Florida congressional votes on gun legislation prior to massacre

Nikolas Cruz walked into the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, February 14, and massacred 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 assault rifle. For the record, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, who has received $3.3 million from the National Rifle Assn. has voted across the board to loosen gun restrictions on mental health, the Feinstein Terror gap, background checks, gun shows and online background checks, and concealed carry reciprocity. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, who regularly gets an "F" from the NRA, voted to add restrictions in all cases.

The Florida Representatives were no different. Out of 27 House members, 14 voted in the same manner as Rubio, all Republicans. The other 13 Democrats voted with Nelson. If you analyze the voting, tighter background checks and more stringent mental health laws could have prevented this tragedy. So, we can pay our thanks to the NRA for its assist in the killing of these students and teachers. And by the way, it is a very quiet and unresponsive NRA following this bloodbath that has nothing to say about the killings but will continue promoting more guns on the street.

If ever there was an organization that has gotten completely out of control, it is the Nation Rifle Assn. led by Wayne LaPierre. When you're dealing with a greedy Congress that will do anything for the contributions necessary to get reelected, you are simply dealing with a bunch of idiots. The latter is prevalent in everything this gang of deadbeats does, or rather, doesn't do. I am not as sure election reform is the answer; the NRA would just find another way to scare hell out of these nincompoops. We can only hope now that the Parkland young people will achieve their goals.

Thank NRA's Marion Hammer for Parkland, Fla gun massacre

NRA's Marion Hammer

As late as January of this year, Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Assn.'s elite Florida lobbyist, was railing at the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times, "...

"...warning the sheriffs of Florida that they had no right to testify about pending firearm legislation. Not when their words conflicted with the positions of the National Rifle Association."

Can you believe this? And in the nation's bloodiest mass-shooting state where "...29-year-old Omar Mateen murdered 49 and wounded another 53 in a gun rampage at an Orlando nightclub." Followed by the encore last Wednesday at Parkland, Fla, where Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 assault rifle he bought at age 18. All of this compliments of Marion Hammer making sure that Florida's gun laws allow anyone with a warm body to buy a gun. The woman has also spread her lunacy around the country promoting the NRA's gun rights.


Yet not one word from Hammer or the NRA's Wayne LaPierre on the Florida deaths. How long do we allow the NRA's killing machine this kind of power?

How the hell do we keep explaining these gun deaths

There is no way. But at the same time, we still do nothing about it. In January of 2017, Trump made a series of stupid comments on guns and the 2nd Amendment, sounding almost as dumb as the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, about the sanctity of the 2nd, and bullshit like, "...the right to keep and bear arms is a right that pre-exists both the government and the Constitution, noting that government didn’t create the right, nor can it take it away." If he is implying that guns were around before the U.S. was a country, and before there was a Constitution, of course they were. They were used in a war.

But it was the Founding Fathers that felt the need for a 2nd Amendment at a time they still required protection from the British and there was basically no real police force to enforce the laws. People needed to protect themselves and having weapons in the home made sense. It doesn't now. We have a federal armed forces and law enforcement on the local, county and state levels. Sure, people are killed with guns on the street but that is because there are so many guns on the street. Get rid of all the guns and you get rid of the problem. But we know that will never happen. Is there an answer?

Here's an excerpt from a post I did about what the Founding Fathers really meant...

"It occurred to me recently that enough hasn't been said recently about the intentions of the Founding Fathers in the Constitution for the rights and restrictions of gun owners. With individual and mass killings by guns a regular daily occurrence, and the fact that even in light of the horrific number of deaths, including many children, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) headed up by Wayne LaPierre, still maintain that the right to have a gun is more important than human life. LaPierre bases that right on the 2nd Amendment, given to us by the Founding Fathers. He claims it is inviolable."

And more on the same subject...

"Here's an incident of the typical thinking of a gun nut: In a tirade against CNN’s Piers Morgan, Alex Jones argued, 'The Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting. It’s there to protect us from tyrannical government.' Like this government could ever come together long enough to start anything, much less tyranny. It's a laughable argument and there's much in history to disprove the gun nuts. Truth-Out.org also reports first-hand documents from 1789 detail the First Congress' debate on arms and militia detail a constant theme: "the 2nd Amendment was created to protect the American government."

In one of the most egregious acts in the field of journalism, Jan Larson McLaughlin, the Editor of the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune in Ohio, was fired for insubordination by the Publisher, Karmen Concannon. The reason, McLaughlin wrote an article about the NRA that was unfavorable but true, re. James Evans, a geology professor, for his email to State Rep. Tim Brown in which he called the NRA a “terrorist organization." McLaughlin found no problem with that and neither do I. But she was fired and the Publisher refused any comments on the matter. Read the editorial!

I am writing this post as a reaction to the most recent murder of, Karen Smith, a school teacher from San Bernardino, California, by her husband, also killing an eight-year-old student standing behind her. He too was was struck by gunfire. Apparently the eight-year-old that was killed, plus the other student who was shot, were simply innocent bystanders. The NRA and its gun nuts will now scream for arming every teacher in the country; guns are already legal with students in many classrooms nationwide. I can just see it now; OK Corral goes to school.

The NRA part of Trump's Russian debacle

 Dmitry Rogozin

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) in 2014 met with Dmitry Rogozin, one of Vlaimir Putin's top deputies and the head of Russia’s defense industry and longtime opponent of American power. This was eighteen months after he was sanctioned by the U.S. for the invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Rogozin is chairman of the Russian Shooting Federation, and obviously had significant influence on gun relations between the two countries. So why was the NRA, who was Donald Trump’s most powerful outside ally during the 2016 election, there...

"The NRA had previously objected to the parts of the U.S. sanctions regime that blocked Russian-made guns from import into the United States."

Tim Mak, author of the Daily Beast article says the meeting has not been previously covered by the American media. Why not? I ask. Mak says the meeting was "one strand in a web of connections" between Trump, his staff and Cabinet appointments. Mak explains it this way...

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn both denied speaking with the Russian ambassador, which turned out to be untrue; former campaign manager Paul Manafort supported pro-Russian interests in Ukraine; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson won an “Order of Friendship” from Putin; and then, of course, there’s the hacking campaign that U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia launched to tilt the election in Trump’s favor."

Rogozin is prominent in many areas of the Russian government, as well as being a leader in gun rights; he is "particularly interested" in cyberwarfare and its ability to target with the speed of light. BINGO! But does Rogozin plus all these American connections from Donald Trump to the NRA add up to the hacking of the 2016 election to favor the candidacy of Trump? The million-dollar question.  Rep. Mike Quigley, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 presidential elections...

“Due to the NRA’s opposition to sanctions, it defies credulity that they wouldn’t have discussed sanctions and their extraordinary support for Donald Trump’s campaign.”

 The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee panel that oversees the CIA, Rep. Eric Swalwell...

Russia is not America’s friend. And it’s stunning to hear that while they were attacking our democracy, one of the largest organizations supporting Trump [the NRA] was cozying up with a sanctioned Russian in Moscow.”

Conspiracy, killings and new President

It is true that National Rifle Assn. head, Wayne LaPierre and his minions will go to any length to getSeven children and teens (age 19 or under) are killed with guns in the U.S. on an average day. Rogozin having been sanctioned by the U.S. had apparently no effect on the NRA gang, which included David Keene, the former NRA president, board member Pete Brownell, top NRA donor Joe Gregory, and Trump supporter Sheriff David A. Clarke. Mak reports further...
guns on the streets of the United States, even when it results in the murder of our children:

"The National Rifle Association’s support for Trump was unprecedented—and it seems to have paid off. The organization backed Trump in May 2016—much earlier than they had endorsed other candidates in previous election cycles, and before he had even been officially named the Republican presidential nominee.
The NRA spent $30.3 million to elect Trump—more than even the top Trump super PAC, which spent just $20.3 million, according to OpenSecrets."

And it was right after the election that Donald John rescinded a move by Barack Obama in the last days of his election "that banned lead ammunition in various hunting and fishing areas." The NRA, of course, did a back flip.

Since the NRA nor its associates that attended these Russian meetings have ever mentioned it publicly, is there something to cover up? The fact that they were there to begin with, considering the sanctions, is bad enough, but if there was an ulterior motive, other than just gun business, someone should find out. But they won't, as long as Republicans are in charge of the government. Wayne LaPierre basks in this kind of glory while there still continues to be 12,000 gun homicides every year. Purely pathetic when you consider guns' rights are placed above people's lives.

Gun nut finally gets just results

Former Police Captain Curtis Reeves

The sane population of this country is battling the gun nuts that have been given the right-of-way to do just about anything they want with their guns. In Arizona, they can even carry them into bars where fights, even brawls break out occasionally. Now, by sane, I don't mean just staunch gun control advocates like me, it also includes those innocent people without guns that just don't want to be shot and maimed, possibly killed. Here are some appalling figures from the gun advocacy organization, Everytown for Gun Safety...

1. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that on an average day, 93 Americans are killed with guns.
2. On average there are nearly 12,000 gun homicides a year in the U.S.
3. For every one person killed with guns, two more are injured.
4. Seven children and teens (age 19 or under) are killed with guns in the U.S. on an average day.
5. In an average month, 50 women are shot to death by intimate partners in the U.S.
6. America’s gun homicide rate is more than 25 times the average of other high-income countries.

There are more you can see on the Everytown for Gun Safety site. But I ask you gun nuts out there, which of the above figures do you want to argue with. They are confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), that organization your leader, Wayne LaPierre, who heads up the National Rifle Assn, (NRA), tried to keep quiet for years. LaPierre and the NRA backed legislation that has blocked gun violence research for 20 years. What you are seeing above are raw figures supplied to the CDC by hospitals, doctors, police departments and other groups. The NRA would stop this if they could.

Chad Oulsen's wife, Nicole speaks out...

The idea for this post came from a CNN article titled, "Judge denies 'stand your ground' defense in movie theater shooting," which covers the death of  Chad Oulson in a Florida movie theatre at the hands of retired police captain, Curtis Reeves. Here is the CNN version...

The case dates to January 14, when Reeves, then 71, confronted a man in a suburban Tampa movie theater about texting during the previews before a showing of "Lone Survivor." The two argued, and then Reeves walked out of the theater to complain to an employee. When Reeves returned, he and the man, Chad Oulson, began arguing again.
Oulson threw a bag of popcorn at Reeves, according to a criminal complaint, and Reeves then took out his handgun and fired at Oulson, killing him.

The Judge established through evidence that Oulson did not throw a cell phone at Reeves, charged by the complainant, and Oulson's actions were not considered aggressive enough to qualify under Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law, which also figured in George Zimmerman's 2013 trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Prosecutors played audio of Reeves talking to detectives shortly after the shooting...

"As soon as I pulled the trigger I said, 'Oh shoot, that was stupid.' If I had to do it over again, it would have never happened," he said. "If I had to do it over again, it would never have happened. I wouldn't have moved. But you don't get do-overs."

Reeves' hearing has just started.

Enough said...just another gun nut.

It was learned later that Oulson was checking his phone to text his daughter's babysitter.

Political Satire: a bullet in the head means a gun in the air

Arizona, the state of no gun laws, where all it takes to buy a firearm is a warm body, decided it wanted more non-protection than nothing. State Rep., Bubba Tony Rivero, told the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, "Accidents are an unfortunate fact of life." Referring to the death of

Wayne LaPierre

Shannon Smith, fourteen years old, shot in the head by a gun nut who fired his or her weapon in the air half a mile away. Tough luck, kid. Shit happens in a state where guns are valued over the life of children. And your grieving parents should know that and support my new bill, says Rivero, to let killers like the one that killed your daughter go free by simply saying, 'It was an accident." That's if they are even caught.

Rivero, satisfied now that his new law, once in place, would protect his gun hugger friends and hopefully not kill more than a couple hundred kids, strode to his car in the parking lot. As he got behind the wheel, his cell phone rang and it was Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn. "Hey Tony, good job. My big gun guys like it when we dismantle the gun laws. But, I have another assignment for you. We need a law protecting gun loving husbands in Arizona who shoot their wives or girlfriends. You know, more of that accident stuff. Keep me posted."

Read more...

How many more guns does this country need? REALLY

Apparently Donald Trump's gun lovers don't believe what he said about the 2nd Amendment, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and protecting their guns. They headed out in droves on Black Friday for the 10% to 50% discounts that were available on weapons like a $500 Sig Sauer and various assault rifles like an AR-15. Featured in many articles as the "go-to weapon for mass shooters," the average, reasonable individual wonders why any normal citizen needs one.

Because these people are not normal; they are obsessed with guns. And like some car enthusiasts who want the fastest vehicle they can drive, gun worshippers go for the gun with the biggest capacity. Like the Sig Sauer MCX .223 used in the LGBT nightclub massacre with a magazine of thirty. Omar Mateen killed 49 people with a gun that belongs only with the military and law enforcement, but is available to a majority of the U.S. population.

So, the fact that Hillary Clinton, an avowed gun control advocate, didn't win the election, had no effect on the Black Friday surge in gun buying, why are these enslaved individuals rushing out to buy more of what they probably already have at least one of at home? Because Wayne LaPierre, NRA Head, told them to and he did that because the gun manufacturers told him to. There are almost well over 300 million guns on the street, very near to one per household.

Since only one-third of U.S. households own a weapon, approximately 101 million, that's over 3 guns per household. Here are some obscene gun statistics to close:

• Total number of gun incidents-51,720
• Number of deaths-13,367
• Number of injuries-27,560
• Number of children killed or injured-3,418
• Mass shootings-351

The problem is, since we have a cowardly Congress, a newly elected President who favors gun rights, the future looks dismal.

Republicans want a Constitutional Convention

Why wouldn't they? They control the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Governor's offices and legislatures in many of the states. Perfect opportunity to turn this country so far right the average citizen will be on the streets begging. But wait, there's some actual substance to their plans. Jeb Bush--you remember him--wants to pass term limits and a balanced budget amendment. So far, so good.

A liberal, Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig, got in the act saying now's a great time to undo the Citizens United ruling. Some other liberals, mostly gun control advocates like me, would like to see the 2nd Amendment re-interpreted to fit the 21st century, putting Wayne LaPierre and his NRA gun nuts in their place. There hasn't been a Constitutional Convention since the original one that gave us the Constitution we have. But the environment has never been so right for one party, and the rules for calling a convention are in the Constitution.

Two-thirds of the states have to petition Congress for the meeting, required by Article V of the Constitution. Beyond this stipulation, instructions are vague, which could make it near impossible to come to an agreement. What bothers me most is that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) endorses the move and I am against anything they are in favor of. ALEC has only one purpose in mind, the promotion of corporations and industry. The consumer be damned.

Some lawmakers and constitutional experts aren't sure about dickering with the Constitution, especially in the environment of a convention. With the loose guidelines for conducting this sort of thing, we could end up with a disaster. But don't we sorta have that anyway now?

Trump honed incendiary style from National Rifle Assn.

For years the National Rifle Assn., led by Wayne LaPierre, has railed against a government that suppresses its people and denies them their constitutional rights. Of course, the opposition has always been designed to protect their precious 2nd Amendment, a part of the Constitution that should have been done away with or at least modified significantly. Something that obviously could never happen under a Donald Trump presidency or Republican controlled Congress.

A recent post on this subject pointed out how the emphasis on state elections will probably increase in the next four years, while pointing out the high amount of gun violence the U.S. suffers annually from too many guns. At one point Trump said, “I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.” The Trace article also said that during the election, "...Trump adopted an incendiary message that matched the NRA’s own."

When the NRA heard Trump's repeated rhetoric that the 2nd Amendment was sacred, something that must be protected at all costs, the decision was made to pump $30- million into ads that supported Trump. It started with 5-million NRA members, then picked a rural population the NRA has been appealing to for years, all ramrodded by the huge ad campaign both for Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton. It worked. Trump was elected but can the NRA really depend on his fickle nature?




The fact is that almost all of the Republican hierarchy shunned Trump in the early stages, as well as further into the campaign. Special interest groups ignored him; do the Koch brothers come to mind? Even the conservative press was caught off guard by his zany antics. Sociologist Scott Melzer, author of the 2012 book "Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War," told The Trace:

"The gun group and its candidate speak to 'this white rural conservative population that feels left behind by economic shifts and cultural shifts. These changes pose a threat to their identity.'”

Wayne Lapierre wasn't able to beat Barack Obama but he was successful defeating Hillary Clinton. I continue to wonder how long a gullible American public will buy the NRA's bullshit. Meanwhile, it accepts 12,000+ gun deaths a
year, over 3,000 of them children. Thank you America.

Gun Control: With Trump emphasis shifts even more to states

NRA head, Wayne LaPierre

For years now a cowardly Congress, scared to death of Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn., has failed to act on reasonable gun control. Even the simplest steps like background checks, closing the gun show loophole and banning assault weapons. And now in comes Donald Trump with his open philosophy on guns, including a belief that there should be absolutely no limit on gun sales in America. With 112.6 guns per 100 residents already.

The gun situation in the U.S. can be defined in one word: obscene. The Washington Post reported:

"Homicides in the United States went up by more than 10 percent in 2015 over the year before, while violent crime increased by nearly 4 percent in the same period, according to new statistics released Monday by the FBI."

Translated into specifically gun-related violence, the Gun Violence Archive 2016 reports:

Total gun incidents-49,816
Number of deaths-12,860
Number of children to age 11 killed or injured-594
Mass shootings-342
Accidental shooting-1,846

In another report, you can see Donald Trump's position on nine issues in his own words. One in particular is laughable. Here's what he says about the national right to carry:

“The right of self-defense doesn’t stop at the end of your driveway … A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state.”

Can you believe that kind of stupid reasoning? It's like saying a driver's license gives you the right to drive and your gun gives you the right to kill. Especially when you are talking about carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. Only a dedicated gun nut would espouse or believe this kind of bullshit. Or...a political candidate trying to get your vote.

Flags at half-mast until more gun control

Yesterday I introduced the concept of lowering all the flags to half-staff until the U.S. Congress addresses the problem of gun violence. On government facilities, private residences, commercial buildings, just anywhere that flies the American flag. Right through the evening hours,all the next day and on and on and on. Until we get acceptable gun legislation that will stop these mass gun killings and all the day to day bloodshed.

The Orlando LGBT club is only the latest of a string of mass murders by guns which already numbers 141 just in 2016. I read the comment just after the Florida devastation that from Sandy Hook (where 20 children age 6 were slaughtered with an assault rifle) to Orlando, the public's attitude toward more gun control has not changed measurably. They're still against it which is completely dumbfounding to me.

This can all be traced back to the cowards in Congress (Democrats and Republicans) who refuse to pass the reasonable gun control bills that would have saved many of the lives in those 141 mass shooting, and the day to day shootings on the streets. And this can be attributed to Congress' fear of retaliation from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre. Grown men who allow this sleaze bag to run their lives.

It's pathetic but if people woke up each day looking at flags everywhere at half-mast, after a while maybe this whole dilemma could be solved.

Think about it.

Here's an idea to make the gun control issue work

Fly the American flag at half-staff until Congress passes new gun control laws that will help curtail gun violence. This is not my idea. It is my wife's idea and she isn't even as close to the gun control movement as I am. But it is time that we realized the current loose gun laws and open availability of any kind of weapon that anyone wants is not working.

The National Rifle Assn.'s head, Wayne LaPierre, and his NRA minions can spout off their mouths all they want about the 2nd Amendment, but it is clear that their way has failed miserably. There have been 141 mass shootings in 2016. With 6,171 total deaths, 1,577 of them under the age of seventeen, 260 under eleven. If the American public can't understand this, there must be something wrong with their priorities.

So, how about lowering the flag to half-mast and leaving it there until we get some results on gun control legislation. I have researched this and it is legal to fly the flag at night as long as it is illuminated. The President can order this for government facilities but I am also talking about all those flags that are on display around the country, commercial and private, and around the world at other U.S. possessions. If we lead this movement here, maybe other countries hopefully will join in the cause and lower their flags to half-staff.

The purpose is to shame Congress into doing something about gun violence. So think about this over the weekend and follow my blog for more information. And please leave your comments that can be shared with others, particularly if your home or business agrees with the idea.

How does your state stand in gun laws?

Legal in Iowa

If you live in Kansas, your gun laws are considered the worst by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. If you are in Alaska, you are number one in gun deaths. The states with the best gun laws are California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts, in that order. The five states with the worst gun laws are Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming, Mississippi and Kansas dead last.

How can Iowa rank 17 in gun laws allowing blind people to carry them in public? Arizona is justifiably 47th, partially because gun owners can bring their firearms into a bar. South Dakota was the first state to allow all teachers to carry heat in classrooms. In Colorado a Republican introduced legislation requiring all businesses to allow guns on the premises. Missouri wants to make it a felony to introduce gun legislation. There are more stupid gun laws you can see here.

As gun control advocates have said for years now, the gun culture is out of control with their goal to put as many firearms on the street as they can. And it is all carefully orchestrated by Wayne LaPierre, along with his National Rifle Assn. (NRA) minions, who have somehow convinced the American public, even non-gun owners, that the 2nd Amendment is sacred. Well, I say the 2nd Amendment is doo doo and it is time to flush most of it down the toilet.

LaPierre professes to be protecting his membership in the NRA by enacting all these stupid gun laws but his real intent is to support the sale of guns on behalf of gun manufacturers to increase their profits. If he was working for his membership he would not oppose background checks that are favored by 75% of these members. Only the gun nuts are against responsible gun laws but by far they are the most vocal in yelling persecution.

President Obama has tried but failed in passing stricter gun legislation, knowing full well at the time it would never get through a GOP House, and if by chance it did, the succubus of the senate, McConnell, would never let it pass. Gun control advocates are having some luck at the state and local level and with more Progressives winning these positions in the fall, hopefully we can prevail. This means all you Progressives be sure and get out the vote.

Latest Mitch McConnell idiocy...NRA must approve Supreme Court nominee

How far will the American people let this lunatic go before sending him packing. The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) run by Wayne LaPierre not only controls the U.S. Congress, but now it controls the Supreme Court. Yes, Mitch McConnell has said in effect that the NRA has veto power over Supreme Court nominees. Not officially, just by controlling members of the senate who will vote just like Wayne LaPierre's minions tell them to. This is beyond disgusting.

The Moderate Voice says, "it has not ever happened that a party would not even allow hearings on a President’s nominee." That is, not until Mitch McConnell came along. MV says, he has..."re-written the rules on Supreme Court nominees: the powerful National Rifle Association now has veto power over all Supreme NRA has taken over control of the federal government." This mentally misguided ideologue is completely out of control.

Now all you gun control apathetics--my term for those of you who say they won't worry about it until it affects you personally--can see how far the NRA has pushed its power, to the extent it now has final approval over a Supreme Court justice. Many in this apathetic group do not even own firearms, but for some stupid reason they are fighting for the right of a gun nut to do just about anything he or she wants to do with their weapons.

The recall of members of the Congress is not permissible as defined in the Constitution. My gut tells me that if it was, there would be a recall in the process right now for Mitch McConnell. Maybe it is time for a Constitutional Amend. to change that but since most of the congressional members worth getting rid of are Republicans, and they now control Congress, the effort would be worthless. In the meantime, shoot for the overthrow of the GOP in November by Progressives.

YES-NO - Gun manufacturers responsible for gun violence?

Most of you know me and are well aware that I am an avid, passionate supporter of responsible gun control. I go to the extent that I would take all the cowboy vigilantes off the street and make them keep their guns at home. Don't worry guys, your girlfriend or spouse will still think you are a man...probably. But I don't agree with the parents of the Sandy Hook victim that exclaims Bernie Sanders is wrong about gun manufacturer responsibility for gun deaths.

What these folks are implying is that the morons in Congress have done the right thing by not addressing the real problem of gun violence...too many guns on the street in the wrong hands. The gun manufacturer, in fact, is not wrong selling an AR-15 rifle because it is legal and that is because Congressional idiots let the assault weapons ban expire in 2004. Sure, gun manufacturers are guilty of having absolutely no common sense at times selling them, knowing how dangerous they are.

It's not legally wrong. It is logically wrong. Mark and Jackie Barden should go after the bottom-feeders in Washington that take millions from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) every year and then vote the way they are told on gun issues. It's sickening to see the way gun violence has taken over this country and the American public doesn't appear to give a shit. I want you to take a look at a report from the Gun Violence Archive 2016.

Total number of incidents              10,590
Number of deaths                             2,677
Number of injuries                           5,424
Number of children (0-11)
  killed/injured                                     613
Mass shootings                                      51
Accidental shooting                             534

And folks, this is only since January 1, 2016. But have you heard one member of Congress lamenting over the fact that these individuals died, especially the children? If so, it was not within earshot of the NRA. If you want to lay blame, put it squarely where it belongs, on Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. Add to that those gun dealers who recklessly want to sell guns with little concern over who they are selling them to. One such case is straw purchase sales.

I totally agree with the end result the Bardens are fighting for and have great sympathy for their cause. It is just misdirected and infers that our dysfunctional Congress is not to blame for gun violence in America. The people of this country must stand up now and tell Washington that we want responsible gun control

Do you despise Wayne LaPierre? Watch this video and you will

Charles Topher calls the head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), Wayne LaPierre, despicable, disgusting. Topher says his moral code embraces only money, calling for more guns in schools immediately following the gun massacre of 20 six-year-olds and 6 teachers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Well, I couldn't have said it better except my description would have included many expletives.

LaPierre cowardly refused to appear with Barack Obama at the "Guns in America" town hall on CNN January 4. Then it took him two weeks to come up with an answer in which he challenges the President to a one-on-one gun control debate. The terms: "...that the debate be one hour with a moderator, no pre-screened questions and no long answers." Apparently LaPierre isn't capable of putting together long sentences unless he has a script in front of him.

This challenge from the country's head gun nut consists of an eight-minute propaganda video designed to showcase his arrogance and ignorance of the issues, while completely ignoring the facts. LaPierre is the epitome of the village idiot who stumbles through life as an...idiot. Read the article and watch the video--if your stomach can handle it--here.

Why enforcing current gun laws hasn't worked

Members of Congress, including some Democrats, answer new gun control legislation with, 'Just enforce the current gun laws.' During Barack Obama's town hall on guns broadcast on CNN last Thursday, he at least partially answered the question. These same members of Congress "...then cut (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) budgets to make it impossible to enforce the law," he said.

An example is my post yesterday connecting new Speaker, Paul Ryan, to "voodoo economics" in his 2014 budget, designed to cut taxes to the bone, eliminating needed programs like those above. Another vivid illustration is the GOP action, initiated and backed by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) some years ago that refuses to allow the CDC to release figures on gun violence. These valuable statistics would allow the government to prioritize gun laws.

And then while Obama was actually speaking at the CNN town hall on guns, the NRA boneheads, who didn't attend the town hall, tweeted to the President, "If the goal is to save lives, then prosecute criminals." Wayne LaPierre, NRA head, just keeps putting out the same old shit.

President Obama drops gun control fact bomb on CNN Town Hall

After the President determined that Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn. was too much of a coward to debate him at the CNN Town Hall on guns, he made the following compelling statement:

“…there’s no other consumer item that we purchase…There’s nothing else in our lives that we purchase that we don’t try to make a little safer if we can. Obama on guns."

But we don't do this with gun, despite the ease in doing so, because LaPierre and his NRA henchmen have Congress by the balls. Pathetic.

Gun manufacturers depend on gun nuts with double-digit IQs

I should have made a parody out of this piece since it is so farcical. But just visualize this scenario. President Barack Obama opens his mouth about some reasonable gun control and thousands of gun nuts go rushing to their nearest weapons supply store and stock up on handguns and assault rifles. No matter that all these short supply brainiacs already have an arsenal of each, bought the last time President Barack Obama opened his mouth about reasonable gun control.

It's the NRA plan, led by Wayne LaPierre, and the gun manufacturers pay him well to pump up these stooges to do their bidding. And it has worked. There has been another rally in gun stocks because the stock market knows their coffers will swell significantly when LaPierre's puppets hit the streets and storm the gun stores.

It's like the little old lady who gives her last $2 to charity; some of these gun addicts probably have trouble putting food on the table but will still purchase an AR-15. This has gotten so pathetic that some of these people should probably be committed. But that won't happen and gun manufacturers will go on selling more guns, some of which will end up on the street and take part in future daily killings and mass shootings. 

Merry Christmas...You're dead

As we end the year today, it is tragic that we have to reflect back on Christmas day 2015, with a statistic showing that 27 Americans were shot and killed on December 25, and 63 injured in shooting incidents. The Washington Post uses a comparison between the U.S. and the countries of Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong and Iceland, combined, that had only 27 gun deaths all year long. And the reason for this is the number of guns on the street.

As an example, Hong Kong has 0.03 gun deaths per 100,000 population compared to the United States, 10.64, the U.S 354 times more. Again based on better gun control. In Hong Kong gun ownership is tightly controlled and possession is mainly in the hands of law enforcement, the military, and private security firms. You might assume, based on this, that the United States cares less about the lives of its citizens than it does about the right to possess a gun.

And I think that would be right, based on the fact that the general population--the ones being slaughtered--support less gun control. Go figure? But the tables are turning. There is a certain faction out there that has had enough and they are speaking up, making it known that Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. control of Congress is no longer acceptable. That daily gun deaths will not become the norm. And that new, reasonable gun control will become real, even if by Executive Order of the President.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!