR-15 style assault rifle killed at least 12 and wounded 38  59 58 in a local movie theatre.  How many of those innocent victims still living, along with the families of those dead, plus those who were not hurt still think the NRA's head, Wayne LaPierre, is right when he screams 2nd Amendment rights for gun owners take precedent over these kinds of massacres?


Release from Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to stop Gun Violence:

CSGV STATEMENT ON THE MASS SHOOTING IN AURORA 
Washington, DC—We are deeply saddened by today’s tragic events in Colorado. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims, those who were injured, and everyone traumatized by this senseless act of violence.

Reports indicate that the shooter, 24-year-old James Holmes, wore body armor and was armed with two Glock handguns, a tactical shotgun, and an AR-15 style assault rifle. He also released some type of chemical gas into the theater during the massacre. 12 fatalities have been reported so far, with approximately 38 moviegoers injured, including 16 critically.

Sadly, there is nothing novel about this tragedy. It is yet another massacre perpetuated by a homicidal maniac who was given easy access to lethal, military-style firepower.

The pro-gun movement has told us that bloodbaths like Aurora are the price we must pay to guarantee freedom and individual liberty in the United States. Rational Americans should reject such radical ideology and demand immediate reform of our gun laws.

The truth is that there is no greater threat to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” than the wanton gun violence that continues to destroy American families and communities. Until our legislators stand up to the extreme leadership of the National Rifle Association and enact laws to ensure the thorough screening of gun buyers, tragedies like Aurora will continue to haunt America. It is long past time to put public safety back on the agenda in the U.S. Congress, and in our state legislatures.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

It’s time to reboot the NRA

The National Rifle association (NRA) has been around since 1871 and will no doubt be here for at least a few more years.  It started as a reasonable organization, founded for the purpose of teaching marksmanship and gun safety.  It has evolved into a gang of unreasonable lunatics demanding that anyone should be able to own a gun and take it anywhere they want to.  Led by the head wacko Wayne LaPierre, it has power most of us can’t comprehend.


Charlton Heston, one of the original NRA kooks

As a recent example, the NRA has joined up with the GOP in the drive for contempt charges against Attorney General Eric Holder re. Fast and Furious.  They are pressuring Democrats now to join Republicans in the fight to make Holder the first sitting cabinet member to receive such a charge.  Whatever the outcome to Fast and Furious, it is not about the issue but rather the fact that this group of fanatics can bring down such pressure on Congress.

The time has come to stop this nonsense.  I have been reporting on gun violence by documenting the monthly numbers of U.S. shootings, those killed, and those wounded since March.  There was a 37.5 percent increase in gun violence in April over March and another 30.4 percent in May.  June looks to be coming in with another increase and one wonders just how long this country will put up with this before taking some kind of action on gun control.

This has to start by eliminating the power of the NRA that is conducive to the rights of sane gun owners—yes, there are some of those out there—but restrictive of this radical philosophy of guns for everyone, everywhere.  It is time to reboot the NRA.  The term means restart, begin again, in order to correct errors that have occurred.  Precisely what this out of control bunch of extremists needs and the process of change must start soon or more will die from guns.

The excellent gun control blog, Common Gunsense, recently posted an article on the fact that guns are now responsible for raging fires in Utah and Colorado.  It is the result of target shooting, a right that the NRA demands for its members, your rights be damned if it starts a blaze that destroys homes and precious forests.  CG says the NRA doesn’t trust government, adding:

“The NRA wants the minority of folks who own guns and carry guns to determine public safety rather than the people who are actually charged with doing so for the good of our communities.”

Gun control today
Richard Aborn of the Washington Post made this statement, “The debate about guns in the United States has always been between David and Goliath. Last year, the gun lobby outspent advocates of gun control by 11 to 1, or $2.9 million vs. $260,000.”  The NRA is well known for spending 46 percent of donations on fundraising, only 54 percent on charitable efforts while most major 501(c) charities spend 75 percent on the latter.

Aborn continues, “…the United States leads its post-industrial peers with an average of eight times as many annual deaths as a result of gun violence.”  He cites a decrease in gun control support in the United States, comparing this at a level of 52 percent in 1994 with a recent November Gallup poll indicating it is currently only at 1 percent.  The apathy is likely to continue as long as millions of Americans are out of work and losing their homes.

With those figures in mind, the author charges all of us with three factors in taking back control of guns:

Number one, don’t believe it; the battle against violent crime has not been won.  “More Americans were killed by gun violence last year than all American troops who have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”

Two, “Ninety percent of gun owners support reasoned measures to keep guns from criminals and the mentally unbalanced, bipartisan polls show.”  Gun control and gun rights groups must come to an understanding.

Three, the NRA has successfully worked to prevent government funding for scientific research on the effectiveness of gun control measures.  Aborn says we should look at other countries for the plunging number of gun deaths with reasonable gun control.  You can see an example in my recent post, Canada laws prove that gun control works.”

Numbers don’t lie and my monthly documentation of gun violence should be a wake up call for all of us, especially those out there I call the “Apathetics.”  You have to care and somehow make a contribution to efforts that put a reasonable control on who owns guns and just where they are allowed.  If not, many of you could be one of my future statistics.

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