Tag Archives: Gun violence

April 17, 2013 · 4:44 PM

SENATE KILLS BACKGROUND CHECK AMENDMENT

 

Background-Check Amendment Fizzles

The Huffington Post

The Senate failed to muster sufficient support Wednesday for a gun-buyer background check bill that’s supported by nearly 90 percent of Americans, voting the measure down in a procedural vote that likely dooms any major legislation to curb gun violence.

The measure — painstakingly crafted by the bipartisan duo of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) — was seen as the key to getting the first measure in decades to address the sorts of mass slaughters that so recently horrified the country in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six teachers were gunned down, and in Auroro, Colo., where moviegoers where killed in a theater.

The amendment failed 54 to 46, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster of the measure, even as victims of the Sandy Hook shootings watched from the Senate gallery and activists at a vigil outside the Capitol read the names of people slain since then, hoping to prompt action.

Passage of the background check amendment had been seen as key because it represented a bipartisan agreement in a highly polarized debate, and would have preserved a major part of the overall bill that many advocates against gun violence saw as a minimum step toward stemming gun massacres.

Stronger measures up for a vote also appeared headed for failure, including a ban of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The only significant steps that all sides agreed on were stemming illegal trafficking of weapons and improving mental health efforts.

The background check measure would have expanded the current check system to cover sales of weapons on the Internet and at gun shows.

Democratic aides privately conceded that with the failure of background checks, the rest of the bill would likely go down. One described it as a “pyrhic victory,” noting that a majority of the Senate backed the bill that is so popular outside the halls of Congress. “It’s the farthest we’ve come,” said the aide, speaking on background to talk freely.

The aides saw little hope of it being resurrected, although leaders kept that option open.

Opponents argued that the expanded check system would have laid the groundwork for a national registry of gun owners, although the measure expressly forbid such a step with a 15-year jail sentence for anyone who tried to do that.

They also called it a useless step that would achieve little.

“Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Neb.) said.

But Toomey said his amendment would have at least been a modest step in the right direction.

“The goal was to see if we can find a way to make it a little bit more difficult for people who have no legal right to have a gun for them to obtain it,” Toomey said. “That was the goal.”

The Seante failed to meet it.

 

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March 24, 2013 · 8:07 PM

Fear and Loathing – ‘Gun Lobby Bombards Newtown Families With Robocalls Against Gun Regulations’

NRA Bombards Newtown Families with Robocalls

The amazing thing about all of this is that the NRA has the unmitigated gall to harass Newton Connecticut families like this…

The Last Of The Milleniums

‘Newtown Action Alliance — a Sandy Hook-based, all-volunteer organization working to reduce gun violence and death — reported on Thursday that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is making robocalls and sending post cards to Newtown families asking them to oppose any new measures. The messages, first obtained by Christina Wilkie of the Huffington Post, warn that “Connecticut General Assembly are aggressively forging ahead with numerous proposals that are designed to disarm and punish law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen”:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation — a group which represents gun manufacturers — has also begun airing radio ads claiming that restrictions will “punish law-abiding citizens” and threatening that gun manufactures will leave the state and take away “thousands of jobs”:

Ed. Note: Read more at Think Progress

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March 6, 2013 · 12:10 AM

They Deserve a Vote

Think Progress

Background Checks 101

Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up four gun violence prevention measures. One of them is an important bill to strengthen the background check system and mandate universal background checks so we can keep guns out of the hands of people that should not have them.

Check out this infographic for everything you need to know about how universal background checks can help us prevent gun violence.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

The latest embarrassment for the Daily Caller.

Report: number of radical anti-government groups reached “all-time high” in 2012.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died.

Poll: immigration now top issue for Latinos, who are following the immigration debate closely.

Everything you need to know about judicial nominations.

The Daily Caller’s brand of “entertainment.”

Jeb Bush followed up his triple-flip on immigration today with a flip-flop on Medicaid.

The House GOP is going after birth control — again.

OOPS: Dow hits record despite pundit predictions that the stock market would plunge under Obama.

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January 30, 2013 · 11:22 PM

An Emotional Call to Action on Gun Violence (TFC Evening Wrap-up)

What Gabby Said

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head two years ago this month in a shooting that also left six of her constituents dead, including a nine year-old girl. In the wake of the Newtown gun massacre, Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, a group that “will encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership.”

Today the Senate Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to begin formal work on a gun violence prevention bill in the next month, held a hearing that opened with a statement from Giffords. Giffords told the senators that “the time is now,” they “must act,” and must “be bold.”

Watch Giffords challenge senators to deal with America’s gun violence epidemic:

Giffords’ handwritten testimony:

BOTTOM LINE: Gabby Giffords is right. Americans are counting on our political leaders to summon the courage to take commonsense steps to address the gun violence epidemic that results in 33 Americans being murdered each and every day.

The Progress Report

The study the NRA’s top Washington lobbyist hopes you won’t actually look up.

Teenager who performed at the Inauguration last week was gunned down yesterday in Chicago.

Senator catches the NRA’s top Washington lobbyist in an epic flip-flop on background checks.

GOP senator: people need to arm themselves because GOP-forced budget cuts will mean fewer cops.

Missouri bill would force all first-graders to take NRA-sponsored gun class.

Communism, polygamy, and human cloning are more popular than NRA lobbyists’ position on gun violence.

Republican witness claims mothers need an AR-15 assault rifle to defend their children.

Meet the nine year-old girl who would likely still be alive today if high-capacity magazines were illegal.

Another shooting happened as the Senate held its hearing on gun violence.

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January 10, 2013 · 6:24 PM

Tactical Response CEO Threatens To ‘Start Killing People’ Over Possible Obama Gun Measure (VIDEO)

James Yeager

Multiply this guy by millions who think just like him..scary scenario, indeed…

The Huffington Post

One CEO says he’s willing to go to outrageous lengths to protect his right to use a gun.

James Yeager, CEO of Tactical Response, a Tennessee company that trains people in weapon and tactical skills, claimed in a video posted on YouTube and Facebook thathe would “start killing people” if President Barack Obama decides to take executive action to pass further gun control policies, Raw Story reports.

In a frenetic address to the camera, Yeager puts a call out to other gun rights advocates to “load your damn mags” and “get ready to fight” in what he claims will turn into a “civil war” if gun control measures in the country get any stricter.

SEE FULL VIDEO BELOW — WARNING ADULT LANGUAGE

Yeager’s diatribe was a response to a recent statement from Vice President Joe Biden indicating that Obama was exploring using executive orders to address gun policy. Yeager accused Obama of being a “dictator” for considering taking action without Congress.

After the massacre in Newtown, Conn. last month, Obama instituted a task force lead by Biden to come up with policy proposals to deal with gun violence no later than this month.

The Washington Post reported that the White House is considering more expansive measures to tackle gun violence than simply reinstating a ban on assault weapons and large magazines. Biden’s working group will consider initiatives such as a national database to track sale and movement of weapons and universal background checks for gun buyers.

Yeager isn’t the first gun advocate to loudly voice his opinion about potential action on Capitol Hill. On Monday, Radio Host Alex Jones went on a scathing pro-gun tirade on “Piers Morgan Tonight” claiming that, “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! Doesn’t matter how many lemmings you get out there on the street, begging for ‘em to have their guns taken. We will not relinquish them. Do you understand?!”

Yeager recently edited the video he put up on YouTube to not include his threat to “start killing people.” The original video was preserved by Raw Story and can be seen below.

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December 17, 2012 · 12:29 AM

Five Lies The Gun Lobby Tells You

None of it is true…

Think Progress

America’s seems to be in for another debate over gun regulation after the slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 27 (mostly children) dead. So it’s worth reviewing five made against regulating gun ownership in the United States:

MYTH #1: More guns don’t lead to more murders. A survey by researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health found strong statistical support for the idea that, even if you control for poverty levels, more people die from gun homicides in areas with higher rates of gun ownership. And despite what gun advocates say, countries like Israel and Switzerland don’t disprove the point.

MYTH #2: The Second Amendment prohibits strict gun control. While the Supreme Court ruled in D.C. v. Heller that bans on handgun ownership were unconstitutional, the ruling gives the state and federal governments a great deal of latitude to regulate that gun ownership as they choose. As the U.S. Second Court of Appeals put it in a recent ruling upholding a New York regulation, “The state’s ability to regulate firearms and, for that matter, conduct, is qualitatively different in public than in the home. Heller reinforces this view. In striking D.C.’s handgun ban, the Court stressed that banning usable handguns in the home is a ‘policy choice[]‘ that is ‘off the table,’ but that a variety of other regulatory options remain available, including categorical bans on firearm possession in certain public locations.”

MYTH #3: State-level gun controls haven’t worked. Scholars Richard Florida and Charlotta Mellander recently studied state-to-state variation in gun homicide levels. They found that “[f]irearm deaths are significantly lower in states with stricter gun control legislation.” This is backed up by research on local gun control efforts and cross-border gun violence.

MYTH #4: We only need better enforcement of the laws we have, not new laws. In fact, Congress has passed several laws that cripple the ability for current gun regulations to be enforced the way that they’re supposed to. According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, a series of federal laws referred to as the Tiahrt amendments “limit public access to crime gun trace data, prohibit the use of gun trace data in hearings, pertaining to licensure of gun dealers and litigation against gun dealers, and restrict ATF’s authority to require gun dealers to conduct a physical inventory of their firearms.” Other federal laws “limited the ATF compliance inspections” and grant “broad protections from lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and retail sellers.”

MYTH #5: Sensible gun regulation is prohibitively unpopular. Not necessarily. As the New Republic’s Amy Sullivan reported after the series of mass shootings this summer, a majority of Americans would prefer both to enforce existing law more strictly and pass new regulations on guns when given the option to choose both rather than either/or. Specific gun regulations are also often more popular than the abstract idea.

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December 15, 2012 · 12:15 AM

Jon Stewart Answers Those Who Say ‘Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Gun Control’ (VIDEO)

Host Jon Stewart in the studio of The Daily Sh...

Host Jon Stewart in the studio of The Daily Show in 2004 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Addicting Info

Despite the fact that mass shootings are an almost weekly occurrence these days, our country is in shock. A young man, for some reason, felt that the answer to his problems with his mother was to murder more than 26 people. It’s far too common.

Regardless, the reaction of many, especially those on the right, is silence. ‘Now is not the time,’ they say. ‘It’s too soon.’ ‘It’s disrespectful to the dead.’ To that, I say, BULLS***! There is no better time to address the degeneration of our society. There is no better time to address the fact that it has become acceptable among a small segment of society to shoot their way out of problems. There is no better time to address the fact that guns are easier to obtain than credit cards. There is no better time to address the fact that gun owners need less licensing than the person who cuts your hair.

Earlier in the week, after the shootout in a Portland, OR mall, and after a football player shot his girlfriend, on the field, Jon Stewart addressed the people saying that it’s too soon. Unfortunately in our country, there never seems to be a time when the headlines are clear of senseless gun violence. When will it be appropriate? According to the media, as Stewart says, that time is:

  • Not right after a violent event;
  • Not by a sportscaster;
  • Not during a sporting event;
  • Not under circumstances when the killer could have used his hands.

In other words, it’s never appropriate, so we need to make it appropriate.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-10-2012/any-given-gun-day—bob-costas—fox-news

It seems that even the President agrees. In today’s press conference, he alluded to the fact that Jon Stewart is right by saying, politics aside, it’s time to “take meaningful action.” Meaningful action can only happen after having a serious discussion.

We will mourn. Our collective hearts are emptier today. We’ll hold the children in our lives a little closer, but we’ll also talk and we’ll try to find ways to make our country a little safer.

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