Vice President Joe Biden says White House hell bent on new gun regulation...even using executive order

Vice President Joe Biden met with a group of gun rights activists yesterday to discuss how the country can do something about gun violence.  As the meeting was going on another shooting occurred in a high school in California but fortunately ended with no deaths but at least two were wounded.  The shooter is in custody and is believed to be a student and they think he was armed with a shotgun.  One of the victims was a student.

Hopefully they interrupted the meeting to update the Vice President with this latest news of yet another shooting at a school that could have turned into a disaster.  And from what I can gather so far, James R. Baker, the NRA’s top lobbyist will represent that organization.  So where is the loud mouth wacky Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s top gun nut?  As usual he is afraid of any type of confrontation where he doesn’t have complete control.

CNN reports, “President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders to help prevent mass shootings in America, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.”  Biden is also looking into shortfalls in the mental health system that lead to some gun violence.  Also involved in these meetings is a somewhat reluctant Wal-Mart, who just happens to be the nation’s largest seller of guns and ammunition.  The results of the meeting should be available later Thursday or early Friday.



FDR signs executive order for
Japanese interment camps



The keywords so far are “executive order.”  Executive orders have been issued by Presidents since the late 1700s and are often attached to legislation already in effect.  Actually, there is no Constitutional provision allowing executive orders but there is a “vague” grant of “executive power” given to the President.  That gives an executive order the full force of the law.  This action does not come without criticism but to date U.S. courts have only overturned 2 executive orders.

According to Wikipedia, “a Congressional override of an executive order is a nearly impossible event due to the supermajority vote required and the fact that such a vote leaves individual lawmakers very vulnerable to political criticism.”  Since we do not yet know what the White House has in mind re. this move, there is no way to predict what it will do.  There is also the possibility that the president, through Joe Biden’s announcement, is a challenge to get Congress off its duff.   

In researching executive order, I came across an interesting “vesting” clause in the Constitution that is different from the regular one giving executive order.  This vesting clause is different in that it is plenary, implying the power of the executive may fall in line with what other "executives" around the world at the time could do, whereas the other clause is subject to limits.  Not sure how this might apply to the current situation but maybe some legal eagles can provide insight.

First, the outcome of Thursday’s meeting between Biden and gun rights advocates.  It will be interesting if the NRA performs as many have predicted with the same tired clichés that the public is completely fed up with.  If so, it shouldn’t be hard to convince the American people to jump on the gun control bandwagon, and if the Republican Congress, and some Democrats, don’t fall in line, fire the bums!

Already the nay sayers…but gun control will prevail

It’s been less than a month since the Newtown, CT, Sandy Hook Elementary School mass killing.  On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 little children ages 6 and 7, six educators, and his mother.  He then killed himself and once again took with him the possibility of an understanding of why these maniacs do what they do.  Hopefully they will study his brain and possibly come up with something.  If he was mentally ill, at least that’s a start.

We’re not likely to get much from the Aurora shooter, James Holmes, nor is it likely that Jared Loughner who did the Tucson killings will tell us anything.  Holmes at least acts mentally unbalanced and Loughner was known to have mental issues.  Lanza used his mother’s guns to create his massacre but Holmes and Loughner got their weapons despite obvious mental problems.  The gun rights bunch is at least right about revamping the U.S. mental health system.

But they are wrong about trying to stop new gun laws that will help at least slow down these mass shooting carnages, as well as a number of firearm murders that occur on a daily basis across the country.  No. Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, said that gun control plans reportedly being considered by the White House are "way in extreme."  Of course even talking about gun control is in the extreme according to Wayne LaPierre and the Nat’l Rifle Assn. (NRA).

Let’s see, Obama wants to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, universal background checks for gun buyers, a national database of weapons, strengthen mental health checks and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.  Sounds like a great plan to me and probably any other individual of sound mind and body.  It’s only a bad plan to the gun nuts out there that love their weapons more than the life of others.

If this Heidi head wasn’t enough, Obama-smasher, KY Sen. Mitch McConnell, says any gun control legislation will take a backseat to working on federal spending and the country’s debt.  Whoa.  How many times has this issue been put on the backburner by conservatives never to be resurrected?  Hard to count the times.  But it won’t happen this time because the American public is tired of their relatives, friends and other innocent people being murdered by guns.

And here are the good guys, and ladies, who are going to give us this new life-saving gun control legislation.  Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, wants background checks for all gun sales -- including at gun shows and a ban on online sales of ammunition.  Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, a bill to ban high-capacity magazines.  CA Sen. Dianne Feinstein is going after assault rifles, again, as well as other congressional leaders with similar bills.

But of course there are always the gun nuts in Congress that never give up.  CNN reports, “…two Republican freshmen, Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have introduced bills that would allow more guns around schools.  I thought we had gotten rid of all the fruitcakes at Christmas.  At this point no Republicans have proposed any gun control legislation, and even some Democrats are still standing firm on gun rights.

I continue to say the momentum is there and we mustn’t lose this chance to place laws on the books that will curb gun violence.  If we lose this one, we will never be able to beat the NRA.  And that would be a disaster.

Public wants more gun control and looks like they will finally get it

Although it may be small, a new CNN/ORC poll found that “a bare majority now favor major restrictions on owning guns or an outright ban on gun ownership by ordinary citizens and more than six in ten favor a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles.”  This number has lingered around 50% in the past, which is also significant, but the figure is now 52% that want major restrictions on the ownership of firearms, even making all guns illegal.

Gun control advocates can thank wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), and his gang of gun worshippers for this in a trend that looks like it will not only continue but escalate in the future.  An inept Congress which is paid by the NRA to vote the NRA way will not be able to continue to ignore a public outcry that demands action.  It looks like the Newtown, CT mass killings of 20 little children tipped the scales; and a shame it took so long.

The CNN survey’s breakdown is obviously skewed by the partisan divide.  80% of Democrats favor major restrictions, 42% for Independents and 31% for Republicans.  Females are at 62% compared to males at 41%.  On the other hand, 11 states back the NRA plan to arm teachers or others in schools to protect the children.  They are Arizona, Florida, So. Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Nevada, So. Dakota, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Missouri.

The NY Daily News also reported, “Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter ridiculed the NRA's proposal, saying it was a ‘completely dumba-- idea.’”  And “New York officials also slammed the NRA stance, and a Staten Island school board is expected to vote against adding armed security measures next month.”  In the eight years I have been writing on gun violence, I have never seen gun control momentum like now, and with the NRA so on the defense.

The displeasure with firearm ownership has even entered the toy market where some mothers are taking toy guns away from their children.  A Chicago mom relieved her 7 and 10-year-old daughters of their Nerf revolver-style blasters right after the Newtown massacre.  Another mother collected a dozen toy guns from her 4 and 7-year-old sons.  And in Decatur, GA Shun Melson told her 7-year-old about the killings and he voluntarily threw his toy gun in the trash.

All of these impulses at the grass-roots level must now be nurtured and developed to rid the public of the absurd NRA belief, fostered by the head gun nut Wayne LaPierre, that it is OK for every person in the USA, regardless of whether or not they are qualified, to own a gun and take it anywhere they want.  But LaPierre and his bunch of hooligans won’t give up and it is up to the gun control advocates to keep the pressure on, increasing it regularly. 

And as one gun control advocate that is dedicated to this cause until we reach our goal, here are the new laws that I would like to see enacted:

1. Ban all assault or assault-type weapons
   
2. Ban all high-capacity magazines over 5 rounds
   
3. Close gun show loophole
   
4. Background checks for all gun purchases
   
5. Mandatory training for anyone owning a gun
   
6. Mandatory state reporting of the mentally ill

These are my six major targets.  Equally important, maybe in the future, but soon:

7. National Registry of all guns owned
   
8. Restrict concealed weapons permits to only those who need them

If it’s crazy to ask for gun laws that will protect the population, particularly our children, from firearm violence, then call me crazy.

HIATUS RECOMMENDATIONS: Nasty Jack posts you might have missed or just want to re-read

Posts on Gun Control

Posts on Mass Shootings

Posts on Guns and Firearms

NRA attacks Barack Obama on gun control…so who cares anymore

The President said in the October 16, debate at Hofstra University that he supported the 2^nd Amendment but wants to get the assault weapons ban reintroduced.  Mitt Romney stated flatly that he opposes any new gun legislation.  So gun control advocates were at least encouraged by the President’s approach, knowing full well we could not expect anything from Romney.  But the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) took note releasing the following ad with the same old crap:

"Freedom. These guys fought for it," begins the ad, which shows a soldier returning home to his family as gentle music plays. Then, the music turns frantic and the scenes go from color to black and white. "Now, imagine our country without it. Obama put two justices on the Supreme Court who threaten our right to self-defense. Defend Freedom. Defeat Obama."

As Joe Biden would say, “Malarkey.”

 

It ran in the states of Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida, Colorado, Iowa and Nevada, according to Jennifer Bendery in the Huff Post.  All 7 states are considered toss-ups by Electoral College site Real Clear Politics.  What is interesting is that the NRA is not targeting Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes after Obama’s famous comment about these people clinging to their guns or religion.  A protocol mistake maybe but he is right here and in many other states.

Gun store gun bubbas from Des Moines:

I did a post on July 26, of this year, “It’s all fiction: NRA has no effectual control over elections, Part 1 and Part 2. ThinkProgress did a very comprehensive study on the effects of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) on political elections in relation to money contributed to candidates and the organization’s influence on the outcome of the elections.  Paul Waldman of The American Prospect, and author of the study said: “The NRA has virtually no impact on congressional elections.”

  



How the NRA would have it

I thought this latter statement was significant considering how congressional wimps are scared to death of the NRA and its CEO Wayne LaPierre.  But plowing ahead in my research, I was even more confident in the statement and still cannot figure out why large gun control organizations like the Brady Campaign, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence and Mayors Against Illegal Guns haven’t focused on this data.

As an example, “In the last four elections, the NRA spent over $100,000 on an IE (independent expenditure) in 22 separate Senate races. The group’s favored candidate won 10 times, and lost 12 times.”  In all but a tiny number of races, the NRA endorsement is essentially meaningless and here’s why: 

In 2004, all of the 4 NRA-endorsed challengers lost to their Democratic opponents, as did all 4 NRA-endorsed challengers in 2006. In 2008, 11 out of the 12 NRA-endorsed challengers lost.  In 2010, only 18 of 36 challengers won.  in the last four federal elections, in which the NRA made a total of 1038 endorsements in House races, the group could claim credit for a grand total of 4 wins.”  



Wacky Wayne LaPierre on the loose

In my Part 2 post, there is insight into this myth—I call it a conspiracy by the NRA’s LaPierre to bolster the profits of gun manufacturers while lining his and other top NRA leaders’ pockets—that if you don’t follow wacky Wayne’s orders, you’ll be history in Congress.  Not true and Paul Waldman has made that statistically clear in his studies. 

On another side of the issue, according to a poll commissioned by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, gun owners, including a majority of National Rifle Association members, are in favor of some forms of tighter gun laws.  The poll found that:

71% of NRA members support prohibiting people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns (76% of all gun owners support the same), while 65% of NRA members back a law that would require gun owners to report a missing or stolen gun to police.

So I ask you again, who cares anymore if the NRA attacks President Obama on gun control?  Their presence and influence have been severely compromised in the way gun violence has taken over the country in the last year.  2013 is the year for gun control advocates.

Gun control…a nada in the second Presidential debate



Bloomberg announces Super PAC



Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney provided satisfactory answers to what they would do about gun control, especially according to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is an avid proponent of taking illegal guns off the streets.  Bloomberg was so upset that he pledged millions through a new super PAC backing candidates and ballot initiatives in favor of gun control.  This could very well be the turning point to challenge NRA political contributions.

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has bought and maintains the U.S. Congress.  These wimps in Washington are scared to death of what wacky Wayne LaPierre and his gang of lackeys will do if they don’t toe the line and support their style of gun rights.  Innocent Americans’ lives be-damned.  As an example, over 9,000 people died from gun-related homicides in the U.S. in 2011.  VOXXI reports:

“This is an astounding total when one considers that the death of 2,000 people in an organized military conflict is considered to be a major war.”

Video of debate gun control questions:

VOXXI also tells us that if the gun show loophole had been closed, the Aurora, Colo. movie shooting wouldn’t have happened.  The shooter, James Holmes, “got his semi-automatic rifle from a friend who bought it for him from an unlicensed dealer at a gun show.”  These unlicensed dealers aren’t required to make background checks, and didn’t even after the woman buying the weapon told the dealer it was for someone too young to buy a gun.

It has been established that over 70% of the guns used in crimes in Mexico come from the U.S.  This, after the U.S. recently withdrew its support for the global Arms Trade Treaty.  And you guessed it, the NRA opposes this treaty making the organization not only responsible for innocent deaths in the United States, but all over the world.  Another case of illegal guns going out of the U.S., 3 men were recently arrested in Nashville for buying firearms and shipping them to Australia.

 In the second debate, Obama said he favored renewing the assault weapons ban, a statement he has made before with no follow through.  He also wants to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, and wants more “conversation” on the issue.  That’s when the ammunition hit the fan and Bloomberg said we’ve already talked enough.  The Mayor says it’s now time for action and put his money where his mouth.  Romney is against any new gun regulation.



Adam Winkler's latest book

Adam Winkler, a specialist in American Constitutional Law at UCLA, says in the Daily Beast that an assault weapons ban is not the answer since the gunman can come armed with multiple weapons, in case one jams.  Contrary to that belief, if semi-automatic weapons were banned, another thought is that, at least, the assailant would kill less people.  Winkler continues, mass shootings aren’t the real problem, it’s gun violence like Chicago’s where assault weapons aren’t used. 
Rebekah Metzler on NPR corrected the Romney comment that it is illegal in this country to have an automatic weapon.  Metzler said:

“It's not entirely correct. For those who had automatic weapons prior to the ban, which happened in 1986, they're still allowed to have those as long as they're registered with the federal government. Those same weapons prior to 1986 that were registered with the federal government are also allowed to be bought and sold if you jump through some hoops.”

VOXXI contends that undercutting the power of the NRA “will require a major public outcry that will make politicians realize that there is a political price to be paid for opposing gun control.”  That is what we gun control advocates have been trying to accomplish for years.  Maybe NY Mayor Bloomberg’s distress over the lack of attention to the issue in the debates and his subsequent super PAC to address gun control will finally provide the answer.

September 2012 Monthly Shooting Report

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) whose data comes direct from hospitals, there are 88 people killed by firearms each day, 603 during a week, and 2,612 monthly.  The Nasty Jack report, with sources exclusively from the media, will obviously reflect smaller numbers than the CDC, but with dates and locations

Sept. 2012 came in lower than August in all categories, most significant was the drop in the number of shootings; a total of 113.  Deaths by firearms were only 7 less but the wounded were down 106.  Even with decreases, monthly deaths were still 70, and 159 were wounded in 229 shootings.  TOO MUCH!  Notably, the two largest cities in the country in states with some of the most stringent gun control laws, New York and Los Angeles, had only one incident each.

Chicago is still suffering from its gang warfare but there was some relief in that there were 4 less incidents in September than August.  And Phoenix, Arizona, the capital of loose gun control, had a total of 7 incidents, leading most every other city even close to its size.  There was another mass shooting during the month in Minneapolis, Minnesota where a gunman killed five including himself and wounded four others.  The grim statistics just keep piling up.

Gun control in the crosshairs

Yet, not a mention about gun control by the President or Republican contender Mitt Romney in last week’s debate.  Nor was there a question raised on that issue by seasoned debate host, Jim Lehrer.  I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the NRA’s mythical hold on this country—mythical because the public has been showered with lies against sensible gun control convincing naïve Americans gun rights have an absolute protection from the Constitution, which is not true.

Therefore, we had no dialogue over one of the most important dilemmas this country has ever had, which is the death of innocent Americans from firearms that are available to anyone to take anywhere.  Here are the numbers for September:

DATE	CITY/STATE	DEAD	WOUNDED	SHOOTINGS
9/1/2012	Chicago, IL	2	15	17
9/1/2012	Oklahoma City, OK	0	4	4
9/1/2012	Seattle, WA	1	0	1
9/2/2012	Coolidge, AZ	1	0	1
9/3/2012	Baltimore, MD	1	6	7
9/3/2012	Chicago, IL	0	2	2
9/3/2012	West Union, WV	3	0	3
9/4/2012	Chicago, IL	2	0	2
9/4/2012	Sanford, NC	0	1	1
9/4/2012	Tucson, AZ	1	1	2
9/5/2012	Chicago, IL	1	4	5
9/5/2012	San Bernardino, CA	1	0	1
9/5/2012	Yuma, AZ	1	0	1
9/7/2012	Louisville, KY	1	1	2
9/7-9/8/12	Chicago, IL	2	9	11
9/8/2012	New York, NY	4	1	5
9/8/2012	Oakland, CA	0	5	5
9/9/2012	Wichita, KS	0	2	2
9/11/2012	District Heights, MD	1	0	1
9/11/2012	Greensboro, NC	0	2	2
9/11/2012	Holbrook, AZ	0	2	2
9/12/2012	Chicago, IL	1	4	5
9/12/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
9/13/2012	Jackson, MS	0	2	2
9/14/2012	Chicago, IL	2	8	10
9/14/2012	Kansas City, MO	1	1	2
9/14/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	2
9/14/2012	Richmond, VA	1	1	2
9/14/2012	Shreveport, LA	0	1	1
9/14-9/16/12	Chicago, IL	6	23	29
9/15/2012	South Bend, IN	0	1	1
9/15/2012	Tempe, AZ	0	3	3
9/15/2012	Trenton, NJ	0	2	2
9/16/2012	Myrtle Beach, SC	0	1	1
9/16/2012	Pomona, CA	0	1	1
9/16/2012	South Bend, IN	1	2	3
9/16/2012	Yuma, AZ	0	1	1
9/17/2012	Indianapolis, IN	1	1	2
9/19/2012	Pomona, CA	1	0	1
9/20/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
9/20/2012	San Jose, CA	0	2	2
9/21/2012	Miami, FL	1	0	1
9/21/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
9/21/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	1	2
9/21-9/23/12	St. Louis, MO	0	7	7
9/21-9/23-12	East St. Louis, IL	3	2	5
9/23/2012	Baltimore, MD	0	1	1
9/23/2012	Bullhead City, AZ	1	0	1
9/23/2012	Greensboro, NC	0	1	1
9/23/2012	Kannapolis, NC	0	2	2
9/23/2012	Phoenix, AZ	0	3	3
9/25/2012	Lakeside, CA	0	3	3
9/26/2012	Clarksdale, MS	2	2	4
9/26/2012	Lincoln Heights, OH	0	1	1
9/26/2012	Richmond, VA	1	0	1
9/26/2012	Stillwater, OK	1	0	1
9/26/2012	Tucson, AZ	1	0	1
9/27/2012	Los angeles, CA	1	0	1
9/27/2012	Minneapolis, MN	5	4	9
9/27/2012	Tulsa, OK	1	0	1
9/28-9/30/12	Coffeyville, KS	2	2	4
9/28/2012	Chicago, IL	2	6	8
9/28/2012	Phoenix, AZ	1	0	1
9/29/2012	Chicago, IL	0	4	4
9/30/2012	Erie, PA	1	2	3
9/30/2012	Jackson, MS	2	0	2
9/30/2012	Philadelphia, PA	1	0	1
9/30/2012	Syracuse, NY	1	7	8
9/30/2012	Winter Springs, FL	2	1	3
		70	159	229