U.S. the worst in guns owned to gun violence |
Showing posts with label Gun control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gun control. Show all posts
Thursday, June 12, 2014
MORE GUNS MEAN MORE VIOLENCE PROVEN
Thursday, June 5, 2014
IT'S TIME TO AMEND THE 2ND AMENDMENT
The title above guarantees that I get the attention of gun owners and their renegade bunch of gun nuts. My congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican, says that new gun laws that would interfere with the rights of these gun huggers would be unconstitutional. Like background checks that could have prevented most of the recent mass shooting. Yes, I know, it would also have to include a mental health database, something that Gosar and his GOP buddies are holding up. So, if changing the 2nd Amendment won't work, let's amend it to an interpretation that the Founding Fathers really meant. You know what it says, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has written a book, Six Amendments: How and Why we Should Change the Constitution. He was, by the way, was against the District of Columbia v. Heller outcome. He says for one thing that Heller didn't preclude the barring of assault weapons. That's a start but his revision of the 2nd is even better: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed." Amen. That will get many of the guns off the street.
A one-sided Court |
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
GUN CONTROL SUPPORTING THE RIGHT CANDIDATES
Gabby Giffords v. wacky Wayne laPierre |
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
NRA DISCOVERS ANOTHER WAY TO JUSTIFY GUN VIOLENCE - A PARODY
PARODY: Wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn., has found the solution that will solve most of his problems when it comes to someone being shot by one of the guns he is sworn to protect. We all know it is his life's work to insure that every gun manufacturer in the U.S. sells at least one handgun to every person in the country, and that does include newborns. So with millions of guns on the street it was incumbent on LaPierre to get help for the millions of people who would be shot. He admits the numbers will be in the thousands, eventually the millions of those wounded, but unfortunately there is nothing the bloody crusader can do about the victims who die. These people are no longer a priority because they can't purchase guns.
The process is simple. Each time someone is shot but not killed they pull out their Wounds R Us kit which includes a secret "Save a Life for Gun Rights" pen that fires a spongy projectile into the wound coated with something to stop the bleeding immediately while it expands in the bloody hole. The NRA sells the product online and it is available in all gun stores, where, unfortunately, you must ask for the product since it is kept under the counter. Wacky Wayne is elated by his new discovery, and as he has explained to his many gun company benefactors, at last we have the perfect answer to all these unreasonable gun control advocates.
Now there is a new product designed to close gunshot wounds which looks like an invention that will save many lives in the future. You can read about the real XStat here.
The wacky one, Wayne LaPierre |
Now there is a new product designed to close gunshot wounds which looks like an invention that will save many lives in the future. You can read about the real XStat here.
Monday, June 2, 2014
BRITS ARE GOOD WITH STRICT GUN CONTROL
AR-15 ASSULT RIFLE |
MORE GUNS = MORE GUN DEATHS
Guns aren't safe, so says a recent Simpsons' cartoon. And this correlation carries through to more injuries. There is no humor in the fact that with the United States sporting the obscene statistic of 88.8 guns per 100 people, compared with Japan at 0.6, Australia 15 and Canada 30.8. If that wasn't bad enough, the U.S. has 3.21 gun homicides per 100,000 people. Japan is 0.01, Australia 0.14 and Canada 0.51. Unless the very meaning of math has changed, and by sheer deduction, more guns, more death, duh, the U.S. is in need of some reasonable gun control. No sense asking anymore why Congress doesn't get this. We know it's wacky Wayne LaPierre and his NRA renegades who control them. It's time to rid Congress of the gun nuts. 2014!
Saturday, May 31, 2014
BBC SAYS U.S. WON'T CHANGE GUN LAWS AFTER RECENT VIOLENCE
If Newtown didn't do it--20 children killed by guns--then Isla Vista sure won't, says Tim Krieder on BBC news. What could be more pathetic than the fact these two incidents plus Tucson, Aurora, Columbine and Virginia Tech along with other individual gun violence on a daily basis is thrown in our face by the Brits. Those folks across the pool, by the way, have had sane gun laws for years and thousands less per capita deaths. But, then, they don't have wacky Wayne LaPierre to deal with.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The latest in gun control
What we need is big time gun control |
There’s a hitch in the passage of gun control laws in the
Senate with Republicans objecting to the Democrats who want some record keeping
when it comes to passing a law to require background checks. The Guardian reports that
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants private sales made at gun shows and through the
internet, not only to be put through the FBI-maintained National Instant
Criminal Background Check System (NICS), but they also want such sales to be
recorded.” The GOP (and the NRA) says
no.
The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) led by head gun fanatic Wayne
LaPierre, has always been against any kind of registry of names on who owns
guns fearing that once that is in place, the government will come into gun
owning homes and take away their weapons.
"There absolutely will not be record-keeping on legitimate,
law-abiding gun owners," Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican, said. This kind of thinking should illustrate to
the American public just what a group of gun worshipping maniacs LaPierre and
his NRA minions are.
And Chris Matthews,
progressive anchor for MSNBC’s Hardball,
said: “Support Gun Control or an American President Could Be Murdered,” in a
closing commentary in a show last week.
It is worth repeating, below:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me finish
tonight with this: I was in a big city hospital recently and the issue of gun
control, gun safety came up. The doctor said if I wanted to know the impact of
guns, he could show me, take me down and show me. Look, gunshot wounds can be
truly horrible. The reality justifies the discussion, today, about the need to
try and do something about the proliferation of assault rifles, huge ammo
magazines and the loopholes in the requirement that there be background checks.
People have told us of the horrible sight of those young kids up in Newtown,
Connecticut. I personally don't want to be part of a movement to keep those
semi-automatics flying into the hands of all sorts of people as they are today,
the hoarders, the survivalists, the paranoid, the criminal and downright
politically nutty.
Why? Because the next mass shooter
could well emerge out of this pack. Check the shooters of John F. Kennedy and
Jerry Ford, who got shot at twice. Look at the men that shot Bobby Kennedy and
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and George Wallace. They all had political
motives and they all had guns. Got them easy and put them easily to use. And if
you're not against this movement, you're with it. Write your congressman and
say what you think and what you feel. Do it tonight before you go to bed. The
address of Congress, for all the congressmen is Congress, U.S. Congress,
Washington, D.C., 20515. That's Washington, D.C. 20515. It will get there. And
that's Hardball for now. Thanks for being with us.
Well done!
Did you know that the United States, specifically Waikiki, Hawaii,
is a haven for tourists who just want to shoot guns, all kinds of guns, because
the gun laws in this country allow you to do pretty much anything you want with
a firearm? There are four shooting
ranges along Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue where they learn how to shoot assault
weapons. A large majority of these
tourists are Japanese, who are frequent visitors to Hawaii anyway, here because
they can get their hands on guns they are not allowed to own in Japan. There, only shotguns are legal.
USA Today says that, “…fewer
than 1% of Japan's population owns a gun and the death rate from gun-related
violence is extremely low.” There were
only 19 gun-related homicides in Japan in 2010 and in comparing that with gun
violence in the U.S., “47% of Americans own a gun, according to a 2011 Gallup
poll, and 8,583 Americans were killed in gun-related homicides, according to
the FBI's 2011 crime report.” It is
pretty pathetic to think that tourists coming to America do it because of loose
gun laws, which causes the gun carnage in the U.S.
But on a final note, at one of this country’s
largest firearms manufacturers, Beretta USA, one of its lunatic executives,
Jeffrey Reh, the company’s general counsel, is quoted in The Washington Free Beacon as saying, “Maryland
Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013 is ‘tantamount to
a legislative effort to ban certain books.’”
Just when you think you’ve heard it all.
Wacky Wayne would be proud of this sycophant of the gun rights
fruitcakes who probably, himself, has never read a book outside the law. Amen
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
United Kingdom has right to criticize U.S. gun control laws
As far as I can see, gun control is going almost nowhere, at
least with the momentum that has been created by the increased gun violence
nationwide. Perhaps we have concentrated
too much on mass killings like Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Although this kind of carnage is horrific, it
still represents but a small amount of the gun deaths that take place
daily. Apparently statistics like ‘there
are some 300 million guns in American households’ or ‘88.8 per 100 households’
does not impress the public. Hard to
believe but true.
Or the fact that in a comparison of the rate of private gun
ownership in 179 countries, the United States ranked No. 1, and with 10.3 gun
deaths per 100,000 population they are much higher than the United Kingdom, Australia,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the list
goes on and on. Could the fact that most
of these countries have measurably stronger gun control laws than the United
States have something to do with the results?
‘Absolutely not’ would be the answer from wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of
the NRA.
These are figures taken from GunPolicy.org,
a non-profit organization reporting on international firearm injury prevention
and policy. If you have any doubts about
my numbers I suggest you go to this site and do your own research. If you come away without the opinion that
America’s gun culture is completely out of control, then you are either a gun
worshipper, completely apathetic over the issue, or you have a terrible problem
with math. The truth is in the
statistics and in every case there is a monumental case for more gun control
laws in the U.S.
Harry J. Enten writing in the UK Guardian says, “Americans want gun control, but not badly enough.” His point one, “Most Americans don't see gun
control as the most significant way to prevent mass shootings.” Once again, mass gun violence, but it is
obvious that Enten has zeroed in on where the American focus is. He quotes, “only 25% of Americans believe
that stricter gun control laws and enforcement would be the key to preventing
massacres.“ Further, CBS News found, only
21% feel stricter gun control would prevent gun violence by much.
In point two, he laments that the subject of guns just isn’t
a high priority for most Americans. A
tragedy when you consider the daily reporting of people shot and killed with
guns, others injured, some seriously. In
the latest CBS News poll, only 4% listed guns at the top of their list. 50% chose the economy, jobs or the budget
deficit. It will be interesting in the
future to learn what the impact of continued and escalating gun violence will
have on the country’s economy and its overall well-being. If as bad as it looks, then it will be too
late.
Point three, most in the U.S. doesn’t feel gun control
legislation is a priority in 2013, only 46% according to Pew Research. With all the shootings and mayhem nationwide
connected to guns on the street, the American public says, mañana. Go figure.
And in point four, the public’s obsession with gun violence will
eventually dwindle, meaning, if we don’t do this in 2013, we’ll never do
it. And as my headline indicated, the UK
can criticize the United States because they have done what we cannot seem to
accomplish due to the gun lobby. Gun
laws in the UK:
They have a gun registry
Firearms are restricted
Right to gun ownership not
guaranteed by law
Assault weapons are banned
Handguns are banned
Background checks required
Number of guns and amount of
ammunition owned is restricted
As a result of the above regulations, below are comparisons
between the United States and the United Kingdom in gun violence:
US UK
All gun deaths per 100,000 population 10.3 0.25
Gun homicides per 100,000 pop. 3.6 0.04
Handgun homicides per 100,000 pop. 2.0 0.01
Gun suicides per 100,000 pop. 6.3 0.18
I rest my case.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Gun nuts claim Obama Helter Skelter…the amassing of forces to annihilate White Americans
Although Taylor Marsh is a well-known political analyst,
writer and strategist, I still might have discounted someone I never heard of
like Stan Solomon whose Talk to Solomon
Show recently had conservative blogger Greg W. Howard on his show. I have also not heard of Howard but being new
to the game of critical politics, just figure I may not yet be up to speed. However, when Larry Pratt’s name came up I
not only took notice but became very interested. As a gun fanatic, Pratt is only topped by
Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).
Charles Manson |
There’s more. “I believe they will put together a racial force to go against an opposite race resistance, basically a black force to go against a white resistance, and then they will claim anyone resisting the black force they are doing it because they are racist,” commented Solomon and seconded by Howard. Can you believe this idiot Howard accuses Obama of sowing the seeds of racial hatred when it has been clear from the President’s first inauguration that many in this country dislike, even hate, Barack Obama simply because he is black?
Clip from the Helter Skelter movie:
There is a comparison between Obama’s gun control legislation and the incidents at Waco and Ruby Ridge where government force was used to quell an illegal uprising, resulting in lives lost. Each of those episodes was carried out due to a defiance of the law and the people involved decided to fight rather than surrender peacefully. Arnold asks the question which is no doubt uppermost in the mind of anyone who reads her article:
“I don’t know how many people take this kind of ‘thinking’ seriously,
but it’s happening in the context of the ongoing national debates about gun and
ammunition controls.” It is gun hugger
scare tactics at their worst…my words.
And then Arnold quotes Evan McMorris-Santoro of Talking Points Memo who exclaims the war over gun
control has gone to the “ground;” in other words as the media decide it is
yesterday’s news, both sides will depend on grass-roots action to get the job
done. McMorris-Santoro points out that
the NRA is already running ads against weak Democrat and Republican moderates in
states like Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and West Virginia. At the same time we can expect more on gun
control through groups like Gabby Giffords new PAC.
Those moderate Democrats, above, are not as afraid this go-around because of the rash of firearm deaths across the country, particularly mass incidents like the Newtown, CT massacre. The Senate is working on a plan re, universal background checks but McMorris-Santoro comments, “there’s the usual GOP House members who oppose most everything that isn’t their idea. Some of them probably think it’s possible ‘Obama is Raising a Private Black Army to Massacre White Americans.’” Shades of Charles Manson and his HelterSkelter.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Hard to understand how anyone could believe the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre
But they do. These
die-hard gun bubbas who strut around with their weapons either at their side or
concealed completely from the public, are the real believers who do it because
they have to have some way to prove their manhood. And they would follow the head fanatic, wacky
Wayne, to the end of the world if he said so.
It is amazing to me just how easily he can arouse these double-digit IQs
to do his bidding and then force them to come back again and again to feed from
the same fount spewing this propaganda. But
such is the mentality of these wackos.
Wayne LaPierre is head of the NRA and since assuming this
post in 1991 the organization has prospered dramatically in increased
membership and donations flowing in.
This is all due to one single factor; LaPierre zeroed in on the 2nd
Amendment right to bear arms exclaiming it is an “absolutist” right of the
people and the gun control advocates want to take it away. And then along came a Democratic President,
Barack Obama, and the screed switched to “Obama wants to take away your guns.” Same crusade, just a different target.
Wacky Wayne laPierre |
In each national incidence of guns killing innocent Americans,
wacky Wayne used the situation to fire up his fellow gun worshippers by saying,
as an example, they want to take away assault weapons today but tomorrow they
will come for your handguns, then your hunting rifles. The latest was delivered in a tirade from Salt
Lake City during a speech at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. He once again picked up on President Obama
and other Democrats re. the drive for universal background checks. This is what he saidon CNN:
"This so-called universal background check that you're hearing
about all over the media ... is aimed at one thing: It's aimed at registering
your guns. And when another tragic
opportunity presents itself, that registry will be used to confiscate your
guns."
Actually, this registry of guns is a great idea for everyone
but gun owners, and that raises a question within itself. Why are you afraid to have your gun
registered; got something to hide? And
it is absurd to think the feds would use any registry of firearms to confiscate
legal guns. It is the bad guys that they
are after and if you gun huggers are a little bit inconvenienced, blame it on
your head wacko LaPierre who has suppressed reasonable gun control legislation
for years, putting 300 million guns on the streets of America, a record
throughout the world.
Mark Kelly with wife Gabby Giffords |
“The Tucson shooter was an admitted drug user. He was rejected from the
U.S. Army because of his drug use. He was clearly mentally ill. And when he
purchased that gun in November, his plan was to assassinate my wife and commit
mass murder at that Safeway in Tucson. He was a criminal. Because of his drug
use, and because of what he was planning on doing. But because of these gaps in
the mental health system, in this case, those 121,000 records, I admit did not
include a record on him. But it could have.
“And if it did, he would have failed that background check. He would
have likely gone to a gun show, or a private seller, and avoided that
background check. But if we close that gun show loophole, if we require private
sellers to complete a background check, and we get those 121,000 records and
others into the systems, we will prevent gun crime. That is an absolute truth.
It would have happened in Tucson. My wife would not have been sitting here
today if we had stronger background checks.”
LaPierre’s claims that background checks don’t work is
obviously just another of his false statements since 1.5 million guns were
prevented from going to those prohibited from having them in 2010. In the hearing, after gun rights grunts pointed
to Chicago’s tough gun laws, yet high volume of gun violence, Sen. Dick Durbin from
Illinois commented:
When you take a look at where these guns come from, 25 percent plus are
sold in the surrounding towns around the city of Chicago, not in the city. Look
over the last 10 or 12 years. Of the 50,000 guns confiscated in crimes, almost
one out of 10 crime guns in Chicago came to that city from Mississippi. Why?
Because the background checks there, the gun dealers there, are a lot easier
than in other places. And they end up selling these guns in volume.
It is easy enough to shoot holes in most claims made by Wayne LaPierre and his NRA minions, but what isn’t easy is having the equal time to advertise the gun control side of the issue. Organizations like the Brady Campaign and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence try but have limited budgets. Just the opposite of the NRA, which is well funded in its advertising campaigns with the support of U.S. gun manufacturers. The gun nuts are preparing to launch a new onslaught of major propaganda that will cause many more innocent people to be killed by guns.
Monday, February 18, 2013
GOP Congress backs immigration reform to garner votes…opposes gun control to hold on to votes
It’s all about “ME,” and by that I mean a dysfunctional
Congress thinking only about what it takes to get reelected. When it means turning on a huge new voting population
like Hispanics, they are now rushing in to enlist this group in hopes of
holding on to their jobs in 2014, and maybe adding a few seats in heavily
Latino districts. But when it comes to curbing gun violence through the passage of reasonable
gun control legislation that will save innocent lives, the votes evaporate
under the cloud of Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. (NRA).
And it isn’t just Republicans. There are turncoat Democrats representing
conservative to moderate districts who walk the fence and vote with the right
just to stay in office. The primary
example is Dems who refuse to back the President’s gun control legislation
because of the gun bubbas they represent.
Much of this group is likely to be against immigration reform but if
their district has a sizable Hispanic population, the typical politician will
no doubt find a way to justify a vote in favor just to stay competitive. I say throw ‘em all out.
As an example of a classic flip-flop, there was Arizona
Republican Sen. John McCain who championed immigration reform prior to the 2008
election. But in his run for President,
in a time where the Tea Party still had a firm grip on the GOP, he turned
against the issue to please his Arizona and national constituents. As it turned out it worked, at least as far
as turning off the Latino vote. Obama
received 67% nationally, 56% in McCain’s home state of Arizona compared to
McCain’s 31% and 41% respectively. Overall,
Obama 52.9%, McCain 45.7%.
In a recent CNN/ORC International survey, 53% want the main
focus of the immigration issue focused on allowing undocumented immigrants a
pathway to citizenship. This is a change
from 2011 when 55% said the main focus should be on deportation. With a wishy-washy American public, is
Congress making its decisions based on the current direction taken on
immigration reform? If so, why don’t
these blockheads listen to this same constituency when it says in a CBS News
poll following the Sandy Hook massacre that 59% favorstricter gun control?
It’s clear why. Because
of the intimidation of LaPierre’s NRA and the fear he instills in Congress that
he will get them fired if they don’t back his brand of gun control. Once again, looking out for number one over
passing common sense gun control legislation that could save thousands of
lives. And there’s a connection between
the Hispanic vote and gun control. A November 2011 poll by Mayors Against
Illegal Guns found that 69 percent of Latino voters support stricter laws on
gun sales. Hispanics for gun control in
2014 could be a formidable force.
After the Romney disaster with Hispanics, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus
said: "I think you are seeing a lot of movement from our party on these
issues. A lot of it, I tell you, was
tone. You know, it wasn't necessarily the policy on immigration, it was what is
coming out of your mouth." I’m not
sure just how to interpret this but it sounds suspiciously like an approach to
Latinos of ‘we will tolerate you for your vote but don’t expect too much from
the GOP in the way of change on immigration issues.’ That’s just my take.
John Feinblatt, chief adviser
for policy and strategic planning to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
says our “antiquated immigration laws” are still meant for the black and white
TV era. Adding, even China provides
generous stipends and other perks to lure the best scientists and engineers to
its country. Further, while “Canada, the
United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and Chile offer visas and other incentives
to attract entrepreneurs to their countries, we make it nearly impossible for
most entrepreneurs to come here.” There’s
more but you get the idea.
And gun control is just one more example illustrating the
mental retardation of the United States on issues clearly beneficial to
Americans living a better life. But in
Congress you will jeopardize your career in politics if you cross Wayne LaPierre
and his NRA. FormerArizona Sen. Dennis DeConcini, a Democrat, championed legislation
against assault weapons in 1989 after the Stockton, CA shooting of school
children. It passed in the Senate,
failed in the House. DeConcini, in
Arizona, was almost recalled. What else
would you expect from this state?
The 2014 elections will be interesting from several standpoints. A lot depends on what happens to gun control and Immigration reform legislation in the next several months. Even more will be decided on how the GOP Congress of “NO” will work with the President on the programs he laid out in his State of the Union message. Obama’s win was a mandate but he is still hampered by a Republican led House and a bare majority in the Senate. And so far the conservatives have shown few signs of cooperation. How long will the American public put up with this?
Friday, February 15, 2013
The 2nd Amendment is ripe for new interpretation…again
Alan Singer is a social studies educator at Hofstra
University in Long Island, New York and the editor of Social Science Docket (a
joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for Social Studies). Apparently he has done his homework on the 2nd
Amendment in research for an article in the Huff Post titled, “Does the U.S. Constitution Prevent Gun Control?” The answer to this question is a
resounding “Yes” if asked of the gun nuts and their head fanatic Wayne
LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).
Wacky Wayne says the 2nd
Amendment is sacred and an absolutist part of the Constitution that cannot be
touched by gun control advocates. Having
been proven wrong on this several times already, this lunatic continues to rant
and rave about gun owner rights in spite of the killings by firearms happening
on a daily basis. This sick ideology of
rights over life itself is beginning to turn off a newly savvy American
public. LaPierre has used fear to make
his point for years in the American Congress, NRA membership and the general
population.
In a conservative majority on the
U.S. Supreme Court, they ruled that in the 2008 decision on District of
Columbia v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's
right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as
self-defense within the home and within federal enclaves. The key here is “in the home” which doesn’t
rule out but definitely leaves the door open to curbing the carrying of
concealed weapons. Yes, this is a
separate issue but it does illustrate a potential crack in the 2nd
Amendment that proves non-absolutism.
Wayne LaPierre has accused the
President of “undermining 2nd Amendment constitutional
principles.” Alan Singer counters with
just how the apparently divine Amendment—at least to the gun nuts—could be in
trouble. He cites the conservative
majority on the U.S. Supreme Court which leans to a “textualist” interpretation
of the Constitution. Textualism is
defined by Wikipedia as follows:
A formalist
theory of statutory interpretation, holding that a statute's ordinary meaning
should govern its interpretation, as opposed to inquiries into non-textual
sources such as the intention of the legislature {or forefathers/my words} in
passing the law, the problem it was intended to remedy, or substantive
questions of the justice and rectitude of the law.
Singer says, “In general I find
most ‘textualist’ arguments forwarded by the Supreme Court's right-wing
activists to be self-justifying contorted attempts to discover constitutional
support for positions they already hold.”
An interesting observation when you consider Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia, one of the most conservative, has said that stricter gun laws
could be possible under the 2nd Amendment. This probably sent head NRA gun nut, Wayne
LaPierre, gyrating into outer space but aroused the passions of all gun control
advocates.
And it is here where Singer
analyzes the Constitution in relation to the right of the people in connection
with individual rights. He says, “An
examination of the Constitution shows a very clear and precise distinction
between the term ‘people’ and ‘person’ or "persons.’" Further, that America functions as a whole,
not individually by states nor individual persons. True, individuals do elect our lawmakers both
local, statewide and nationally, but these same individuals acting separately
can legally be limited.
In the view of a textualist, “the
right of the ‘people’ is a general statement of principle not a specific or
individual right.” Singer draws support
from the Fourth amendment in its collective right of the people to be secure in
their homes, papers, effects, etc., the right to be secure against unreasonable
searches and seizures. However, with
probable cause, identifying the place to be searched, the persons (individual),
things can be searched and seized with the proper warrant. It just proves that there is no absolutist
finality in this or the 2nd Amendment.
In conclusion, singer quotes the
2nd: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed."
It is clearly referring to the
collective “people,” in other words the country has a right to defend itself,
he claims. He does add, “there is no
specific prohibition on limiting the access of individual ‘persons’ to
dangerous weapons.” Even so, this
interpretation of the 2nd Amendment “provides an opportunity for
even the most conservative Supreme Court Justices to support significant new
gun restrictions approved by elected officials in local, state, and federal
governments. We can only hope for the
best.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
New surveys confirm Americans want more gun control…even NRA members
The studies keep pouring in on gun control vs. gun rights
and they keep saying the same thing. The
American public wants more gun regulations, and this includes members of the
National Rifle Assn. (NRA). The time has
come for the gun rights fanatics like Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, to prove
these studies bogus or admit defeat and get on with saving people’s lives with
reasonable gun control laws. LaPierre’s
“absolutist” hogwash on gun owners’ rights under the 2nd Amendment
is long overdue for an overhaul, and wacky Wayne knows it; except he’s trying
to save his cushy million dollar job.
In the most recent poll by Johns Hopkins University, “89 percent of all respondents, and 75 percent of
those identified as NRA members, support universal background checks for gun
sales.” Now this would include private
sales at gun shows where 40% of U.S. gun sales come from. Since there were 10,800,000guns sold in 2011 in the U.S., that means that 4,320,000 of those
firearms went on the street knowing absolutely nothing about the individual
buying them. He or she just walked in,
made the purchase, and walked out the door with a means to kill someone. That is scary as hell.
The above becomes even more significant when you consider the fact
that a large majority of NRA members are included. This majority also would prohibit, “people
with recent alcohol or drug charges to purchase guns, and 70 percent supported
a mandatory minimum of 2 years in prison for selling guns to persons who are
not legally allowed to have one.” The
survey also found that Americans want more spending on mental health in
relation to gun violence.
But that’s not all. A
new Gallup poll found that two-thirds of the
American public support heavy new restrictions on gun purchases, supporting all
nine of President Obama’s key proposals.
They were:
- 91% for criminal background checks
- 82% want increased government spending on mental health programs
- 79% are for increased government spending for law enforcement and school officials for armed attacks
- 75% think criminal penalties should be increased for those buying guns for someone who hasn't passed background check
- 70% want the feds to spend $4 billion to help keep 15,000 police officers on the street
- 69% would like the government to spend $30 million to help schools develop emergency response plans
- 67% want to ban the possession of armor-piercing bullets by anyone other than the military or law enforcement
- 60% would strengthen the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004
- 54% want to limit the sale of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds or less
Finally let me leave you with the fact that there have been 1,280 gun deaths since the Sandy Hook Elementary School carnage, as reported by the Huff Post.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Albuquerque family massacre…just one more begging reason for stricter gun control
Gun bubbas masculinity |
It happened on Jan. 19, a Sat. night, in the home of the
Griego family living in a suburb of Albuquerque. Nehemiah Griego, 15 years old, was charged
with the murder of two adults and three children. The killing of the children was described as “child
abuse resulting in death.” Authorities
should define their meaning of “abuse” because there are several
interpretations of what this could represent.
Several guns were found at the shooting, one an assault rifle that
police said was used in the killings.
One described the weapon as an AR-15, also used by Adam Lanza in Newtown
and James Holmes in Aurora.
Here we go again. How many more mass killings will it take to
convince a Congress and the general public that strict gun control is needed
now? A majority of Americans support
most gun measures but are skeptical on some.
It’s 51% vs. 45% for more gun control over protecting gun rights. It’s 52% to 35% for favoring some forms of
gun control in a Pew Research poll. But the
country as a whole is still divided at about 50-50 on gun control, according to
CNN Senior Political Analyst and National
Journal Group's Editorial Director Ron Brownstein. Naturally, Democrats are in favor of,
Republicans against.
In more support figures, 85% to 90% want background checks for everyone, even private sales at gun shows. 80% want more laws to stop the mentally ill from getting a gun and an overall majority wants the feds to create a database to track gun sales, a ban on assault style weapons, high capacity magazine clips and online ammunition sales. But there is a significant difference between Democrats and Republicans. As an example, on banning semi-automatic weapons, two-thirds of women support the ban; the men are divided.
With 44% of the public having an unfavorable view of the
National Rifle Assn. (NRA), only 36% favorable, you would think that this would
give Congress yet another reason to vote for more gun control. But there is an obvious reason why they do
not. Two reasons actually, both based on
money. First, the money that will be
used against them for voting for gun control.
Second, the contributions they will lose to their next political
campaign. This is in itself a glaring
example of why we should have term limits.
Another 38% say the NRA has “too much influence.” That is the understatement of the century.
The Huff Post laments that
the day before president Obama laid out his plans for gun control:
- A student with mental illness and a violent past shot a downtown St. Louis business official yesterday after he lost his financial aid, before shooting himself, according to authorities.
- A gunman firing into a parked car at a Kentucky Community College killed a man and woman sitting inside and wounded a girl who was with them. Police suspect it was a domestic dispute, although they haven't made an arrest.
- A dramatic increase in gun violence in Baltimore so far this year continued with three shootings, including the killing of a 17-year-old girl in an alley. No one was arrested.
A typical day includes 30 gun-related murders and 162 wounded by firearms in this country. Another 53 commit suicide with a firearm every day. That breaks down to three people killed by a gun every hour and around 60 people shot during the same time period. The FBI reports that a violent crime occurs every 25.3 seconds. And I’ve reported these figures before, there were 11,422 homicides and 19,392 suicides in 2010 using guns, according to the CDC, and guns were also used either intentionally or accidentally to wound 59,208 people in 2011. And we’re supposed to be a civilized country.
There is no excuse for this carnage except an
incompetent Congress and an apathetic public that still refuses to pressure
Washington to do something about these unnecessary and innocent deaths. Until they do, there will be more
Albuquerques, Newtowns, Auroras, Tucsons and ad infinitum. Contact your
congressional representatives: Senate; House of Representatives.
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 |
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.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
2 more surveys…2 more reasons for more strict gun control
As the President receives recommendations today from Vice President Joe Biden on how to curb gun violence by passing new firearms laws, the NRA promises a fight to the finish predicting an assault weapons ban won’t pass. These fruitcakes still don’t understand the difference between their right to own guns and the public’s right to stay alive. In fact, the NRA doesn’t care about the latter and has made that clear over the years blocking all firearms legislation.
All the recent polls point to the fact that Americans want action now in stopping the carnage by guns that has swept the nation. How these facts escape Wayne LaPierre and his gang of gun nuts is beyond me. Maybe they aren’t bright enough to understand the emergency of the situation. Or maybe they just don’t care as indicated earlier. In a recent CNN/ORC poll, it was found that 52% of the U.S. public wants major restrictions on the ownership of firearms.
In a new survey from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, it found that unintentional injuries were quite often caused by guns, and one of the reasons people in America die young more often than in other countries. Further, “The prevalence of firearms in the United States looms large as an explanation for higher death rates from violence, suicidal impulses, and accidental shootings.” The availability of guns is deadly in this country.
Continuing, the survey found the U.S. has the highest rate of firearms ownership among peer countries: 89 civilian-owned firearms for every 100 Americans and the US is home to about 35 to 50 per cent of the world's civilian-owned firearms.” Possession of unlocked firearms in the home is one behavior blamed for the “excessive lethality of the violence.” With 6 violent deaths per 100,000 population, the United States is far above 16 other countries in the study.
But yet another report has been issued that documents states with the most and least gun control. California is best and, who else, Arizona is worst. The Grand Canyon state is also the second deadliest in the U.S. with 15 gun deaths per 100,000 population. As a resident of this state I can tell you that it takes literally nothing more than a warm body to buy a gun, and carry it anywhere in the state you want to, even in bars. Pathetic.
Everyone is waiting for Joe Biden’s recommendations to President Obama that he will deliver today. Many have said that the media will eventually tire of the gun control issue and move on to the economy full time. I don’t think so and bloggers like myself and organizations like the Brady Campaign, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Mayors against Illegal Guns, States United to Prevent Gun Violence and others will all do their part to keep gun control in the forefront.
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