You may ask what does it matter that some celebrity comes out against the massive gun violence in the United States. Well, the answer is that it simply reemphasizes the significance of the issue, since the person has nothing to gain but the satisfaction of having spoken out against something that is killing this country's innocent people. Madonna did it in her new video that is available free, and something everyone should look at.
Madonna
It is graphic! Madonna is actually shot dead in the course of a mass shooting that appears to be taking place in a dance hall where it seems that everyone has been killed by an assault rifle. Madonna has a message: "We need to wake up," with the name of her video "God Control." No matter what you might think of her as a person and as a performer, she should be enshrined for putting her career on line with such a controversial issue. Just watch the video and you'll see...
Suicides are up in the United States and over one-half of the victims use a gun to kill themselves. These data in themselves corroborate the current epidemic of gun violence in this country, but there is more. Right here where I live in Arizona, where all it takes to own a gun is a warm body, Phoenix police fired at more people than law-enforcement officers did in any other city in the United States. Every five days an Arizona cop shoots someone. Police forces throughout the country have been put in a critical position and my theory is that with so many guns on the street 393 million guns in civilian hands), especially in the state of Arizona, cops simply do not know who might have a weapon. They proceed cautiously but the minute there is a suspicious move, there is a reaction, perhaps in some cases over-reaction. But who do we thank for those 393 million guns on the street, the National rifle Assn. (NRA) There are 40,000 people in the U.S. killed by guns each year, so the NRA's head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre should be proud of himself for fulfilling his promise to gun manufacturers that he will promote the sale of all types of guns until every household in the country has at least one. Currently, some have an arsenal. But wait, America's biggest sellers of guns and ammo are suffering from a lack of "fear-based buying," and that is because of Donald Trump's tenure in office.
The gun nuts think they are safe from any major gun control--even reasonable ones--as long as Republicans control the Senate and White house. And they are right. So, let's say we elect a Democrat for president, and take control of the Senate while maintaining a lead in the house, just how much will that figure of 393 million guns nationwide zoom to. Unless, the Democrats get off their butts and pass the gun regulation that is needed.
Here's a laugh, Trump fighting for gun rights...
So, thanks to Donald Trump the NRA has been exposed as one of the largest con-games in the country in its efforts to convince its membership it is working for them, while their focus is really on helping gun manufacturers sell more guns. And further, attempting to convince the American public that more guns in the hands of the civilian population will make America safer. Not so. Yes, the Trump effect has actually backfired and gun companies are going out of business.
The NRA is experiencing problems today, the like of which they have not had to face for years with banks cutting off their cooperation and companies no longer participating in their programs. Wayne LaPierre is accused of over-spending on expenses, like $51,000 on personal clothes in Beverley Hills. LaPierre just ousted his number two man, Chris Cox, for his attempts to expose his boss. There are numerous problems that just may be insurmountable this time.
One can only hope that the demise of the National Rifle Assn. comes quickly to prevent too many more days of 100 shot dead with a firearm and hundreds more wounded.
You can't get much further west than Manhattan Beach. Calif., one of the state's premiere beach communities that attracts the moneyed young. Gunfire started in the Manhattan Gateway shopping center with one police officer down almost immediately. Several cops then opened fire on the suspect. No information yet on the injured officer. A bike rider commented...
“This is just a trip,” said Hawthorne resident Chavita
Medrano, who was out for a bike ride. “You hear about all these things horrible
happening in the world, but you don’t expect it right in your backyard.”
Precisely. We expected this sort of action in the old days of Tombstone, but not in an upscale community of Los Angeles. It started with a guy chasing a woman through the lobby of a hotel and then he took off running into a shopping center. The cop shot was hit in the leg and taken to a hospital. The suspect was eventually captured and a female, also chased by cops, was apparently OK, but her relationship to the suspect was unknown.
Sounds like a great day for a walk around the beach and then all hell breaks loose and there is a shooter on the loose. There are 393 million guns owned by Americans. There are 857 million firearms owned worldwide, meaning the U.S. gun nuts are in possession of almost 46% of total guns owned in the world. And one of these characters just happened to be in Manhattan Beach, Calif. on Sunday, deciding to shoot up the community.
Police announced "the gunman was armed with 'some sort of assault rifle or a TEC-9-type high-powered or high-capacity weapon.'" Assault rifles seem to be the weapon of choice when a deranged individual decides to go out and kill a few people. In this case the police officer should be fine, but the next time the guy could take out 10, 15, up to 20 or more victims in yet another mass killing.
And ladies and gentlemen, all thanks to Wayne LaPierre and his misguided National Rifle Assn. (NRA).
It took a while but another large company, FedEx, tells the NRA to take a walk. But think about this whole idea; by offering people discounts from an organization that promotes gun violence, often where children are the victims, it's almost like they were sponsoring the bloodshed.
Probably most of us have not thought enough about international gun control when the situation is so bad in this country, far surpassing those of other industrialized nations like the U.S. As an example, this country had 3.85 gun deaths per 100,000 population in 2016 compared to Japan .04, China .06, United Kingdom .07, and Germany .12. There's more but you get the idea. The international conference was about eliminating the trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, but has several other aspects to its agenda...
Exert greater control over ammunition
Support women’s participation in small arms control
Crack down on illicit trade in small arms and ammunition
Strengthen legislation to disarm domestic violence abusers
They also want to address things like guns in the home, a problem very prevalent in the U.S. since 1.7 million children live with unlocked, loaded guns in this country. Did you know that 91% of all children who die from firearms in high-income countries across the world come from the United States. So, the high level of gun violence and the need to fix it is not debatable. And since the Mary Stoneman massacre, the right button seems to have been pushed, and the gun control movement has gained a momentum that just may be both deep-rooted and enduring.
I know immigration reform is an issue that must be addressed, but currently more lives are at stake in the matter of getting guns off the street. Especially since much of the targeting has been children in respect to mass shootings. I was more than a little surprised to see a recent poll by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Business and Economics Polling name immigration as the number one issue this fall. Now this is Florida voters in the state where the most recent gun violence massacre occurred, Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You have to wonder if this is because Florida has such loose gun laws with the NRA's leading lobbyist, Marion Hammer, in residence, or is this predicting the familiar trend after major gun violence...back to public apathy.
There is a new list out of those companies that are refusing to drop their support for the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), following their continued promotion of more guns on the street after the school slaughter in Parkland, Fla., that you can see here. A prominent one is Amazon, a company that has reported record profits recently and can afford to dump this group of child killers. I wouldn't think Amazon head, Jeff Bezos, would want anything to do with scumbags like this. If he does, he does not deserve our business. Sign the petition here.
Maybe we should set aside one week to boycott Amazon and the other companies listed above, if they continue to refuse to drop the NRA. That's next.
Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin and Speaker of the House, has received a total of $171,977 since 1990 from the National Rifle Assn. to vote against any legislation for gun control. What he voted against were laws that could have saved the lives of 17 students and teachers.
John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, has received a total of $7.74 million from the National Rifle Assn. to vote against any legislation for gun control. What he voted against were laws that could have saved the lives of 17 students and teachers.
It seemed to be common knowledge that Nikolas Cruz was troubled to the point that he both needed mental therapy and at the very least ongoing close observation. He had been in trouble repeatedly at school and was known to torment animals and he regularly posted online about his quirky behavior. He came to the Snead household, where he lived when committing his atrocities, with a semi-arsenal of weapons including the AR-15 and two other rifles that James Snead said would be considered assault rifles, as well as knives, BB guns and pellet guns.
But this didn't impress Snead because...
"James, 48, a decorated Army veteran and military intelligence analyst who served in the Middle East, said he didn’t mind that Cruz had guns because he had plenty of weapons himself."
Supposedly Snead made Cruz lock up his weapons and took the key, not knowing the boy had kept a key for himself. Duh?
“Everything everybody seems to know, we didn’t know,” James Snead said. “It’s as simple as that.”
No, it isn't that simple since you, the Sneads, accepted the responsibility of this young man, knew he was obsessed with guns, and should have known more about his day-to-day activities. Not that it's a for-sure, but if this family had paid just a little more attention to what Nikolas Cruz was saying and doing, 17 people might still be alive today.
If I am correct in the above, and I believe I am, it illustrates a complete lack of responsibility by a gun owner and we have seen this kind of example before. Most notably with Adam Lanza, who killed 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook in 2012 with his mother's AR-15. Nancy Lanza also ignored warnings about her son's mental problems and left the assault rifle unsecured. This is happening too often and banning all guns may be the only solution.
Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School does. That's the school in Parkland, Fla, where Nikolas Cruz fatally gunned down 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 he bought in Florida at age 18. The young people including Gonzalez and organizer junior Cameron Kasky announced they have banded together to compel lawmakers to pass gun control laws that will make their schools safer. They have planned "...a nationwide march on March 24th, dubbed the 'March For Our Lives.'" If I were politicians, or anybody, I wouldn't get in their way.
Esquire reported in Ft. Lauderdale Emma Gonzalez exclaimed to a cheering crowd, “...'shame on you' directed towards all politicians who take NRA money." They are serious and have made several exclamations that they hope to make this the "last" school massacre. You can see the full transcript of Gonzalez's Ft. Lauderdale speech on CNN. The older groups failed to get anything done, no doubt because many of them own guns and are members of the NRA. The younger group, 30s to 40s, have some advocates for gun control but apparently not willing to fully get behind the program.
But when it happens in your school, and you are a community like Parkland, Fla, you do something, and that's what is happening. Maybe it takes a group of late teens like these students who are not yet a part of the American gun culture that has literally ruined this country since the resurrection of the 2nd Amendment, and they simply don't give a damn about guns. I don't either, never have, and hope like hell they succeed.
Michael Tomasky of The Daily Best says it is because of its, "..."certifiably insane gun laws." All of them, of course, compliments of the National Rifle Assn. with its premiere gun lobbyist, Marion Hammer. Right now, Florida has 11 gun-related bills on the 2018 calendar. The ones that are pro-gun rights will pass. State Senator Greg Steube, R-Sarasota has filed five bills to make it easier to buy a gun. Can you believe that? Right now all you have to provide in Florida to purchase a weapon is a warm body. What could possibly make it easier.
These people are certifiably crazy, the epitome of gun nuts, and the ones behind the gun massacre in Parkland where 17 people were killed by an AR-15 assault rifle. They are totally responsible, along with lax restrictions on the mentally ill buying a gun, thanks to Donald Trump. Here's a quote from The Daily Beast...
"The gun laws of Florida are sick. Carry in vehicle? Yes. Must notify officer? No. Carry in state parks allowed? Of course. “No weapons” signs enforced? Nyet. Nearly 1.8 million Floridians have concealed carry permits, and 36 other states honor those permits."
This is the biggest problem in the U.S. today and if not dealt with soon, we could see schools close because the children's parents are afraid to let them attend. It's a threat worse than terrorism.
The Parkland, Florida gun massacre did it. An 18-year-old buys an AR-15 assault rifle after numerous warnings there were mental problems, he was violent and wanted to kill people, even two attempts to warn the FBI about Nikolas Cruz fell on dumb ears. Cruz kills 17 students and teachers in a quiet Florida town and not one member of Congress stands up to say...'We've had enough.' It has to end somewhere and the time is now!
And I just saw some dufus post on Facebook that we shouldn't blame guns nor the NRA, it's just a mental health problem. So, we also have the general public to thank for our gun violence. So, where do we turn? Someone please tell me before half the country is massacred.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about
guns killing the innocent, but 5 people were killed and one wounded by guns early this morning at a western Pennsylvania car wash.
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but yesterday, November 7, 13 people were killed by gun violence, 38 injured.
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but 27 people were gunned down in a Texas church and 30 were injured.
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but already today, Sunday, there have been two gun homicides with three injured.
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but the rate of gun deaths went up in 2016 for the second straight year, suggesting we might have a problem???
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but 1 person was killed and 2 injured, one a 12-year-ole child at a downtown Chicago Starbucks. Another man was wounded in an earlier shooting.
I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but three people were killed at a Walmart store in Thornton, Colorado, which is north of Denver.
You may ask what does it matter that some celebrity comes out against the massive gun violence in the United States. Well, the answer is that it simply reemphasizes the significance of the issue, since the person has nothing to gain but the satisfaction of having spoken out against something that is killing this country's innocent people. Madonna did it in her new video that is available free, and something everyone should look at.
There are 40,000 people in the U.S. killed by guns each year, so the NRA's head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre should be proud of himself for fulfilling his promise to gun manufacturers that he will promote the sale of all types of guns until every household in the country has at least one. Currently, some have an arsenal. But wait, America's biggest sellers of guns and ammo are suffering from a lack of "fear-based buying," and that is because of Donald Trump's tenure in office.
You can't get much further west than Manhattan Beach. Calif., one of the state's premiere beach communities that attracts the moneyed young. Gunfire started in the Manhattan Gateway shopping center with one police officer down almost immediately. Several cops then opened fire on the suspect. No information yet on the injured officer. A bike rider commented...
