"Obama makes gun-limit law 2d term priority; Says day of Conn. shooting was worst of his presidency" by Michael Schwirtz and John M. Broder | New York Times, December 31, 2012
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Sunday that the day of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was the worst of his presidency and that he wanted new legislation limiting access to some types of firearms passed within the first year of his second term.
‘‘I think anybody who was up in Newtown, who talked to the parents, who talked to the families, understands that something fundamental in America has to change,’’ Obama said on NBC’s Meet the Press.’’ “And all of us have to do some soul searching, including me as president, that we allow a situation in which 20 precious small children are getting gunned down in a classroom.’’
20 kids dead in drone strikes based on lies authorized by this president? Not so much.
Btw, I'm just wondering which parents it was to whom he was talking.
He said that he would wait for a report from a task force chaired by Vice President Joe Biden before proposing specific legislation. But he said he had long supported a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition clips as well as expanded background checks as a way to ease gun violence in America.
The shooting in Newtown, where 20 elementary schoolchildren and six adults were killed in a matter of minutes by a man with a semiautomatic rifle, has renewed a national debate about gun control.
HMMMMMMMM!
Obama said shortly after the shooting that gun control would be a ‘‘central issue’’ of his second term. Though some gun-control opponents have said they would be open to discussions about the issue, most have made clear they would oppose any legislation restricting gun ownership.
Leaders of the National Rifle Association and gun-control opponents in Congress have said they are not interested in cooperating with Biden’s task force and have vowed to fight efforts to impose some type of ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines like that used in the Newtown shooting.
After the shooting, the NRA proposed placing armed security guards at schools across the country. In the interview on Sunday, Obama said he was ‘‘skeptical’’ that armed guards were a realistic solution.
Yeah, that's only good at airports(?).
He said no major changes in the nation’s gun laws were possible without the strong support of the American people, but added that he believed most Americans, including gun owners, supported some type of legislation to restrict access to firearms.
That may be due to horrified ignorance with some, but not with most. The guns and ammo are flying off the shelves because many perceive this to be a gun grab by the government because they know something bad is coming down, or they plan to impose even more tyranny. Maybe it will be coming for your gold.
I'm sorry, I just no longer believe in agenda-pushing polls promoted by the mouthpiece media.
“I think there are a vast majority of responsible gun owners out there who recognize that we can’t have a situation in which somebody “with severe psychological problems is able to get the kind of high-capacity weapons that this individual in Newtown obtained and gun down our kids,’’ he said.
Yes, we all need an evaluation, and if you won't believe authority and their lies, well, you have an "illness."
In a separate interview on Sunday, Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said Newtown has changed the way people see the issue....
That's the intention of false-flag psy-ops, folks.
--more--"
And to those who think it's paranoia to scream gun grab, well...
"New York governor seeks tighter assault weapons ban" by Thomas Kaplan | New York Times, January 09, 2013
ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, pushing New York to become the first state to enact major new gun laws in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., plans on Wednesday to propose one of the country’s most restrictive bans on assault weapons.
New York is one of seven states that already ban at least some assault weapons. But Cuomo has described the existing law as having ‘‘more holes than Swiss cheese,’’ and he wants to broaden the number of guns and magazines covered by the law while also making it harder for gunmakers to tweak their products to get around the ban.
Cuomo, a Democrat, will outline his proposal in his State of the State address, but even before he speaks, he has incited anxiety among gun owners by acknowledging in a radio interview that ‘‘confiscation could be an option’’ for assault weapons owned by New Yorkers.
That's in quotes, too!
Since that interview, Cuomo has not mentioned the idea, and his aides have acknowledged that it would be impractical, but gun rights groups have seized on the comment, even posting a petition on the website of the White House declaring, ‘‘We do not live in Nazi Germany’’ and asking the Obama administration to block any effort at confiscation by Cuomo....
Actually, we kind of do, except our form of fascism serves private central bankers.
--more--"
Related: “I am proud to be part of this government, not just because New York has the first bill, but because New York has the best bill. I’m proud to be a New Yorker because New York is doing something — because we are fighting back.”
That's what you are going to get when you try confiscating the guns.
"Gabrielle Giffords, husband form gun-control PAC" by Brian Skoloff | Associated Press, January 09, 2013
TUCSON — Representative Gabrielle Giffords’s announcement brought back memories from the 1980s when Jim and Sarah Brady formed the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Brady, President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary, was wounded in the 1981 presidential assassination attempt by a mentally ill gunman.
There are even questions surrounding that assassination, folks. Reagan had begun backing of the right-wing agenda in favor of pragmatic and compromising politics. Looking back on it, the cover story of Hinckley doing it for the love of Jodie Foster seems a bit far-fetched in light of all we have seen since.
Brady’s organization has been among the most vocal champions of gun control since then, but it remains to be seen whether Giffords’s group can better compete against the National Rifle Association.
--more--"
"Biden says action will be taken on guns" by Erica Werner | Associated Press, January 10, 2013
WASHINGTON — But Biden signaled that the administration is mindful of political realities that could imperil sweeping gun control legislation, and is willing to settle for something less. He said the administration is considering its own executive action as well....
I didn't see anything in the Constitution regarding executive actions or orders.
Related: Inaugurating Obama's Dictatorship
And one thing dictators do it take away guns (think Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, folks. What are we talking, 150 million dead?)
The tragedy in Newtown, in which 20 young children and seven adults were gunned down by a man with a military-style semiautomatic rifle, has prodded the administration to act.
The fact that that "event" is continuing to be cited to push the agenda really makes me suspicious.
Obama had remained largely silent on gun control after the 2011 shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six people and wounded 12 others, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, and the Colorado movie theater shooting that left a dozen people dead and many more wounded last July.
Biden, referring to the Newtown shootings, said at the White House: ‘‘Every once in a while, there’s something that awakens the conscience of the country, and that tragic event did it in a way like nothing I’ve seen in my career.’
9/11.
--more--"
"Assault weapons ban seen as hard to enact" by Michael D. Shear and Peter Baker | New York Times, January 11, 2013
WASHINGTON — While President Obama pledged to crack down on access to what he called ‘‘weapons of war’’ in the aftermath of last month’s schoolhouse massacre, the White House has calculated that a ban on military-style assault weapons will be exceedingly difficult to pass through Congress and is focusing on other measures it deems more politically achievable.
Does that mean he's going to stop using them?
And keep this whole shooting low scam in mind for later.
As a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden readies recommendations on reducing gun violence for delivery to the president next week, White House officials said a new ban will be an element of whatever final package is proposed.
Did they have it already written like the Patriot Act?
But given the entrenched opposition from gun rights groups and their advocates on Capitol Hill, the White House is trying to avoid making its passage the sole definition of success and is emphasizing other new gun rules that could conceivably win bipartisan support and reduce gun deaths.
During a day of White House meetings on the issue on Thursday, including one with the National Rifle Association, Biden focused publicly on universal background checks for gun purchases and the need for more federal research on gun violence.
Do we really have to pay tax money for that? Why don't we investigate the lies that led to wars and then prosecute war criminals?
In 15 minutes of public remarks, Biden made no mention of curbing the production and sale of assault weapons, even though he was a prime author of such a law that passed in 1994 and expired 10 years later. Both he and the president say they strongly support an assault weapons ban.
But... the calculation on the assault weapons ban underscores the complicated politics of guns on Capitol Hill despite public outrage after a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December. While the massacre prompted some progun lawmakers to endorse limits on assault weapons, Republicans who control the House Judiciary Committee still oppose such limits.
A statement by the NRA after Thursday’s meeting underscored the political challenges. The group issued a blistering statement accusing the White House of having an ‘‘agenda to attack the Second Amendment,’’ and said it would go to the halls of Congress in its efforts to stop gun restrictions....
I'm lining up with the NRA on that one.
The calibrated public focus by Biden also reflects a tension within the administration and Democratic circles, with some gun control advocates pressing for a robust effort on the assault weapons ban and others leery of being caught in a losing cause at the expense of other measures with more chances of success. While Biden has included Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, and other Cabinet officials in his working group, officials said the process is being driven by the White House.
In addition to the ammunition limits and expanded background checks, Biden’s group is looking at ways of keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and cracking down on sales that are already illegal....
Oh, you mean like the government gun-running to drug dealers and such?
And the AMMUNITION LIMITS are a REAL PROBLEM. A GUN is NO GOOD without any BULLETS!
Some officials would like mandatory minimum sentences for gun law violations, but the White House in general does not like such sentences. Biden’s group is also considering seeking additional money to enforce existing laws....
Don't we have ENOUGH OF THOSE, or are you guys going to get rid of them for marijuana?
The ammunition limit has drawn attention from Democrats in Congress, both because they think it might be easier to pass and because it might have more impact than an assault weapons ban.
The White House effort is coming even as some governors are seeking state legislation that would limit the availability of guns and ammunition.
In Denver, Goveror John W. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, called Thursday for universal background checks on all gun sales in his state.
Also see: Spooky School Shooting Post
In New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has made gun control efforts a centerpiece of his next year in office, pledging to pass a tough new assault weapons ban in his state, limits on large-capacity magazines, and measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
And confiscate them.
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And right on frikkin' cue?
"Shotgun-wielding student shoots one" by Tracie Cone | Associated Press, January 11, 2013
TAFT, Calif.— A 16-year-old student armed with a shotgun walked into class in a rural California high school on Thursday and shot one student, fired at another, and then was talked into surrendering by a teacher and another staff member, officials said.
The teen victim was in critical but stable condition, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said. The sheriff said the teacher at Taft Union High School suffered a minor pellet wound to the head and declined treatment.
The gunman had as many as 20 rounds of ammunition in his pocket, the sheriff said.
When the shots were fired, the teacher tried to get the more than two dozen students out a back door and also engaged the shooter in conversation to distract him, Youngblood said. A campus supervisor responding to a call of shots fired also began talking to the gunman.
‘‘They talked him into putting that shotgun down,’’ Youngblood said. ‘‘The heroics of these two people goes without saying.’’
The shooter didn’t show up for first period, then interrupted the class of 28 students.
Investigators had not yet had a chance to interview the student and had no immediate word on a motive or whether the attacker had a previous disciplinary record. Nor did they know where he got the shotgun.
The wounded student was flown to a hospital in Bakersfield. Officials said a female student was hospitalized with possible hearing damage because the shotgun was fired close to her ear, and another girl received minor injuries during the scramble to flee.
Officials said there’s usually an armed officer on campus, but the person wasn’t there because he was snowed in. Taft, a community of about 10,000 people, is about 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
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"Popular teacher lauded for calming shooter; Engaged student in conversation as others exited" by Tracie Cone | Associated Press, January 12, 2013
TAFT, Calif. — The 16-year-old boy’s name is on the lips of everyone in town, but authorities are not releasing it because he is a juvenile. He felt bullied by the victim for more than a year, said Youngblood, who added that the claim was being investigated.
Trish Montes described her neighbor as a short guy who was teased about his stature by many: “It’s a shame. My kid said he was like a genius.”
On Wednesday night he found a gun that authorities believe belonged to his older brother and went to bed plotting revenge against two students, Sheriff Donny Youngblood of Kern County said.
“He planned the event,” Youngblood said. “Certainly he believed that the two people he targeted had bullied him, in his mind. Whether that occurred or not, we don’t know yet.”
The suspect arrived after 9 a.m. Thursday, and video surveillance cameras captured him looking nervous as he entered through a side door, Youngblood said. He made his way to the second floor of the science building, to teacher Ryan Heber’s class with 28 students....
--more--"
Here's what will put a stop to the school shootings:
"Fontana, Calif., school police get high-powered rifles" by Gillian Flaccus | Associated Press, January 24, 2013
FONTANA, Calif. — The school police force in this Southern California city has acquired 14 high-powered semiautomatic rifles for officers to bring to campuses.
Yes, you see, it's okay if authority has guns.
Fontana Unified School District police purchased 14 of the Colt LE6940 rifles last fall, and they were delivered in early December, a week before a gunman killed 26 students and educators at a Connecticut elementary school.
‘‘I think it just further solidified the need to give our officers the tools they need to respond to an active shooter on campus,’’ schools Police Chief Billy Green said Wednesday about the tragedy.
So they can what, blow the kid away? This smells more like a tool for mass suppression, doesn't it?
The rifles were purchased to address a ‘‘critical vulnerability,’’ although there has never been such an attack at any of the 45 Fontana campuses, the chief said. The 14 officers currently carry handguns, according to police officials.
Look, it's ju$t an economic function of the totalitarian $tate.
The weapons, which cost $1,000 each, are high-powered weapons that are accurate at longer range and can pierce body armor.
The guns are stored in a fireproof safe at school police headquarters. Officers who have received 40 hours of training in their use can check them out and keep them in locked safes at high school and middle school police offices during school hours before returning them, Green said.
The guns did not require approval from the school board but member Leticia Garcia said she will ask the board to discuss the issue.
--more--"
Schools have police forces now? Our kids are so steeped in tyranny growing up its no wonder they think nothing of it in adulthood.
Here's what will put a stop to the school shootings:
"Fontana, Calif., school police get high-powered rifles" by Gillian Flaccus | Associated Press, January 24, 2013
FONTANA, Calif. — The school police force in this Southern California city has acquired 14 high-powered semiautomatic rifles for officers to bring to campuses.
Yes, you see, it's okay if authority has guns.
Fontana Unified School District police purchased 14 of the Colt LE6940 rifles last fall, and they were delivered in early December, a week before a gunman killed 26 students and educators at a Connecticut elementary school.
‘‘I think it just further solidified the need to give our officers the tools they need to respond to an active shooter on campus,’’ schools Police Chief Billy Green said Wednesday about the tragedy.
So they can what, blow the kid away? This smells more like a tool for mass suppression, doesn't it?
The rifles were purchased to address a ‘‘critical vulnerability,’’ although there has never been such an attack at any of the 45 Fontana campuses, the chief said. The 14 officers currently carry handguns, according to police officials.
Look, it's ju$t an economic function of the totalitarian $tate.
The weapons, which cost $1,000 each, are high-powered weapons that are accurate at longer range and can pierce body armor.
The guns are stored in a fireproof safe at school police headquarters. Officers who have received 40 hours of training in their use can check them out and keep them in locked safes at high school and middle school police offices during school hours before returning them, Green said.
The guns did not require approval from the school board but member Leticia Garcia said she will ask the board to discuss the issue.
--more--"
Schools have police forces now? Our kids are so steeped in tyranny growing up its no wonder they think nothing of it in adulthood.
"Buyers flood US gun shops amid fears of regulations; As Biden readies proposal, sales of weapons rise" by Michael Cooper | New York Times, January 12, 2013
As Washington focuses on what Vice President Joe Biden will propose next week to curb gun violence, gun and ammunition sales are rising sharply in the United States as people rush to expand their arsenals in advance of any restrictions that might be imposed.
People were crowded five deep at the tiny counter of a gun shop near Atlanta, where a pastor from Knoxville, Tenn., was among the customers who showed up in person after the store’s website halted sales because of low inventory. Emptying gun cases and bare shelves gave a picked-over feel to gun stores in many states.
High-capacity magazines, which some state and federal officials want to ban or restrict, were selling briskly across the country....
Gun dealers and buyers alike said the rapid growth in gun sales shows little sign of abating. Sales began climbing dramatically after President Obama’s reelection and soared after the Dec. 14 shooting at a school in Newtown, Conn., prompted him to call for new gun laws.
Then once again, the government agenda has backfired!
December set a record for the criminal background checks performed before many gun purchases, a strong indication of a big increase in sales, according to an analysis of federal data by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry trade group....
Some groups that support gun control urged the White House not to focus too much energy on an assault weapons ban, which they said could be hard to persuade Congress to pass. Officials at Third Way, a left-leaning research group in Washington, urged Obama to save political capital for higher-priority goals like universal background checks and cracking down on gun trafficking....
That's their answer to everything.
"Weapons ban doomed in Congress, NRA says; Hints it has enough support to block bill" by Eileen Sullivan | Associated Press, January 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Newtown tragedy has transformed the country and Americans are ready for stricter gun laws.
There is your agenda-pushing narrative.
President Obama has made gun control a top priority....
We are bringing the troops home?
Currently, a person is banned from buying a gun from a licensed dealer if the person is a fugitive, a felon, convicted of substance abuse, convicted of domestic violence, living in the United States illegally or someone who ‘‘has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution.’’
States, however, are inconsistent in providing information about mentally ill residents to the federal government for background checks.
Keep that in mind for later, fellow Massachusetts citizens.
And the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said some 40 percent of gun sales happen with no background checks, such as at gun shows and by private sellers over the Internet or via classified ads.
Police in several Connecticut towns — and across the nation — say they have seen a large increase in gun permit applications since the Newtown shootings last month....
Better have that agenda-pushing pistol checked because it keeps backfiring.
Gun dealers around the country have seen a spike in gun sales after the school shooting and renewed talk of a federal ban on assault weapons.
In Newtown, the talk about Sandy Hook Elementary is turning from the massacre to the future.
Some Newtown residents say the school should be demolished and a memorial built on the property in honor of the victims. Others believe the school should be renovated and the areas where the killings occurred removed, like Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., did after the 1999 mass shooting....
Ah, yes, Columbine and those unanswered questions.
--more--"
And after telling us they were shooting at our feet....
"Obama to seek background checks, assault weapon ban; Even Democrats in Congress are likely to resist" by Philip Rucker | Washington Post, January 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama will formally announce the most aggressive and expansive national gun-control agenda in generations Wednesday over an issue that has riven American society for decades. Obama’s far-reaching firearms agenda has at best tepid support from his party leaders and puts him at odds with Democratic centrists.
Days before his second inauguration, Obama is seeking to drive the guns debate in a way that contrasts with the accommodating approach he often took during his first term. In the weeks ahead, he will try to rally popular support to bend the will of lawmakers to vote for what he considers the ideal, not merely the possible.
????????
Not what Biden indicated! They shot at your head instead!
And do they really need to bend wills when it is supposed to be right?
‘‘Yes, we can reduce gun violence, but it’s something we have to do together,’’ White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday. ‘‘It’s something that cannot be done by a president alone. It can’t be done by a single community alone or a mayor or a governor or by Congress alone. We all have to work together.’’
Actually, it can through the executive orders he's issued!
Obama will begin the effort Wednesday in the presence of children who wrote him letters after last month’s mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Conn., and who have been invited to Washington to attend the rollout.
Sick. Whatever happened there the kids have become a prop.
In addition to background checks and restrictions on military-style guns and ammunition magazines, Obama is expected to propose mental health and school safety initiatives such as more federal funding for police officers in schools, according to lawmakers and interest group leaders whom White House officials briefed on the plans.
After they laughed at the NRA for such a suggestion?
Obama also is expected to present up to 19 executive actions that his administration will take, the lawmakers and advocates said. These steps include enhanced federal scientific research on gun violence and a modernized federal database system to track guns, criminals and the mentally ill.
But he can't do anything alon.... sigh.
Most of these actions are relatively narrow in scope, however, and specialists have said that without accompanying legislation they will do little to curb gun violence, at least in the near term.
Then why even bother? They must do more than what the agenda-pushing paper implies.
After Vice President Joe Biden led a monthlong task force, Obama decided to push an expansive agenda that in many ways represents his liberal base’s wish list rather than proposals that may be more politically viable to Congress.
Yup, they shot over there to divert your attention, Americans.
Obama’s proposals amount to the most comprehensive federal regulations of the firearms industry since 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson acted in the aftermath of assassinations.
Cut from the web:
"My starting point is not to worry about the politics," Obama said. "My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works, what should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that we're reducing the incidents of gun violence."
Health care, single payer, shut up, sir!
Lawmakers, he added, "are going to have to have a debate and examine their own conscience."
You and yours!
Back to verbatim print.
Already, there are warning signs about the hurdles Obama’s agenda may face on Capitol Hill. Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told a Nevada PBS affiliate last week, ‘‘Let’s be realistic.’’
And here he went and filed a full-up bill!
More than half of all Americans say the Newtown shootings have made them more supportive of gun control, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday. An assault weapons ban has the support of 58 percent of Americans, the poll shows.
Congress will take up the proposals next week, first in the Senate, then in the House.
Obama’s proposals are sure to face stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association, which released a video Tuesday on its website calling Obama an ‘‘elitist hypocrite’’ for having the Secret Service protect his daughters at school while voicing skepticism about an NRA effort to place armed guards in all schools.
Yeah, NO S***!!!!!
Even some of the administration’s allies on Capitol Hill, including Democrats, have criticized parts of Obama’s agenda.....
Misfire!
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"Obama launches gun control effort" by Matt Viser and Brian MacQuarrie | Globe Staff, January 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s proposals came on the same day as Governor Deval Patrick unveiled his own plans to tighten what are already some of the nation’s toughest gun control laws....
And yet some sections of Boston are still war zones.
The day’s actions illustrated how gun control is moving forward on three tracks: Obama’s use of his executive powers to enhance gun laws; calls for congressional action that face stiff resistance; and states attempting to craft their own measures....
The gun control debate has flared since the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 young students and six educators. Obama noted that more than 900 Americans had been killed by guns in the month since those shootings.
Only 30 a day in this vast country with it's drug-dealing dens of poverty and gangs?
Following the ceremony, Obama signed 23 executive actions that took effect immediately and did not require congressional approval.
It sure looks like a dictatorship to me.
Those measures will increase enforcement of existing laws, allow federal agencies to research gun violence, and encourage states to supply more information for federal background checks.
Why weren't they being enforced in the first f***ing place?
But the more sweeping changes will need congressional action, and some Republicans swiftly rejected Obama’s call for an assault weapons ban.
“Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook,” said Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican. “President Obama is targeting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence.”
I think the causes of violence are a media and government that glorify it when it comes to war.
Advocates for the Obama proposal have said it might have made a difference in the case of Sandy Hook because it would have limited the amount of ammunition that could be loaded into a semiautomatic rifle at one time.
Except the rifle was left in the car. And there they go again. It isn't even a gun grab, it's an AMMO GRAB!
In a sign of how bitter the debate is likely to be, on Wednesday morning the National Rifle Association released an online advertisement calling Obama an “elitist hypocrite” because his two daughters are protected by gun-carrying members of the Secret Service.
“Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the ad asks, referencing his daughters Sasha, 11, and Malia, 14, without showing their images.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called the ad “repugnant and cowardly,” and several hours later Obama tried to answer to such tactics....
White House officials said their proposal would cost $500 million to implement. Obama also called for additional safeguards in schools, in part by putting an additional 1,000 police officers and counselors in schools. The NRA, by contrast, has called for armed guards in all schools.
Where is that money coming from in an age of austerity?
During the announcement, Obama was joined by four young children who wrote to him in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings. One urged changes, another said she felt bad for the parents of the children who died, and a third said she was scared such a shooting could happen again.
In the audience were gun control advocates, members of Obama’s Cabinet, and family members from the Sandy Hook shooting. At one point, Obama spoke of a child’s painting that now hangs in his private study. The painting was made by a girl who was killed in Newtown; the girl’s father gave the picture to the president.
This is sick.
The White House believes that the nation’s conscience was so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook that politicians will have no choice but to act.
And that is what MAKES THIS WHOLE THING STINK!
Obama urged Americans to contact members of Congress, something that he plans to continue doing to exact pressure for action....
I will, and I'll tell them no to the ammo grab and disarming of the people.
The recommendations came from a task force that was spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden, who as a US senator in 1994 led the last major effort to address gun control....
On Wednesday, Obama noted that President Ronald Reagan — whom he called “one of the staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment” — supported the assault weapons ban in 1994.
Republicans have voiced support for some aspects of Obama’s proposal — including the enhanced background checks — but have been largely opposed to an assault weapons ban.
As Washington continues to grapple with the issue, several states, including Massachusetts, are crafting their own response.
“The time for action is now,” Patrick said in a statement. “All of us must pull in the same direction to bring about real change in this state and across the country.”
Given all we have seen over the last decade, from wars to bank bailouts and beyond, whenever I see an agenda-pushing politician say such things my first instinct is to say stop and hit the brakes.
The governor’s plan also would require state courts to share mental-health records with a national registry used for background checks.
Yeah, turns out Massachusetts doesn't do that(?).
Patrick is also seeking an additional $5 million for enhanced mental-health treatment and training programs to increase public safety and provide better access to services.
I guess that will come out of the new taxes.
The money would bolster mobile teams that respond quickly to individuals in crisis; train teachers and school administrators to spot and address mental illnesses; and double the funding for crisis-intervention training for police and other first responders.
The governor also is seeking new ways for police and prosecutors to quickly respond to — and punish — anyone caught with weapons on school grounds. The plan would give authorities the right to arrest without a warrant “in order to quickly diffuse a dangerous situation on school property.’’
Who ever thought that the liberal, Democratic, one-party state of Massachusetts would GO FASCIST, huh? I was always told that was the province of icky Repuglicans.
Patrick’s proposals are part of growing momentum on Beacon Hill to pass stricter gun control measures in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who has said he expects such legislation to pass, is creating an independent panel to study the state’s laws, compare them with others nationally, and suggest improvements.
The state currently has the nation’s lowest firearm fatality rate, at 3.1 per 100,000 people, according to John Rosenthal, the founder of Stop Handgun Violence, an advocacy group based in Newton. The US average is 10.6.
Because we are good people, not because of the gun laws, and most of the carnage comes from Boston.
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"Supporters of gun control split on tactics to pass bills; Push for quick acts collides with deliberative plan" by Jennifer Steinhauer | New York Times, January 18, 2013
WASHINGTON — Democrats are united on one point: For any legislation to reach the Senate floor, Obama will have to put the full weight of his office and bully pulpit behind it.
Without constant public pressure and a concerted effort to woo conservative Democrats, especially those up for reelection in red states in two years, there will be little impetus, numerous Democrats said, to move legislation along. Democrats also may be forced to decide whether to endure a lengthy legislative battle on guns at the expense of such priorities as immigration.
Recognizing that public pressure is going to be required to move such contentious measures, the president’s former campaign aides in the weeks ahead will convert the Obama for America reelection operation into a different kind of outside political group led by Jim Messina, the president’s former campaign manager, according to people familiar with the plans. The new organization will be able to raise money for grassroots campaigning on behalf of the president’s second-term agenda, they said.
Acting like the Party.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader who has spearheaded other legislation desired by the White House, will take a more passive role with any gun legislation, aides to Senate Democrats say, letting the administration set the agenda and allowing senators to press ahead through their committee leadership or interest in the issue.
Reid, who was deeply disturbed by the shootings last month in Newtown, Conn., is a long-standing gun rights supporter, a necessity for any statewide official from Nevada.
Obama’s efforts on Capitol Hill will provide the most crucial test of whether the mass shooting in Newtown in which 20 children were killed, and the obdurate response from the National Rifle Association, has ushered in a new chapter in a legislative era that began in 2004 with the expiration of the assault weapons ban....
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has a mixed legislative record on guns, but he said the first hearings he would schedule in the new Congress would be on gun legislation. Leahy was the only senator to attend an event with Obama this week to announce his push on gun laws.
Senate Democrats break down into roughly three groups when it comes to guns.Those such as Dianne Feinstein of California and Lautenberg have long labored to strengthen gun control laws.
On the other end of the spectrum are such members as Max Baucus of Montana, whose NRA scorecard is indistinguishable from those of conservative Republicans.
A third group, many of them up for election in 2014, have expressed tepid support for any gun regulation and will be a likely impediment to some if not all of Obama’s agenda....
--more--"
Background check from Massachusetts came in:
"Mass. keeps mental health data from FBI gun checks; State law prevents sharing of records on mental health" by David Uberti | Globe Correspondent, January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — Despite its reputation as a state with strong gun-control laws, Massachusetts for more than a decade has not provided mental health records to an FBI database for gun background checks, the result of a 43-year-old state law prohibiting such sharing.
Massachusetts has submitted just one mental health record to the federal database since 1999 — apparently as a test — at the same time that the FBI has processed 1.6 million background checks of Bay State residents who seek to buy guns from federally licensed dealers. The situation has sparked concerns that firearms could fall into the hands of the mentally ill.
Governor Deval Patrick has twice tried unsuccessfully to get legislative approval for the sharing of mental health data. Both attempts failed to gain traction in the state Legislature amid opposition from gun-rights activists.
The governor renewed the effort earlier this month when he proposed universal background checks that include mental health information. Supporters said that momentum for revising the measure may have reached a tipping point in the wake of the shooting of 26 people in Newtown, Conn....
Failure to share such records could lead to firearms in the hands of the mentally ill, potentially endangering lives, said state Representative David Linsky. In 2007, for example, the mass shooter who left 32 dead at Virginia Tech would have presumably been flagged had Virginia submitted its mental health records to the database.
Thus calling the whole Virginia Tech thing into question.
“Right now, when somebody in Massachusetts tries to buy a gun or obtain a license, mental health history isn’t even taken into account,” the Natick Democrat said.
Under federal law, an individual deemed “a mental defective” in court or involuntarily committed to a mental institution cannot purchase firearms. To prevent such people from buying guns, the FBI can match mental health records of prospective buyers at federally licensed vendors through a database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. Created in November 1998, the registry has helped deny guns to about 1.5 million illegal buyers.
But to make that system effective, state governments must share data that include proof of citizenship, criminal and drug abuse histories, and mental health records.
While some states have taken the initiative in either organizing or requiring state agencies and courts to share mental health information, a handful including Massachusetts have lagged behind, leaving the system’s archive of mental health data wrought with holes.
Not anymore.
California has shared more than a half-million records, and states including Texas, Virginia, and New York have submitted hundreds of thousands more. Fourteen states, however, shared less than five mental health records, and Massachusetts has submitted only one, according to a Mayors Against Illegal Guns report. It also noted that Massachusetts is one of 22 states that do not have official policies enabling or requiring the submission of such information.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is cochaired by Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston and has called for states to pass laws permitting or requiring the submission of mental health information to an FBI database.
“Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, but there’s always more we can do,” Menino said in a statement. “Not every person is fit to purchase a gun.”
************************
The bill Patrick recently unveiled not only called again for data-sharing with the federal NICS system, but it also sought to close the so-called “gun show loophole” allowing private purchases without background checks. The legislation mirrored the position of President Obama, whose gun control proposals included millions of dollars in incentives for states to participate in the system.
Massachusetts’ infrastructure to share mental health records with the federal database is in place, allowing for a more seamless transition to full participation if, and when, legislation is passed, said Curtis Wood, a senior official with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security....
As if they were justing waiting for the right time(?) to wheel it out!
Some advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, however, are wary of expanding the NICS database, contending that it could jeopardize privacy and further stigmatize the mentally ill.
And who would want to do that? Never mind the blood and bodies on the floor.
Obama tried to allay those concerns last week....
He didn't.
"Gun rights advocates decry proposed laws" by Brian Ballou | Globe Staff, January 20, 2013
Drawing a crowd of hundreds that spilled onto Beacon Street on Saturday afternoon, firearms advocates waved Revolutionary-era flags, hark back to historic battlefields, and quoted founding fathers as they decried legislation filed last week by Governor Deval Patrick that would place limits on certain firearms transactions and high-capacity cartridges.
Yes, the Founding Fathers knew the importance of firearms in protecting freedom from a tyrannical government.
“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed!” yelled Yang Li, 42, an engineer from Canton who was the first speaker at the ‘Guns Across America Rally’ in front of the State House, drawing up to 700 people. The rally was conceived through social media that spawned similar noontime rallies in other cities across the country, according to organizers.
Boston’s two-hour demonstration was peaceful. The crowd was composed of newly licensed to longtime gun owners, as well as hunters, hobbyists, instructors, and gun club officials. A common message was struck in about a dozen speeches: that the right to bear arms is under siege like never before and that an armed, law-abiding populous is a human right that is necessary to suppress tyranny.
“The Second Amendment is the protection against a tyrannical government,” said Li, who in 1989 stood up to the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square, where hundreds of protesters were killed. He became a naturalized US citizen in 2007 and a “proud gun owner” a year later.
Yeah, China has gun control.
Mike C. Follo, 38, a gun owner for most of his life, started hunting at the age of 12. He is the lead firearms instructor at Down Zero Training, a firearms school based in Shrewsbury.
Follo said the tragic school shooting at Newtown, Conn., has caused a backlash against gun ownership that is unwarranted.
“It’s time when the infringement . . . [is] getting to a level where we have to stand up now, there is no more sitting on the sidelines and hoping for someone else to stand up for you. There was a tragic event that happened, two events, and it triggers a big backlash against law-abiding people. They try to take my gun every time somebody does something stupid with a gun.”
They came for the Jews, but because I wasn't a Jew.... then they came for the Communists, and because I wasn't a Communist.... you can look up the rest yourself on Google.
*************************************************************
Jesse Mermell, a spokeswoman for Patrick, said the recent tragedies “have shown the need for these common sense reforms, which respect the rights of responsible gun owners while also providing reasonable regulations to protect public safety.”
But Follo disagreed with the proposed magazine limits, repeatedly calling it “stupid.” He dismissed the legislation, saying it would have no effect on preventing gun violence.
“Not one of the things in it would have stopped one of those tragedies,” he said.
Many people who showed up at the rally also criticized similar legislation filed Friday by Natick state Representative David Linsky, a Democrat, titled “An Act to Reduce Gun Violence and Protect the Citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Both petitions will be referred to a legislative committee and a public hearing will be scheduled.
“I honestly believe there’s not one or even a small number of solutions to reducing gun violence,” Linsky said in a phone interview Saturday. “I accept the fact that we’re going to have guns in society.”
His proposal would give law enforcement more discretion to approve or deny gun licenses and he is pushing for a requirement that military-style weapons be stored at gun clubs or shooting ranges.
And if it is needed against an intruder?
“The strong majority of people in the Commonwealth are in favor of more gun control. Only about 8 percent of the [state’s] population are licensed gun owners,” he said. “The people at the rally and those sending me angry e-mails from all over the state aren’t representative of the people across the state or country or most of the licensed gun owners. They aren’t offering solutions, they are knee-jerk opposition.”
Ross Schacher, director at-large of the Northborough-based Gun Owners’ Action League, which counts its members at about 14,000, said Patrick’s and Linsky’s proposals “very simply will not work.”
“We simply have to tell all of our legislators that we will not stand for this anymore,” he said.
--more--"
Also see: The gun toll we’re ignoring: suicide
I'm sick of the Globe's dumb ideas.
"Gun advocates rally across US" January 21, 2013
Thousands of gun advocates gathered peacefully over the weekend at state capitals around the United States to rally against stricter limits on firearms, with demonstrators carrying rifles and pistols in some places while those elsewhere settled for waving hand-scrawled signs or screaming themselves hoarse.
And they still can't hear you.
The “Guns Across America’’ rallies on Saturday were promoted primarily through social media. The size of crowds at each location varied — from dozens of people in South Dakota to 2,000 in New York. Large crowds also turned out in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington state.
Some demonstrators in Olympia, Wash.; Phoenix; Salem, Ore.; and Salt Lake City came with holstered handguns or rifles on their backs. At the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, attendees gave a special round of applause for ‘‘the ladies that are packing.’’
The rallies at cities nationwide were organized by Eric Reed, an airline captain from Texas who in November started a group called ‘‘More Gun Control = More Crime.’’
They were held just after President Obama unveiled a sweeping package of federal gun-control proposals.
In Austin, Texas, the crowd swelled to more than 800 amid balmy temperatures. On the steps of the state Capitol, speakers took the microphone under a giant Texas flag with ‘‘Independent’’ stamped on it.
At the New York state Capitol in Albany, 2,000 turned out for a chilly rally, where they chanted ‘‘We the People,’’ ‘’USA,’’ and ‘‘Freedom.’’
The event took place four days after Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the nation’s toughest assault weapon and magazine restrictions.
--more--"
"Assault weapons ban filed in Congress" by Jennifer Steinhauer | New York Times, January 25, 2013
WASHINGTON — Senator Dianne Feinstein, harnessing the shock and grief over the shooting of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., last month....
Since the expiration of a ban on assault weapons in 2004, there has been a deep reluctance among lawmakers to revisit the issue. They cite a lack of evidence that the ban was effective and a fear of the powerful gun lobby, which has made significant inroads at both the state and federal level in increasing gun rights over the last decade.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, recently said during an interview in his home state that he was skeptical about the bill. Feinstein immediately called him to express her displeasure with his remarks.
Many lawmakers, including some Democrats, prefer more modest measures to curb gun violence, like a bill that would enhance background checks of gun buyers or focus on enforcement of existing laws....
More legislation is expected to arise over the next week or two. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat of New York, and Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, have agreed to work together on gun trafficking legislation that would seek to crack down on illegal guns. Currently, there is no federal law that defines gun trafficking as a crime....
So Fast and Furious was legal?!
--more--"
"Thousands march for gun control in Washington" by Brett Zongker | Associated Press, January 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — Leading the crowd were marchers with ‘‘We Are Sandy Hook’’ signs, paying tribute to victims of the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn....
About 100 residents from Newtown traveled to Washington together, organizers said.
Participant Kara Baekey from Norwalk, Conn., said that when she heard about the Newtown shooting, she immediately thought of her two young children. She said she decided she must take action, and that’s why she traveled to Washington for the march.
‘‘I wanted to make sure this never happens at my kids’ school or any other school,’’ Baekey said. ‘‘It just can’t happen again.’’
Once the crowd arrived at the monument, speakers called for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition and for universal background checks on gun sales.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the crowd it is not about taking away Second Amendment gun rights, but about gun safety and saving lives. He said he and President Obama would do all they could to enact gun control policies.
‘‘This is about trying to create a climate in which our children can grow up free of fear,’’ Duncan said. ‘‘This march is a starting point .’’
This from a government and media that endlessly promote when it concerns "terrorists" -- when guns have killed far more than "terrorists."
Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s nonvoting representative in Congress, said the gun lobby can be stopped, and the crowd chanted back, ‘‘Yes, we can.’’
‘‘We are all culpable if we do nothing now,’’ Norton said.
James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten cardboard sign that read ‘‘Repeal the 2nd Amendment.’’ He called it the only way to stop mass killings because he thinks the Supreme Court will strike down any other restrictions on guns.
Confirming our worst fears.
‘‘You can repeal it,’’ he said. ‘‘We repealed Prohibition.’’
That wasn't in the Bill of Rights.
Molly Smith, the artistic director of Washington’s Arena Stage, organized the march. Organizers said that in addition to 100 people from Newtown, participants came from New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia. Others flew in from Seattle, San Francisco, and Alaska.
The march organizers support Obama’s call for gun control measures.
‘‘With the drum roll, the consistency of the mass murders, and the shock of it, it is always something that is moving and devastating to me. And then, it’s as if I move on,’’ Smith said. ‘‘And in this moment, I can’t move on. I can’t move on.
‘‘I think it’s because it was children, babies,’’ she said. ‘‘I was horrified by it.’’
Palestine, Iraq, all the places we bomb, sigh.
After the Connecticut shootings, Smith began organizing. The group One Million Moms for Gun Control, the Washington National Cathedral, and two other churches signed on to cosponsor the march....
Are you sure the URL didn't say before?
Lawmakers from the District of Columbia and Maryland rallied the crowd, along with Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund and Colin Goddard, a Virginia Tech massacre survivor.
Va. Tech had tight gun control on campus. That's why the shooter killed so many.
Goddard said he was shot four times at Virginia Tech and is motivated to keep fighting for gun control because what happened to him keeps happening — and nothing’s been done to stop it....
I know how he feels regarding so many other issues.
--more--"
"Gun control group rallies in Boston" by Dan Adams | Globe Correspondent, January 26, 2013
The rally, organized by the Boston chapter of national grass-roots group One Million Moms for Gun Control, coincided with similar events across the country. A march at the Capitol Building in Washington drew thousands of participants, according to the Associated Press....
Many members of the crowd said they were participating in activism for the first time, spurred by the shootings in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The rally took place on the same spot where, a week earlier, about 700 gun rights advocates had gathered to protest gun control legislation proposed by Governor Deval Patrick. Saturday’s rally drew about 200 people. Organizers attributed the smaller turnout in part to bitterly cold temperatures, but also to the group’s relative newness: One Million Moms for Gun Control was founded in December just one day after the Newtown massacre....
What about all the websites founded days before?
One Million Moms for Gun Control assert that a majority of Americans want action on gun control, but are being drowned out by a vocal minority of gun rights advocates and the NRA.
It's the same with US foreign policy, too.
The group hopes to counter the NRA’s influence by stockpiling political capital behind state and national politicians who support gun control measures.
Ilyse Levine-Kanji, a 46-year-old Westborough mother of two, said, “Voting for gun safety measures is the moral thing to do, but I think it will also be the right thing to do in terms of a congressperson keeping his or her seat.”
Is that a threat?
The Newtown school shooting loomed large over the rally: Organizers cited the tragedy as a source of momentum for the movement and for their own activism....
Almost as if it were an.... gulp.... opportunity.
--more--"
"Gun ban supporters expect tough fight; Feinstein asserts most Americans are behind law" Associated Press, January 28, 2013
"Gun ban supporters expect tough fight; Feinstein asserts most Americans are behind law" Associated Press, January 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is leading the push to restore an assault weapon ban, acknowledged on Sunday that the effort faces tough odds to pass Congress because of the powerful gun lobby, but she said most Americans are behind the idea.
I've seen some polls that say no, but..... certainly the gun sales fly right in the face of it.
Of course, the AmeriKan media would never lie or misrepresent, right?
Feinstein, a California Democrat, who introduced a bill on Thursday [and] was interviewed on CBS and CNN, said the NRA, which spends large sums of money to defeat such laws, is a pawn of those who make weapons.
Much like Congress is to the war-profiteers and weapons manufacturers, 'eh?
I've seen some polls that say no, but..... certainly the gun sales fly right in the face of it.
Of course, the AmeriKan media would never lie or misrepresent, right?
Feinstein, a California Democrat, who introduced a bill on Thursday [and] was interviewed on CBS and CNN, said the NRA, which spends large sums of money to defeat such laws, is a pawn of those who make weapons.
Much like Congress is to the war-profiteers and weapons manufacturers, 'eh?
“The NRA is venal. . . . The NRA has become an institution of gun manufacturers,” she said.
The NRA disputed her characterization.
“The NRA is a grass-roots organization,” spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. “We have more than four million dues-paying members and tens of millions of supporters all across this country. Our political power comes from them. Decent and logical people would understand that.”
That's why they need to be disarmed.
That's why they need to be disarmed.
***************************
Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, also urged lawmakers to consider mental health issues.
Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, also urged lawmakers to consider mental health issues.
“When I hear some of this conversation, I think that we’re looking at symptoms, we’re not looking at the root causes,” she said....
That's the AmeriKan solution to everything.
That's the AmeriKan solution to everything.
In the wake of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn....
Seemed like a good thing to link in the wake of the agenda-pushing.
"President Obama recruits police to gun debate" Associated Press, January 29, 2013
"President Obama recruits police to gun debate" Associated Press, January 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — Among the chiefs at the meeting were those who responded to the worst US shootings of 2012 — Aurora, Colo., where 12 were killed in July; Oak Creek, Wis., where six died in a Sikh temple assault; and Newtown, Conn., the scene of the rampage that left 20 first-graders and seven adults dead.
So the Sikh shooter was another false flag psy-op, 'eh?
So the Sikh shooter was another false flag psy-op, 'eh?
--more--"
"Sides drawn as hearings on guns begin; Giffords makes poignant pleas in divisive debate" by Jennifer Steinhauer | New York Times, January 31, 2013
WASHINGTON — In the end, chances for a ban on assault weapons dimmed, and compromise seemed elusive.
The hearing, the first held by the Senate Judiciary Committee since the mass shooting last month in a Newtown, Conn., school, began on a poignant note as former representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically injured in a 2011 shooting, addressed the committee slowly and with passion, essentially begging them to come up with legislation to address gun violence.
‘‘Too many children are dying,’’ she said to a packed, hushed hearing room. ‘‘Too many children.’’
After Giffords’ brief testimony, the four-hour hearing quickly devolved into a litany of competing statistics and chilling anecdotes, laying bare the deep national divide between those who believe gun availability contributes to the nation’s most violent crimes and those who think it helps prevent them.
Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, spoke ruefully of the many years he has spent trotting to Capitol Hill to testify about gun violence, and grew irritated under the questions of friend (Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a vocal supporter of gun rights) and foe (Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, where an honor student in Chicago was fatally shot hours before the hearing).
LaPierre said he did not support the measure that appeared to be gaining the most support among both parties — enhanced background checks for gun buyers — raising the prospect that perhaps even modest changes to gun laws would be hard to accomplish.
‘‘Universal background check, which sounds, whatever,’’ he said, ‘‘ends up being a universal federal nightmare imposed upon law-abiding people all over this country.’’
LaPierre’s strong defense of existing guns laws, which he argued were poorly enforced, and his occasional pique were a contrast with Giffords....
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, chairman of the committee who has a record of supporting measures like an assault weapons ban but also of defending the rights of gun owners, said: ‘‘No one can or will take those rights or our guns away. But lives are at risk when responsible people fail to stand up for laws that will keep guns out of the hands of those who will use them to commit mass murder. I ask that we focus our discussion on additional statutory measures to better protect our children and all Americans.’’
I'm just at such a point with this lying government that there are no buts anymore.
I'm just at such a point with this lying government that there are no buts anymore.
Leahy promoted his own bill, which would give law enforcement officials more tools to investigate so-called straw purchasing of guns, in which people buy firearms for others.
Related: Fast and Furious Conspiracy Confirmed
If they aren't going to go after that (and they haven't)....
But he did not push for a ban on assault weapons, and except for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who has her own bill in which a ban renewal is central, most people’s comments focused on background checks and mental health provisions to prevent the wrong people from obtaining guns.
Related: Fast and Furious Conspiracy Confirmed
If they aren't going to go after that (and they haven't)....
But he did not push for a ban on assault weapons, and except for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who has her own bill in which a ban renewal is central, most people’s comments focused on background checks and mental health provisions to prevent the wrong people from obtaining guns.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, set the tone for gun-rights advocates, by noting that while the tragedy of Newtown has shocked and rattled the nation, the events should not ‘‘be used to put forward every gun-control measure that has been floating around for years.’’
That's what I find so distasteful from the other side. Seizing on tragedy to advance an agenda reminds me so much of 9/11, and this has all the hallmarks of another inside job if not outright fraud.
That's what I find so distasteful from the other side. Seizing on tragedy to advance an agenda reminds me so much of 9/11, and this has all the hallmarks of another inside job if not outright fraud.
--more--"
"Massacre survivors take lead in calling for gun law changes" by Brady Dennis | Washington Post, February 03, 2013
WASHINGTON — From Blacksburg, Va., to Tuscon to Aurora, Colo., to Oak Creek, Wis., to Newtown, Conn. —
Translation: the intelligence agency operation we call a newspaper is literally telling us what killings were covert psy-ops.
Translation: the intelligence agency operation we call a newspaper is literally telling us what killings were covert psy-ops.
He is among the growing number of victims who have put their lives on hold....
Like bloggers?
--more--"
And look who is shooting guns for sport:
"Photo evidence offered of Obama’s gun hobby" New York Times, February 03, 2013
And look who is shooting guns for sport:
"Photo evidence offered of Obama’s gun hobby" New York Times, February 03, 2013
WASHINGTON — When President Obama mentioned last week that he had picked up a new hobby — skeet shooting at Camp David — it was a surprising disclosure by a president whose main identification with guns these days is his effort to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
To some, Obama’s newfound enthusiasm for shooting clay pigeons also seemed a bit suspicious.
So on Saturday, the White House tried to silence the skeptics by releasing a photo of Obama shooting on the range at Camp David in August. In the photo, the president is squinting down the barrel of a gun, moments after pulling the trigger.
Same as the photo of him swimming in the oil-fouled Gulf of Mexico when he wasn't swimming in the Gulf of Mexico?
Same as the photo of him swimming in the oil-fouled Gulf of Mexico when he wasn't swimming in the Gulf of Mexico?
The White House said the photo was taken on Aug. 4, Obama’s 51st birthday. But it offered no further details on whether his target practice was a regular hobby.
The notion of the president taking aim at targets flung into the air captivated some in the political and social media worlds at a time when he is pushing Congress to enact sweeping restrictions on high-capacity rifles and magazines.
Not me. I view this as fluff and distraction.
Not me. I view this as fluff and distraction.
Conservatives scoffed, comics mocked, a congresswoman challenged him to a skeet shooting contest, and the White House tried to make the whole matter go away....
I will be doing that here.
--more--"
So what are the answers to gun violence, readers?
"Gun makers reach out to children" by Mike McIntire | New York Times, January 27, 2013
NEW YORK — Threatened by long-term declining participation in shooting sports, the firearms industry has poured millions of dollars into a broad campaign to ensure its future by getting guns into the hands of more, and younger, children.
The industry’s strategies include giving firearms, ammunition, and money to youth groups; weakening state restrictions on hunting by young children; marketing an affordable military-style rifle for ‘‘junior shooters’’; sponsoring semiautomatic-handgun competitions for youths; and developing a target-shooting video game that promotes brand-name weapons, with links to the manufacturers websites.
The pages of Junior Shooters, an industry-supported magazine that seeks to get children involved in the recreational use of firearms, once featured a smiling 15-year-old girl clutching a semiautomatic rifle.
At the end of an accompanying article that extolled target shooting with a Bushmaster AR-15 — an advertisement elsewhere in the magazine directed readers to a coupon for buying one — the author encouraged youngsters to share the article with a parent.
‘‘Who knows?’’ it said. ‘‘Maybe you’ll find a Bushmaster AR-15 under your tree some frosty Christmas morning!’’
The industry’s youth-marketing effort is backed by extensive social research and is carried out by an array of nonprofit groups financed by the gun industry, an examination by The New York Times found. The campaign picked up steam about five years ago with the completion of a major study that urged a stronger emphasis on the ‘‘recruitment and retention’’ of new hunters and target shooters.
The overall objective was summed up in another study, commissioned last year by the shooting sports industry, that suggested encouraging children experienced in firearms to recruit other young people.
The report, which focused on children ages 8 to 17, said these ‘‘peer ambassadors’’ should help introduce wary youngsters to guns slowly, perhaps through paintball, archery, or some other less intimidating activity.
“The point should be to get newcomers started shooting something, with the natural next step being a move toward actual firearms,’’ said the report, which was prepared for the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Hunting Heritage Trust.
Firearms manufacturers and their two primary surrogates, the National Rifle Association of America and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, have long been associated with high-profile battles to fend off efforts at gun control and to widen access to firearms. The public debate over the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., and elsewhere has focused largely on the availability of guns, along with mental illness and the influence of violent video games.
Yes, I see the advertisements for the things on TV and they all seem to be these blow-away everybody type missions.
But hey, where do you think our future drone operators are getting their training?
Little attention has been paid, though, to the industry’s youth-marketing initiatives. They stir passionate views, with proponents arguing that introducing children to guns can provide a safe and healthy pastime, and critics countering that it fosters a corrosive gun culture and is potentially dangerous.
I think the wars based on lies wrapped in glory and honor have more to do with the gun culture than that; however, if kids are going to be around guns as a hobby, etc., they should be trained, right?
The NRA has for decades given grants for youth shooting programs, mostly to Boy Scout councils and 4-H groups, which traditionally involved single-shot rimfire rifles, BB guns and archery. Its $21 million in total grants in 2010 was nearly double what it gave out five years earlier.
Boy Scouts are simply early training for soldiery.
Newer initiatives by other organizations go further, seeking to introduce children to high-powered rifles and handguns while invoking the same rationale of those older, more traditional programs: that firearms can teach ‘‘life skills’’ like responsibility, ethics and citizenship. And the gun industry points to injury statistics that it says show a greater likelihood of getting hurt cheerleading or playing softball than using firearms for fun and sport.
Really?
Still, some experts in child psychiatry say that encouraging youthful exposure to guns, even in a structured setting with an emphasis on safety, is asking for trouble.
The answer is yes because of the still tell by my agenda-pushing paper.
Dr. Jess P. Shatkin, the director of undergraduate studies in child and adolescent mental health at New York University, said that young people are naturally impulsive and that their brains ‘‘are engineered to take risks,’’ making them ill suited for handling guns.
But turn 18 and it's hand 'em a gun for wars.
‘‘There are lots of ways to teach responsibility to a kid,’’ Shatkin said. ‘‘You don’t need a gun to do it.’’
Steve Sanetti, of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said it was better to instruct kids in the safe firearm use by hunting and target shooting.
His industry is well positioned for the task, he said, but faces an unusual challenge: introducing minors to activities that involve products they cannot legally buy and that require a high level of maturity.
Ultimately, Sanetti said, it should be left to parents, not the government, to decide if and when to introduce children to shooting and what sort of firearms to use.
I've come around to that point of view.
--more--"
"Father of student detained for fake ammo belt says police overreacted" by Brian Ballou | Globe Staff, December 28, 2012
The father of a Fitchburg State University sophomore expelled last week and detained for 10 days by police after wearing a fake ammunition belt on campus said authorities overreacted to his son’s “fashion statement.”
“I’m as shocked and outraged as anyone about what happened in Newtown [Conn.], but when the state troopers took my son to the station, they should have realized that the ammunition belt was fake and given him a $25 fine and let him on his way,” Peter Despres, father of Andrew K. Despres, who was arrested Dec. 18 for trespassing and carrying ammunition, said Thursday.
Despres said his son wore the belt as an “expression of his fashion sense.’’
Then why didn't someone call the fashion police for his bad sense?
“He’s been wearing that belt for over a year on campus and never had any problems,” Despres said in a phone interview. “I think the police have ruined his reputation, and he was expelled from school on a bogus charge. His name has been slandered and his reputation has been dragged through the mud.’’
Andrew Despres, 20, of New Bedford, was expelled on Dec. 17 for violating the university’s zero-tolerance policy for allegedly possessing marijuana and a knife in a dorm room. He was told to contact school police before returning to campus to pick up belongings....
--more--"
Related: Man takes on Mass. gun law
Maybe we could also arm the teachers?
"Gun group offers training for Utah teachers" by Paul Foy | Associated Press, December 28, 2012
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — English teacher Kevin Leatherbarrow holds a license to carry a concealed weapon and does not see anything wrong with arming teachers in the aftermath of the deadly Connecticut school shooting.
‘‘We’re sitting ducks,’’ said Leatherbarrow, who works at a Utah charter school. ‘‘You don’t have a chance in hell. You’re dead — no ifs, ands, or buts.’’
Gun-rights advocates in Utah agree and offered six hours of training Thursday in handling concealed weapons for 200 Utah teachers in the latest effort to arm teachers to confront school assailants.
Better than the ALICE approach.
Better than the ALICE approach.
In Ohio, a firearms group said it was launching a test program in firearms training for 24 teachers. The Arizona attorney general proposes a change in state law to allow an educator in each school to carry a gun.
The moves come after the National Rifle Association proposed putting an armed officer at each of the nation’s schools after a gunman on Dec. 14 killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
There are already police officers in some of the nation’s schools. Parents and educators, however, have questioned how safe the NRA proposal would keep kids, whether it would be economically feasible, and how it would alter student life.
Some educators say it is dangerous to allow guns. Among the dangers are teachers being overpowered for their weapons or students getting them and accidentally or purposely shooting classmates.
‘‘It’s a terrible idea,’’ said Carol Lear, a chief lawyer for the Utah Office of Education. ‘‘It’s a horrible, terrible, no-good, rotten idea.’’
Utah educators say they would ban guns if they could, but legislators left them with no choice. State law forbids schools, districts, or college campuses from imposing their own gun restrictions.
Educators say they have no way of knowing how many teachers are armed. Gun-rights advocates estimate 1 percent of Utah teachers, or 240, are licensed to carry concealed weapons. It is not known how many do so at school.
That's what the hubbub is all about?
Gun-rights groups say teachers can act more quickly than police in the critical first few minutes to protect kids from the kind of deadly shooting that occurred in Connecticut.
That's what the hubbub is all about?
Gun-rights groups say teachers can act more quickly than police in the critical first few minutes to protect kids from the kind of deadly shooting that occurred in Connecticut.
‘‘We’re not suggesting that teachers roam the halls’’ for an armed intruder, said Clark Aposhian, of the Utah Shooting Sports Council. ‘‘They should lock down the classroom. But a gun is one more option if the shooter’’ breaks into a classroom, he said.
The council waived its $50 fee for the training. Instruction featured plastic guns. A major emphasis was on training people who are facing deadly threats to announce that they have a gun and retreat or take cover before trying to shoot.
--more--"
So that vets can't fight back or lead us.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
NRA likens universal checks to gun registry
A national registry of gun owners could lead to taxes on guns or to confiscation.
That sure does seem where we are headed if you read the agenda-pushing AmeriKan press.
UPDATE II:
‘‘Weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers,’’ he said. The president spoke from a special police operations center in a city once known to some as ‘‘Murderapolis.’’
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
NRA likens universal checks to gun registry
A national registry of gun owners could lead to taxes on guns or to confiscation.
That sure does seem where we are headed if you read the agenda-pushing AmeriKan press.
UPDATE II:
‘‘Weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers,’’ he said. The president spoke from a special police operations center in a city once known to some as ‘‘Murderapolis.’’
