Sunday, December 16, 2012

Congress Cowards Fear The NRA While Insane Crackpot Gun Owners Of America & NRA Are Enablers Of Mass Murderers




Insane Crackpot Gun Owners Of America and NRA response to Mass Murder in Newton ,Connecticut is that Teachers Need To Be Armed meanwhile Saner Voices Call For Stricter Gun Regulations and changing America's underlying glorification of violence and war.


Above Photo of Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America

“Gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. Federal and state laws combined to insure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones. The only thing accomplished by gun free zones is to insure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun.” Larry Pratt
Quote from : Gun Owners of America: Gun control advocates “have the blood of little children on their hands” In perhaps the craziest response to Newtown yet, Larry Pratt calls for an end to all bans on guns in schools By David Daley at Salon.com,Dec. 15, 2012

And the opposite point of view tinged by some justifiable outrage and anger at self-serving groups such as The Gun Owners of America and the NRA
...The response of a significant component of our population in the United States is to arm the teachers, not question the underlying conditions and assumptions that brought us here. I’m not at all sorry when I say this: that’s fucking ridiculous.

I don’t mind guns, I’ve liked hunting, I’ve been known to be a pretty decent shot, but the asinine line “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is bullshit.

...Sorry, assholes, but my six year old daughter has more of a right to attend her fucking elementary school without fear. Her teacher has the right to concentrate on excellence in pedagogy and not in SWAT tactics. I have the right as a university professor to assume that when the door to my lecture hall opens, as it does five times per hour, it’s another late student, and not my long awaited chance to unholster the Glock I’m packing in order to pop off a couple untrained rounds in playing hero.
Above Quote from: There’s a Reason We No Longer Live in the Fucking Medieval Age. Dave Brockington at Lawers ,Guns and Money,Dec. 15, 2012


Schieffer: NRA most feared by Congress CBS NEWS

Chief Washington correspondent, and host of "Face the Nation," Bob Schieffer offers some perspective on the gun control debate in America.



Per usual after such a horrifying mass Murder the president and large numbers of Americans are talking about better gun control regulations but the fear is that as usual in a couple of weeks or less the whole thing will be forgotten and the Politicians in Washington will be able to get back to business as usual.

This is not just about the issue of Gun Control but as others have pointed out this is how a number of supposedly controversial issues from Gun Control to concerns over Global Warming and other environmental issues to regulating the thugs and bandits on Wall Street who have decimated the US economy and the economies of a number of other countries to the plight of the physically and Mentally disabled and the homeless and the increasing number of Americans living in poverty to the insanity of the Privatizing of the Prison Industry in America to the institutionalized racism and bigotry in America to the outrageous amounts of money poured into the bottomless pit of the US War Machine to the lies and propaganda spewed out of Washington and the Know-Nothing Mainstream Media promoting more wars and conflicts to the militarization of local police forces in America and other nations who unfortunately are following suit .

As these issues are ignored President Obama and the Democrats fear touching on any controversial issue in a forceful manner instead they continue to make backroom deals which average Americans appear to have little say in.

Issues surrounding Mass Murders in America can appear to some too complex to try to solve or even to make recommendations. But as we have discussed before some of the solutions are fairly simple if there is the political will to do so. The Gun Owners of America's insane suggestion is that all teachers and other staff at schools should be carrying firearms just in case in order to stop a would be Mass Murderer. This is based upon the false assumption that during such an incident a teacher or other staff member would have an opportunity to take down the perpetrator without causing more deaths .

To make such mass murders harder to commit there are several basic steps needed firstly stricter regulations limiting what types of weapons are available for sale so the Obama administration should at least reinstate President Clintons ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons. There also needs to be restrictions and a ban on large Magazine sizes so that a Magazine should hold no more for example than 12 shells and not 100 shells .

So a Mass Murderer would only be able to legally purchase non automatic weapons with small magazines and so couldn't just spray a room with a hundred bullets in under a minute but would have to reload which gives him a few seconds possibly to rethink what he is doing and possibly just end the shooting spree at that moment. But it also may allow some of the intended victims a chance to escape or to physically take the shooter down. Having a less powerful gun with a smaller magazine may provide more time for emergency services to arrive police , SWAT teams and other first responders.

But another basic change would be to do more elaborate background checks and longer waiting periods between purchase and being able to take possession of the weapon . Another part of the regulations and polices for buying and owning a fire arm would be to make mandatory a fire-arms safety course but the course must be the real deal and not just fifteen minute demonstration which would not cover all of the Gun safety issues involved.

Another way of stopping other fire arms deaths is to overturn the Stand Your Ground Laws which appears to just give certain people an excuse to kill someone .

But there also needs to be in America a paradigm shift from the belief that violence and using fire-arms is the only solution when in fact it should be considered as a last resort. And this is also part of a paradigm shift in the American culture away from the glorification of guns and killing . War for instance should be treated as a response as a last resort and that it is better to avoid such conflict when one can rather than characterizing leaders as inept and appeasers for not going to war before trying other solutions.

Of course this leads us to further believe that America needs to rethink its foreign policies which lead to so much violence and the bombing and invading and occupying nations rather than trying to resolve issues using diplomacy . For instance such as Libya and now Syria and Iran the US should act less like a bully and taking an unbending stance on differences . If the USA wants to reduce the supposed threat from Iran then stop antagonizing the government of Iran calling its leaders Evil or a threat to its neighbors and the world . Try instead to reconcile differences and to treat the Iranians for instance or other possible foes or enemies with respect and not just threaten and impose draconian inhumane sanctions on Iran or any other nation until all other avenues have been exhausted .



“The NRA is the enabler of mass murderers”: In the wake of today's shootings, Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler says we need to wage "war" on the gun lobby By Alex Seitz-Wald at Salon.com, Dec. 14, 2012

New York Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler called for a “war” on the National Rifle Association in light of the mass shooting in Connecticut today in an interview with Salon, saying the gun lobby group is the “enabler of mass murderers.”

Nadler, a rare fierce advocate of gun control on Capitol Hill, said the shooting should be a wake-up call to our “crazy attitude to guns” and the power of the gun lobby. He noted that other modern industrialized countries like the U.K., Sweden and Germany witness fewer than 50 gun homicides every year, compared to the roughly 10,000 people killed here. The difference, he said, is that they have “rational gun control regimes,” while we can barely even discuss gun control thanks to the power of the gun lobby.

“Al-Qaida killed 3,000 people in the World Trade Center in 2001. The United States went to war because of that. Because of the NRA, we’ve lost 10,000 people last year unnecessarily. It’s time we went to war,” he said. “And you have to say the National Rifle Association is the enabler of mass murderers. And we’ve got to stomp on them instead of kowtowing to them.”

Nadler said he was cautiously hopeful about President Obama’s statement this afternoon that, “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

“I presume he meant that he will take a leadership role in supporting reasonable gun control measures. I hope that’s the case,” Nadler said. “I can’t think of any other meaning … Either it’s empty rhetoric, or it means he’s going to support strong gun control legislation.”

Nadler, who put out a statement today saying “NOW” is the time to talk about gun control, said Americans should demand that their member of Congress “declare themselves” on these issues. He mentioned modest gun control reforms, such as a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the shooting today; a ban on high-capacity magazines that hold dozens of rounds; and microstamping bullets to help police identify homicide suspects.

Most members are scared to get on board, he acknowledged. “The usual suspects introduce the usual legislation. They get a number of co-sponsors and most people stay away from it because of the politics,” he sighed.

“It only takes political courage because the NRA makes people toe the line against the majority view of the country. It’s time the majority stood up and said enough already. And the majority should have a motive because any of us could be a victim tomorrow,” he said. Indeed, Americans strongly support a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and slightly favor stricter gun laws.

“I would hope that these more frequent mass murders would change that politics,” he added. “This is so heartbreaking, and so terrible that this kind of thing happens. And happens routinely now. I think the next time it happens it isn’t even going to be as a big a headline as it used to be. It’s becoming routine.”



Gun Owners of America: Gun control advocates “have the blood of little children on their hands” In perhaps the craziest response to Newtown yet, Larry Pratt calls for an end to all bans on guns in schools
By David Daley at Salon.com,Dec. 15, 2012


The advocacy group Gun Owners of America know exactly how the Newtown massacre might have been averted: Guns in schools.

And in the hours after the tragedy, Larry Pratt, the group’s executive director is calling on state and federal lawmakers to overturn any bans on guns in schools. More hauntingly, he is suggesting gun control advocates “have the blood of little children on their hands.”

Here is his statement:

“Gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. Federal and state laws combined to insure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones. The only thing accomplished by gun free zones is to insure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun.”

The Gun Owners of America claim a national membership of 300,000 people.

Republishing Full article : A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill By Lucinda Marshall December 16, 2012 "Information Clearing House"

The Sandy Hook massacre isn’t just about the need for gun control laws, it is about a culture that condones the killing of children and teaches children that killing is okay.

It is about a country addicted to violence on television and movie screens.

It is about cuts in education spending.

It is about giving the military free access to our schools where they regale our children with romanticized delusions of military righteousness.

It is about environmental and health policies that expose our children to all manner of toxins in the air, land and water.

It is about thinking we have the right to kill children with drones or by dropping toxic munitions on their countries that cause birth defects and miscarriages.

It is about saddling our children with crippling education debt and no prospect for jobs.

It is about telling boys (and men) they have to be tough and to fight and kill for what they want or think is right.

It is about a national policy that denies children basic rights and systemically teaches them that violence is okay.

And it is about a media so insensitive that it thinks it is okay to shove a microphone in the face of young victims in the name of sensationalized 24/7 cable “news” while under-reporting the root causes of this tragedy.

Sandy Hook did not happen because of a lone, disturbed young man and it is not an isolated incident. It is an epidemic and we are all to blame. And today (and tomorrow and every day after that) is the time to confront this self-inflicted tragedy.

And a fairly angry response to the idea that the reason these mass murders keep happening is that not enough American citizens are packing heat when in schools or universities or movie theaters or churches, Mosques, Synagogues and temples or in the malls or in restaurants and bars.

There’s a Reason We No Longer Live in the Fucking Medieval Age. Dave Brockington at Lawers ,Guns and Money,Dec. 15, 2012


It took less than 24 hours, but the NRA-sponsored argument to “arm the teachers!” is being field-tested, as noted by Erik, and as illustrated in a charming graphic, circulating on facebook, extolling the virtues of a “staff heavily armed and trained . . . any attempt to harm the children will be met with deadly force”.

Ultimately, such an asinine, idiotic argument serves to defend a mythic mis-interpretation of our 2nd Amendment rights. So let’s talk about the rights that we do have, or should have, in a modern society.

Sorry, assholes, but my six year old daughter has more of a right to attend her fucking elementary school without fear. Her teacher has the right to concentrate on excellence in pedagogy and not in SWAT tactics. I have the right as a university professor to assume that when the door to my lecture hall opens, as it does five times per hour, it’s another late student, and not my long awaited chance to unholster the Glock I’m packing in order to pop off a couple untrained rounds in playing hero.

When I go to a shopping mall in Clackamas County, where I live while in Oregon (I’m there now, indeed I arrived at PDX just a couple hours after the now forgotten Clackamas Town Center shooting on Tuesday), I have the right to not worry about not only some over-armed deranged soul taking out his frustrations and insecurities and self-perceived failures on the general population, but likewise I shouldn’t have to wonder how many of my fellow shoppers are armed, untrained, yet itching for the chance for a righteous firefight, especially after three post work beers. Because nothing makes me feel safer than eight or ten well meaning “good guys” trying to take out the one lunatic against the backdrop of 10,000 holiday shoppers.

Our response, as a society, should be to examine the multitude of reasons why these events kick off. One thing should be perfectly fucking clear, however. Introduce readily available firearms, especially those that no recreational pursuit requires, the efficiency of the slaughter increases tremendously. As we all know, on the same day as Sandy Hook, CT, a similar rampage happened in China. The lunatic in China was armed with only a knife, not two side arms and an AR4 .223.

And holy crap! No children in China died. 22 wounded. Nine went to hospital, two in serious condition.

Did I mention that no children died in China?

1 comment:

jprice said...

The constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are responsible for your own safety. But you're helpless. So everything that could hurt you has to be banned. The problem is that all the guns could be confiscated and you would still be afraid.