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Friday, May 3, 2013

The Gun Issue is not Going Away





Like so many Americans, my heart aches for the family of a two-year-old  that was accidentally shot killed by her five-year-old  brother. I was surprised what, Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory said “In this part of the country, it's not uncommon for a 5-year-old to have a gun or for a parent to pass one down to their kid," he said.  I was  equally surprised that a gun manufacturing company  makes a gun and a commercial that caters to juveniles.  There's a couple of manufacturers who cater to children but this one puts out rifle they call “Cricket.” They make a pink version for the young girls.

I know that children who are raised in rural areas learn how to drive a tractor at a very young age, and they are also taught how to shoot and respect a weapon at that age. I don't know the complete story of the Kentucky shooting and I'm not one to start placing blame on the parents because lord knows they have to live with this situation for the rest of their lives.  My blame is saved for gun manufacturers who make money by enticing young children. How are they different from the cigarette manufacturers who make commercials targeting teenagers?

Last night I saw a very civil discussion between a liberal host, Chris Hayes and a gun enthusiast, Dan Baun who just wrote a book titled “ Gun Guys.”Dan Baun started by saying that he was angered by Chris Hayes’s intro where he described a gun culture out of control.Mr. Baun said that he was taught to shoot at age five, but his dad kept the rifle in a locked cabinet where children and thieves would have trouble gaining access to the weapons.  Mr. Braun is not a member of the NRA because he said they've been radicalized since 1977.  Come to think of it, 30 years ago we didn’t equate the second amendment with the NRA.  In those days the NRA magazine was called the “American Rifleman” and its prime objective was to teach gun safety.  I remember back in the sixties where the country kids had a rifle in their pickups mounted behind the seats and  no one paid attention.  The liberal and the gun enthusiast agreed that everyone should go through a background check to purchase a weapon and that we need to improve a system that allowed 237 people on the terror watch list to purchase a gun.  

This issue continues to be about the $22 million the gun manufacturers will lose if any gun legislation prohibits the purchase of a weapon in any form or fashion.  Poll numbers do not frighten legislators because as Senator Flake of Arizona said, “ those are just polls that are promoted by left wing websites.” Those were the same polls that stated that Senator Flake was going to win a close election.  I am completely surprised that Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire told her constituents that she was afraid that background checks would lead to a  Federal registrar. Senator Ayotte used to be a prosecutor, and we all know how they go through the law with a fine-tooth comb. I'm 100% positive that she knows that the bill included a 15 year prison term for anyone who kept  a record of the background check.  She's hoping that her constituents were too dumb to notice and but her approval has dropped 15% since she cast that no vote.  Oh when you practice deceive. 

The NRA and will hold its annual convention tonight in Houston Texas and  they have chosen all the right wing crazies to speak to their crowd. Glenn Beck is the keynote speaker but in between the convention will feature the likes of Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum,Ted Nugent,Ted Cruz, and governors Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry. They will also hear from their newly elected president, an Alabama lawyer named Jim Porter. He'll fit right in because Porter said that the Civil War was about northern aggression, Obama was a fake president, and that Mr. Holder and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were“trying to kill the Second Amendment at the United Nations.” The vendors selling tinfoil hats and kool aid will make a killing.  You've got to know that the media will attend the convention just so they can report on the ridiculous comments coming from that crowd.  The NRA convention is CPAC on steroids. The speakers can’t wait to get to the gun show where they will get their picture taken displaying them holding an AR15. Nothing shows intelligence more than sporting a couple of bandoliers, a Bowie knife clinched between your teeth while holding an AR15 at the ready.

As I understand, another version of a background check bill will be submitted but this time it'll be much simpler.  It won’t be submitted until after the immigration bill, and it will just include commercial sales like gun shows and the Internet sales.  There's nothing like dumbing and watering down a piece of legislation to get Congress’s approval.  We'll look back on this chapter of history and call it the era of wooziness.

16 comments:

Mike said...

I saw a few clips from Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum speeches taking bows for defeating a bill that 90% of American citizens wanted....What did Rick do?

born2Bme said...

There's a age limit for alcohol, tobacco, driving, buying certain sinus medicine, spray paint, and number of other things, and now there is no age limit to own guns?
I WILL blame the parents for this. Who in their right mind buys their pre-school child a .22? At what age did this child get that gun?
The Second Amendment should not outweigh the need for intelligence and common sense, and laws to make sure intelligence and common sense are figured into the equation.

Mike said...

Agree,there's an age limit for everything.

I would like to think that parents were always around when the gun was used only to get the boy familiar with a gun and locked up afterwards.....Being used As a toy in an unsupervised situation should not be acceptable.

I don't think the Second Amendment has ever been in jeopardy ; that's just a scare tactic used to fool the uninformed.

Edith Ann said...

If we let little kids have guns, why in no time at all they will be demanding to have access to alcohol and tobacco! From there, it is just a hop, skip and a bip to 7 year olds cruising the streets in their cars!

Seriously, instead of becoming a more reasoned and insightful society, we have decided that a few, very few, will dictate to the rest of us. The pushback on that is growing, though. If the 2nd Amendment were the most important one, I think it would have been called the 1st Amendment!

We have fallen down the rabbit hole, Alice!

Mike said...

I only hope buying a gun for a 5-year old is the rare exception rather than the accepted rule much like the snake-worshiping Baptists in that part of the country.

Very true,gun ownership is continuing to fall,so the gun owners who used to buy one or two guns every few years are now buying 50 or more. You are right,that minority group is a loud one who will always vote on that issue and they have long memories. To that group,anything less than a A+ rating from the NRA is not acceptable.

Last night I got a dose of reality when Lawrence O'Donnell and Bill Maher laughed and mocked the very thought that 44% of the GOP thinks that they have to always be ready for an armed rebellion. Really,that may have been possible in the 1700s but that's a fantasy in the 21st century because they will always be outgunned...America is not Syria or Libya.

born2Bme said...

I wonder how those folks that are hoarding guns now, figure out they have been duped by the gun and ammo manufacturers?

Mike said...

You know I never thought of the possibility of that but some never learn....The House will try to repeal Obamacare again and I've lost track of how many times they have failed.

born2Bme said...

They have to keep their "backers" happy and they have to keep the public's minds off of the other topics that they would much rather not have to deal with.
Their last vote on background checks is not going over too well with the majority of the American public.

Edith Ann said...

This will be the 37th attempt to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Mike said...

They keep trying to repeal ACA knowing full that's it is highly impossible to do get two thirds majority vote to overturn a presidential veto.

Republican Senator John Barraso of Wyoming was asked why he didn't support background checks. He went on to say that he supported a bipartisan bill that prevents the mentally ill from purchasing a gun. That's great and everyone's for that but how about funding Medicare,ACA or programs that will help the mentally ill;not so much.

They really don't have a defense because background checks have been around for several years without complaints. Expanding background checks to gun shows and Internet sales should've been done long time ago And they all would've agreed to that except for the NRA threats.

Mike said...

Wayne LaPierre told the NRA crowd"residents were imprisoned behind the locked doors of their homes — a terrorist with bombs and guns just outside. Frightened citizens, sheltered in place, with no means to defend themselves or their families from whatever may come crashing through the door.
How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?
How many other Americans now ponder that life-or-death question?

#1 Who said the resisidents were imprisoned as apposed to a responsible warning?
#2 Who said Bostinians wer unarmed?
#3 How many people put their life-or-death situations in the hands of a profession police force?

The snake-oil salesman (LaPierre) is doing what the gun manufactures pay him to do.

Mike said...

You would think would at least pick up a copy of the United States Constitution before posting.

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Eula Pfenniger of Goliad wrote "I sorry don't know the mayor but I think there should be a term limit on all people running for offices. You better start standing up and fighting for your rights. Obama is wanting to get it where president can stay as long as they live. We don't won't to be control like other countries are. So get out and vote or don't complain later.
We are paying for all of there care and protection and his wife and family until they die. Stand up AMERICA AND FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS>.

It would be wise to KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and FACTS.

born2Bme said...

Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? Has that been on FOX News lately? Or maybe she got a email. People just don't come up with this all by themselves.
Goodness, you should see some of the things posted on FB. I bet people get tired of me shooting down what they post and providing a link. LOL

Mike said...

Lol....I can imagine because I get emails about the horrific lies that circulate on FB.
I used to tell those people who wanted to quote right-wing web sites as their source "I 'm too old to swap fairy tales.."

The Constitution is not a 700 page document;the full context can be carried in your shirt pocket....I have a copy on my iPad ,so there's no excuse to make stuff up.

Speaking of FB,I see where that format won't prevent one from using multiple aliases.
I saw where one poster used the same words and phrases to criticize the same local official......Do they actual think they are fooling anyone?

born2Bme said...

The funny part about those FB images and lies are that not one of the people that posted them, responds back to me.

Mike said...

I'm not surprised that they don't respond to you, born because that would mean they would have to be prepared to back up their statements....They are using guerrilla tactics..They make outlandish claims hoping to turn a few who may be on the fence.

It's sorta like James Carville propping up Ted Cruz for president this weekend. James just wants a beatable candidate for Hillary.Nothing would please the Democrats than Ted Cruz with an open mic. James knows the GOP prefers boisterous over intelligence. The media is eating it up right now.