Obama gets tough in opening second term

 

 

Mitch McConnell doing Obama

It looks like the President is tired of taking the crap that the Republicans have been dishing out for the last 4 years.  It started with a comment by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in October of 2011.  He said: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”   He wasn’t, and McConnell turns out to be the idiot he looked like for the last four years.  He and House Speaker John Boehner, since the GOP took over the house in 2010, have spewed a non-stop diatribe of what a failure Barack Obama had been.  They were wrong and the American people knew it.

 

And because the Republicans were trounced last November in the elections, Boehner now is taking a new approach.  He is saying that “Obama’sfocus is to annihilate the Republican Party.”  Actually, Obama doesn’t have to do anything.  The GOP, led by the Tea Party, is doing that all on their own without any help.  The remark from Boehner made at a Ripon Society luncheon was confirmed by the Speaker’s spokesperson.  Even with a Republican majority in the House that can block the President’s legislation, it is obvious that this gang of obstructionists is running scared, as they should be.

 

David Gergen, who has advised four Presidents, said: “Years from now, historians are likely to look back upon Barack Obama's second inaugural address as a rich treasure trove for understanding his presidency and possibly the course of American politics.”  It’s the sort of thing you say about a great President.  Another interesting comment by Gergen was that not only was Obama more confident, but that he was also “liberated.”  Gergen thinks that refers to the comfort of a second term and not having to run again, as well as showing that Republicans are not willing to compromise.  Either way it is very promising.

 

Obama’s inauguration speech reminds us of Lyndon Johnson’s brand of liberalism and the Great Society.  It is a welcome return to values that espouse equality with the emphasis off the wealthy and now directed at middle America, lower income brackets and the needy.  Another famous Mitch McConnell comment following Obama’s speech was: “The era of liberalism is back.”  How fitting that it comes at a time when we must pass new laws on gun control, comprehensive immigration reform and improving the environment.  The President also plans to work on his 2010 Obamacare.

 

Gergen says, “He emerged as an unapologetic, unabashed liberal -- just what the left has long wanted him to be and exactly what the right has feared.”     

 

Pulitzer Prize winner Historian Gary Willis writes about Lincoln’s maneuvering of the Declaration of Independence into the “founding creed of the country.”  In it, Lincoln says, we are all created equal, which was mirrored by Martin Luther King 100 years later in 1963, and what President Obama was talking about when referring to the declaration as our “founding creed.”  Gergen maintains that Obama has made equal opportunity the “central goal of his presidency.”  He adds that the GOP expected a plea for partisanship but received something of an ultimatum to cooperate, or else.

 

The question is whether Americans support Barack Obama in what he wants to accomplish in his second term.  According to a CNN/ORCInternational survey released Jan. 22, the percentage of those believing global warming is a fact resulting from cars, power plants and factories has doubled to 49%.  On immigration, 53% want a path for illegal immigrants to legal residents compared to 43% who want to deport them. Today, 51% favor all or most of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) with 44% opposed to all or most of it.  Is there any doubt why the President would demand cooperation from Republicans?

 

 

Arizona now selling guns on the street…and other stupid stuff

It’s my state and I love it but Arizona does have the largest gang of nincompoops in the country running the state government, and that’s all the way from the Governor down to the Republican legislature.  Jan Brewer, the finger waggin’ Gov. who has been in office since 2003 still does not have a clue about what she is doing.  I have to admit she has lucked into some good decisions—one was the sales tax measure to help Arizona’s economy—but stupid moves like denying qualified illegal immigrants driver licenses is more indicative of her style of bungling government.

Jan Brewer

She is supported by the biggest bunch of incompetent Republican state legislators ever assembled in one state, a clique of gun loving cowboys and cowgirls that have succeeded in passing the loosest gun control measures in the country and which have made Arizona a laughing stock.  The latest example is the reaction to a voluntary gun buyback program organized by Tucson’s vice mayor, Steve Kozachik, at the time a Republican.  When the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) had been successful in quelling any gun control since Jared Loughner’s Tucson gun massacre, Kozachik jumped into action.

In the two weeks leading up to the gun buyback, Kozachik received threats and was referred to as “Hitler,” just because he wanted to take back firearms from people who no longer felt comfortable with them in their house.  Sounds simple enough, and they were given in return a $50 gift card.  As an example of the program’s success, $10,000 in gift cards was distributed during the event.  Kozachik was a Republican at the time but switched parties one week after the buyback.  His contention is that there are some in the GOP who want to do right but the party is still being led by the GOP far right.

During Kozachik’s gun buyback program success, the NRA couldn’t stand the heat so in defiance of Kozachik, a group of gun nuts set up a “cash for guns” firearms flea market close by and right on the boundary of the police department where the buyback was taking place.  Kozachik comments, “In Arizona, it is legal for a person to walk up to another on a street corner, hand him cash for a firearm and simply walk off with it, with no need for a background check into his psychological or criminal history.”  And that’s exactly what this brazen bunch of gun worshippers did.

In talking further about his change from Republican to Democrat, Kozachik said, “It is that rigid ideology that is driving the party into irrelevancy.”

But Arizona’s gun culture could also mean that when the Obama/Biden gun control laws start going on the books, it could be the hardest hit of all the states.  A state law has already been proposed in Arizona saying it does not have to comply with any federal laws it chooses not to.  That’s my state, but I still love it. Charles Heller, co-founder of the Tucson-based Arizona Citizens Defense League, another gang of radical gun nuts, resurrected the now cliché 2^nd Amendment argument making a bizarre comment:

“The idea of the Second Amendment was so we could shoot the cops and the soldiers ... who are trying to overthrow the U.S. Constitution.”  It’s like these people are on another planet.    

 

Dennis Wagner, in the ArizonaRepublic, says, “The National Rifle Association does not maintain a ranking list for states, but its website shows Arizona conforming to nearly every NRA barometer for Second Amendment support.”  Arizona also gets an “F” in firearms safety regulation by The California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “Out of 50 states, Arizona came in 49th behind only South Dakota,” said Lindsay Nichols, an attorney who worked on the report card. “It has some of the weakest gun laws in the country.”

The Brady Campaign gives Arizona a “0” score, last along with Utah and Alaska, for firearms safety provisions.

One can only try and imagine what goes through the minds of such a group of nitwit state legislators who pass these laws and the bonehead Governor who signs them into law.  The term double-digit IQs comes to mind.

Examining US mental health system critical precursor to gun control

It does not make sense that this country is not working feverishly to improve the mental health system when it accounts for so many gun deaths.  In all the mass shootings from columbine to Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, this predictable demon continues to raise its ugly head and kill innocent people.  In the case of Newtown, 20 little children only six and seven.  There are two groups that will always get guns somehow, the mentally ill and the bad guys, but we must at least make it harder for each to obtain the weapons with which they do their destruction.

As an example, just a few days ago, Christian Oberender from Minnesota was arrested for having an arsenal of guns in his home including an AK-47 assault rifle.  He was able to get a gun permit just last year and build this arsenal of 12 weapons in less than a year.  The catch is that at age 14, in 1995, he had killed his mother with a shotgun, shooting her five times.  Oberender was determined to be mentally ill and dangerous at the time and was placed in an institution for an extended stay.  He has again been diagnosed with a serious mental illness and “potential schizophrenia.” 

Here’s an example of his ramblings in a letter from Oberender to his mother thought to have been recently written:

“I am so homicide,'' and "I think about killing all the time. The monster want out. He only been out one time and someone die.''

Minnesota has a law that requires sending mental health records to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).  Either the state was negligent in its transfer of the data, or those approving gun permits were negligent in either receiving or retrieving the data.  In any case, this is a prime example of how the system failed and must be fixed.

Excellent video from Bloomberg on guns and mental health:

Former Arkansas Gov. and presidential contender Mike Huckabee believes that since "we have systematically removed God from our schools, should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"  This is the kind of crap you would expect from a conservative trying to take the focus off gun control.  Michael Kimmel on CNN said, “As if those heathen children deserved it?”  Kimmel also reminds us that almost all the recent mass murderers targeting non-work settings—like schools—were middle class white boys.  Not from the ghetto.  From upscale middle America.

Here are some more facts that Kimmel has collected.  Men and boys are responsible for 95% of all violent crimes and there is concern why so many of these young mass murderers are white.  While black kids are killing each other in the ghettos, it “seems to be nearly the exclusive province of white boys to so dramatically expand the range of their revenge and seek to destroy the entire world, not simply the person or group that committed the supposed offense.”  Not that race and gender are the primary concern; that remains the lax gun laws and mental illness.

So the only conclusion to be reached here is that a combination of federal and state laws must be enacted that will require the reporting of the mental health records of those people affected to NCIS and any other appropriate databases that are involved in determining whether or not a person should possess a firearm.  The laws must be stringent enough to discourage any lax participation by those charged with enforcement resulting in the proper punishment for those who don’t comply.  Only then will we be secure in at least knowing we’ve done all we can.

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.

NRA afraid of gun violence statistics

 

Where do you go to find out what states have the highest proportion of gun ownership?  Or whether gun ownership correlates with homicide rates in a city?  How many guns used in homicides were bought legally?  Where juveniles involved in gun fatalities got their weapons?  What factors contribute to mass shootings like the Newtown, Conn., one that killed 26 people at a school?  You wouldn’t go anywhere because the data isn’t available thanks to Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).  They made sure in a 1996 law that stopped gun control research in its tracks.

 

The Associated Press reports that although almost as many Americans die from gun violence as car crashes each year, nothing is done to analyze the former, but the latter has been studied thoroughly, significantly bringing down the number of car crashes even when the number of cars on the road goes up.  Here’s an anomaly to illustrate the absurdity of this situation:

 

"If an airplane crashed today with 20 children and 6 adults there would be a full-scale investigation of the causes and it would be linked to previous research," said Dr. Stephen Hargarten, director of the Injury Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

 

This is all true because of a law that wacky Wayne LaPierre and his bunch of gun nuts pushed through Congress in 1996 following a study a few years earlier showing that “people who lived in homes with firearms were more likely to be homicide or suicide victims.”  Following this no government agency dared to do anything on the subject for fear of losing their grant money.  Sixteen years later, we have no real concept of exactly what is causing gun violence.  Except the one thing we know is that gun violence is caused by guns. 

 

What we need is a “black box” like airliners and newer model cars.

 

Let me give you an idea why the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) doesn’t want this research.  MSN did an article on state gun regulations with the following results:

 

• Only six states require mandatory background checks on all purchases at gun shows.  They are Oregon, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Connecticut.
• Only seven states require mandatory background checks on assault weapons.  They are California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
• Only seven states have restrictions on high-capacity magazines.  They are Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

 

When you combine all of the states included in the non-requirements, it adds up to humongous sales for gun manufacturers, and that is why the NRA is in business; to make sure these companies sell more and more guns, more and more ammunition, and more and more gun accessories like high-capacity magazines.  And for their efforts, the NRA receives millions in donations from these gun companies each year.  Since 2005, those donations have totaled just under $39 million. 

 

The NRA can’t survive without this money and gun companies cannot survive if we learn the morbid statistics on gun violence.

 

Private funding for gun control research has been a paltry amount when compared to potential federal grants.  When you Google “private research grants for gun control,” you get some general stuff but nothing specific to gun control.  One of the most topics that did show up is the question of whether or not Obama’s executive orders would get gun control research going.  Unfortunately, the money required to fund this research requires an act of Congress and we all know there are enough yellow bellied NRA butt-kissers to stop that.  Unless…???

 

Death threats against NRA Pres. David Keene no way to solve gun control issue

I don’t know who is perpetrating these death threats against David Keene, the Pres. Of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), but I wouldn’t doubt at all that it includes some typical NRA gun nuts trying to make the gun control advocates look bad.  I say this because wacky Wayne LaPierre and his gang of gun huggers are bigger liars than Karl Rove was in the George W. Bush administration.  With the NRA, as was regularly with Karl Rove, they would lie when the truth is better.  For years LaPierre has led the American public down a path of deceit over gun rights. 

Daffy David Keene




 

And daffy David Keene is no different.  Maybe the threats against his children will make him think about the completely irresponsible ads the NRA is running using Pres. Obama’s children.  This fruitcake went so far as to even deny the ad was about Obama’s children when it is clear that is the focus of the message.  I would provide a link but take my word, it is complete garbage.  Is it any wonder that bottom-feeders like Keene and LaPierre are taking flak for being responsible for mass killings like Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Aurora Theatre and others because of their support of loose gun laws?

And they are completely oblivious to a gun culture that places protecting their precious guns over human life.  Like 20 innocent children in Newtown, CT.  Or, are they both out-dumbing all of us.  LaPierre is obviously in it for the money and power; his (salary $970,300) and gun manufacturer’s increased profits, plus he is idolized by the gun worshippers.  Keene is just another conservative political hack trying to add more fire power to his resume.  Their obvious attention to weapons manufacturer’s bottom lines by promoting guns in everyone’s hands to carry anywhere is disgusting and obscene. 

NRA "reprehensible" ad using Obama's children:

And neither of these radicals represents the 4.2 million membership of the NRA.  I did a post in July of 2012 with the following facts:

 

• 74 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who have completed gun safety training. 
• 68 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who do not have prior arrests for domestic violence. 
• 63 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants 21 years of age or older.
• 74 percent support requiring criminal background checks of anyone purchasing a gun.
• 79 percent support requiring gun retailers to perform background checks on all employees – a measure recently endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry.
• NRA members strongly support allowing states to set basic eligibility requirements for people who want to carry concealed, loaded guns in public places. By contrast, the NRA leadership’s top federal legislative priority – national reciprocity for concealed carry permits – would effectively eliminate these requirements by forcing every state to allow non-residents to carry concealed guns even if they would not qualify for a local permit.

Both LaPierre and Keene continue to push for absolute 2nd Amendment rights in a situation that has been screaming for negotiations on the gun control issue for years.  They know that once the damn is broken—and that is now beginning to happen—they will have lost their clout with the gun manufacturers meaning millions in donations every year.  (Since 2005, according to the Violence Policy Center, gun manufacturers contributed around $39 million to the NRA)  LaPierre loses his cushy job and Keene loses his position of political play-maker.  And 4.2 million NRA members are left out in the cold.

 

Finally, as usual, Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie put the radical conservatives of his party in their place.  He called the NRA ad using Obama’s children “reprehensible” and claims that the group has now lost even more credibility in the eyes of the American public.  Christie continued saying that “such a move demeans them,” commenting, "It makes them less of a valid, trusted source of information on the real issues that confront this debate.”  In other word, you can no longer believe what the NRA’s wacky Wayne LaPierre spews out of his propaganda mill.  Frankly, I never did.

 

 

 

 

 

Georgia home invasion mom proves need for firearms training for gun owners

First of all, Donnie Herman’s wife, Melinda, deserves praise for the courage she displayed in protecting her two children from an intruder with her husband’s .38 revolver.  Herman talked his wife through the incident while also talking to a 911 operator.  The intruder had a crowbar and was breaking through doors in the house obviously planning to do harm to anyone he encountered.  Until two weeks prior, Melinda had never fired a gun when Donnie took her shooting because he thought she should be familiar with the family’s gun.  “If he opens up the door, you shoot him!  You understand?  Donnie said.

The only way to safely own a gun

Well she emptied the six-shot revolver hitting the guy with five rounds in the torso and face, missing with one.  Well, the guy was not only able to get up, he actually got in his SUV and drove off, crashing just a short distance away.  The gun rights bunch says she needed a weapon capable of firing more rounds.  I say Melinda, and Donnie should have been required to go through strenuous firearms training just to have the .38 in the house.  If she couldn’t bring him down with five shots hitting him in the face and torso, allowing him to escape, she may never have brought him down.

I can’t drive my car without a license that I can get only if I have had sufficient training to properly operate the vehicle.  It is beyond me how they can allow an individual to own a gun without the necessary training to use it.  I did a post back in May, “Gun deaths versus car crash fatalities…who wins?” revealing from a report that gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in 10 states.  A car is designed to provide transportation from one place to another.  A gun is designed to kill.  The Hermans have two guns in their home but it isn’t clear whether that is a benefit or an obstacle to their safety.

The CNN article on this issue states, "It's more common for an armed homeowner in the United States to be a victim of suicide, homicide, assault or an accidental shooting than it is for that person to shoot an intruder," according to Dr. Arthur Kellermann, a senior health policy analyst at Rand Corporation, a non-partisan think tank.  And many experts agree, contrary to being a protection to their safety, crowds of people rush out to purchase a gun but never properly learn how to use it.  The FBI conducted about 2.8 million checks for gun purchases this past December, a record high for a month.     

Wacky Wayne LaPierre’s National Rifle Assn. (NRA) strongly opposes requiring any firearms training connected to obtaining a concealed carry permit.  As an example, the NRA objected to a requirement of only four hours training for a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin.  There is no doubt why gun control advocates just shake their heads at this kind of ignorance and complete disregard for the rights of those who don’t want to die in gun violence.  Unfortunately, some of this group reacts with apathy and the attitude that it only happens to others, not them.

As far as I can determine, only 3 states require any firearms training in connection with owning a gun.  They are the District of Columbia, Maryland and Ohio.

ThinkProgress spoke with a number of NRA members at their St. Louis convention last April and found that many supported gun safety training to acquire a concealed carry permit.  I agree with this, although I think the CC permit itself should come with restrictions based on need.  But let’s be honest, wouldn’t it be a safer America if everyone who owns a gun was forced to learn how to use it?  Remember, there are 300 million firearms on the streets of the United States.  How many owners are trained on how to use them?  My guess is a very sparse number.

Would banning high capacity magazines and requiring universal background checks be a good start to stricter gun control?

Let’s consider this scenario.  If you limit the magazine size of a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to 10 rounds (perhaps even 7 like the latest New York law requires) have you basically reduced the firearm to what many typical rifles are capable of shooting?  In checking an Outdoor Life recommendation of the best 2012 hunting rifles, I found the Ruger American Rifle with a 5-round capacity including a magazine.  I don’t know how typical or popular this rifle is with hunters but it seems to have received the recommendation of a major hunting magazine.

The American Hunter

I don’t think any gun control advocate out there favors taking away a hunter’s right to enjoy his sport, and anyway, assault rifles aren’t the biggest problem in gun violence, handguns are.  According to the FBI, in 2011, 6,220 people were killed by handguns, 323 by rifles.  But it was the sheer horror of the brutal killing of 20 children ages 6 and 7 by a shooter using his mother’s assault rifle with a 30-round magazine that has brought the gun control issue to the forefront.  The question is, would that Bushmaster AR-15 revert to the same capability as the Ruger reduced to a 10-round or less capacity?

Unfortunately, the universal background check would not have prevented Adam Lanza from killing these little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but it could have prevented Jared Loughner from getting the weapon he used to kill 6 and injuring 13 in Tucson in Jan. of 2011, including former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.  What must be done in parallel with requiring these background checks is to make the reporting of felons and the mentally ill to the appropriate databases mandatory by law enforcement and all states.  Common sense?  Yes, but one of the biggest shortfalls in maintaining gun control.

The New York Times reported, “All federally licensed firearms dealers are required to run background checks through the computerized databases that comprise the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS).  But the requirement does not cover guns that are sold by unlicensed sellers at gun shows and in other private sales, which account for about 40 percent of gun purchases in the country.”  The  National Instant Criminal Background Check System reports 16,808,538 requests for firearm background checks in 2012 with 976,255 denials.

The latter means that 15,832,283 permits were issued in 2012, which also means that 6,332,913 gun purchases could have been made—based on the 40%--without background checks.  Even if a fraction of this figure resulted in guns ending up in the wrong hands, is it any wonder why guns deaths in the U.S. are so high?  According to a CNN article, the FBI says more than a million people failed background checks to buy guns in the last 14 years because of drug use or mental health issues.  Congressional approval is required for universal background checks but other moves need only executive actions.

Some of the President’s proposals are not given much chance of making it through a Republican House because of gun lobbyists, namely the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).  This organization claims to have added around 250,000 new members to its already 4.2 million.  An NRA spokesman says the numbers are those who are passionate about 2^nd Amendment rights, a claim that is really getting old.  What the NRA spokesperson didn’t say about that 250,000 is the fact that 74% of them support background checks.  The Frank Luntz poll of NRA members also found that 75% want more restrictions on concealed carry.

If the President gets better background checks plus a ban on high capacity magazines, we can wait until 2014 and a more progressive House and Senate to add more to the list.  Here’s my want list on gun control from an earlier January post:

1. Ban all assault or assault-type weapons

2. Ban all high-capacity magazines over 5 rounds

3. Close gun show loophole

4. Background checks for all gun purchases

5. Mandatory training for anyone owning a gun

6. Mandatory state reporting of the mentally ill

It’s like a Christmas list.  You just keep asking for what you want until you get it.  The NRA should be on notice that the gun control advocates won’t give up this time.

Tell you congressional representatives what you want done about gun control;  Senate here; House of Representatives here.

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

Zornick also reported that, in consideration of the Sandy Hook victims, Walmart had removed the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle from its website, an obvious public relations ploy since all other assault weapons remained.  Freedom Group, who produces the weapon, said, if Walmart should reduce gun sales, it could adversely affect their bottom line since 13% of their sales came from the retailer.  However, the Bushmaster AR-15 did remain on store shelves.

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.

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.

 Canada, Japan, Australia and much of Western Europe didn’t come anywhere close to the U.S.  The closest country was Finland with just over 2 violent deaths per year.  Most of these countries have very strict gun regulation laws that apparently work in decreasing firearms violence.  Homicide is the second leading cause of death in ages 15-24, and 52% of all suicides involve a firearm.  It would seem this country is determined to decrease the population using guns.

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. 

With Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly’s new group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, the momentum has finally grown to proportions that can match and beat the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) at their own game.  Say goodbye to the NRA’s leader, wacky Wayne LaPierre.

Joe Biden talks with gun rights advocates...NRA gives typical hackneyed reaction

President Obama has now focused on getting new gun control regulations into law and has named Vice President Joe Biden to lead the cause.  Obama wants universal background checks, strengthen mental health checks, increase penalties for carrying guns near a school or giving them to minors and reinstate the assault weapons ban.  He also is in favor of a national database to track the sale of weapons.  Regulations that any sane American would favor.

Joe Biden has so far met with gun control advocates, gun rights advocates and select entertainment groups.  AG Eric Holder has also met with some gun retailers like Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Gander Mountain and Wal Mart.  You can see a full list here.  Biden stated, "There has got to be some common ground, to not solve every problem, but diminish the probability.  That's what this is all about. There are no conclusions I have reached."

After the meeting, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), made its typically dumb statements:

"We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.  While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners—honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans."

"We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen."

Vice President Joe Biden chairs group on gun violence:

On January 10, the NRA’s wacky Wayne LaPierre said the organization will use “real Americans” to prove their point, as if the country is solidly behind his gang of gun nuts.  This is where the Atlantic article exposes an NRA that does not have the backing of the American public, not even the 146 million gun owners.  NRA membership is 4.2 million which works out to only 2.9% of gun owners.  Even when membership costs only $25.00 to join with added perks.   

As far as all Americans are concerned, according to two surveys measuring households with guns, the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center says there are 32%; Gallup says 47%.  Based on these figures, the NRA doesn’t even represent a majority of Americans.  But somehow in the past this radical group of gun worshippers had convinced non-gun owners to support its cause.  That support has now crumbled with the reality of gun violence.

The Vice President will have a plan to curb gun violence in the hands of the President by tomorrow, and is now encouraging Obama to consider executive order.  The President has nothing to lose in his second administration, and could go down in history as having saved the United States from a firearms disaster.  With the help of the new, and very strong, voice in gun control, Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, Obama should have all the fire power he needs.

The one thing in this issue that the gun rights bunch is right about, although it is obvious they dwell on this subject just so it will divert attention from gun control, is strengthening the mental health system to identify anyone who shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun.  States are lax, the govs are lax, and those reporting are lax in providing and disseminating the information that could have saved the lives of 20 little children and 6 educators in Newtown, CT.

Mental health is a part of Joe Biden’s plan and the President is solidly behind fixing the problem.  Altogether, there is enough of a force with good and reasonable ideas to solve the overall problem of America’s out of control gun violence.  But it will take new and stricter gun laws to accomplish this goal and Wayne LaPierre and his NRA will just have to get used to it.

Vice President Joe Biden says White House hell bent on new gun regulation...even using executive order

Vice President Joe Biden met with a group of gun rights activists yesterday to discuss how the country can do something about gun violence.  As the meeting was going on another shooting occurred in a high school in California but fortunately ended with no deaths but at least two were wounded.  The shooter is in custody and is believed to be a student and they think he was armed with a shotgun.  One of the victims was a student.

Hopefully they interrupted the meeting to update the Vice President with this latest news of yet another shooting at a school that could have turned into a disaster.  And from what I can gather so far, James R. Baker, the NRA’s top lobbyist will represent that organization.  So where is the loud mouth wacky Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s top gun nut?  As usual he is afraid of any type of confrontation where he doesn’t have complete control.

CNN reports, “President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders to help prevent mass shootings in America, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.”  Biden is also looking into shortfalls in the mental health system that lead to some gun violence.  Also involved in these meetings is a somewhat reluctant Wal-Mart, who just happens to be the nation’s largest seller of guns and ammunition.  The results of the meeting should be available later Thursday or early Friday.



FDR signs executive order for
Japanese interment camps



The keywords so far are “executive order.”  Executive orders have been issued by Presidents since the late 1700s and are often attached to legislation already in effect.  Actually, there is no Constitutional provision allowing executive orders but there is a “vague” grant of “executive power” given to the President.  That gives an executive order the full force of the law.  This action does not come without criticism but to date U.S. courts have only overturned 2 executive orders.

According to Wikipedia, “a Congressional override of an executive order is a nearly impossible event due to the supermajority vote required and the fact that such a vote leaves individual lawmakers very vulnerable to political criticism.”  Since we do not yet know what the White House has in mind re. this move, there is no way to predict what it will do.  There is also the possibility that the president, through Joe Biden’s announcement, is a challenge to get Congress off its duff.   

In researching executive order, I came across an interesting “vesting” clause in the Constitution that is different from the regular one giving executive order.  This vesting clause is different in that it is plenary, implying the power of the executive may fall in line with what other "executives" around the world at the time could do, whereas the other clause is subject to limits.  Not sure how this might apply to the current situation but maybe some legal eagles can provide insight.

First, the outcome of Thursday’s meeting between Biden and gun rights advocates.  It will be interesting if the NRA performs as many have predicted with the same tired clichés that the public is completely fed up with.  If so, it shouldn’t be hard to convince the American people to jump on the gun control bandwagon, and if the Republican Congress, and some Democrats, don’t fall in line, fire the bums!

We have a new standard bearer for gun control…Gabrielle Giffords

Gabby Giffords is the former Arizona U.S. Representative who was shot by Jared Loughner along with 18 others, 6 of which died, at a public meeting in a Tucson supermarket parking lot in January of 2011.  Giffords has been going through a very slow recuperation process with the help of her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly.  She and Kelly decided to announce a new gun control movement on the second anniversary of the shooting.



Gabby Giffords/Mark Kelly



Their new organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions, hopes to launch “a new era in the battle over gun rights in America.”  In a USA op-ed, the two were very clear about their goal: “to counter the influence of the gun lobby.”  I interpret this as saying that Giffords and Kelly will spell out just how bad Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) have been misrepresenting the gun rights issue for years.  It’s time to shove it down their throats.

Giffords and Kelly’s efforts will add further support to organizations like the Brady Campaign and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.  It was reported that the NRA spent over $24 million in the 2012 election to elect gun rights candidates and defeat gun control candidates.  In comparison, the Brady campaign spent $5,800.  ARS hopes to balance this with financial support that will take the fear out of politicians who have been intimidated by the NRA.

Here’s a quote from Giffords and Kelly:

"Rather than working to find the balance between our rights and the regulation of a dangerous product, these groups have cast simple protections for our communities as existential threats to individual liberties. Rather than conducting a dialogue, they threaten those who divert from their orthodoxy with political extinction."

This is a clear signal aimed at the gun rights groups, particularly LaPierre’s NRA, that they can no longer hide behind the 2^nd Amendment and the absolutist position they claim for guns by the Constitution.  It ain’t valid so quit insulting the gun control advocacy with this ridiculous argument and start negotiating like most rational human beings do.  LaPierre can start by ceasing the threats regularly hurled at Congress if they don’t vote the NRA way.

Wacky Wayne has made it clear that to solve the gun violence problem he wants more guns, not less.  He said, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."  Kelly sees this different.  When Giffords was shot, a “good guy” came out of a store next door to the Safeway and almost shot the man who took down Jared Loughner.  In Arizona, gun owners are not required to have any training to own and use firearms.

To illustrate the extremism of the gun rights movement, Councilman Steve Kozachik held a “Cash for Guns” buy-back outside a Tucson police station.  Nearby, Arizona Republican State Sen. Frank Antenori held an unregulated and legal marketplace to buy guns.  Kozachik said, "We have a fundamental hole in the private sales of guns. You can walk up right in front of a cop and buy a gun, no background check, nothing."  Only in Arizona.

Kozachik said that he had been receiving threats by phone and emails trying to shut the gun buy-back down.  Antenori’s concern was that the $50 offered per gun was too small, “it amounted to theft.”  And then Todd Rathner, an Arizona lobbyist and national NRA board member threatened to sue because he thought it was illegal for police to destroy the guns.  Both Antenori and Todd are but two of a gang of Arizona gun nuts that have made the state a national laughing stock.

And now Vice President Joe Biden, placed in charge by the President of getting gun control legislation passed, is saying that Obama is exploring executive privilege to stop the gun violence.  More on this later.  But the Giffords/Kelly movement couldn’t come at a better time and will certainly be welcomed by all gun control advocates.  It’s about time.