Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

John McCain "cunning promoter of his own self-interest"


John, Cindy McCain
The above is a line from Stephen Lemons in FrontPageConfidential. Lemons also writes for the Phoenix New Times and speaks his mind in a way that the informed among us understand. He said the above about McCain adding that he has, "a knack for playing both sides of an issue to his advantage." Like being for immigration and then being against it. He prevented efforts to repeal Obamacare and then voted for Trump's tax plan for the wealthy. He rails against campaign contributions from special interest groups, yet he rakes in contributions from those same groups. He is tops in money received from the National Rifle Assn. And he has a dark side you can see here in his quote from 1998...
Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly?
Because Janet Reno is her father
Another fact...
"Few know that he left his handicapped first wife for a fetching beer heiress whose father gave him a job and a leg up in politics."
John McCain's been a has-been for years and now for the sake of Arizona and the country, should resign from the Senate and spend his time left in beautiful Sedona enjoying life away from Washington. 

Monday, February 19, 2018

Can these young people force gun control laws?

Emma Gonzalez
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.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Complete gun control has become a MUST!


Nikolas Cruz with Atty
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.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Guns kill innocent young people...PERIOD!


Gun nut night at home with the family
The Center for Injury Research and Prevention reports 4,300 young people ages 10-24 were victims of gun violence in 2014, with accidental firearm deaths among children related to child access to firearms. That same year, 2,549 children (age 0 to 19 years) died by gunshot and an additional 13,576 were injured. A kid in Seattle brought his parent's gun to school in a backpack, dropped it shooting and almost killing another student. Homicide was the third-leading cause of death among youths 10 to 24 years old in 2014. The NRA tries to tell you otherwise but guns do kill...PERIOD!

Factual statistics on gun violence...

Irresponsible gun owner leaves firearm handy for kids...

Guns do kill children...

More facts on gun violence...

Friday, December 11, 2015

Today's NRA Congressional Gun Whore



Toda's NRA Congressional Gun Whore is former Speaker of the House John Boehner, who took at least $4,950 from the National Rifle Assn. in 2014.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

NRA's Congressional Gun Whores



Today's NRA Congressional Gun Whore is Sen. Joni Errnst from Iowa. She received at least $9,900 from the NRA in 2014. Call her: (202) 224-3254

Saturday, December 5, 2015

New York Times berates Congress over inaction on gun laws


The New York Times front page editorial starts with, "All decent people feel sorrow and righteous fury about the latest slaughter of innocents, in California." Although, perhaps, not meant, but possibly implied, this would not apply to the members of Congress who are the cowards of the NRA's controlled minions of gun control opposition. They call these gun whores, "...elected leaders whose job is to keep us safe but who place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms." WOW!

They talk about how civilians in the U.S.can go out and buy weapons of war, assault rifles like those used by the two terrorists in the San Bernardino killings. Sane thinking would tell any intelligent human being there is something very wrong with that except, of course, a gun nut. And the NYT attacks the nucleus of the problem which is the 2nd Amendment, saying, "No right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation." With this in mind, the right-minded people of this country should stand up and demand that the 2nd Amendment either be better defined or abolished altogether.

And it would help if someone ran the NRA's head, Wayne LaPierre, out of town...on a rail.


Friday, December 4, 2015

New York Daily News blasts NRA


The gutsy NY Daily news, a conservative newspaper, has taken up the charge against the NRA and its irresponsible blocking of any kind of gun legislation. If we had more newspapers like this throughout the U.S. we might have prevented some of the 309 mass shootings so far in just 2015. One of the reactions from the NYDN earlier front page, “God Isn’t Fixing This,” was from the Fox News anchor idiot Elizabeth Hasselbeck who said,  "if you think prayer is less effective than gun control laws 'you’re lining up with the terrorists.'” It is this kind of garbage spewed from the Faux News Network that helps urge these fanatical terrorists on.

Here's another example of the New York News support of gun control with their past front page spreads:



Thursday, December 3, 2015

NRA makes U.S. World leader in mass shootings



The United States represents only 5% of the global population but accounts for 31% of all mass shootings. With more mass shootings than days in the calendar to date, we will end 2015 admitting to the rest of the world that its supposedly most civilized country is actually run by a bunch of thugs who are gun nuts.

NRA condones terrorists buying guns


Republicans, commandeered by the NRA, are blocking a bill (The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2015) that would prevent "known and suspected" terrorists from buying weapons. Can you believe that? Think about the fact that were the GOP/NRA not against responsible gun legislation, the San Bernardino killing might not have happened. Get this:
"The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office recently released a report showing that from 2004 to 2014, people on terrorism watch lists successfully purchased guns no fewer than 2,043 times."
Even more: "There are 700,000 people on the terrorist watch list, and when these people tried to legally purchase guns, they had a success rate of 91%."

The NRA's creed remains...the right to guns is more important than human life.


NY Daily News hits the target





Pathetic Republican Presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul, plus new House Speaker Paul Ryan, rush to God for help when they should be shutting down the NRA for shootings like San Bernardino, CA and Savannah, GA.

Another mass shooting on Wednesday



Wayne LaPierre 



Well, the NRA was certainly busy yesterday as the patron to another mass shooting, this time in Savannah, Georgia. The gunman shot four people, killing one. The first one was in San Bernardino, California where at least 14 were killed and 17 injured.

ISIS changes American strategy




ISIS no longer plans attacks on the United States. The NRA gun crazies are doing their job for them. The latest from San Bernardino.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

AN ANGRY GUN NUT COULD LIVE NEXT DOOR TO YOU



There are around 300 million guns in the U.S. That's 90 per 100 residents, which comes out to 2.4 per household. You'd think we were preparing for a war. What is even more shocking is that 4.8 million of those households, approximately 5%, have someone living in them who is pissed off at the world and they have a gun or guns. They aren't all gun nuts and you can read the definition of this bonehead here. When you boil it down to figures like this it makes the statement, 'There are too many guns in America' believable. Even wacky Wayne LaPierre should be able to understand hard facts like this. But he doesn't. This weekend, WW will be in Nashville at the NRA convention telling all his gun nut minions that no matter what, they have to run out now and buy more guns.

Friday, March 27, 2015

NRA USES HIGHER LEARNING TO SELL DEATH




If the NRA and its wacky leader, Wayne LaPierre, have anything to do with it, your kids will be packing heat in the college of their choice. The NRA is currently shoving legislation through in 16 states for this purpose, allowing guns to be carried on campuses. All this while college presidents, students and police chiefs oppose such legislation.

Monday, June 23, 2014

NRA BEGETS CLIVEN BUNDY BEGETS JARED AND AMANDA MILLER BEGETS MORE VIOLENCE

Salon has made it perfectly clear how the U.S. Government mucked up the Cliven Bundy standoff by sticking their tails between their legs and simply retreating like cowards. Rick Perlstein said, "What should be judged a watershed in American history instead became a story about one man’s racist rants." He goes on to talk about how Bundy inspired Jared and Amanda Miller's killings in Nevada and then two more shootings in California. Perlstein concludes, as do most gun control advocates, that gun deaths have become a lifestyle in America, tragically, an accepted one. Apathy over the loss of your favorite college football team is one thing. Apathy over your neighbor's child's death from a gunshot wound is something else entirely.

Monday, June 2, 2014

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!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Why we should really worry about some gun owners


 
Gun fanatic James Yeager
For the most part, the gun-owning-public is a safe bunch using and maintaining their guns properly and are a credit to this lifestyle.  However, in my mind at least, this does not include the cowboys with concealed carry permits that take their firearms out on the street to protect the citizenry of this country.  I don’t care if it is legal—it shouldn’t be—probably none of this group is fully trained as in law enforcement and some have no training at all.  Like in Arizona where all it takes to buy a gun is a warm body.  And there are several other states nationwide that do not require training to purchase a gun.
 
So that’s my soapbox on the concealed carry permit for the day, but there’s more to this story.  It is my way of illustrating the need for more control in the purchasing of firearms, particularly in the training the new gun owner should undergo.  In addition, a written and hands-on test should be given at the end and if the person doesn’t pass, he or she loses their gun until they do.  This should be retroactive to include all current gun owners, an unfortunate demand on states, but certainly worth the effort.  Gun owners will scream but it is the only way to insure responsible gun ownership.
 
And this need becomes so evident on a daily basis through the bizarre things that take place in relation to people and firearms. 
 
As an example, a mother in New York added some interesting items to her 7-year-old kid’s lunch in his backpack.  Along with a peanut butter sandwich, she placed a flare gun, a 22-caliber pistol, a loaded magazine, and 14 extra bullets, just in case.  The mother, Deborah Farley, said she had been out walking the streets of Queens earlier in the week when she had placed the guns in her son’s backpack, forgetting to take them out.  She was arrested for child endangerment and criminal possession of an unregistered firearm.  Police also found marijuana in her home.  So where did she get the gun?
 
And then those who are so eager to protect all of us by packing heat on the streets, can’t even participate in a rally for the support of gun rights without accidentally injuring themselves and others around them with their firearms.  
 
In Raleigh, NC, at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show, Gary Lynn Wilson had brought his 12-gauge shotgun to the event to sell to a private buyer; it discharged when being inspected at the entrance to the show.  Three people were injured.  The show shut down early.
 
Emory L. Cozee was loading his 45-caliber semi-automatic when he shot himself in the hand at the Indy 500 Gun and Knife Show.  What is interesting is that loaded personal weapons aren’t allowed inside the show.
 
Then in Ohio, a gun dealer was checking a semi-automatic handgun he had purchased when he accidentally pulled the trigger injuring his friend when the bullet ricocheted off the floor hitting him in the arm and the leg.
 
Now, I am certainly no expert on firearms but common sense does ring through loudly in all the above cases.  Shouldn’t Wilson have emptied the shotgun of all ammunition before even packing it up to bring to the show?  Shouldn’t Cozee have known loaded weapons were not allowed in the show and removed the rounds from his 45?  And shouldn’t the Ohio gun dealer have had the proper firearms training and known to be more careful in the handling of his weapon in public?  This is exactly why I worry about these gunslingers walking the streets with guns many have no idea how to use.
 
And then the ultimate example.  James Yeager, a wacko from Tennessee who is the CEO of Tactical Response, a firearms and tactical training company, said he would start killing people if further gun control policies are passed.  It was in a video posted on You Tube and Facebook, later revised to take out the killing part.  The Tenn. Dept. of Safety has now suspended Yeager’s handgun carry permit.  He was called irresponsible, dangerous, and deserving immediate attention by the Dept. Commissioner.  If ever there was a case of a disturbed individual with a firearm, Mr. Yeager fits the bill.
 
But all of the above no doubt continue to walk around with their weapons, except for Yeager, who probably still maintains an arsenal at his business and home.  Equally as wacky as Yeager, the head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), Wayne LaPierre, has instilled the kind of absolutist mentality in some gun owners, the gun nuts, that produces the fanatical reactions to any kind of gun control as evidenced by Yeager.  Another fanatic that comes to mind is Larry Pratt, exec. Dir. Of Gun Owners of America, a group known to be even more radical on gun rights than the NRA. 
 
The time for gun control has definitely arrived.
 

Monday, March 26, 2012

How corrupt is your state?

The Center for Public Integrity has just completed its State Integrity Investigation and on the surface there is no state that stands out in the ratings.  Except maybe New Jersey, in part because of its improvement over past history of corruption in government.  NJ is number one, Georgia is last.  The investigation is the first of its kind to assess transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states.  Not one state earned an “A” rating and eight received an “F.”

The Center for Public Integrity says: "In every state, there's room to improve the ethics laws, the level of transparency on government proceedings, the disclosure of information, and — most importantly — the oversight of these laws.”  One of the major findings was that even when ethics laws are passed, they are tough to enforce and often don’t carry meaningful charges. 

Those states with histories of corruption often have the toughest laws that expose the scandals.  On the other hand, with fewer regulations in place, a state is likely not to identify these problems.  The research included 330 corruption risk indicators across 14 government categories including:

Access to information, campaign finance, executive accountability, legislative accountability, judicial accountability, budgeting, civil service management, procurement, internal auditing, lobbying disclosure, pension fund management, ethics enforcement, insurance commissions, and redistricting.


Georgia state flag

The five states with a “B” rating were New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, California and Florida in that order.  In the “Cs,” this group totaled nineteen with Mississippi first and Wisconsin last.  The “Ds” went to another 18 states, Minnesota first, Nevada last.  Eight getting an “F” rating with Michigan first and Georgia last.  Check your state here, which includes the actual score it received.   
SII singled out some states for blatant violations that justified mentioning: Tennessee
established its ethics commission six years ago, but has yet to issue a single ethics penalty.  Can’t know if it’s even working since complaints are kept secret; North Carolina legislator sponsored and voted on a bill to loosen regulations on billboard construction, even though he co-owned five billboards in the state; 650 Georgia govt. employees accepted illegal gifts from vendors.

As far as the measurements used by the Integrity Index, several methods are employed, one recently naming Chicago as the most corrupt city in the U.S. and New York as the most corrupt state.  And these are February numbers released by the University of IllinoisInstitute of Government and Public Affairs, based on public corruption conviction data from the Department of Justice.  Although New Jersey beat its bad rap, the windy City can’t seem to shake it off.

The State Integrity Index researched the 330 “Integrity Indicators” across 14 categories of state government covered above.  “Indicators assess what laws, if any, are on the books (‘in law’ indicator) and whether the laws are effective in practice (‘in practice’ indicators). In many states, the disconnect between scores on a state’s law and scores in practice suggest a serious “enforcement gap.”  The laws may be there but just aren’t followed.

Arizona state flag
A classic case that received nationwide attention was when Arizona’s legislators admitted to violating the state’s financial disclosure policy after failing to report trips paid for by the Fiesta Bowl. Neither the Senate nor the House Ethics committee followed with an investigation.  One of the major offenders was State Senator Russell Pearce, who was later recalled in an election that was the first of its kind in the U.S.  He is running again for the state Senate.



Video of Fiesta Bowl scandal

The Center for Public Integrity’s State Integrity Investigation looks at one side of the corruption issue that evaluates your state’s standing in passing and enforcing laws that apply to how the state operates.  However, there is a sinister movement going on across the country today sponsored by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that could literally destroy states citizens’ rights.  More on this and ALEC’s connection to the NRA later.


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Crime down across U.S. but not because of more guns on the street

Except for the killing of police officers, crime is dropping in all other major categories, a trend that has now lasted four-and-one-half years.  Of course the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) would like to have you think it is due to the recent proliferation of guns on the street, which they are responsible for.  Not so.  According to the WSJ/Online, “Police officials and some criminologists attribute the persistent crime drop to more-sophisticated policing methods, such as targeting hot spots with extra officers.”

CNN reported nearly 500,000 criminal background checks during the last week before Christmas 2011.  The NRA told CNN that this is due to scared citizens afraid that cuts in police coverage will result in less protection.  This is the same kind of bullshit this organization of crackpots has been spreading for years.  It sounds like someone is equipping an army, and some of those guns will end up in irresponsible households like the one recently in Mesa, Arizona where a 7-year-old kid took a gun to school. 

"You keep any special interest group alive by nurturing the crisis atmosphere," is the statement of former NRA chief Ray Arnet.  And it is something they have done well for years working their membership of yahoos into a frenzy over any issue even slightly related to gun control.  The best recent example was when Barack Obama was elected President, the NRA told its members he would take away all their guns.  Thousands went out and bought more.


The $1 million Wayne LaPierre

Any intelligent individual can see this lobbying effort is designed for two reasons.  One, to encourage more gun sales for their high contributing gun manufacturers, and two, to support the NRA’s annual budget of over $200 million.  A pathetic membership provides people like its Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre “lavish benefits,” as the Democratic Underground puts it, with $1,000,000 in yearly salary and benefits.

The Christian Science Monitor lists six key reasons crime is down and not one of them mentions having more guns on the street.  They are:

1.    More incarceration of criminals meaning fewer are on the street.
2.    Better policing through being more proactive through surveillance.
3.    Social programs working with community groups to keep youths engaged.
4.    Simple demographics of a smaller population of the young people who commit more crime.
5.    Unemployment benefits through more government support that reduces stress-related crimes.
6.    Fewer opportunities with unemployment high and more people at home to protect their property.



But there is still the tragedy of more officers dying and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says 2011 could be the first year in ten years that more officers have died from gunshot wounds than from traffic accidents.  I say that is due entirely to loose gun laws and the fact that guns are everywhere in this country.  And in Arizona, hardly a day goes by that someone is not shot and in many cases killed.  This state has the loosest weapons laws in the nation.

The NRA will never change its methods or philosophy on gun rights, and advocates like myself will never change when it comes to our viewpoint on sane gun control.  Should the 2012 elections provide some relief from the oppression of the conservative right, in particular the Tea Party, and we see changes to a more progressive Supreme Court, it will be time to challenge the 2nd Amendment to define just what the specificity is of the term, “right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

Visit the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence here.

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