Showing posts with label Seung Hui Cho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seung Hui Cho. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2012

The real American terrorist and the war over guns

There are two distinct issues here.  The new American terrorists are the James Holmes, the Jared Loughners, the Seung-Hui Chos and the other gun massacre artists that came before them and those who will follow.  Yes, many will continue the trend because they are given the means so readily to accomplish their goals.  Any kind of mass killing device their heart desires, compliments of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its leader, Wayne LaPierre.

And the war over guns will continue, not just on the street, but also at the White House, the U.S. Congress, and in the minds and hearts of the American people.  It is a battle that has been going on since the late 1970s when wacky Wayne took over the NRA and made a fight for the 2nd Amendment his platform to power and riches for himself and his organization.  He has amassed a claimed 4.3 million membership that has in the past literally licked the man’s boots.

In this war the American public is losing, as is the case in Aurora, Colorado most recently.


James Holmes the terrorist that no one knew

Bill Schneider writing for Politico says in his glaring headline, “NRA is real winner on gun laws,” continuing, “Nothing will happen. That seems to be the consensus among policy experts after the senseless tragedy in Aurora, Colo., last week.”  That line of thought pretty much follows the overall atmosphere of two presidential contenders and the chicken-hearted Congress we have been left with.  But I do see an inkling of hope, which I will cover in a later post.

The author says Americans have lost confidence in gun control measures. In 1959, a Gallup poll said 60 percent wanted it; in 2011 26 percent were in favor.  And in the fight to re-ban assault weapons, just last year a majority in the U.S. said no.  What we don’t hear from these polls is “why” these respondents reply as they do.  I am no expert in polling but my gut tells me all the NRA propaganda has thoroughly confused the American public, in their favor.

Schneider believes the opposition to gun control is due to the fact that people see no evidence that it works.  And why is that?  Because there are no valid statistics available to prove that regulations on firearms do work.  And why is that?  Because the NRA and its leadership have made sure that a minimum of records are kept on guns in this country simply to cover up their lies and brazen and flawed doctrine on gun rights.  All thanks to a cowardly Congress.

John Horgan in Scientific American wonders "How many massacres will it take for politicians to stand up to gun nuts?"  He uses the term “gun nut,” which I also use frequently, to describe the kind of person that loves his or her guns more than they do life.  He describes Obama, the Illinois Senator in favor of some gun control, to the presidential candidate who came out strong for defending the 2nd Amendment.  A fact that has soured many progressives.

 
Easily available weapon of choice 

The Brady Center reports a total of 100,000 Americans are wounded by firearms each year in the U.S.  Of those, 31,347 are deaths according to the CDC, and Brady adds that more than a million Americans have been shot to death since 1968.  The gun nuts cry that self defense makes a gun necessary; the fact is that “a gun is 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide attempt; criminal assault or homicide; or unintentional shooting death or injury than for self-defense.”

Come on America.  What makes you people believe such garbage that spews from wacky Wayne LaPierre and his minions?  Don’t you have a mind of your own?  Anyone who cannot sit down and quickly analyze a situation like the Aurora move theatre killing which took 12 lives and injured another 58, and not come up with the conclusion that assault weapons should be banned, has a real problem with logic.  This isn’t rocket science, folks, it’s common sense.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

More…gun sense and nonsense

TSA gun inspection
Here’s the latest.  The gun freaks now want to be able to extend their concealed right-to-carry privileges to airplanes.  J.D. Schechter from, where else but gun-totin’ Arizona, who runs the Arizona Citizens Defense League, says some of his readers think, because of the relaxing of guns laws in many states, this could become a reality. 

Just what we need.  Some yahoo from Arizona where anyone can own a gun and who probably has absolutely no training in firearms, to protect us on an airplane.  I’ll take the train.  Some lame brain gun owners still continue to end up at the airport daily with guns packed in carry-ons that they claim they forgot were there.  In the week before Christmas, the T.S.A. discovered 31 guns with rounds actually in the chamber.  National Rifle Assn. (NRA) education at its best.



And what happened to the uproar over improved gun control following the shooting of U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords.  The one year anniversary was last Sunday and immediately following the incident a year ago President Obama sounded as if he might be willing to move forward on the issue.  We also have heard nothing from Giffords herself. 

Jared Loughner
Jared Loughner, the shooter in the Tucson massacre has been judged mentally ill by many and at least we should be addressing that part of the problem.  But over one year later only a small number of states pass along records of those judged to be mentally ill.  Loughner killed six in Tucson, and another mentally unbalanced gunman Seung Hui Cho killed 32 at Virginia Tech U. in 2007.  Why doesn’t the NRA, which supports reporting, lobby for more state participation?

But there is definitely a wave in this country toward looser weapons laws, and gun control advocates like me are fast becoming the minority.  It makes sense that the more guns that are available, the more likely they are to get in the hands of the Loughners and Chos.  Having a gun in the home as a means of protection for an emergency is one thing, but some rube walking around on the streets with a gun in his pocket with no training or background check is preposterous.

If you think these relaxed gun laws is what has reduced violence across the U.S., think again.  Although it isn’t completely clear, the experts say it is due in part to higher rates of incarceration, and a decrease in the number of teenagers who commit a disproportionate share of offenses.  In New York City, as an example, their gun laws have not changed and there are still problems such as oppressive poverty, but murders have declined to 1950’s levels.


Old West cowboy

No matter how you view the loose weapons issue, Arizona is the leader in making guns available to anyone who wants them.  During a very somber period this past Sunday when a vigil was being held in Tucson for those killed in the Arizona shooting, the Tucson Gun Show decided to hold its annual event at the Pima County Fairgrounds.  This can only be described as tasteless beyond reasoning, devised by a bunch of double-digit IQs that have absolutely no feelings for the six dead.  Next, same state, the Republican legislature has renewed its push for legalizing guns on campus.

If there is anything I learn from all this show of masculinity it is that these gun wackos have to pack heat to feel like a man.  It’s an attempt to revive the days of Wyatt Earp when every cowboy carried a gun.  The big difference is in those days they knew how to use them.

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