Front Page  »  

Rational gun safety talk advocated

December 18, 2012

Ami Bera

A new California congressman said Monday that he hopes last week’s school carnage in Connecticut will generate meaningful discussion about gun safety measures and “give us the courage to engage in the conversation.” (Sacramento Bee)

Democratic Rep.-elect Ami Bera told the newspaper that he believes efforts by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to rekindle interest in a federal assault weapon ban is a “good first step.” The physician emphasized that he also seeks improvements in mental health services to help and better identify potentially dangerous individuals.

“We have to have the courage to have the conversation,” Bera said. “It is not an infringement on someone’s rights if you ask them a few questions.”

And in Sacramento, state Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) is introducing legislation today to alter “the easy accessibility to firearm ammunition that fuels gun violence and criminal activity.”

De León was the sponsor of successful 2009 legislation requiring thumbprints and other information from gun buyers, a law eventually struck down by a Fresno Superior Court judge.


Loading...
Subjects:             
Related:


143 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Rather than bigoted, second hand BS let’s just read the quote:


“NRA STATEMENT


12/18/2012


The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters – and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.


Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting.


The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.


The NRA is planning to hold a major news conference in the Washington, DC area on Friday, December 21.


Details will be released to the media at the appropriate time.”


Rf. http://www.nra.com


0

NRA Breaks Post-Newton Silence: ‘Prepared to Offer Meaningful Contributions to Help Make Sure This Never Happens Again’

Announces Friday news dump conference…

By BRAD FRIEDMAN on 12/18/2012 3:51pm PT

After just over four days, the terrorist-enabling NRA con-men have decided to finally break their complete silence following last Friday’s mass shooting which killed 20 children and 7 adults in Newtown, CT. The killer used assault weapons and high-capacity magazines the NRA had long fought to make available to just about anybody.


In a terse statement released this afternoon, the group’s leadership claim they are “prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.”


While their claim is welcome, it remains to be seen if a) they actually mean it and b) if they will actually call for gun safety policies supported by the vast majority of their membership, or if they will continue serving only as mouth-pieces for the U.S. arms industry.


The statement notes the group will hold a news conference this Friday, December 21 — the Friday before Christmas — which Washington Post’s Greg Sargent aptly describes as “the ultimate Friday news dump.”


0

BDA since Columbine

Acceptable losses per anti gun control advocates.

April 1999 – two teenage schoolboys shot and killed 12 schoolmates and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before killing themselves.


July 1999 – a stock exchange trader in Atlanta, Georgia, killed 12 people including his wife and two children before taking his own life.


September 1999 – a gunman opened fire at a prayer service in Fort Worth, Texas, killing six people before committing suicide.


October 2002 – a series of sniper-style shootings occurred in Washington DC, leaving 10 dead.


August 2003 – in Chicago, a laid-off worker shot and killed six of his former workmates.


November 2004 – in Birchwood, Wisconsin, a hunter killed six other hunters and wounded two others after an argument with them.


March 2005 – a man opened fire at a church service in Brookfield, Wisconsin, killing seven people.


October 2006 – a truck driver killed five schoolgirls and seriously wounded six others in a school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania before taking his own life.


April 2007 – student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 15 others at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, before shooting himself, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the United States after 2000.


August 2007 – Three Delaware State University students were shot and killed in “execution style” by a 28-year-old and two 15-year-old boys. A fourth student was shot and stabbed.


December 2007 – a 20-year-old man killed nine people and injured five others in a shopping center in Omaha, Nebraska.


December 2007 – a woman and her boyfriend shot dead six members of her family on Christmas Eve in Carnation, Washington.


February 2008 – a shooter who is still at large tied up and shot six women at a suburban clothing store in Chicago, leaving five of them dead and the remaining one injured.


February 2008 – a man opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, killing five students and wounding 16 others before laying down his weapon and surrendering.


September 2008 – a mentally ill man who was released from jail one month earlier shot eight people in Alger, Washington, leaving six of them dead and the rest two wounded.


December 2008 – a man dressed in a Santa Claus suit opened fire at a family Christmas party in Covina, California, then set fire on the house and killed himself. Police later found nine people dead in the debris of the house.


March 2009 – a 28-year-old laid-off worker opened fire while driving a car through several towns in Alabama, killing 10 people.


March 2009 – a heavily armed gunman shot dead eight people, many of them elderly and sick people, in a private-owned nursing home in North Carolina.


March 2009 – six people were shot dead in a high-grade apartment building in Santa Clara, California.


April 2009 – a man shot dead 13 people at a civic center in Binghamton, New York.


July 2009 – Six people, including one student, were shot in a drive-by shooting at a community rally on the campus of Texas Southern University, Houston.


November 2009 – U.S. army psychologist Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, leaving 13 dead and 42 others wounded.


February 2010 – A professor opened fire 50 minutes into at a Biological Sciences Department faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, killing three colleagues and wounding three others.


January 2011 – a gunman opened fire at a public gathering outside a grocery in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people including a 9-year-old girl and wounding at least 12 others. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was severely injured with a gunshot to the head.


April 2 – A gunman kills seven people and wounds three in a shooting rampage at a Christian college in Oakland.


July 20 – A masked gunman kills 12 people and wounds 58 when he opens fire on moviegoers at a showing of the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, Colorado.


Aug. 5 – A gunman kills six people during Sunday services at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, before he is shot dead by a police officer.


Aug. 24 – Two people are killed and eight wounded in a shooting outside the landmark Empire State Building in New York City at the height of the tourist season.


Sept. 27 – A disgruntled former employee kills five people and takes his own life in a shooting rampage at a Minneapolis sign company from which he had been fired.


Oct. 21 – Three people are killed in a Milwaukee area spa including the estranged wife of the suspected gunman, who then killed himself.


Dec. 14 – A shooter opens fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing several people including children.


0

You ‘ain’t seen nothin’ yet.


0

I would amend the final instance by saying 28 were killed, 20 of them children.


0

Long on hysteria, short on factual details…


0

And not in a SINGLE one of the above incidents did a gun take it upon its inanimate self to kill anyone.


Humans did the killing in every instance.


0

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”


— Col. Jeff Cooper, US Army (ret.)


0

“When we are capable of loving ourselves, nourishing ourselves properly, not intoxicating ourselves, we are already protecting and nourishing society.


Because in the moment when we are able to smile, to look at ourselves with compassion, our world begins to change.


We may not have done anything but when we are relaxed, when we are peaceful, when we are able to smile and not to be violent in the way we look at the system, at that moment there is a change already in the world.”


~Thich Nhat Hanh


0

Interesting that people would do a “dislike” for a quote from one of the most-loved and clearest proponents of peace. I’ll bet if I put an unattributed quote by JC, it would also get a full XXL-sized magazine-load of dislikes!


Unbelievable!


0

This site is frequented by many who are not thoughtful or caring.


0

I don’t think it’s a matter of R.Hodin being “not thoughtful or caring.” I think others are just a tad tired of his arrogance…


0

Nice try at twisting my words/meaning. They were directed at the nra fanatics, not Hodin. You know that and it speaks volumes about your whining about others ‘not telling the truth’.

All major responsible national and state entities are calling for sensible gun control as well as taking another look at our shoddy mental health care situation. Like one of your famous benefactors said I guess we will have to pry your guns ‘from your cold dead hands’.


0

Crusader says: ” I think others are just a tad tired of his arrogance…”


As we are of of your lobbying for the nra.


Also Mr Hoden uses his real name, why don’t you use your real name?

Afraid of the truth?


0

The NRA is an excellent organization. Founding in 1871, it is devoted to defending our Second Amendment right.


0

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. >From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated


In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.


China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated


Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.


Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.


Now, explain to me again why more gun control is a good idea?


0

History is very clear. Tyrannical governments first disarm the people (or at least select peoples) of their countries before things really get really nasty.


I certainly hope that’s not why gun control is being pushed so strongly by some here in the USA. I like to think that either they’re woefully ignorant of the failure of gun control in the USA and/or they’re simply playing politics to benefit themselves personally. I suspect many are desperate to feel as if they are “doing something” and they have yet understand how to deal with the real problem — insane and violent humans.


You should add to your comments a mention of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. A group of minimally armed and untrained Jews that held the Nazis off for nearly a month as the Nazis prepared to ship them to the Treblinka extermination camp. A month with limited supplies, arms and no training! I think of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising when I hear people attack the Second Amendment with the “musket” and “nuke” theories…


0

Crusader/ oops not. choprzrul you have been found guilty of:

Reductio ad Hitlerum assorted

ad hominem commentary crusader

these comments have been deleted.

sorry for any confusion.


0

Is that you, “top” from the Tribune?


0

Crusader we ask for participation in a discussion not domination of a discussion

lately your replies lack an invitation for further discussion focusing instead on the negative personal traits you tend to project on those who have other views and experiences this tends to shut down the discussion some what. so for a time your comments are awaiting my attention, be nice.


0

Reductio ad Hitlerum charges apply to choprzrul. I made an error of omission.

the ad hominem still stands

once more to the breach

.


0

In the context of this discussion, Reductio ad Hitlerum is a valid historical reference. You see, our own 1968 Gun Control Act was written by a junior senator who was present at the Nurenberg trials. He obtained a copy of the 1938 Nazi Weapons Act and brought it back to the states.


It is a matter of public record that he requested to have that German document translated by the library of Congress. When the translated version is compared to our own 1968 act, one can plainly see that our nation’s gun control roots lie with Hitler’s actions 30 years prior.


So, yes, the root of this national discussion does track back to the Nazis. A jewish group agrees and has published materials as such: http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/GCA_68.htm


Randomly dismissing a point without researching historical context is probably difficult for moderators here, so I hope this historical context helps.


0

With 3D printer technology continuing to advance people will soon be able to print their own Glocks (the code will be all over the Internet) in their garages, buy a handful of metal parts and be off and running.


“Gun control?” LMFAO!!


0

This tragedy may be the most heart breaking thing we can recall. But… banning guns is a band aid for a bigger problem society ignores and seemingly wont deal with, mental illness. I was also amazed to hear officials try to understand why theses kids are clad in full tactical gear and body armor when they strike. Whens the last time you checked out one of your kids video games I ask?

Suppose this was a bus full of children and 6 chaperones heading on a field trip or ball game that was runoff the road by a drunk here visiting one of SLO counties multitudes of bars or wineries. His family knew he was a drunk but didn’t wanna say anything to save face.

Would they discuss banning booze, maybe cars,maybe only the ones that can cause the most damage, whatever that really means? Perhaps mandatory sobriety testing before leaving the establishment?


0
1 2 3 4