Imagine that you know that an active shooter event is going to happen within the next week. You know from history that you cannot enact legislation to confiscate guns and implement it in time to prevent said event. What then do you do?
All eyes are on you...
1
Dems have released a 'Assault Weapons Ban' bill. It will ban the sale, transfer, and import of ANY semi-automatic pistol or rifle. It also ban 250 specific weapons that basically covers anything else. A replica Sharps single shot, breech loading rifle made famous in "Quigley Down Under"? Banned.
You can keep what you already have. For now.
This election will not only be a referendum on a historically unpopular president but also on very unpopular GOP opposition to gun control. Hopefully progressives can overcome GOP gerrymandering & voter suppression & get a Congress ready for impeachment & gun control.
4
Well, I hope all you people raging against the NRA actually go and do something concrete about it in this coming election, like contribute money to politicians the NRA doesn't like, helping elect Congressmen and Senators who will vote for gun control. Because that's what the NRA has been doing - pumping money in to elect politicians. So until you put your money where your mouth is, nothing will happen, and you are just blowing lots of hot air.
3
What do you say to people who love their guns more than they love children?
Even their own! Can't they understand that what happened to the kids in Parkland could happen to their kids?
Apparently not.
3
Our country will be so much better off when Baby Boomers are out of power and our politics.
Reprehensible.
1
The 5 million members of the NRA and their supporters should volunteer to guard our schools. They are the ones who refuse to deny the right to purchase modifiable weapons to anyone with a pulse and money to purchase them. It is not right that communities should pay for what is the result of the desires of the NRA and supporters.
Schools could better use the limited resources they receive on programs to improve reading and math skills. As well as logic ,civics and ethics classes. Perhaps imposing a tax on bullets say a penny tax per round might be enough to provide planing for and attain the goal of safe schools. I am sure schools would find something to do with left over money.
3
Is this the moment?
Is this the moment we finally stop asking if this is the moment?
Thought that moment was in 1966 at U Texas in the Clock Tower. And on and on through Sandy Hook, Columbine etc etc.
Don't you get tired of writing is-this-the-moment stories?
This America, man.
5
I listened to the evening news regarding this topic, and certain I feel that tRUMP is pulling yet another stunt. He and the NRA are bullying the Congress?! Is that possible? Pulling the "two of us can beat one of you, easily" stunt ... yet again. The deck is stacked. C'mon Congress -- do something good without either tRUMP or the NRA.
4
This should be easy. No one walks into WalMart expecting to buy a Stinger missile or a crate of grenades or a Predator drone with Hellfire missiles.
All we want is to move rifles like the AR-15 from the civilian use to the military use category. A gun that shreds 20 human bodies in 20 seconds is a WMD. Our kids (sane or otherwise) should not be able to buy these anymore than they can buy a box of dynamite.
No one refuses to put a safety fence around a swimming pool because "pools don't drown kids, kids do".
We lock up medicines and bleach and matches--even though those are all inanimate objects.
We know the value of practicing safety with many other things that we use in our lives. Let's do the same with guns.
11
The NRA (which now stands for National Russia Association) is in complete agreement with Putin in propping up Trump no matter what. You can't tell where one ends and the other begins. The question is to what degree/how much Russian money is funding the NRA.
5
In addressing the need for gun control, I found a surprising statistic. While mass shootings were virtually unknon in the 1970’s, gun ownership rates were substantially higher back then than they are today. One of the reasons is that hunting was more popular back then. Still, there is little, if any, relationship between overall gun owners and mass kilings.
Will the Left PLEASE stop using the phrase “gun control” ????
Why not “gun sanity” or “safe guns” or “pro-life gun policy” ???
3
Safe guns are like clean coal, both concepts being based on a fiction intended to obscure a fundamentally harmful defect attributable to the product being discussed. Playing such semantic games is not helpful; plain spoken truth is. People want significant regulation of firearms as a means of reducing the harm done by easily available and minimally regulated guns. Quite simply, they want government laws and regulations that achieve "gun control."
3
The NRA loves Guns n Money and could care less about the murdered children, period. These kids are the hero's, I just hope and pray they can keep up the pressure because they are the countries best hope of sanity. There is only one answer here, ban assault and war weapons.
Here is a what a sane country does: https://www.sciencealert.com/20-year-review-of-australia-s-gun-laws-has-...
8
Shouldn't the moment have been before Columbine? The moment was actually thousands of shootings before that, but as long as the National Rifle Manufacturing Association owns congress, nothing that reduces gun sales will happen. If Congress and the NRA could shrug off Sandy Hook, this one won't be a problem.
2
Then we need a new Congress. Throw the bums out in November.
4
In this country are we an adult at 18 or 21? At 18 the government is permitted to draft and send us off to another one of their unnecessary and stupid wars. They also allow us to join the military voluntarily and then be issued a REAL assault weapon. We can vote at that age. The government is even more than happy to collect taxes and sentence us as adults if our crimes are bad enough well before then. Why then are we not allowed to have a drink or purchase a handgun and possibly in the near future any gun before age 21? How inconsistent, hypocritical, lacking in credibility and stupid. Liberals have to make up their minds and they're not going to have it both ways as they usually attempt to. If 21 is the new age for adulthood, then everything that I just mentioned belongs changed to that age. There goes a large number of their young voters who will have to wait another three years and hopefully be more mature by then to never cast a ballot for any of them. That would include those public school students throughout the country demanding gun control and blaming everyone and everything but the shooter. It's hard to be mad at them though. They learned that from their parents. May personal responsibility return to our once great country before it's to late. Allowing our freedoms to be decided by the sensibilities of criminals is flat-out dumb. In the end we will have none left.
1
Agreed.
Raising the age limit from 18 to 21 for an assault rifle is a small step in the right direction but should be number 1 of many future steps. No need for AR's at all. Being 18 is not the issue. There are plenty of disturbed people over 21. In addition, leaving the legal spigot open to purchase these weapons will continue to allow the trickle down into the black market and all but assures it will never dry up
3
I was at the Moms Demand Action rally in Atlanta last week. I support suggestions made by other readers for legislation as well as calls for NRA-owned state and national representatives to be voted out. In urging the Georgia legislature to support commonsense gun bills proposed in this session and reject others that would threaten public safety, one of the speakers at the rally said it well: Legislators, It's Now or November!
3
My comment was supposed to be in response to Trump's statement that he would have run in even if he didn't have a gun.
This is about gun control, not school safety. Freeway shootings, mall shootings, nightclub shootings, theater shootings, outdoor concert shootings, subway shootings, baseball game shootings, political gathering shootings, church shootings, government building shootings, restaurant shootings, workplace shootings, and college campus shootings have one fundamental thing in common with school shootings. They all involve easy access to guns without significant responsibility on behalf of gun manufacturers, retailers, and owners.
We require training, licensing, insurance, and acceptance of significant legal liability before we allow people to own and operate motor vehicles because we know that negligent or reckless operation of vehicles can cause property damage, injury, and even death, although that is not the purpose of motor vehicles. We should require no less of firearms makers, sellers, owners, and users, given that guns *are* designed to kill quickly and efficiently. The Bill of Rights has not prevented reasonable regulation of free speech, peaceable assembly, freedom of the press, exercise of religious rites, etc., and it should not stand in the way of regulating the trade and use of items that are intended to make it easy to kill people. It is madness to suggest otherwise and it is long past time to end that madness.
9
Columbine occurred during a federal assault weapons ban. The weapon used in Va. Tech was a hand gun. Dynamite was the weapon used in the countries deadliest school massacre.
There is no single panacea. Getting hyperbolic about gun control to the exclusion of all else won't help. You will only energize gun owners and Second Amendment defenders to the detriment of your cause.
No brainer that background checks need to be much tighter. Since many more victims are killed by illegally held hand guns, a crackdown on straw purchases needs to be implemented and any stolen firearm must be reported to law enforcement.
There have always been guns, but mass shootings are a more recent phenomenon. Why? The culture maybe?
Mental illness must be addressed as soon as diagnosed.
Schools must be secured. Armed and trained security in school may be the only solution.
My last comment may be moot in this incident, however, since all law enforcement including FBI, County Sheriff, local authorities and the school board failed miserably. Heads must roll. If law enforcement can't protect citizens, citizens will defend themselves. And semi-automatic weapons are the best option for self defense.
All sides of the issue need to calm the heck down, step back, and look for real and doable solutions.
5
When will people wake up and stop calling it Gun Control? It's a machine that can kill between one and several hundred people in a second or ten minutes. All this idiocy about the Second Amendment and hunters and protecting families and making things safer is insane. The NRA was created in the early 1870s in upstate New York to better train union soldiers to improve their ability to fight the KKK. Doesn't anyone get the irony? This whole thing is insane. The only control over guns is to make them unavailable, period. Is it not true that there is a quiet attempt to move Open Carry through Congress? Do people not see the implications? Too many dangerous situations. Think about Florida which has a Stand Your Ground culture, in which the ability of a person from Texas to carry a concealed or openly displayed weapon into a public area could lead to a deadly altercation. The possibilities are endless. Stop selling guns of all calibers and speeds and number of rounds to people of any age.
4
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It is only one sentence, yet I have found few people who can recite it from memory. Reciting it should be the first step in any discussion of gun control. In my view it is an extremely poorly written law because it is so wildly open to interpretation. Laws should be written so they are not open to interpretation. The result of this flaw is that you can legislatively and judicially maneuver back and forth for another 5, 10, 50 years or more, and still have problems because of the basic fact that your starting point, the 2nd A, is so open to interpretation. Another result of this flaw is that organizations can exploit the flaw for selfish gain, like the NRA. Think about it, if Mr. LaPierre could have his total way with us, every person in the USA who can legally own a gun would have an arsenal of weapons, and it would be completely legal. Yes, everyone, including all the people with anger issues, jealousies, short tempers, undiagnosed mental illness, you name it. Would that be a country we want to live in?
Repeal and replacement of the 2nd A, properly written, could allow citizens to own hand guns and non-automatic long guns for self defense and recreation without being too subjected to evil human behavior and damage to our pursuit of happiness. Remember the old saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
2
It is almost impossible for schools to avoid vulnerabilities. They would have to cease all outdoor activities, such as recess, sports and marching bands. Most schools have done much to limit entrances to buildings, but these are not always strictly enforced. Teachers having guns? Four trained law enforcement agents armed with handguns did not want to confront an assailant with an assault rifle, because they were out-gunned. Strong regulation and restrictions on the purchase of semi-automatic assault weapons may not eliminate their use for such horrific crimes as school shootings, but it might reduce the number of casualties resulting from such events and put law
enforcers on a more level playing field when confronting assailants. The second amendment was ratified in a day when it took several minutes to reload a single shot pistol or rifle. No private citizen needs a weapon of mass destruction for self defense or for hunting. Reasonable gun control needs to be part of the response to reduce the level of carnage that has become all too prevalent these days.
2
To get effective gun control laws, it looks like it will be necessary to turn out, i.e. un-elect, all Republicans in November. Meanwhile mass shootings and 30,000 plus gun deaths per year continue.
2
The least Congress could do is strengthen background checks. It would be a start. Example of other types of regulations; I have a FCC ham radio license. In order to obtain it I had to study manuals and pass a series of tests depending on the level I wanted to achieve. At the license examination facility, I had to to give the examiners two forms of ID, Social Security number, certificates of successful completion of previous examinations. Once I finish the exam, it is sent to the FCC and I have to wait several weeks before I receive their proper authorization and callsign. I am then listed on the FCC website for all to see. And this is only to be able to transmit a radio signal and speak with people around the world (not shoot a gun). Once I'm on the air I must ID myself every 10 minutes whether I am using voice or digital. This process is good for 10 years and then I must renew everything. So what's the point you may ask? The point is that with certain privileges comes certain responsibilities. In the case of ham radio operators, they must be good ambassadors while speaking with people in other countries. Do I like this process? Yes because it keeps out irresponsible people. At ham radio shows, even if I purchase ham equipment from a private dealer, I cannot use the equipment until I am properly licensed. There are no loop holes I can work around.
5
Automatic weapons make a truly distinctive sound, AK-47s especially, but AR-15s do as well. It may be that a Resource Officer with a handgun might want to pause a few minutes before going up against an assault rifle. Taking a knife to a gunfight is not usually a good idea, and rushing in barehanded is not the mark of a "genius".
4
Unlike an assault riffle, you can’t kill dozens in a matter of seconds with the other weapons you mentioned. If Cruz had used any one of those, most of those 17 kids and teachers would still be alive today.
1
How did we ever get to this point? Even Reagan, the "father" of modern conservatism, wanted to ban assault-style weapons. The NRA, when it was run by more rational people, agreed.
There is no reason for any civilian to own an assault weapon. You can't hunt with it in many states. You don't it need to shoot at targets, nor do you need it for personal protection. There are reasonable alternatives. All rights have reasonable limits, and the Second Amendment is no exception.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Which well-regulated militia trained Nicholas Cruz? I'd like to lodge a complaint with his squad leader.
1
"His first draft for what became the Second Amendment had said: ‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country [emphasis mine]: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person.’
But Henry, Mason and others wanted southern states to preserve their slave-patrol militias independent of the federal government. So Madison changed the word ‘country’ to the word ‘state,’ and redrafted the Second Amendment into today's form:
‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State [emphasis mine], the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.’
Little did Madison realize that one day in the future weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as ‘persons’ by a Supreme Court some have called dysfunctional, would use his slave patrol militia amendment to protect their ‘right’ to manufacture and sell assault weapons used to murder schoolchildren.”
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratifi...
1
Start with this:
-Require all gun owners to obtain a license just like a vehicle by taking safety training and testing. License needs to be renewed as often as a driver's license.
-To get license will also require thorough universal background check.
-Require all guns to be registered
-Ban all military type weapons
-Require waiting period for gun purchase
That's it. States have already implemented many of these policies. It's time for the federal government to make it mandatory in every state.
3
No! Congress will spout platitudes, wring their collective hands, make vague promises, then shuffle up to the NRA trough, collect their money and avoid doing anything useful.
They are self-serving hypocrites who will let children die without batting an eye or shedding a real tear.
There are truly monsters among us - and we have elected them
2
While this Congress may not wish to pass laws to improve the issues of gun safety, if they don't, they risk being voted out of office in November. Perhaps that will motivate them more than money from the NRA.
It would help if people would actually read the Second Amendment, which says that the purpose of allowing people to have guns is to have "a well-regulated militia" rather than self-protection, target practice, hunting, etc.
Folks, we don't need any new laws. Buying and using guns/weapons is not mandatory. It is solely the responsibility of the people to solve this problem by simply refraining from using guns. Taking responsibility for your actions is part of growing up. Acting out and fooling around until your parents come home to scold you is immature. Waiting for Congress and lawmakers to come around and agree on restrictions is kind of like waiting for the parents to come home and dole out discipline. All i can say is: Grow up America!; get rid of your silly weapons and save yourselves and your families.
There is no going back. If politicians are not supporting the people they need to be voted out. Every day we wonder where the next shooting will take place and how many good people will be murdered.
Mid terms are coming
8
Unless we insist upon a BAN of assault or tactical weapons, Congress will only ban bump stocks (an action approved by the NRA) and maybe require more in depth background checks. We saw how background checks and mental health assessments fail. We saw how many people involved with Cruz tried and failed to stop him. Waiting until 2018 to vote and try to flip Congress in the hopes of meaningful gun reform is a poor option. The longer we wait the less likely we are to succeed. We must change our gun laws now. If we don't, there may be another mass shooting before the next election. If that happens we are all to blame. Not one more innocent life sacrificed in the name of protecting the gun lobby and inflated second amendment rights. NOT ONE.
Write to your congressmen NOW and demand a ban on AR 15s. No one needs to own one of these weapons. They belong in the hands of the military, not in the hands of citizens. Offer a buy back of assault weapons, and ban bump stocks. Congress is eerily silent. But then silence on this issue is golden-the NRA is paying handsomely for it.
6
This is about school safety, not gun control. It is past time to make all schools just as safe as a local bank, a commercial airline, or county office. That means hardening the target, limited access points, armed & uniformed police. It is also about local police and FBI doing what they are supposed to do which unfortunately was not the case in FL.
1
And where is that money coming from to do this? Shall we harden every soft target so that folks can basically have unfettered access to their guns?
1
This is a dumb argument.
There were cops who had weapons who didnt go in.
There was a guard who did not go in.
Duh. Take the military weapons away from the 18yo who could simply waltz in with no training no permit no background check no nothing and kill your kid.
The NRA is selling guns not public policy. They need to be dumped yesterday.
6
The NRA should be abolished. No civilized country needs its citizens to carry assault weapons! Or handguns, for that matter.
And while there is a movement toward a more civilized country, can we also fight against the barbaric and medieval death penalty? What an embarrassment when my European friends ask me about death penalty in Virginia. And since we are at it, how about trying to also save the lives of unborn babies?
Let’s make America truly humane again!
6
ChangMaturation of the adolescent brain - NCBI - NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/
by M Arain - 2013 - Cited by 128 - Related articles
Raisinng the age to buy guns to 21 is meaningless. Medical research indicates male brain does not fully mature (prefrontal cortex where executive decision making occurs which includes controlling impulses) until age 25.
1
Teens that last week were taking the detergent pod challenge are now the experts on appropriate gun control? I think not. The shooting in Florida was a MASSIVE failure on the part of government... the FBI, local law enforcement, mental health policies and the local social services all had numerous warnings about Cruz yet they failed to do ANYTHING!!
The ultimate objective of the liberal left is to disarm American citizens...don't deny it, it is obvious by their statements and actions... and then where will we be? A disarmed America at the mercy of the very government that has been proven an abject failure.
Their next step would be to institute a one party ultra-liberal dictatorship over all aspects of our lives. Don't think so? Just look at California where this is happening NOW.... Instituted laws that effectively make it a one-party state in state and local elections and passing more laws that restrict individual freedoms.
3
Individual freedoms? The proliferation of guns in this country has trampled on my freedom. My children are not safe anywhere these days because of guns. At any given time one can be caught in a crossfire, a child can take a gun out of a mother’s purse and shoot people. Going to the park one can be shot. Too many guns in this country , all in the name of the 2nd amendment. You are gosh darn right we are going after your guns and we are not going to stop until assault weapons are banned, background checks increased with at least 30 day vetting , & Ammo sales are restricted. We live here too and have a “right” to be safe in our communities. I’m sorry you feel otherwise.
4
I doubt the teens who are so articulate and making our congresspeople look like dunces were the ones eating soap. Dream On.
Stop believing the lies of LaPierre, another draft dodger like Trump.
5
In turn-of-the-century America, getting a gun was as easy as opening the Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue. There you could get any gun you wanted at 10 bucks or so a pop. Guns were advertised for kids, for fun, for protection, for hunting…
And for Christmas. Santa was shown packing more than his sack. Guns were ubiquitous. They were de rigueur. They were part of the American tableau.
And there weren't mass shootings. Any honest examination of mass shootings must ask, "Why?" Unless we identify and understand all the variables, we will not cure the disease.
The earliest mass shooting at a school that I could find occurred on Aug. 1, 1966—The University of Texas massacre. 17 were killed and 31, wounded. The shooter had earlier murdered his wife and mother at their homes. It's the deadliest shooting on a U.S. college campus until the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007.
What happened in 70 years to produce mass shooters?
Of course there are the obvious factors: the disintegration of the family with the absent father—especially in poor, black homes, the devaluing—even the ridiculing—of ethics that comes from the top—witness the crooked pols vs our 2-tier justice.
But what I suspect is the overriding cause—Hollywood movies and silicon valley games. They don't merely desensitize boys to violence and killing, they in fact train the neuromuscular system to make boys more efficient, more effective killers.
5
Except there is a huge flaw in your thesis. Every one of the problems you list exist in all the other western democracies. The difference: the men (invariably) who go off the rails and try to kill people don’t have easy access to mass killing machines. The end result is those societies are much safer, and there is more space, time, energy and money to deal with the underlying issues.
1
Give me one reason why any civilian should have access to any high volume let alone any assault weapon!
5
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
"I think for Republicans our challenge in the next race is going to be about appealing to the suburban vote that hasn't been so goo for Republicans the last few races," said Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, citing in particular suburban women.
Changing your song & dance, modifying your act in an attempt to sucker voters one more time, I don't think is going to play well with women (or many men) suburban or otherwise. You've shown where your allegiance lies, and it's not with the people your supposed to protect and whose interests have been forfeited in the interest of NRA dollars and your desire for power.
Republicans are bad for your health all the way around. They're bad for the health of the planet, the economy, your survival in old age, access to medical care, your ability to get an education without drowning in debt, and the futures of our children, and this is the short list. Vote them out.
11/6/2018
Correct the Mistake
3
This is not a gun issue.
What is different about our society today versus 30-40 years ago? It's the culture stupid.
To ignore the impact that our culture of violence has had and continues to have on our young people, is the very definition of ignorance. Violent popular TV shows and Movies must be held accountable. Violent video games that reward children for killing must be held accountable. Lastly, parents that allow their children to be exposed to this tidal wave of violence must be held accountable. Perhaps, having a laser tag or paint ball birthday party for a youngster does not send the right message.
Again, it's the culture stupid.
5
Here is an idea, how about if we get the NSA with an emphasis on the S, and Homeland Security with an emphasis on Homeland, to secure our children and communities against "well armed militias". Since the notion of a well armed militia seems to be the pretext for allowing all these military grade weapons, I would think that it is time to expect Homeland security to protect the homeland.
Babs
2
Congress must lead this charge. Passing the "Public Concealed Carry in Congress" Bill will allow visitors to bring their guns while observing Congress and the Supreme Court in session and interacting with their Legislators. NRA-financed legislators must prove that their words are not hollow when they say the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to arm the good guys. I'm sure this will be a real hit.
1
Is seems that some corporations have shown us the way to break the stranglehold of NRA lobbyists by refusing to sponsor NRA events.
Boycott of any company that sponsors NRA in any shape of form is the best way to bring us out of such a choke hold by arms merchants. Although some tweeter claimed that NRA supporters may boycott companies that break commercial relationships with NRA, but they are only 6% of adult population. The remaining 94% can generate more business than they might lose. There is 'strength in numbers.' Each company is free to choose to support NRA, but at its own peril of boycott by the 94%.
3
Incremental changes... I think we are SO past that point.
Get real. Joseph F. Panzica's comment is right on. But to implement those changes - even a fraction of them - requires voting out of office a significant number of Republicans.
We have a lot of work to do.
1
The focus needs to be on school safety. How do we make our schools safe so this doesn't happen again.
It needs to be analyzed and then safety measures need to be implemented the same way and with the same detail that was used when we made airports and airplanes safe when they were threatened by hijackings.
What if the shooter's guns had been taken away from him after many red flags and warnings, what if he had failed a background check because his mental health issues prevented him from passing, what if he was treated for his serious mental health issues, what if all the warnings about his behavior had led to follow up, what if the age to purchase guns had been 21 instead of 18, what if there had been metal detectors at the school, what if there had been an officer posted inside the school, what if assault rifles were regulated,
#Never Again
3
All members of both the U.S. Congress and the State Legislatures need to be held accountable for articulating their position on whether semi-automatic weapons should be banned. The subject has been discussed, debated, and sliced-and-diced ad nauseam. Plenty of factual evidence exists on which to base an informed decision. To this point, every elected leader ought to be capable of stating whether they are “For” or “Against” banning semi-automatics. It is either “Yes” or “No.” Those unwilling to take a stand, who are more concerned with re-election and not alienating voters, must be sent a messages that if they are unwilling to commit one way or the other they do not deserve to hold office. The electorate deserves more than a bunch of wishy-washy leaders
1
They better fix this or get out. Everyone is sick of these shootings.
3
The reason why Congress is unlikely to act on any measure- significant, incremental, sweeping, modest, or otherwise- restricting guns or protecting against mass shootings is not that this is an election year. And it's not that the NRA is a powerful lobby. And it's not because any particular legislator or caucus is negotiating the stormy waters of their constituency's whims.
It's because there is literally no federal legislator in the United States who is even discussing any measures for gun restrictions or protecting against mass shootings, let alone actually proposing such measures.
If one talks about banning bump stocks; if one suggests raising the qualifying age for gun purchases; if one proposes longer waiting periods for gun purchases; if one hopes to make the federal background check for firearms purchases deeper and wider and more comprehensive (and therefore less Constitutionally compliant, by the way), then one is a reactionary conservative who is utterly uninterested in any gun restrictions or in protecting against any mass shootings.
I would inform a Democratic legislator just what gun restrictions are, if only I could find one.
Brian Mast Republican Representative from Florida has, IMO, the most defining statements needed to start legislation on the issues of mass shootings and regulations. His Op-Ed piece in the NY Times was the most on target and a direction that all in congress should address to in this current secession of Congress.
Nothing short of what should be done.
I'm 20 and I can't wait for my generation to take office one day. Call us 'lazy millennials', but we are, without a doubt, united and innovative when it comes to taking matters into our own hands.
2
The NRA's right to sell fear and loathing and the ability to kill a lot of people without getting blood on yourself exceeds their victim's right to live. "How the NRA Uses Fear to Sell Guns": https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-n-r-a-uses-fear-to-sell...
There's nothing "sacred" about killing, and removing yourself from the gore doesn't make it more "Christian".
Anyone can get angry, and it only takes a moment to violate the first commandment: thou shalt not kill. Guns are not an anger management technique.
Domestic abusers are infinitely more dangerous with a gun, even without shooting, as intimidation. The kids whose mother was jailed because she warned her ex by shooting at the ceiling? What part of second amendment rights did she abuse? Family values? Protecting her kids with a warning shot was illegal while those who kill under "stand your ground" is OK? I get it, a woman of color.
Don't be deceived. Part of this is about an armed minority that wants to use "second amendment solutions" if they lose in the court of public opinion - aka free and fair elections.
Their cult hero, Trump, doesn't have to tell the truth. All he has to do is recommend the short path to hell: profiteering, looting, killing, taking from the poor to give to the rich.
I have hope with those kids. They've got the truth on their side. So do the women. It's time for the aging white men who serve their donors to step down in favor of some true public servants.
2
No guns at all without training and passing an (easy) exam before the age of 28. No guns at all unless the purchaser goes through training. This would likely meet the Constitutional test and it would put a major crimp in mass murder. Once the number of events is reduced, and the number killed in each event, the "fad" of mass killings would gradually fade away and become a distant memory in American life.
Along with this, schools and police departments can implement necessary changes to reduce the likelihood that a shooter would be successful. The simplest of these would be to install a master door locking system that can be activated from the administrator's office. All outside entrance doors locked, all classrooms locked so people could get out but no one could get in (police departments would need an established way around this system).
While a very few people in some schools could, perhaps, use weapons against a shooter, the idea of arming teachers and expecting them to engage in gun battles with a shooter is not only stupid, it is a sign of accepting disaster as part of every day life. It is a shameful "solution", an admission of an unstoppable violent society. So, a shooter is stopped? What do you do about the five students who were killed by the teacher's gunfire? No big deal? If you have to have armed teachers, you can't really have education.
6
Let's not support any half way measures that accomplish almost nothing, like restricting assault type weapons to people over 21. What should we do next, no rocket propelled grenades until you are 25? Some real proposals need to be made that would actually reduce violent deaths.
Forget about the NRA. They are absolutists because it suits them and gets them lots of donations. They have also moved beyond guns to try to push our entire society in a neo-fascist direction through their propaganda.
2
There is a sea change taking place and it isn't fair to rely on the youth to do the work we adults should have accomplished at lease as recently as Sandy Hook. When Obama shed tears after losing the legislative effort (and with a Senate majority, no less) it was then - it wad THEN - that the momentum should have continued. We have to take aim at doing everything possible to emasculate the NRA from boycotts to voting and everything in between. We must find the time this time.
3
"Republicans who had run for office on a platform that included protecting gun rights would face political consequences if they changed their tune." You mean not get donor money to run against someone who does? It's always about the money not who gets the votes in the end and that's what needs to be changed in our entire political scheme.
3
Of course Congress has no passion for a gun debate.They are in session for only days and have weeks off and then return to their gerrymandered bubble.When the students' march happens on March 24 they may realize that they are up against a formidable political force.These students can vote and they are savvy in their use of social media.They have found their voice, they are millennials and they do not want to be the victims of assault rifles.
2
Term limits for all congressional members might help fix a lot of problems. At a minimum would take a lot of the tainted $$$$ out of the equation.
Yes, yes I know such an idea would never pass . . . but one really never knows . . . has in a lot of states.
One can always dream
2
Why is our administration afraid of making a national referendum with several options and let the people decide.
If today we arm the teachers will need in the future arm the doctors and nurses because episodes of shooting in hospitals and who knows maybe bus drivers, etc etc.
3
It is pathetic , and disingenuous to even entertain weak patches to what congress really needs to do ! Ban Ar15s and any like weapons for sale to civilians , ban bump stocks period , and high capacity magazines . These items are designed to kill people en masse, not for hunting nor so called sports shooting . Finally counter the NRAS propaganda and falsehoods from the Ministry of fear leader Wayne La Pierre . Tell the truth , the gun manufacturers are the ones responsible for the death and mayhem that has and will continue to happen , the money is just too good , at the expense of innocent lives .
3
NRA claims to have 5 million members and may by another 10 million sympathizers. That is 15 million out of a 250 million ADULT population of USA. But that is only 6%. One must wonder how 6% of the population can enforce its will over the other 94%, and allow mass killings to happen over and over.
The 2nd amendment needs to be read in its entirety.
May be we can hire unbiased British scholars of English language, who can explain its clear meaning, instead of being forced to believe NRA’s interpretation through their ‘hired guns’ in the US Congress and Executive branch.
NRA is not just a club of gun hobbyists, but also a lobby for gun manufacturers, who are able to buy these so called elected representatives with Blood money and Russian contributions. Hope that the special counsel is investigating the role of Russians in NRA funding too, which is clearly illegal, and help clean NRA to its old self.
2
We are nearing a juncture in American history when a disillusioned citizenry will have become so disgusted with a Congress that openly flouts the people's will to protect their big money donors, that dramatic change will be our unyielding demand.
Although I don't have faith in the GOP to turn on the Gun Lobby and do the right thing just yet, I do have faith that voters will begin to punish them at the polls. I promise to vote against any politician who fails to support common-sense gun laws.
1
Why America sticks to The Second Amendment adopted in 1791, 227 years ago. Today Americans do not live in the 18th centuries, you live in the 21st centuries.
All the rights shall be respected and so shall be gun rights. But if gun rights shall be protected, so shall be human lives. That was then, this is now. Are there those militia of those days?
These days guns are not kept or born to protect someone, rather guns are kept and born to kill a lot of innocent people.
Especially majority of the victims are innocent young students. Why they should die?
These days it’s not a matter of gun rights, it’s rather a matter of politics and money.
These days not militia but Individuals buy, own and possess guns.
Constitutions should exist to protect people’s lives and property. What has this 2nd Amendment been doing to American people? The Second Amendment has been killing people, not to protect them, not to save their lives. And while someone’s beloved husbands, wives, sons, daughters are being killed some others are earning money from gun sale.
Amend it again or repeal it!
If ‘the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’, the right of the people not to be killed by arms in the schools, in the streets, at music festivals/concerts shall not be infringed, either.
3
Americans use guns in self-defense much more often than they used guns to murder someone. The Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey shows that 235,700 Americans used guns in self-defense between 2007 and 2011, a total that works out to 47,140 incidents a year, more than four times the number (11,004) of firearms murders in 2016.
1
Banning assault rifles would have virtually no impact on mass shootings or overall gun violence. The 2016 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) shows that rifles—including assault rifles—were used in about 2.5 percent of the 15,070 murders committed that year. Most rifles used in the murders weren’t assault rifles, so you would not reduce murders by 2.5 percent by banning assault rifles. The actual reduction would be much closer to zero, since murders denied assault rifles would use other types of firearms or other types of weapons. The killer in the most deadly school shooting—Virginia Tech—used handguns. According to the 2016 UCR:
• Handguns were used in 7,105 murders.
• Knives were used in 1,604 murders.
• Unarmed killers strangled, beat, kicked or stomped 652 victims to death.
• Blunt instruments were used in 472 murders.
• Rifles (including assault rifles) were used in 374 murders.
• Shotguns were used in 262 murders.
4
Unlike an assault riffle, you can’t kill dozens in a matter of seconds with the other weapons you mentioned. If Cruz had used any one of those, most of those 17 kids and teachers would still be alive today.
1
Timothy McVeigh killed 168 and injured over 680 others without using a single firearm - he used a rental truck, fertilizer and diesel fuel and blew up a federal building.
Please stop insulting people's intelligence. These fake arguments don't cut the mustard.
There is a reason WHY military weapons are DIFFERENT than knives. Or forks. Or blunt instruments. Our soldiers are not outfitted with knives.
2
How many Congressmen have not been bought by the NRA? How many will not, at least, feel initimidated by the NRA? One may question whether an organization such as the NRA should exert influence over Congress, inhibiting, not aiding, the legislative proces.
The reason the NRA is so hard to get out of our lives is that far bigger, more destructive trade and industry groups, like Big Pharma, coal, and what used to be called the military-industrial complex fear that an awakened public might come after them next.
1
It is a start but even if a ban on new assault weapons is passed, there are millions out there that will be hidden away and will cause problems.
As such, some hardening of sites like schools and concerts makes sense but clearly the cost should be born by those with the guns causing the problem.
Good guys with guns NRA? OK, you pay for their training salary and bonus and assume liability. Or we can just raise the cost of the weapons and ammo 10X, and levy a still annual user license fee.
1
The Republicans will stall until some other subject grabs the headlines. And by the way, raising the age from 18 to 21 for purchasing assault weapons is close to a joke. Yes, it would have prevented Nikolas Cruz from buying such a gun — and that would have been great — but most mass murders over the years have been committed by people over 21 years of age. And Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook killer, used his mother's gun. There is only one real solution: ban assault weapons! No citizen needs one!
3
The gun conversation needs to take place away from the beguiling sound-bites and sloganeering that is trotted out with each new tragedy. Let us ban from this discussion all who benefit monetarily from the sale and manufacture of these deadly items. Those who have accepted payment, donations, or favor are banned from this discussion for they have already shown their true colors. Only then can the good people who own guns and those who have suffered band together and move toward a solution.
1
Remember, there are only five million NRA members, representing a total of 0.015 percent of the US population.
1
'5 million equals 0.015 percent of the U.S population'? That means that there are 33 billion people in the U.S. What?! There are approximately 325 million in the U.S. and 5 million would equal 1.5 percent...more seven times the number of DACA people. Funny how the liberals can worry so much about 700,000 DACA recipients and bash the heck out of the over 5 million, U.S. citizen members of the NRA!!
This is it for me! I am ready to give up my weapons and trust Sheriff Israel and his uniformed campaign workers to protect me and my family! Wait a minute. Well, uh, let me think about that some more....
3
Here is a place to start. Ban assault weapons. No civilized and sane country should want those in the hands of their citizens. They are not used for sport (hunting) or self defense. They are used to kill and maim people. There are an estimated 8 million now in the hands of U.S. citizens. That is a frightening. To make that number larger is beyond stupid. By the way.....could the NYT please print the list of all those in congress taking money from the NRA? That would be very useful info for voters in the upcoming 2018 midterms.
3
so called "assault weapons" like the AR-15 are used ALL THE TIME. and EVERY DAY for hunting and for self defense. Literally Every Day.
1
Gun owners who take their guns outside their home for anything other than lawful hunting is a coward.
2
Pigs fly?
If the American Automobile Association has 58 million members and the NRA 5 million, shouldn't the AAA have more say on federal legislation?
3
But AAA doesn't receive Russian and gun manufacturers money to create mayhem!
Demonizing the NRA and the law abiding gun owners they represent is a recipe for making sure nothing gets done.
5
I just gotta reply to you. You lump together "demonizing" law aiding gun owners with the NRA. That's wrong. The two don't go together. It's only the NRA which is being and should be demonized. The NRA has WAY TOO BIG of a speaking part in this debate. Remember, the NRA is TRADE ORGANIZATION whose interest, one and only, is to sell more guns to make more money. They have re-interpreted the Second Amendment and sold their reinterpretation to frightened and less educated citizens in order to perpetuate as many high tech (automatic weapons deliver a higher profit margin) weapons sales as they can. That is their primary, and only motive. Why they have a speaking part in this debate is beyond me - except that money talks. If we could clear the big campaign money from the NRA, and clear our heads, the best legislative road ahead becomes obvious - legislate big-time gun control. For example, outlaw weapons of mass destruction (like automatic and semi-automatic guns), period.
Does NRA only represent law abiding gun lovers? Think.
1
The NRA should stop acting demonically if they don’t want to be demonised.
Trump now assures us “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”
'Really believe' is his tell for his real anxiety about lying.
How preposterous is this presidency going to get ? If posing as a tough guy is all Trump thinks is necessary for his success, then, of course, this same shallow and immature perspective sets policy. That he imagines severely disturbed mass murderers are deterred by armed teachers seems to ignore that most terrorists embrace suicide. There is no deterrent for fanaticism.
Apparently, not even for Trump's & the NRA's fanaticism-- his carny showboating publicity hunger cheap trick fanaticism.
5
For years the media coverage mostly featured only gun control groups vs the NRA-- that's it. Now we need more publicity and interviews for what polls show--- millions of gun owners and even NRA members who favor stronger laws. A trend is starting.
Such as 2 recent NYT op eds:
“I Was a Marine. I Don’t Want a Gun in My Classroom.”
By Anthony Swofford, Feb 24.
And
“I’m Republican. I Appreciate Assault Weapons. And I Support a Ban.
By Brian Mast, Feb. 23, 2018
And MSNBC’S Ari Melber interviewed a woman Republican gun owner who just quit the NRA. She gave a compelling talk. NRA members don't all agree with La Pierre's irrationality.
See Google “Man destroys AR-15 on camera to support gun control in sympathy with Parkland victims.” Network news showed this video gone viral.
Millions of gun owners out there are apparently fed up. As their voices are finally publicized, they'll influence voters who’ve been vulnerable to GOP pro gun messages. Reporting of the fuller range of view may lessen polarization. This will pressure our lawmakers, and eventually weaken the gun culture as a supposed norm. A norm that fits right in with congress taking NRA money for their campaigns.
And the Parkland student spokespeople are impressive, articulate and will continue to move the country.
6
Too busy, too afraid for a difficult vote even as they are being pushed off the edge. Democrats are holding out for stronger measures and besides everyone has to focus on re-election...blah blah. People dying.
So this is being pushed back to the people. where it always ends up. Hopefully voters will come out and make this a change for the good of the country. Even with a Democratic majority in Congress, extreme good news, the President STILL would have to sign legislation into law. This president cannot be relied on.
So we march on.....there is hope with regional cooperation and individual and local action in the meantime. It's not complicated but it is difficult. It means showing those who have a very liberal interpretation of the second amendment (but nothing else), those who are clinging to what they perceive as their "rights" only and above all, that they must learn to conform to much more gun control for the rights of everyone else to live in a less violent safer society. Let's not run away from the term "gun control". Let's get the statistics and the facts out about gun violence.
4
I could do without an assault weapons ban. Congress simply needs to revoke the Dickey amendment and the gun manufacturers liability shield.
That should do the trick.
4
The Supreme Court could make an impact on this issue even without directly addressing the issue itself. If they were to disallow congressional districts to be created in a partisan political manner, but instead allow districts to be created in a more logical and non-partisan way then the balance in Congress would shift to those more likely to support stronger gun control. In PA this has just occurred when the state Supreme Court re-drew their 18 congressional districts. Currently overall votes for members of Congress split almost 50/50 between the GOP and Dems., but due to severe Gerrymandering there are 13 GOP reps. and just 5 Dems. which results in a 72% to 28% split. Not fair since 9-9 would seem a truer reflection of the voters intent.
4
Give me a break. Congress isn't going to do a blessed thing. The only way that's going to happen--and it will, eventually, happen--is when a GOP candidate runs on a platform of repealing the Second Amendment and wins. At that point, it will be all over for the NRA.
Amazing that it is taking so long. I really, really, really want to live in a country where I don't have to be afraid of getting shot or those I love getting shot, but that's where we're at. What's it doing to kids' heads, growing up in an era of mass shootings and practicing shooter drills?
Repeal the Second Amendment, then ban assault rifles and handguns, which kill more people than assault rifles. Only bona fide hunting rifles and shotguns should be allowed in homes. Those who wish to shoot handguns or assault rifles can do it at licensed shooting ranges, where the firearms don't leave the premises.
What, on earth, would be wrong with that?
6
Some people have suggested that teachers be armed and carry a concealed gun into their classrooms, just in case. But teachers are already armed: knowledge is their weapon, and it is only when this weapon is weakened that the ignorant clamor for guns! This has been the case all throughout history. Societies that strengthened their culture went undefeated, but when their convictions shook, the weight of armaments obliterated them. Rome sent its children to be educated in Greece (Athens), and even when its military prevailed, it was Greek culture and values that endured and became the foundation of Western Civilization. But it requires the courage of one's convictions to understand this and to implement it. Instead of guns in the classrooms we should clamor for better salaries for teachers so that they can teach our children the virtues of a true life of the mind and the values of culture and spirit. And if not now, when?
2
My 6 year old granddaughter was subjected to a lockdown at her school in Los Angeles 2 weeks ago. It was scary. Come on legislators - getting money from the NRA for your campaigns (that means you, Marco Rubio) has to be less important than protecting your own children.
4
I looked it up- Rubio only got $9900 last year from the NRA. Why are kids' lives only worth $10K to him?
High high capacity military style weapons have no place in society. The argument that guns don’t kill people, people kill people ISIS rendered irrelevant if a person, such as the Parkland shooter, does NOT have a gun. The system failed the students and staff at Stoneman-Douglas. Let’s not fail them again. I marched against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Am ready to march to the ends of the earth to prevent this type of preventable tragedy from recurring. Gun reform NOW.
5
We've had some success here in WA state, passing in 2014 a ballot measure to expand gun-purchase background checks and an extreme-risk protection order ballot in 2016. Both measures took money from the top and grass roots organization to pass. Now our Democratically controlled legislature is taking up additional legislation, but it continues to be a fight because of the power of the pro-gun side, who have money and passion. The stark and sickening reality of this issue is that the gun enthusiasts are well organized and extremely focused, and until average, non gun owning Americans are equally engaged, not much will get done.
1
The fact is that when Democrats controlled all three branches of Govt., they also failed to pass laws to ban assault weapons.
Is the Democratic Party willing to make make a commitment that it will not give a tickets to any one who does not support such bans? Otherwise, how can we hope for meaningful reforms!
1
It is time to take a hard look at the availability of assault weapons and large magazines. Clearly more regulation is needed to stop the massacres. To me the concept of a well regulated militia suggests limiting assault weapons to the Military and the Police. Special permits could cover citizens who need these weapons for marksmanship competition, etc. As matters stand today, no one is safe and this is intolerable.
4
I’m Korean living in Seoul, Korea. Honestly I totally don’t understand why Americans stick to The Second Amendment adopted in 1791, 227 years ago. Today Americans do not live in the 18th centuries, you live in the 21st centuries.
All the rights shall be respected and so shall be gun rights. But if gun rights shall be protected, so shall be human lives. That was then, this is now. Are there those militia of those days?
These days guns are not kept or born to protect someone, rather guns are kept and born to kill a lot of innocent people.
Especially majority of the victims are innocent young students. Why they should die?
These days it’s not a matter of gun rights, it’s rather a matter of politics and money.
These days not militia but Individuals buy, own and possess guns.
Constitutions should exist to protect people’s lives and property. What has this 2nd Amendment been doing to American people? The Second Amendment has been killing people, not to protect them, not to save their lives. And while someone’s beloved husbands, wives, sons, daughters are being killed some others are earning money from gun sale.
Amend it again or repeal it.
If ‘the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’, the right of the people not to be killed by arms in the schools, in the streets, at music festivals/concerts shall not be infringed, either.
7
The NRA seems ok with the never ending episodes of mass violence that have plagued the country. Republican politicians say they don't a want a rush to judgement. That's funny. This has been a major controversy since the 90s when the Congress passed the assault weapons ban. Which the NRA had their congressional allies repeal. The cult of guns being the great equalizer against big gov't just shows the irrational mind set that hinders reasonable gun regulation.
10
you're taking things out of context
1
TIME IS UP! Ban assault weapons period. No place in any civil society for assault weapons. And implement gun safety laws and get rid of the stranglehold the NRA has on the legislator and Congress. DO YOUR JOBS! PROTECT LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS --- immediately implement common sense gun safety laws. The government is to protect the health, welfare and SAFETY of the general public -- our corrupt Congress/White House have failed us and continue to do so. RESIST! INSIST! VOTE!
18
You would do better to concentrate on something more practical.
There are millions of semi automatic rifles legally owned in the U.S.
They are not registered so you have no means of identifying their owners.
Many owners view your proposal to ban as unconstitutional and would refuse to comply with it (i.e. they would RESIST!).
Some states would refuse to comply or enforce your ban.
It might not withstand challenge in the courts.
Semi automatic pistols would still be out there ( the ever popular Glock 17 takes a 17 round magazine of 9MM).
2
The 2016 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) shows that rifles—including assault rifles—were used in about 2.5 percent of the 15,070 murders committed that year. Most rifles used in the murders weren’t assault rifles, so you would not reduce murders by 2.5 percent by banning assault rifles. The actual reduction would be much closer to zero, since murders denied assault rifles would use other types of firearms or other types of weapons.
1
So what do you suggest?
If senators and representatives were elected to a single, substantial term in office, each would be free to vote according to her or his conscience and we would make a great deal of progress as a country. As it is, they are consumed by non-stop fundraising, which in turn allows them to be "bought" by corporations and special interests, such as the NRA. Why should we have a presidential term limit yet not impose one on members of Congress and state legislatures? A term of 6, 8 or 10 years would seem quite attractive if legislators knew they'd be free of constantly raising money and could answer solely to the average voter. I'm no Constitutional scholar, but I doubt those who drafted that document would have approved of professional politicians whose highest priority is always, and only, reelection.
8
Nothing will change until a majority of us with sane minds force a change in the midterms...
11
STOP - STOP talking about arming teachers. This is not the way to go. STOP selling weapons of WAR !!!! School should be school with teachers teaching things like, how much POWER and MONEY and INFLUENCE the NRA has over CONGRESS. How can CONGRESS do anything but stop this?? MONEY is behind all of this as we all know and if CONGRESS sides with TRUMP to arm teachers and not stop the NRA they should all be VOTED OUT ! THEY ARE NOT PROTECTING OUR LIVES AND NOT DOING THEIR JOB ! Neither is TRUMP as we all know. The greatest nation in the world is becoming nothing with TRUMP and his glorious drain the swamp people that cant pass security cks. What a sad mess....... between the Koch brothers and the NRA and Trump and Congress we all need to get out and VOTE them OUT !!
5
.
Outlaw planes-they were used by terrorists to bring down the World trade Center.
Outlaw knives-they were used to cut off heads.
Outlaw poisons -they were used to kill Putins enemies.
Outlaw explosives-they were used to kill marathon runners in Boston.
Outlaw trucks and cars=they are used to attack people in France and New York.
And when you have finished blaming inanimate objects -tools used by criminals -there will be no more crime-because criminals and terrorists will obey your laws faithfully.
Or will they?
We are spending billions on terrorism -when cancer kills more people than all the criminals and terrorists combined. Sounds like Liliputian logic to me.
6
Sit back and make abstract arguments while children die. Your right to guns infringes on children's right to life. Why are guns more important than life?
3
What you have presented is called "tortured logic".
Do not start with your conclusion.
1
One wonders when any of you folks will notice that we license, regulate, tax, require training, and monitor every single thing on that little list.
If you think I'm kidding, try to take a big knife through the metal detector at an airport, or try to buy say a half-ton of ammonia-based fertilizer, or try blowing past the next state cop you see at 120 or so.
Or wait...you're in New York? Regular inspections and auto insurance are required to have a car.
1
There is this fantasy that keeps our country saturated in firearms. That we'll need them to rise up and "resist". But of course, you would be instantly over ran and shot to pieces/blown up in any offensive move on a citizens part using small arms in the 21st century. Your AR-15 against a Hellfire missile. Haha. If people are really interested in effective weapons against the government it's going to be drones and robotics. Nano's..a swarm of these swooping in over a battalion of soldiers spraying a knock-out gas- you could actually fight the government that way. A soldier couldn't shoot down a micro drone with a machine gun or grenade launcher- not enough or in time. Perhaps a high intensity laser fired remotely into a building on a military base..starting a fire? How could they trace that? So the argument maybe is the police..we need assault weapons confront the police? Ridiculous. Two unarmed citizens without training could always disarm a single police officer. The only situation for the use of these weapons by a revolting group would be VIP protection in a withdrawal/retreat..maybe you could engage the army long enough to escape..maybe. And that doesn't provide enough value to current society to keep these weapons legal. Ban them, we're just shooting each other with them.
4
Anyone who know anything about warfare knows that 150 million citizens armed with small arms is a formidable force,
The Taliban succeeded in defeating the Soviet army with far fewer people and not much more than small arms. How much success has our military had in defeating the successors of the Taliban... Al Queda, ISIS etc? I think this proves the point that a partially armed citizenry in the U.S. Would be hard to conquer.
We read today, in The Times, about Turkey where Recep Tayyip Erdogan, presented the weeping first-grader, Amine Tiras, in front of the cameras. and told her that "she'd receive honors if martyred"
We can't be like that country's ruler. An overwhelming majority of Americans will support laws to protect our school-age children. No more assault weapons in the hands of potential criminals. Please.
2
Congress, ban the AR-15 and similar weapons. The NRA and its minions don't like it ? Tough. They'll get over it.
4
I have a sinking feeling that most people like you calling for the ban of the AR-15 have;
-never shot a gun
-have no idea the extent to which it is like almost every other gun
-are afraid of it simply because it looks tactical (black)
-have no idea it shoots just a puny 22 caliber bullet
-have no idea that there odds of being killed by one are far lower than being killed by knives, or rocks....
2
A gridlocked congress is under pressure. They're getting no direction from Mr. Trump.
He's for gun control.........until he's not.
Trump has the obligatory meeting with parents/students on Wednesday.
Trump -Two days later at CPAC, he fans the flames by framing gun rights as major fight in 2018.... to the delight of his base.
Message to Congress: These kids mean business. They've been through hell.......and they don't want anyone else to experience it.
3
Congress has a choice, find bipartisan compromises that respect the rights of gun owners while acknowledging that the public would like to see mass shootings stop or continue to do nothing. Bipartisan solutions such as raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21, stronger background checks, requiring guns & ammunition to be locked up, and adding any rapid fire gun to the national firearms act of 1934 would respect the rights of gun owners but add stronger protection for the public. Doing nothing will eventually lead to a public reckoning as people become more fed up with thoughts and prayers and unfortunately that kind of anger means overreach that punishes the rights of legitimate gun owners as they become lumped in with the criminals using guns to commit mass murder.
We're the only country who routinely experiences mass shootings. Something needs to be done. This isn't healthy long-term for our country.
Even after the national firearms act of 1934 people still owned guns. They just didn't own rapid fire machine guns unless they were willing to go through hoops that ensured that criminals didn't continue to use Tommy guns to indiscriminately kill. Treat guns like the national health crisis that they have become.
3
On a per capita basis, the US is not in the top ten nations for deaths due to mass shootings and ranks behind France, Belgium, Norway, Finland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
2
"spending much of last week promoting an N.R.A.-backed proposal to arm teachers."
I don't think this is correct. What I heard is the NRA saying there should be armed guards. What I hear Trump say is armed teachers. Both want to fight guns with guns but Trumps suggestion is easily dismissed. LaPierre's isn't.
I never heard him advocate amateur armed guards, I heard him say we protect many public places with armed guards, why not schools? Implying the use of professionals.
Discussing that issue is worthwhile because I would be quick to ask the gun industry and the NRA to pay for said professional guards.
1
The school had an highly paid armed guard. Barney Fife hid out instead. I don’t trust my safety to others.
2
They can worry about their complicated agenda until election day when donations from the NRA becomes tipping point for voters. I certainly will not vote for anyone accepting money from the NRA and I will be talking about it. Republicans are already in trouble this election season, if they dont act, this just adds to their base's revolt.
1
There's no gridlock on gun control. During Obama's entire presidency Republican lawmakers across the country loosened gun laws. Allowing access to more and more guns was a symbol of resistance to Obama. Laws allowing open carry, concealed carry, and more were enacted from coast to coast. I'm sitting 15 feet from a man with a loaded weapon under his jacket as I type this.
It will take a political shift of biblical proportions to have any common sense legislation passed. The biggest thing by far is large-volume magazines. Just forcing an active shooter to reload once in awhile would give potential victims a fighting chance. Forget metal detectors, armed security, or reinforced safe rooms in our schools. Just get the maniac to run out of bullets every minute or so. Sadly, I would be shocked if I ever saw this actually happen.
1
Where is the outrage form our elected officials? Oh yes...it's because they have a busy agenda.
2
Since when has the Pressure of doing right- *moved* Congress?
2
The second amendment is outdated. That is non disputable. As were other sections of the Constitution, starting with the slaves were counted at 3/5th of a person. Nothing new.
Article V of the Constitution specifies how to deal with it. Propose an amendment and pass it.
Amendment can be proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Time for Congress to act.
Pass an amendment and put it to the vote of the people.
Any other way will not solve the problem, because those who hang on to the concept of every citizen having a combat capable arm at home (a model still used in Switzerland) will never accept a change brought about by others methods
The way to deal with it, is to follow article V
1
The problem is the 2nd amendment a centuries old law that hasn't evolved to reflect the times...if there was an amendment that allowed women to be held as chattel would that still be on the books.
4
The start of the economic shunning of the NRA is a hopeful sign. Constituents should tell their legislators that gun control is the number one issue on which their job performance will be judged in 2018 and beyond. I don’t care if it comes down to sheer, selfish interest on the part of representatives and senators if it means meaningful, common-sense laws will be enacted.
The kids in Parkland have earned my deepest respect and admiration. The NRA no longer owns this issue, nor does it frame the debate.
3
There is NO reason for a civilian to own a weapon that can shoot more than one bullet per minute.
If such weapons are available, they should cost at least $5000.
Also, the NRA should be taxed out of existence.
Then, these mass shootings will end.
4
If you tax the NRA out of existence, then you still have the million of us who are NRA members. I will still be here. What are you going to do with me?
KBronson: start a sportsman organization again.
The NRA ruined a perfectly good club by making it a thin front for the gun industry. Half those people are probably in their for all those coupons no one else was getting. They should not be getting tax free status anyway.
1
Maybe, in the same way as American climate change policies are being carried out by local authorities and institutions (states, cities, and universities), the battle against the weapons lobby can be fought by companies and citizens distancing themselves from the NRA. I read that 22 major companies (and counting) have already severed their links with the NRA.
Congress is making itself irrelevant - maybe not for the first time!
3
SCOTUS has repeatedly ruled that the 2nd amendment does not cover combat weapons like the AR 15
Hiding behind it like the NRA and their bought for mouth pieces do only serves to undermine their memberships’ legitimate protections -
such as hunters.
The sooner the NRA membership recognizes this fact and bolts to form a legitimate interest group instead of a gun manufacturers’ lobby
the sooner we can protect our children and stop living in fear
1
The AR-15 is not a combat weapon.. it is simply made to resemble it. It is a semi-automatic rifle like 50, 75, or maybe 100 million other rifles. It just looks tactical.
1
I once had an argument about gun control with someone from rural Wyoming. He would rather lose his son to a school shooting than have his gun rights curtailed. To him, any restriction was the beginning of a very slippery slope so no restriction was possible. This mentality is what sensible gun control is fighting against.
My husband, who owns an AR-15 and hunts with it, supports gun control only if Republicans enact it (he also knows this won’t happen until NRA money is surmounted). In his thinking, Democrats would run roughshod over the 2nd Amendment (or try to get rid of it altogether). He’s not an NRA member but for him and many other gun owners, gun rights define their politics, just as abortion is the decider for others. The Democratic Party has a pretty consistent and clear platform respectful of the 2nd Amendment but until it can counter the NRA’s effectiveness at stoking fear of the “ban all guns” front, they will get no traction with many gun owners.
The "Abolish the NRA" sign in this photo is case-in-point. Gun owners see "Abolish Guns" and see liberals willing to ignore the Constitution and ban a group because they disagree with it. This only feeds the NRA and strengthens its rhetoric. It’s easier to advocate for "freedom” than “control” so, until people can turn the tables and make freedom from being shot or living in fear (a la pursuit of happiness) more important than the freedom to own guns, the NRA will have the Constitution on its side.
2
Thanks for this. We need to understand the thinking of all sides of this issue.
About the mental health aspect to this debate: For those who think guns should be kept out of the hands of those who are mentally ill, I have two questions. Are all of the people with anger management issues- you know, the ones who actually do the killing- mentally ill? If so, what is your plan for identifying them and taking their guns away?
2
You can’t identify all of them of course and I wouldn’t want to live in a country that tried. Many of the specific incidents that have occurred could have been prevented, even with current law. One problem that I have seen is that the law enforcement and justice system wants to avoid dealing with these people at all. The sheriff department had more than 20 contacts with Nicholas Cruz, some for complaints that warranted felony charges. Had he been charged with and pled to a felony without serving any jail time, he still would have been blocked from purchasing the weapon under current law. I have long been an advocate of getting a felony conviction on the books for these recurrent bad actors even without jail time for just this reason. If a mentally ill patient hits a nurse in the ER they should get a conviction for assault. As it stands now, prosecutors can’t be bothered. Then when they buy a gun and shoot someone, they try to shift it onto legislatures for more law (that they still won’t use.)
The Las Vegas shooter was in his 60s. How does increasing the age for purchasing an AR15 from 18 to 21 help? Somebody please tell me?
These politicians must think we are stupid. No wonder Dianne Feinstein is not getting the endorsement of the CA Dems. This would be a kiss of death. We need real gun control, NOW. Get assault weapons off the streets. Get a registry. Background checks for all gun sales. And then start going after the 2nd Amendment. We don't need it anymore. Our rights to life and safety are MORE important than the rights of phobic people who believe they need guns to be safe from a government takeover.
3
The irony is, we have guns everyplace, and we also seem to be having a very bizarre government takeover.
1
"Gun Culture". A contradiction in terms.
3
I expect republicans will do nothing as usual, or they'll do next-to-nothing and claim "Mission Accomplished," as usual.
1
For this moment to become more than a moment it will take extraordinary citizen engagement. Every person who says they care about this issue should make a list of 12 personal actions they will commit to completing in the next week or two. These might include contacting state and federal representatives, signing petitions, calling companies that support the NRA, creating and attending direct action events and contributing money to multiple nonprofit groups working on sensible gun regulation. As the article states, everyone should be aware that the most likely outcome of this present moment is that nothing will change. I personally am closing in on 20 direct actions in the 10 days. We need to multiply that by millions of people.
2
It this congress can't get it done, all being controlled by the GOP, then it's time to switch gears and vote in Dems to take over congress and show some progress! All the GOP does is bicker bicker bicker. SAD. SAD. SO SAD.
1
Browsed county sheriff's dept is selling guns now. They have never been used and only dropped once.
Before anyone breaks out the champagne, folks should look at who the NRA is now promoting as its newest public spokesman gargoyle. Wayne La Pierre has been the foil for many years. His diatribes against all comers are familiar and almost amusing if not for the criminality of denial he represents. Think of the tobacco industry as a model, and now the NRA. Don't just deny, savagely attack all critics, question their motives, be proud of the carnage in defense of liberty, and so on and so on. Now we have Dana Loesch, ex promoter of beet juice of infomercial fame, a stylish looking, tough-mouthed bully in skirts. How clever of them, and a mom with tattoos no less. "Hey, I've got a gun next to my bed!" And a big Bowie knife also to castrate anyone who tries to crawl in with her uninvited? The cynicism of this organization is legion: But then, when you have many Americans swallowing its lies and cheering it on, arguing is almost impossible. In fact, you can't. The only answer back is the ballot box and electing politicians with the courage to take them down a notch or twenty. It took time, but finally the tobacco industry had to give it up, pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle claims, and finally abandon its unprincipled and totally false fabrication of evidence that claimed cigarettes were not harmful. "Guns don't kill people, people do!" is fallacious in its logic. Guns kill people. Period. In the hands of adults, children, madmen, criminals, dictators, or armies.
2
I would like to think so, but had that same thought after Sandy Hook. It went nowhere. Never thought TRump would be elected, so I have a pretty lousy prediction rate.
After Sandy Hook the Left chose to demonize law abiding gun owners and the NRA rather than working with them to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.
In 2016 the Left chose to demonize socially conservative working class whites rather than addressing their many legitimate grievances.
After Parkland the Left is again choosing to demonize law abiding gun owners and the NRA
Notice a pattern
1
If you can't reach sensible decisions on simple issues, there is not much chance of solving the really big problems that face the western world.
3
Senator Diane Feinstein introduced the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, which became law. It expired in 2004.
Senator Feinstein, please introduce this bill again, with plenty of publicity beforehand.
And those who vote against it must be targeted and removed from office in 2018. Enough is enough.
11
It's time to start pressuring congressional representatives. If they talk with a reporter, that reporter should include the amount of $$$ that the NRA has given to the politician. If they go on TV to discuss gun control, they should be asked how much they have been given by the NRA, and if they conveniently don't know, they should be told how much. Every day, over and over, every article, every TV interview, every town hall, every press conference. Time to make NRA support political poison.
11
I'm not sure what will happen with the Congress who is beholding to the money from the NRA and the Gun Lobby, but what I found really classless and disgusting is that Donald Trump is using what was a private hospital visit to a wounded victim of the high school by publishing a picture for campaign fund raising, shameless user and money grubber.
2
Congress will have to do something because the public is now expecting it. The carnage has finally reached a point that it has awoken the American people to the fact that one special interest group has been dictating gun policy to the whole country, with tragic results.
Though they will likely remain powerful, the iron grip of the NRA on the gun debate is over. The days of Wayne LaPierre being the de facto gun czar for the whole country is no more.
3
My hometown, an all Democrat working class suburb of Boston has one large gun store located in a prominent commercial strip. It is subject to Massachusetts gun laws, which are strict. Yet its website lists 544 semi-automatic rifles that can be purchased over the internet. When I learned that, it clicked. Whatever influence is wielded by Glock and Remington is matched by gun retailers, including ma and pa. And those retailers are heavily into semi-automatics. Surely, they all support the NRA and are the source of much NRA money.
The cheapest semi-automatic goes for $1,200. And sales are always booming. I was surprised to learn that the largest gun retailer, by far, is Walmart. It sells $3 billion dollars of guns each year.
Gun control might have "a moment" if the NRA were their sole opponent . But legitimate, law-abiding retailers are a whole different thing. On one side you've got high school students. On the other you've got Walmart and countless smaller retailers. (Walmart stopped selling semi-automatics in 2015). Along with retail comes the Chamber of Commerce, the largest interest group in the country.
Legitimate retailers and the Chamber have a ton of influence. It seems to me that the gun control movement needs a lot more than a moment. Gun control advocates are energized by individual mass shootings. The NRA, the Chamber of Commerce, Walmart and other gun manufacturers and retailers are out there every day.
5
If reasonable gun-control measures from Congress require some courage - especially from Speaker Paul Ryan - don't plan any celebrations just yet.
3
They should be be feeling the pressure. They failed to protect our kids after Sandy Hook, and the epidemic of gun violence in schools only got worse.
5
If you depend on Congress the answer is no. Pressuring advertisers and enablers to pull support from this group is one step. Examine the finances of the group is another. That can be done by media. La Pierre makes five million a year. Where does that money originate. If his salary is from gun lobby contribution then he needs to also be considered a lobbyist.
The contributions to this group are in the multi millions. That same money could go to employing school councilors to help kids with problems. We need to have smaller class rooms and more teachers. We don’t need more guns on campus. The same money could go for programs to help suicidal people. The same money could go to fund effective current registration programs. These measures would produce more jobs as an added bonus.
6
"Our children must die so our guns can live": GOP 2018
Guns Over People: America's Proud National Mental Illness
"Drop Dead, America !"
"Free-Dumb !"
The Party of Deadly Violence, Greed and Stupidity would like your vote.
12
The image of Marco Rubio being jeered and out-smarted by that articulate young man from Parkland emphasizes the epitome of cowardice of the many Congress members who have refused to act. It is a something we should all remember when we go to the polls in 2018.
11
Arming teachers is the most fantastical proposal yet given the high percentage who suffer from that broad catchphrase mental illness. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety agents are ingested by as many teachers as any other occupation. Give them a pass on background checks, assume mental, health and arm them.
Right, the armed teachers will be carefully selected and trained by TBD, but suppose just one of the slips through the bureaucratic cracks that all the other mass shooters have?
Burnout, stress, hanging in until retirement is mostly what we hear from teachers after low salaries.
2
Unfortunately, I think that we'll have to wait until after the midterm elections, and perhaps even 2021, before any substantive sensible gun laws are passed. However, in blocking legislation and carrying water for the NRA, the Republican Party is going to find itself out of power for a generation or more.
2
On one hand, we need major changes to gun laws on a national level to really put a dent in violence. On the other, it seems the best we can hope for are minimal changes by a few states.
The significance of the attention being paid to gun control now is that maybe SOMETHING will be done, however modest. Whether this is a real loosening of the stranglehold the NRA has over legislators that remains to be seen. In other words, is this the start or the end of the discussion and action.
2
There is a simple and practical solution: Restrict the number of bullets in one clip/magazine to 7 or less. Easy to count, no fights over "is this an assault weapon?" Changing clips/magazines takes time and there is more to manage. All these measures slow down a shooter and give others a chance to evacuate. Make it VERY hard to shoot more than 7 bullets at a time. #MakeEmReload
No self-respecting hunter is going to need more than 7 bullets to bag his quarry.
4
Maybe if Congress didn't take so many breaks they'd have more time for agenda items.
7
If we aren't past the tipping point for an assault weapons ban, then we are exactly on it. Unfortunately, another large scale assault weapons incident will happen - there are simply too many of them out there - when it does, the pressure will be overwhelming for Congress to act. The possession of semi-automatic weapons, large caliber weapons and high capacity magazines must be and will be outlawed.
1
These NRA advocates think that these young adults, students etc, won't vote and vote for a long time are in for a rude awakening. It's not about the Second Amendment or taking anyone's guns and rifles away, it absolutely about common sense.
2
"Common sense" to an urban liberal is confiscate all firearms and rely on the government to protect you and yours.
"Common sense" to a rural conservative is be prepared and able to take care of you and yours. We used to say "when seconds count the police are only minutes away". Parkland has shown us that even when the cops are there they can't be relied upon to protect or serve. They just clean up after.
What makes the inaction of this Republican Congress so heinous, is the fact that they are clearly not listening to their own constituents -- some of which who are not proponents of the NRA.
Even more amazing is the fact that they fail to take the need for some kind of Gun Control reform into consideration, even after several of their members were fired upon in a baseball field several months ago.
It makes one wonder what will it finally take for them to wake-up -- possibly only the next elections....VOTE!!!
4
The fact is that GOP Senators and Representative are listing to their constituents who show up and vote for them. The ones who vote Democrat not su much.
What the Left just can't seem to grasp is that the power of the NRA is the votes of it's membership and like minded associates.
The premise and focus of this article exposes the flaw in our approach to gun control.
Specifically, there is no “moment.” The only effective way create change is through constant incremental and coordinated pressure on both culture and law.
By example, compare the effectiveness of the spectacles of Occupy Wall Street and Tahrir Square to the Civil Rights movement and NAACP. The NAACP was engaged in a slow, organized process of perpetual rehearsal. History tells of Rosa Parks, but her actions were hardly spontaneous; there were many years of rehearsals before her specific refusal made the news. The difference between the spectacle and the incremental approach is that incrementalists rehearse and can rely on the behavior of other members of their organization when facing unexpected challenges. Incrementalist test their ground game and learn to adjust, all the while gaining experience in working together.
The spectacle in the public square is powerful, but participants arrive with little organizational experience. While we may remember and value them, without a practiced organization behind these spectacles, cultural and legal change are unlikely.
For 50 years, the NRA has been operating more like the NAACP than Occupy in pushing its agenda. If we want to oppose the NRA we need to prepare for a 50 year fight - a coordinated, organized, and evolving fight for cultural and legal change.
It cannot happen in a moment.
"Many Republicans fear primary challenges from the right in the midterm elections this fall and do not want to be pushed into difficult votes."
This is the single most sinister political calculus a person could take. Parents fear sending their kids to school, and Republicans don't even have the courage to take some action? Absolutely pathetic.
7
If Congress will do anything, it will be a fig leaf that will cover their cowardice and lack of regard for the slaughter of innocents, and they will ignore the elephant in their midst: the killing machine, assault rifles.
8
We have a long history of politicians defending the indefensible, a long history of politicians taking positions to protect a small number of people even when it hurts a large number of people. Just because we can't solve all problems does not mean we cannot try to solve some of the problems we face. Just because an action may not be 100% effective as a solution does not mean we should not try the action if it solves part of the problem.
Raising the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle to 21 will not solve all problems, but it will save lives. Increasing background checks will not prevent all mass murders, but it may prevent some. Restricting access to military grade weapons will not prevent all murders, but it will prevent some. With some 400 million guns already in circulation in America, there is no single action that can be taken that will prevent all future gun deaths, but that does not mean we cannot, or should not, take actions that make it harder for people to get their hands on weapons of mass murder. The 2d Amendment is not absolute, just as the rights guaranteed by the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments are not absolute. As one Supreme Court Justice has said, the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Nor is it a pact designed to facilitate mass murder by its residents.
8
When the 2nd amendment was written we had single shot flintlocks . Lets upgrade the law .
1
Mature high school students lead our immature congress members in finding a path out of the madness we've let take control of our nation. Thank you. You have our profound admiration.
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And our support!
2
These kids are awesome. And remember legislators, they will all be voting in just a few years.
1
Yes, yes it is. The tide has turned. Enough is enough.
6
There is no need for gridlock, all they have to do is look at history. The 2nd Amendment didn’t cease to exist and the NRA didn’t cease to exist after Congress passed the National Fire Arms Act in 1934. So the question is, was the Congress in 1934 smarter then the current Congress when they stopped the average citizen from being able to buy a Tommy Gun? Military style assault weapons belong in the military or at most law enforcement. Come on Congress do your job and protect America!
4
"The pen is mightier than the sword" Definitely one factor leading to proliferation of mass shootings is the mass 24/7 media coverage and attention.
In the spirit of limiting our Constitutional rights, would the liberals give equal time to limit the First Amendment freedom of the press as they do to limit the freedom to bear arms. Establish Media control to limit coverage of identity, weapons, methods, tactics, techniques and aftermath of mass shootings.
The media coverage is giving a lot of encouragement and stimulus to the nut cases who are full of hate and mentally disturbed.
Maybe Americans need a vision of how things could be. Give this a shot:
Very few guns in countryside so some people can still kill defenceless animals for sport.
No guns at all in the cities.
Most police unarmed so that criminals don’t feel the need to be armed in retaliation.
Result : Minuscule gun crime.
Okay this is a utopian ideal but you can work your way towards it.
Oh by the way; this is Britain today.
1
Don't give in America. Ban ALL assault weapons. Nothing less!
Wow, what a big concession folks!! Raising the age, by 3 years, to buy an military weapon of war is a absurd smokescreen.
It is like treating a gushing gunshot wound with a bandaid.
Join the rest of the civilized world America!
Ban all assault weapons!
6
PLEASE be careful about using words like “automatic weapons.” They are already banned, but semi-automatic weapons are not. The NRA uses comments like many on this article to demonstrate that non-gun owners or gun control supporters don’t know what they’re talking about. So educate yourself on some of the technicalities and definitions. It’s in everyone’s best interests to do this.
4
I cannot believe that anyone who saw the faces of those children who survived the Parkland massacre would not agree stricter gun laws are needed NOW. Raising the age for buying? Not good enough. Arming teachers? Stupid. Congress as usual is sitting on its hands, so scared of the NRA, they will again and again and again do nothing while more children are murdered. I cannot believe that any American would disagree with banning assault rifles if that saved one child's life. Yes, there are many out there already but stopping the sale of them NOW would at least prevent one lunatic from buying and using it against innocent children. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH AMERICANS ANYMORE? Protect the children, they are the future.
8
These young people need to acquaint themselves with the intent of the second amendment concerning our rights to carry weapons, it could very well be that this right and obligation will become absolutely clear to them at some point in their own lifetime.
A ban on automatic weapons would basically mean the next surviving shooter will have a felony possession of an unlawful firearm added to his charges.
What we need right now is to find ways of protecting these kids at school, something we have not been willing to do in the years these shootings have been taking place.
1
If you want changes in gun control, then you are facing well organized single issue voters, who regularly vote. You have to become a single issue voter, and pound politicians at public gatherings and follow through by voting them out of office. Be relentless, your opponents are.
2
Hopefully, the NRA's ability to foster this national insanity using cowardly Republicans will shift. However, these politicians must not easily be let off the hook for the carnage that they have fostered over the last few decades. One can only hope that past NRA endorsements and ratings will also be used as a political tool against these craven office holders as equality seeps back in to our government.
4
These young people are Sandy Hook grown up.... they are not going to take this any longer
6
Repeal the second amendment. That is where this is going. That is where the republican party, and the NRA pushed it.
Wayne LaPierre, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and the rest, have forced the discussion into a place where they never wanted it to go because they refused to listen to reason and decided to ignore the deaths of American citizens at the hands of armed lunatics and fanatics.
The gun worshiping ideologues. Represented by a president who pandered to societal misfits and the NRA, have had their day, their moment in the spotlight and will now reap the harvest of their intransigence. They will still be able to go into the woods and play at war but they will have to imagine wreaking mayhem and death with plastic toys, or paint guns.
1
The GOP will fall before the NRA will. Ever since they won the right not to be sued, plus they cynically labeled themselves an activist group so they get tax exemption, we can do very little. The only answer is voting out the GOP to weaken their position, then most of their old foggie base must die off
3
The NRA has like Trump put their mantras out there. "They will take away your guns!" "They will take away your 2nd amendment rights." Unless the GOP comes together, like the NRA members do with fighting against us and fight together for gun control its chances are in jeopardy. They can and will be held responsible for future shootings. If Sandy Hook did not move them, I fear only money will. Do we pay them bonuses for doing their jobs? November can't come soon enough. Recently it's been reported money isn't the driving force with them, I believe that influence has a monetary value. It eventually comes to dollars and cents. As the Mueller investigation is known for " follow the money!"
2
Whether Gun Control happens largely depends on whether or not congressional Republicans can pretend to act like practicing responsible adults for once. To this point since the advent of guns...Republicans have consistently wished to aid the NRA in making the availability, purchase and open carry of firearms as commonplace as buying a smartphone - as if desiring a return to the heady days of the Wild West. The Republican/NRA answer to addressing gun facilitated murders - arm everyone with guns so they can have a chance in the ensuing gun fight. Elmer Fudd is advocating for arming teachers, who else? The janitor? Hall monitors and cafeteria workers? Bus drivers perhaps? Whether or not intelligence tops stupidity when it comes to addressing gun crimes is totally on the shoulders of the amoral, reckless and NRA pandering Republican Party.
3
I feel that this is the time to punish not only the NRA but also the factories that produce those weapons of mass destruction and sell them to the public. We should notify the companies that manage our investments not put any of our money in such entities.
14
I never cease to be amazed at the absolute level of ignorance concerning firearms that is ubiquitously demonstrated in the opinions stated in these comments. The fact that the writers don't know the difference between a semi-automatic and automatic rifle shows that they are not qualified to have an opinion. The people who keep writing about what can and can't be used for hunting and other uses, have no idea what they are talking about. If you are going to write about a topic, at least educate yourselves to least a minimally competent level. If you have never held a gun or been hunting, don't attempt to tell others how it is done.
For the record, the NRA has so vehemently opposed any additional restrictions on firearms, is precisely because the the gun control proponents will NEVER stop demanding additional restrictions until a complete and total demand is enacted. History has show this to be the case in other countries and Feinstein and Schumer have spoke previously on certain new gun laws 'as a great first step.' These are the reasons why the NRA will never compromise because they know it is the first step on the slide to confiscation.
1
Even though you failed to understand, please understand this. These young people, students etc., are tired of the political rhetorical comments spewed by NRA advocates such as yourself. These people will be able to vote in the very near future and for a very long time....
2
Nonsense.
The NRA opposed any restrictions that would curb gun sales.
PERIOD!
You have to be 21 years old to legally buy alcohol in this country.
Has that law stopped all drunken driving deaths?
No.
But it sure has reduced them.
And yet you can walk into a gun store and buy a long gun with a high capacity magazine at the tender age of 18.
This is ludicrous, and yet the NRA is even against the measure that would raise the age to 21.
1
Yet, don't you find it interesting that at 'the tender age of 18' one can vote? Old and mature enough to vote, but not old and mature enough to buy a rifle?
One of the problems is that NRA supporters are more likely than others to be single issue voters.
1
There is certainly pressure to do something. I just hope that reason prevails and Congress does something that will actually make a difference. Just as calls to ban Muslims after 9/11 were rejected, we should reject feel-good solutions that are ineffective.
I will believe there will be change once the legislation has passed both the House and the Senate. The NRA needed just a moment of deference to set up a counter attack and they have been successful. They have focused on the FBI and police officers. Not that there is not plenty of blame to go around, but there are really two separate conversations: e.g. banning high capacity rifles and flagging threats.
Conservatives agree with stricter gun laws; however, they will not withhold votes to NRA supporters based on this. In addition, it is not urgent to those communities, unless it is happening to them. Then it is too late to speak up. This is what we see with conservatives in Florida. I expect that Gov. Rick Scott will be more effective at the state level, than any pressure from conservatives at the Federal level.
"Is This the Moment for Gun Control?"
No, this is the time when our politicians introduce meaningless reform with much fanfare and declare victory.
2
So they NRA wants to bet the lives of our children on 5 million out of 300 million of us? That's 1.6% of the country - I guess that's a gain of .6 percentage points over the 1-percenters, but I bet 70% of the country wants stricter gun regulations (heck, I bet they'd settle for "well-regulated", a catchy phrase) that help prevent massacres. Lawmakers need to do the math without the dollar signs. Cruz was mentally ill. And some people missed his signals. And others failed to act on them. And he was able to walk into a store and buy a war weapon designed to inflict the maximum amount of death and wounding on enemy combatants so they they either die or stop fighting to attend to the wounded. Do you think you can prevent every human mistake in that chain or would you like to make more certain that any of mistakes do not lead to dozens of dead children in mere seconds?
2
If only this much anger was used to protest for unarmed police killings, or undrinkable water, medical malpractice etc. the list is long but it's reality,.
This is what happens after a decade plus of reality based TV you lost touch with reality.
Life is hard and amazing all wrapped together but.HONESTY IS NOT AMERICA'S BEST ATTRIBUTE. History books prove it but excused daily! Only the elite shall prosper off the backs of the old, weak and the young facts..
1
"Small steps towards restricting gun rights" NYT? Really? How about "small steps towards common-sense gun legislation"? Or, even more innocuous "small steps towards limiting access to guns"? This is NOT about "gun rights." This is about a country that allows pretty much everyone who asks legal access to weapons and ammunition designed for the battlefield and built to inflict maximum carnage.
4
CONTACT AMAZON.
As others have noted, demand they take NRA-TV off the air and ask for shipments through UPS and others but not FED-EX.
Contact FED-EX and tell them clearly you will not use them, if you run a business, small or large, stop using FED-EX and tell them why.
They are listening, as are other companies.
We are bigger, stronger, and saner, than the NRA.
5
No problem, GOP. Take your time. The gridlock will ease up when we vote you out in November. There are many more in the anti-gun movement than pro-gun movement and we are mobilized and motivated.
37
That must be why Democrats acted so forcefully on gun control in 2009-2010 when they controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
1
in 2009, the country was focused on a still unfolding financial crisis and Congress was focused on triage through the stimulus package.
In 2010 the affordable care act was pursued to slow escalating health care cost, not just for ethical beliefs but because the ACA was seen as another stimulus to growth.
So they used their political capital for specific things. You may disagree with how they used it.
Cherry picking via selective memory is inaccurate. It’s also, in the most polite terms I can muster - unhelpful.
1
Could the Democratic Party make opposition to the influence of the NRA a feature of the mid-term elections?
11
Only if we write and call them so they know that's what we want. That's what NRA members do.
That and taking away our nation's healthcare coverage would be great campaign ads.
The new GOP Platform:
If our guns don't kill you in America, our lack of healthcare coverage will!
American carnage
3
It is a terrible lesson in Government for the 100 articulate students of the Parkland high school in Florida who went to ask that their legislators to at least vote to ban military assault type guns and were turned down. It really did indicate that the self centered legislators were more interested in taking money from the NRA than in protecting children from gun violence. Parents of school age children and grandparents of same need to step up and be heard and RECALL those legislators who continue to take NRA money and lack the courage to say "ban all assault guns with high magazine clips".
12
Change is coming.
The women's march and the MeToo movement began it and now the students of Parkland are stepping up to the plate.
Change is coming and it's women and young people who will lead the charge.
23
The time is right for the League of Woman Voters to take back the Presidential Debate from the one party corporate system. The League is perfect for the mothers of our children to end the NRA's control of the government, and the various goals of the ME Too movement. In addition, we need a real voting system, based on international standards, that has paper ballots and audits. Gerrymandering should be solved by each district as round or square as possible. This is not intellectually difficult.
Request to NYTs:
Please put together a list of every elected member “serving“ in OUR government who has received blood money from the NRA.
Please include Name, Office, Lifetime Amount Collected, and the subsequent “Grade“ awarded to each by the NRA. Any “representative“ receiving an NRA grade above a ‘C-‘ needs to be thrown out the next time they are up for reelection. As voters, let‘s pull together in every election going forward, to make an endorsement from the NRA a curse, rather than a commendation.
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I don’t think you are following the actual story but are just repeating a misconception. Read the story in this edition about how the NRA gains its influence.
It’s not the money the NRA gives to candidates, it’s the voting dependability of NRA members. They line up and vote as single-issue voters. The NRA does not so much help candidates with campaign funds, it threatens them with primary challenges and attack ads if they don’t support their agenda. Since most congressional races are determined these days at the primary level, and only the most dedicated voters show up then, that’s where it hurts. Candidates (particularly rural Republicans) aren’t so much bought as intimidated by the prospect of being “primaried.”
Merely listing out who got what money would be incomplete and potentially misleading. A more effective way to hurt the NRA would be to publish their member lists, then publicly shame those people.
Everytime you tweet, write, call, speak to a congressman/woman FIRST ask for their NRA rating.
Before any progress is made on gun control, we must acknowledge the tie between rural cultures and gun ownership, and then own that we're calling for a massive, forced change of their cultures. We must also be ready for the bloodshed that comes when rural cultures are threatened with genocide.
3
This is not a threat to rural cultures and gun ownership.
That's the excuse used time and time again against SENSIBLE gun control.
Nobody's taking away anyone's right to own a gun.
Nobody but the military should own AR -15s and similar weapons of mass killing.
I thought the argument was that they were mostly law abiding, noble hunters of wild game. Which is it if this threat you describe is real, and how would regulating the sale of and access to firearms change their culture? The response to gun violence is to already committed atrocities, not a cultural overhaul. How does this represent genocide?
No one is asking rural america to give up gun ownership. They are asking for the ban of weapons that fire large projectiles at a high velocity and rate of fire that are designed simply for maximum damage to the largest number of humans possible. Most guns don't fall into this category.
Wayne LaPierre, Grover Norquist, and Vladimir Putin are calling the shots. They rule. We grovel.
2
They could check out the excellent ideas articulated by columnist Charles Blow in today’s NYT! Come on people, get it going!!
2
The key is to control the manufacture and distribution of ammunition that can be used by assault weapons or high capacity magazines. If there is an overlap, control the manufacture and distribution of the non compliant weapon and/or magazine. Bump stocks and other devices intended to alter the performance of a weapon should be similarly controlled or banned.
3
Did anyone catch the interview this morning on NPR with the Gov. of Kentucky,
Matt Bevin? He tiptoed around the questions and carefully answered the scripted 'it's too soon' response. It was appalling. I had to turn it off.
5
The GOP excels at praying and hand-wringing. Nothing else. The 2nd Amendment is far more sacred to them than any number of lives of innocent children. And they should be ashamed of themselves.
2
I heard the interview. I, too, thought it was appalling. This person is a governor of a state???
2
Why does it take until the third paragraph to mention Republicans who are the only party standing in the way of sensible and popular gun control laws? Oh, it's a dysfunctional Congress? Why doesn't the headline state the obvious: we have gridlock because of the GOP's relationship with the gun lobby.
Most people don't read past the first couple of paragraphs. Surely you folks learned that at journalism school?
This kind of nonsense is all over the supposedly liberal media: It's CONGRESSIONAL dysfunction that is causing gridlock somehow. Please give us a break once in a while.
5
A poll released by CNN, on gun control?
That's like the Mafia doing a poll on what should be done about organized crime.
1
Yes, this is the moment for gun control and ban of mass-murder weapons. Gun is not a toy; it is a tool for killing. I understand people owning and using shotguns for hunting or a handgun for protection in certain professions. We have professional police force to protect us; we do not need self-appointed, gun wielding amateurs of questionable mental capacity to protect us. I do not understand people owning weapons of mass killing (e.g., AR-15) designed for the military. Can anyone explain why anybody needs the AR-15? Can anyone explain why we are the only country that allows the sale of such weapons of mass-murder to the public? Can anyone explain why an 18-year old cannot buy a handgun but can buy an AR-15? Can anyone explain why the probability of being killed by a gun is 25 times greater in America than in any other first world country? Do we have 25 times more mentally ill people?
So, the problem is the NRA, guns, gun lobby, and the hired guns of the NRA and gun lobby, that is, the politicians. Background checks, raising the age of assault rifle buyers to 21, preventing mentally ill people from buying guns, banning bump stocks, arming school teachers, posting armed police or guards at schools and other public places will not make any difference. Look at the ages of all mass killers, how many of them are under 21? So, there is only one way to avoid future mass murders: eradicate the tool mass murderers use—ban semi-automatic and automatic assault rifles.
2
The middle course would be to let people continue to buy, sell, exchange, keep, and use guns as they do but institute systems to be able to account for all guns and who has them, as well as providing the means to remove them from people who are likely to misuse them or have not used guns responsibly. All who would use guns would have to prove that they know how to care, use, and secure them as well as all related laws as well as the ability to pay for any liabilities which arise from using them.
The anti and pro sides have both become so recalcitrant in their demands that both seem to see anyone who does not agree as something like utterly mad or pure evil. For people in a democracy it’s stupidly pig headed and it preserves the status quo.
Who says the anti and pro sides have become so recalcitrant? What you are proposing are sensible gun regulations. What gun violence activists are proposing are sensible gun regulation. What sensible gun owners are open to is sensible gun regulation. There is a middle ground here and what you are describing is it. The only ones who refuse to stand on it are the pro-gun extremists and NRA lackey politicians.
The assault weapons ban on the one side and the fear of gun confiscation following gun registry on the other are recalcitrant positions based upon mistrust. Civilian versions of military weapons number about 5 million, while there are about 110 million gun owners and about three times that many guns. Of the number of people killed with guns only a very small proportion are shot will civilian military style guns. That means that banning them fails to address the most lethal weapons. Gun owners who can see this understand that the pressure to eliminate private ownership of guns will follow a complete ban of assault weapons. This makes a better solution of a national registry a non-starter.
The obvious problem is that our elected "representatives" do not represent the electorate. The people that voted for them out of ignorance, laziness (if they voted at all) or the delusion that they'd actually follow through on their campaign "promises" need to WAKE UP. The legislature has been bought off by corporate money. Bribed. Neutered. They need to be removed from office.
Roberts' SCOTUS Citizens United "ruling" has removed the electoral process from the voters, allowing "black" money to control elections. The mid-range solution is to remove private money from elections. The short term solution is to vote the corrupt "politicians" out of office. NOW.
2
My question is, what do they do to earn their pay? They just got back from a week off, how long were they off for the holidays? Will they ever give the poor Dreamers a good nights sleep so they can continue their life? Can they not see the "no brainer" that there is no need for military weapons in our world? Can they not see that even the murders in Chicago and Memphis are done by guns that were stolen from irresponsible gun owners? They are bought by NRA and Pharmaceutical and big banks, on and on! Time to start all over! Replace them!
2
Why do "law and order" Republicans continue to resist gun legislation that upholds law and order: [NRA] MONEY! Why does the NR, an organization originally founded to teach firearm competency and safety, continue to support guns that jeopardize the safety of others: MONEY (likely in part from the gun manufacturers).
Money appears to be at the core of this legislative quagmire, so as soon as Democrats and those who wish to see reasonable gun legislation are able to have a monetary impact on businesses and legislators, change will occur. Until then, expect nothing to change.
2
Why and how can an organization look at the vast numbers of innocents being slaughtered each year and NOT be willing to change the easy accessibility to automatic weapons? It is all about the massive profits the NRA receives to be the front for gun manufactures. It has little to nothing to do with their members or the 2nd amendment. If it did we would be focusing on how to achieve a "well regulated" militia."
4
Congress. No action except for money bills. No ideas. No progress. What is it good for -- absolutely nothing.
Kids of America -- never stop. You are right. They are wrong and slothful. Take the wheel!
1
The 2nd Amendment was written when the only guns were black powder muzzle loaders. I doubt our Founding fathers would have written the 2nd Amendment so openly if they could have looked 300 years in the future.
you shouldn't sell guns to speds it's clear s that. something was wrong with him and thats clear. make the background checks more efficient.
The United States Congress has spoken. It is not the role of the federal government to try to prevent mass murder.
Vote for regime change in 2018, for a chance to save lives.
1
Rapid consensus action can be reached on School Safety. Yes there are important ancillary issues but the main goal is student safety.
1 Identify and profile high risk individuals
2 Mandate engagement by law enforcement and counselors
3 Ban access to any gun with parental liability for high risk individuals
4 Shift one school administrator position to a trained professional guard
Since the vast majority of deadly shooters are men between the ages of 17 and 34, increasing legal gun purchase age to 34 would be a simple and effective solution.
3
So the 17-34 year olds hell bent on going on a killing rampage can then just borrow an AR-15 from their father's, neighbors, brother's, or uncle's arsenal.
brother will also be too young to have an arsenal, fathers etc will have to keep their guns locked up
A recent poll indicated despite all that has happened in the Trump Presidency, over 80% of Republicans still support him so remember that when voters visit the voting booths in the next election. No matter what, they aren't going to change their mind about anything, including gun control legislation so it will then be a numbers game.
If the majority want to see change, democrats will have to come out in force in the upcoming elections.
2
VOTE them out.
tell your PARENTS to VOTE them out
it is possible, it CAN be done.
it MUST be done.
GUNS need to be ON THE BALLOT for EVERY election
until we stop shooting each other.
1
Call aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas, who love you more in the universe than any suit-wearing, 'sorry, can't do it this year' politicians. We will vote with you. We will show you HOW to vote them gone. We'd be very happy to help you.
They're too busy and don't believe you.
If the gun advocates dig in their heels and follow the NRA code of "No changes ever, on anything," they will be swept away like a tree in a flood. Far better to be like the reed that bends and therefore survives the flood. You can't argue about kids getting killed, by saying more guns is the answer. You just make yourself look foolish as Trump and the NRA have done.
This may finally be the time, thank god, that people say, Enough! Just for context as of today there have been 2,247 gun deaths, 515 children killed or injured by guns and 34 mass shooting in the US so far this year.
6
The NRA is so absurdly extreme and counterproductive that it appears it is they who are endangering the 2nd Amendment.
Save the 2nd Amendment. Fire the NRA.
80+ million gun owners deserve a better representative organization than one representing only 5 million uncompromising and rather heartless extremists.
Discounts for NRA members? Really? They should have been charged a premium instead.
12
What are they afraid of?
1
Here is a reasonable proposal... A person who possesses or uses a firearm must have a firearm licence. Licence holders must demonstrate a "genuine reason" for holding a firearm licence and must not be a "prohibited person". All firearms must be registered by serial number to the owner, who also holds a firearms licence. Just like with a driver's license police would be able to instantly verify a guns legality.
3
Spineless. Future employment as lobbyists trumps country. Campaign $ bribery more important than lives. Preference to be ruled by empty suits Ryan and Mcconnell instead of logic. False interpretation of 2nd amendment to suit NRA's dictates. Fear of having to get a real job if they take a principled stand for common sense reform.
11
Y'all don't get it evidently up in New York & larger cities. "We" had slavery around here once, and "we" liked it! How else can you keep "them" down on our plantations, so "we" can stay in power---and the GOP is our party, we've paid enough for 'em!
4
There was slavery in Melbourne Australia?
I could drive you to a dozen places before sundown where this will not be considered satire.
In CT?
Should this tragedy be compounded by the same inaction as has followed every other mass shooting since Columbine, I hope other liberals will revisit the Second Amendment as it was originally intended.
Not because I enjoy hunting, not because I feel I need to protect myself and my family from criminals, not because I want to impress anyone (those who knew thought it was excessive), I bought two guns last year.
I felt it was becoming “necessary to the security of a free State,” and as each day dawns I’m more convinced it wasn’t excessive - that there is only possible conclusion to our current slip into authoritarianism. I have history on my side.
2
The generals can't stand him either. Not sure it would ever get to the front porch.
It’s time to drain the gun swamp.
3
I believe you can safely dismiss any notion of gun legislation in the weeks to come. The only recourse we have is the midterms; we have to get out and vote against Trump, the republican party, and for gun control.
An outright ban on the sale and or possession of automatic weapons.
A grace period to turn in the existing automatic weapons that are already in the hands of private citizens. Those found in possession of an automatic weapon after the grace period expires to be fined $10,000 and a prison sentence of two years.
A minimum age to purchase any firearm of 21 years.
7
Sara, to be a credible force for changing our ridiculous gun culture, and to support real gun legislation, you have to understand the language and definitions. Automatic weapons (aka “machine guns”) are essentially banned already - one trigger pull fires many rounds until the trigger is released. Semi-automatic weapons are not banned. The assault-style weapons used in many mass killings, like the AR-15, are semi-automatic weapons derived from automatic weapons used by the military. Semi-automatic means one pull of the trigger fires one round without needing to “cock” the weapon. Many pistols and shotguns, which are far less efficient killing devices, are also semi-automatic, but have very different purposes from assault weapons. The NRA uses the public’s lack of understanding to point out that only they are qualified to talk about guns, and that the rest of us should be shut down. So, to be blunt, know your enemy.
Vilify and demonize the NRA. Make those "proud NRA members" running for office seem like baby killers! Make them seem like a cancer which needs to be cut out. Hound them and their supporters. Never let up the pressure. They are accessories after the fact. Like being the driver in the get away car where a gun is used in a robbery. Never let up the fight. Send them pictures of the families. Maybe we should erect monuments to murder victims all over the USA and remind people that guns killed them. Make owning a gun a source of embarrassment. And finally remember that two thirds of Americans do not own guns! We are arising!
6
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention: that depends on who defines “necessity.” If the People expect anything in the way of “leadership” from Congress or the president, that is a fool’s errand. This was made clear via Marco Rubio’s pathetically tone deaf performance at the town hall meeting. After erroneously believing he was being cheered he realized he was being jeered for resisting assault weapon restriction. Likewise, Trump stupidly advocated arming teachers to increase the probability of tragic mishap. As the People perceive necessity the government pursues obfuscation. The issue is not “mental health” or “age restrictions”, the issue is gun ownership! However, if this legislative mandate was successfully snuffed out after Newtown, Congress is poised for “post-Newtown II.” The answer is to FOLLOW THE MONEY! Any legislator who accepts gun lobby donations is an enemy of the People. Inertia posits that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Repeal of the Second Amendment is the real solution, however, quibbling and parsing about irrelevant “restrictions” is the way this devil does his business. Necessity at this time requires insuring the safety of innocent American citizens to the limits of the law. If the law is insufficient to that end, then the law must be changed. Half measures insure more tragic deaths. The firearms industry, gun lobby, and gun funded Congressmen (and president) do NOT care at all about that! The will of the People is necessity.
5
Gun advocates maintain a need for guns for hunting. It is preposterous that anyone would consider, such as politicians do in Florida, that automatic weapons are needed for hunting. I would like to ask the NRA and gun community to take a poll and honestly speak to the fact that automatic weapons are not used to hunt deer and elk. Automatic weapons are only used to hunt humans. Our Republican politicians are responsible for long-term inactivity for gun control because they are bought and paid for by the NRA. Those same Republican politicians value their own political skin more than the lives of your children and my children.
America has a problem and that is that gun advocates think it reasonable to allow guns that hunt humans.
12
“I think for Republicans our challenge in the next race is going to be about appealing to the suburban vote that hasn’t been so good for Republicans the last few races,” said Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, citing in particular suburban women." NO! This kind of fragmented, election-based mentality is what keeps any real change from happening. "The challenge" as he call it, is to do what is right based on data and information related to gun violence. Start with banning the weapon of choice of mass shooters, and go from there. It cannot be all about politics anymore.
2
Two thoughts: The first is that I hope they have an expert speak to congress about what would be the most effective munitions to ban. Assault rifles is what I'd always thought, but I have seen comments that suggest large capacity magazines are the larger problem.
Regarding "Many Republicans fear primary challenges from the right in the midterm elections this fall and do not want to be pushed into difficult votes" - What ever happened to voting your conscience??
4
Could it finally be the time for some meaningful talk and action on gun control? I didn’t happen after Columbine it didn’t happen when baby’s were killed in Newtown, it didn’t happen after the Pulse Night Club or Law Vegas. But now is the time and it took our children to say no more. Maybe, Congress will take its job back from the NRA and pass a ban on assault type weapons, bump stocks high capacity magazines. Maybe Congress will finally address the sale of guns at gun shows without a background check. Maybe now is the time to modernize the background system and now maybe is the time to prohibit mentally ill person, persons on the no fly list and anyone under 21 from owning a gun. None of this will take away the 2nd Amendment, none of this will see gun owners lose their guns. All of this will be in the right direction and hopefully our children can go back to school and finally feel safe.
2
“Money trumps peace . . . Sometimes.”
- George W. Bush
1
By any reasonable standard, the NRA should be labeled a terrorist organization. And frankly, the cowards in Congress who support them are in the same group.The outrageous and amoral promotion of policies that result in the slaughter of our citizens is wrong to the core. And to cloak that in some sort of constitutional or God-given right is despicable. No, we are not coming for your guns. We are coming to place responsibility for this crime against our citizens directly at your feet.
13
Here we have another liberal who has zero sense of personal responsibility blaming the NRA and others for the actions of criminals. A domestic terrorist organization? Are you serious? That is one of the most stupid things I've ever read. Can you point to a single mass shooting or other where the NRA directly or indirectly participated? Can you point to a single court case where they were charged and convicted? I really look forward to your response. Good luck!
With all of these shootings there is one person and one person only to blame. The shooter. We don't blame automobile manufacturers when their products are used in terrorist acts to run over pedestrians. We don't blame airplane manufacturers when their products are used to crash into buildings. We don't blame fertilizer and pressure cooker manufacturers when their products are used to set off bombs. We don't blame alcohol manufacturers when their products are used by drunks who get behind the wheel and kill innocent people. The list goes on and on. For some reason though liberals have a separate standard for guns. They're hypocritical, inconsistent and have zero credibility.
you shouldnt sell guns to speds like ol nick cruz, do better back ground checks make them more efficient with the technology we have today
The fourth paragraph of this story made me sick. Lawmakers too concerned about challenges from the right, and wanting to get to the more important issue of holding on to their jobs in the midterms - oh by all means, please continue to not actually represent your constituents in your efforts to keep your position. Red, blue, left, right, middle, enough of us never want another child gunned down in their school, baseball- playing senators shot, concertgoers and churchgoers mowed down, that it’s safe for you to put aside your grasping fear of bucking the NRA’s agenda AND DO SOMETHING substantial to end this.
132
"We've gotta protect our phony-baloney jobs!" Mel Brooks, Blazing Saddles.
2
The truth is, a raging sliver of the population combined with a handful of greedy gun manufacturers are effectively putting the entire US population at risk - and that level of risk seems to be rising at an exponential rate.
Poll after poll shows the vast majority of Americans overwhelmingly support universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, extended magazines, and other accessories designed to make mass murder easier to accomplish...
Armed with these “legal“ weapons of war, a single shooter in Las Vegas was able to kill 58 people and injure another 489. Almost 550 victims in a matter of minutes! I doubt that any single soldier in the history of war can brag of such an “accomplishment“.
No other first world country on the planet so blatantly ignores the right of their citizens to live. It is an appalling situation, and any member of congress who continues to sit on their hands, at this point, is inherently complicit in the death of every victim of massacre by assault weapon that occurs in America going forward.
We must vote every single one of these corrupt charlatans posing as representatives out in November! It IS a matter of life or death. What more proof do we need? What more motivation do we need? How many more of our fellow citizens must be slaughtered?
13
The NRA willfully misinterprets the Second Amendment. There is no amount of carnage that will shake them. The money is just too good.
That leaves us with only two options: One, we must work to dry up the money source. Companies refusing to do business with them and fund managers divesting from them is a start.
The second, and easier thing, is to VOTE. Vote out the legislators who can't or won't turn their backs on the money. Just vote them out.
8
Why does my right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" have to mean less than someone's right to own a military-type weapon?
70
Because there is more money focused on one of those than the other.
A clear majority of Americans want something done about semi-automatic and automatic weapons in the hands of would-be mass-murderers. So why does Congress keep turning a deaf ear to rational queries about banning them? Why do our elected congresspeople continue to babble on about tougher background checks, ignoring the growing elephant in the house? They may think they can continue to put action on the back burner until the smoke settles, but it's looking like they may be wrong this time.
The real question now is: HOW THOROUGHLY HAS THE NRA PERMEATED CONGRESS?
I have not witnessed this degree of stonewalling in my lifetime. The only thing that can be keeping them from responding to the questions being asked of them is tight ties to the NRA—and doing so shows where their allegiance lies.
Claims that bans don’t work ring hollow.
Telling us we need to arm teachers and put law enforcement officers into the schools has now been proven wrong. An officer on duty at MSD HS was useless as were early first responding officers outside the school. But I do not blame law enforcement. They knew all too well that they were not armed sufficiently to stop the gunman without harm to themselves. The shooter was armed like a guerrilla fighter.
It seems pretty simple: outlaw these lethal weapons. Handguns and rifles do not have to be on the bargaining table—just these weapons of warfare meant to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible.
What can it hurt? It might just help.
15
Since Aug. 1st, 1966 and the shootings at the University of Texas, there have always been things we could do to stop these reprehensible attacks on innocent adults and children. The NRA and politics have always played a part in the difficulty of accomplishing the necessary changes to both diminish the number of these attacks and institute reasonable gun control.
After witnessing an increase in the number of attacks, and the ease with which weapons are procured for use in mass murders, our people have reached the point where no nonsensical excuses will be tolerated. The time for gun control has long been due, but now there is no longer room for stalling, half-measures, or platitudes.
Change is upon us. Gun control is necessary, prudent, and demanded.
8
When Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson wanted to stop the cowboys from shooting up Dodge City, they took their guns away. We need a new marshal in town.
137
Petty tyrants shouldn't be our heroes.
2
Duly elected law enforcement officers are not "petty tyrants".
3
The petty tyrants in all of this is the NRA and its members. Perhaps Congress, as well.
2
Simple, first steps like: 1-A stricter background checks; 2- raising the age limit for buying firearms from 18 to 21, and 3-declaring the upgrading of assault weapons to act like machine guns are unacceptable to NRA and its 5 million members.
How does one then expect that a GOP Congressman, whose election expenses are grossly subsidized by the NRA, to stand up for what is right for the majority of the US citizens.
Self preservation and greed always preempts standing up for what is right.
(And you expect Wayne La Pierre to lose his lucrative income of $970,000?)
3
Ban ALL guns. Many of us feel that way but are afraid to say it because we don’t want to sound unreasonable. But in fact it’s the only reasonable position. Raising the age limit on assault rifles/bump stocks/whatever are incredibly small steps that won’t make a dent in gun violence in this country, and most of us know it. Something more courageous and bold like a total ban would give the people of this country something real to believe in.
3
Question to the NRA and the supporters of Amendment II, Right to Bear Arms.
What is the meaning of "A well regulated Militia"?
A well regulated militia meant at the time all males of military age and fitness. Question for you, what is a "right".
2
Very good question. I will answer with the definition of the Lexicon Webster Dictionary: Right: A just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral; that which is due to anyone by just claim. Now, you gave me the definition of "A well regulated Militia" in 1791. Do the definition is the same in 2018?
What a disappointing article. What a totally disappointing and cowardly and lazy GOP Congress. Sure it's hard to tackle the issue of gun violence in America and that is why these "elected" representatives are there No? It will be a total dereliction of duty by the Congress (once again) to fail to do anything which is what the NRA/GOP want. The people want action.
Congress is nothing but a bunch of lazy, fearful and entitled yes men for the NRA. If they expect that by doing nothing about gun violence and mass murder they will somehow get reelected, they are mistaken.
Getting reelected NOW means that they actually have to do their job. They have to represent their constituents. And we don't want our kids killed in school anymore. And stupid ideas such as buying more guns for teachers are stupid and we see it. We see your fake fixes. It is time for real substantive policy on gun control.
1
Trump came to power vowing to protect Americans from violence.
How many have died just since he took office?
5
Will the GOP Congress do anything? Depends on what their donors tell them. This Congress has shown complete disdain for the wishes of the voters, and complete devotion to the wishes of their donors. Want to get Paul Ryan's ear? Find out who gives the most money to his campaign and go after them.
4
"If the past is prologue, Congress will do nothing."
Looks like we need a new Congress, then.
I stand with the high school students in Florida, who have collectively done more in the past few weeks than our elected officials have in my lifetime. I am sick to death of spineless politicians whose pockets are so stuffed with NRA blood money that they refuse to act.
The future is coming, and with it the change that our nation desperately needs. From here on out, the NRA will be politically radioactive, as will any politicians who are stupid enough to embrace them.
153
Amen.
3
Prudence and discernment are required lens, as the President's marketing handout of "Arming of some specialty trained teachers", moves teaching sensibilities in a school's social cauldron.
When a teacher who is armed, and who may be having their own mental Tsunami...and given Florida's " Stand Your Ground" legal jagguernaut, and the teacher perceives that a student's aggressive body posture, may cause that teacher to pull his firearm........then the door of possibilities of countervailing lethal circumstances begins to spiral out of control.
Fellow Citizen an unregulated Gun Industry is the Problem.
"Well Regulated Millitia", is Cognitive Dissonance......gone mad.
4
Increasing the age limit to 21 and enforcing comprehensive background checks is like putting a band aid on a bleeding jugular. Guns need to be eliminated period, in particular the AR-15, bump stocks and other weapons and handguns which can kill, maim and cause multiple injuries at a clip.
We have witnessed more than enough carnage in this country due to the availability of guns and yet congress fails to act. Members of the NRA and congress continue to victimize the victims, twist things around to their favor and make it sound like the real gun problems are with the people and not the guns they support. I say if there was no easy access or sales of these weapons, mass shootings and shootings of all types all over American would dramatically cease.
It’s transparent that these politicians care only about their self preservation which means supporting their base and the NRA. Meaningful legislation can only happen when every single politician working for the NRA is voted out of office. There are over 300 million plus people in America and yet there are more guns than there are people and the number of guns continue to rise. People are killed left and right with these weapons and they see no problem with that…..shame on them.
15
The risk in terms of the likelihood being shot is low but the consequences are unacceptably bad, so the demand to eliminate guns is an apparently simple and decisive step. But 110 million own guns and own several times that many guns. Only a very small proportion of either guns or owners have harmed anyone. These owners know that some people are a threat to others but they are not. They also know that there are many who feel as do you, that anyone who owns a gun threatens them because they have those guns.
There are so many guns out there that nobody knows who might have them, which pretty much assures that those who would harm others have them. But it also means that controlling the possession of them is not as easy as the thought of doing so. Start with the presumption that the vast majority of gun owners share your concerns and good faith and control of the guns becomes a real possibility. Otherwise, it will take a true abandonment of civil rights to achieve your goal,
1
Now is long past the moment for control, but now is always better than never. I don't think the MSD students are going to back off either, and therein lies the difference. If the students turn out to be the force behind the movement, we may get progress.
"Incremental steps"is not what is needed, however. We need comprehensive anti-gun laws: constantly renewable registrations, high taxes, waiting periods with mental health evaluations, all of these will help, but not done singly. There is no more important legislation to even consider until the children of this country feel safe in their schools.
I remember the duck-and-hide drills we did in the Cold War. Let's not go back to that mindset. There are many more of us who abhor guns than there are those who worship them...vote them out of all our governing bodies!
5
The constitution makes a crystal clear call *for* gun control in the 2nd amendment where it says "well regulated". Congress has shirked it's duty, and the NRA ignores this opening clause.
13
It is worth remembering that "machine guns" are banned weapons. What is lacking in the contemporary debate is recognizing that technology has advanced modern guns to the point that the reason behind that ban now applies to newer weapons. The NRA is on the wrong side of history on this. Governments should never try to ignore their responsible youth when they are demanding change. They are on the front line in the gun debate (look at the targets, schools and rock concerts). Their youth in years means they will be fighting this battle for a long time to come until action is taken. They won't forget this and their peer pressure will mobilize their own ranks to form a new consensus. Until they can vote they will turn to lobbying adults, their parents and grandparents to ban our generation's "machine guns".
5
A one-issue focused arms and ammunition making, marketing and selling lobby like the N.R.A. under the cover of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms can put more pressure on candidates in legislative and executives in primary and general elections than Americans citizen voters with multiple interests and values.
3
Bravo Wall Street. Well, maybe just a small “thank you” is more in order. You will have to do a lot more to make up for your sins of 2007 – but this is a good start.
The manufacturers of military weapons and ammunition have nowhere to hide now. The blinding fog of the NRA is drifting away and some investors can now clearly see what do - and what our Congress does not want to do – help stop the direct sales of military weapons and ammunition to civilians.
If manufacturers want to continue to sell military arms to civilians let them voluntarily sell direct-to-purchaser only. Let them make the decisions about who gets to own one of their deadly firearms and who does not.
If civilians want to fire the deadliest weapons on earth just for fun – let them join the military.
No laws or legislation required.
4
The weapons of mass destruction that the Bush/Cheney team were convinced were in another country, are here and have been all the time.
40
Congress may be "feeling the pressure," but time heals all wounds. Entirely inappropriate aphorism used intentionally.
Time has shown that the American public has the attention span of a teen texting while driving. Sad but true. So time is on Congress's side. In a few months (barring another mass shooting of what- a bus full of nuns on their way to an orphanage?), the public will have forgotten, and everything can stay the same.
This is what Congress wants. It doesn't want what you want, and it doesn't represent you. It represents itself, and will accept money from any source to keep its grip on power. Also sad to say, but that's a much bigger problem than dozens being killed. It's the end of democracy for 300 million people who were born free, but will die under an authoritarian regime.
Corporate money in politics is the root cause of everything that's going wrong with this country. If you can't fix that, then pick your poison: bullets flying, pesticides in your food and drinking water, cancer-causing particulates in your lungs, no health care when you need it, etc. It won't really matter. You'll die before you should have, from causes which were entirely preventable.
11
Unfortunately, you are correct. We let corporations buy our Republic. There is no easy or pretty way out of this. In order to fix anything in our country we need to abolish our legalized system of political bribery. That will be a long, hard fight.
Hope this country will hear its youngest.
They are scared for their lives and are begging us all to let them live... how stark is that!
10
One thing comes to mind immediately: release the ban on scientific research of gun violence. What are they afraid of do you think?
37
The biggest difference in the Parkland school shooting is that the students have decided to take action because they know that Congress will not. The NRA and their Republican defenders in Congress cannot wait for this to "blow over."
As we all know, the NRA is highly skilled at rallying the intensity factor in its supporters, and the intimidation factor in its Congressional backers. One peep about gun control and the NRA will take you out in the next election.
One vicious, threatening television ad after another. And the next election is this year! But the NRA did not see the intensity factor coming in these student survivors. "Vote them out," is their rallying cry. So we shall see who the Republicans in Congress are more afraid of: the NRA or the vast majority of voters. Voting this year is absolutely crucial to our democracy. The NRA does not own the Second Amendment. Don't believe anyone who says gun control legislation won't help.
30
The face of the NRA is lobbyist Marion Hammer. She is responsible for Florida'a gun laws. Now is the time to find out who and why the NRA has become so powerful. Start with her. Please don't stop.
34
Sad, but true. She's not just the face, but also the tentacles.
1
I don’t see how raising the age limit to 21 helps much. There have been plenty of shootings done by people over the age of 21. Las Vegas, for instance. Weapons like the AR-15 should not be legal at all. Who owns guns should be very well regulated and controlled.
Thousands of people die each year from stupid gun mishaps and accidents. A lot of people aren’t going to like what I have to say, but it doesn’t make it any less true. The question isn’t “how do we keep firearms out of the hands of the few crazies.” The question is, “who among us in society is truly responsible and trustworthy with a firearm? And how do we ensure it is only those people who have access?” Ask yourself how many people you know who you would feel comfortable knowing they had a firearm? Ask yourself that question as you imagine them carrying it in their glove compartment, or hidden in their jacket or purse. These people are exhausted and frazzled parents, overworked and overtired teachers, a sleep deprived truck driver who just found out his wife has cancer. The list goes on. In my opinion, the only people responsible enough to own firearms are those that have them unloaded and locked in a safe and only take them out for hunting or target shooting at a range. That is my opinion. I disagree completely with the second amendment. Too many citizens are dying because of it. That is wrong.
7
Just ban assault weapons period. Raising the age to 21 is a major cop out and will do nothing to solve the problem. It is really scary to see in action how a powerful lobby like the NRA can literally control the very lawmakers who are supposed to represent their constituents. To see how money influences lawmakers is sickening. Americans need to wake up and realize that big oil, big pharma, and the NRA have a stranglehold on our government and will not let go. No wonder we can’t get clean energy, affordable healthcare, or a ban on assault weapons. Because our government is literally owned & run by corporations and our representatives are nothing but puppets for profits at the expense of everyone else.
18
Republican lawmakers, with a generous assist from the NRA lobby, are responsible for allowing the sale of firearms to just about anyone who wants one throughout a good part of this country. They place blame on individuals and organizations for not taking guns away from “dangerous” owners of firearms, and at the same time, insist more guns will help to solve the problem of gun violence. Before pointing fingers, they need to take a bite of their own humble pie. When they choke on it, I can’t see too many running to give them the Heimlich.
5
I will NOT vote for any candidate, Republican or Democrat, who supports civilian ownership of assault rifles. Period.
13
Too many Very Serious People want to convince us NOTHING meaningful can be done.
Repeal Dickey Amendment
Strict CIVIL and CRIMINAL laws holding gun SELLERS and Manufacturers accountable
Liability insurance for gun owners and operators
Limits and registration for (taxed!) ammo purchases.
Periodic home inspections to ensure guns and ammo are stored safely
Licences for all gun owners/operators
Registration for each firearm
Minimum age of purchase 21
Universal Background Checks
21 day waiting periods
No Sales by Private Owners or Gun Shows
magazine limits
No cranks
No bump stocks
Child Lock and safe storage requirements
Assault Rifle Ban
Domestic Violence Ban
Gun Violence Restraining Orders
Higher sales taxes on guns.
Yearly excise taxes on guns.
Hold owners responsible for misuse of guns
Periodic psych assessments for each gun owner
Valid reason for gun ownership. (”self defense” should be limited to 50 bullets per year
Applicants for a gun permit must have established residence in their locality for 3 years
25 year age limit for non veterans or non militia members
Rigorous, multi-week training period for all gun applicants.
Limits and registration for (taxed!) ammunition purchases.
Periodic home inspections to ensure guns & ammo are stored safely
Regular required retake of classes, trainings, and testing
Ban large capacity gun magazines
The right to own a gun comes with the obligation to be extraordinarily disciplined and responsible to needs of the community.
256
This is delusional.
There is no way people would ever submit to the measures enumerated above.
Even if they could be enacted and could survive court challenge, many states would refuse to enforce them or allow them to be enforced.
2
Joseph F. Panzica: You're right. This is a good starting place for discussing a new legal framework for guns in America.
"The right to own a gun comes with the obligation to be extraordinarily disciplined and responsible to needs of the community."
Exactly - a sentiment that seems to have been lost, even though the Second Amendment clearly says "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State...", while it clearly does NOT say we have a right to bear any type, and any numbers, of arms.
1
I'll go along with almost everything you listed except the periodic home inspections. That is definitely an invasion of privacy. That is strictly against the Constitution. We can't go down that road.
Append "GOP" before the word congress, and then it's accurate.
8
Repeal and replace the Second Amendment with one that gives Congress, not the States, the power to regulate the ownership, possession, and use of firearms.
At the very least, ban all semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines. Australia did that and dramatically reduced firearms deaths in their country.
Write your Federal and State legislators; tell them to repeal the Second Amendment.
46
Note that they didn't reduce murders or suicides, just "gun deaths."
It didn't work.
2
John - Where are you getting your information from?
BTW, it certainly reduced mass murders. I'm not sure how you missed that.
1
https://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/ausguns.asp
https://www.factcheck.org/2017/10/gun-control-australia-updated/
Those are fact check articles supporting the drop in firearms murders, but demonstrating no meaningful change in overall crime rate.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-28/fact-check-gun-homicides-and-suici...
More clearly addresses the lack of evidence for the gun control affecting the suicide rate significantly.
1
Could the Times investigate just how much money and resources Republicans are proposing to spend for all this vetting of gun buyers and armed guards at schools? Sounds to me like very big government indeed! And intrusive. No doubt the same funds could be used to make university tuition-free, but that would help people and there'd be no private contracts to steer to friends. Please hold this party accountable for the contradictions in their positions!!
27
"The sudden focus on guns is likely to complicate an already busy agenda." Oh gee, Congress, we are just SO sorry about complicating things for you. Well, all of us minus the 17 students and adults in FL who just got murdered. And 50-some in NV who died (I mean really, at this point, you start forgetting the actual numbers of the dead, right?). And the ones in SC, and CO, and don't forget CT. So from those of us who remain, we're very sorry about complicating your "already busy agenda." Our agenda is complicated too: convincing our children they're safe when they go to school, helping them focus on school work when they wonder if they'll be shot, addressing the trauma these incidents create that then impacts their overall behaviors and fears, wondering if we should homeschool them...complicated stuff, right, Congress?
248
Allow shotguns and bolt action magazine rifles ...truly sporting arms; severely restrict handguns; ban ownership of assault weapons and high capacity magazines; appeal to the NRA to focus on marksmanship and safety as it did originally. As for our legislators, if they don't get it, vote em out.
154
Had to look up bolt action ... "The major disadvantage is a slightly lower rate of fire than other types of manual repeating firearms, and a far lower practical rate of fire than semi-automatic weapons, though this is not a very important factor in many types of hunting, target shooting and other precision-based shooting applications."
If you must to placate those who want to be able to kill more than one in a hurry, but not quite such a hurry, and I see it's an advantage for target shooting which is a kind of compromise ... the rest are excellent suggestions.
The 2017 shooting of the House Majority Whip and other member of Congress did not bother them enough to institute gun control, what makes this time different? They only seem to care if you are not yet born. Gunning down living children is not their concern. The hypocrisy is appalling.
100
NRA: Never Reasonable Anytime
70
Anyone supporting gun control- NRA or GOP or any other organization- must take responsibility to regulate those "well regulated militia" who want to exercise its rights to bear arms as per 2nd amendment.
It can not and must not be free for all without any responsibility and consequences.
29
Here's a way in which one can help to remove support from the NRA by adjusting their consumer preferences.
I just contacted Amazon.com and asked them to change my shipping preferences so that Federal Express will not be used as the carrier on shipments to me.
Actions like this can break the insidious monetary support that the National Rifle Association uses to use our own personal money to finance their armed war against us. I will not help pay for it!
148
Note to Matthew:
Amazon is also an implicit supporter of the NRA. From the Huffington post 02/23/2018:
“Amazon continues to offer the NRA TV app, allowing anyone with a Fire TV or certain game controllers to watch the NRA’s television channel, despite calls from high-profile activists to drop the content.
Everytown and Moms Demand Action, two gun safety groups, joined forces to launch a campaign Friday demanding that streaming services stop offering NRA TV.Amazon continues to offer the NRA TV app, allowing anyone with a Fire TV or certain game controllers to watch the NRA’s television channel, despite calls from high-profile activists to drop the content.
“NRA TV is home to the NRA’s most dangerous and violence-inciting propaganda,” Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts said in a statement. “It’s time for tech leaders to acknowledge their role in helping the NRA spread this dangerous content and cut it out.”
3
Bravo Matthew. Now contact Amazon and ask them to remove their NRA TV app. (Apple too!)
4
Is there a way to do this on-line. Would love to do this - hopefully send a message to Fed Ex and NRA.
3
Human beings are flawed creatures. Some fail to do their jobs. Some develop dangerous mental illnesses. Some harm people for selfish reasons. Trying to use flawed humans to stop flawed humans is a losing proposition. If we agree with this, then the answer is to take away from these flawed creatures the things that they use to do the greatest damage.
17
Reminds me of the bureaucracy that kept the Paris Peace Talks during the Vietnam war going on and on while more and more people were getting killed. The GOP is backed by the NRA is doing the same thing with the goal being if it gets to be tedious, maybe voters will forget about it by November.
32
If grieving high school students and some major businesses can stand up to the bullying of the NRA, why can't Congress?
Assault weapons in any civilian setting are dangerous.
215
Money
This is why we need to get money out of politics.
2
Congress will not because many are subsidized by the NRA.
Hence Rubio's comment the other night to one of the Parkland students questions.
He would not stop taking "blood money" from the NRA.
These people will twist and turn into any conceivable shape to justify the MONEY.
We need to repeal the second amendment and get guns out of our country entirely, like other sane countries do. Enough.
89
That's big talk, but how will you get an Amendment repeal through CONGRESS -- majority Republican in BOTH houses -- as well as state ratification, which requires 38 states to ratify and most states are red states? You can't do it only with blue states -- there are only about 12 blue states.
If that's your best idea, no wonder the left is all hot air and big talk.
1
I think it goes without saying that any amendment or law that the NRA supports such as the "Fix NICS Act" is a non-starter for those of us who demand serious changes to keep weapons of mass massacre out of the hands of everyday citizens.
11
Countries aren't "sane" or "insane", only their residents.
1
It probably isn't quite the moment. It's hard to imagine this Congress accomplishing anything as sensible as gun control, or this President signing it. But with the momentum of a building and organized movement, the jolt of energy from the Florida students and a solid majority of Americans in favor, the moment is inevitable.
NRA dollars and opposition to reasonable restrictions on war weapons in are going to hang like millstones around the necks of GOP candidates in 2018 and beyond. We have reached a tipping point, and they all seem to know it.
85
Yes. Thanks. I think you've got it. This is a Harriet Beecher Stowe/Uncle Tom's Cabin moment. There is a shift in attitudes. It will take a while for that shift to translate into real gun control, which is unfortunate because there will likely be more Parkland-type incidents. But the shift is, by definition, the precursor for the change.