The 2nd Amendment does not allow Citizens to appear in public with ammo loaded in weapons. Citizens may only "bear" weapons, equating to owning weapons. Weapons loaded in the home are OK, loaded weapons in public are a public intimidation causing everyone to need a weapon for their own protection and are not permitted in any form by the 2nd Amendment. There is nothing "well regulated" by gun owners running around in public with loaded weapons, concealed or not.
Video games like Maze that allow "players" to travel thru hallways giving everyone they find a head shot are a public abomination and must be withheld from minors and any impressionable person!
4
Oh boy, sure didn't see this coming...
4
The 2nd Amendment does not allow Citizens to appear in public with ammo loaded in weapons. Citizens may only "bear" weapons, equating to owning weapons. Weapons loaded in the home are OK, loaded weapons in public are a public intimidation causing everyone to need a weapon for their own protection and are not permitted in any form by the 2nd Amendment. There is nothing "well regulated" by gun owners running around in public with loaded weapons, concealed or not.
Video games like Maze that allow "players" to travel thru hallways giving everyone they find a head shot are a public abomination and must be withheld from minors and any impressionable person!
1
There are already over 300 million firearms in citizen’s hands in the US. Therefore, any sensible public discussion about firearms safety should be focused on strict "ammunition control"! This would largely sidetrack those limitations imposed by the 2nd Amendment. Future ammunition purchases must be limited in quantity, and prohibited to those with criminal records and people with a documented history of mental problems.
The NICS database should include mandatory reports from mental health practitioners, military authorities, as well as all law enforcement data. In this era of sophisticated data storage (the cloud), such vital information can be made instantly available to all gun dealers, ammunition dealers, gun show participants, and individual sellers.
Strong federal penalties must be mandated for those who attempt to bypass these common sense restrictions. Vigorous enforcement is essential for these proposed reforms of this country's "firearm madness" to succeed. Enough is enough - timely action is long overdue!
7
The small meassures that discussed and are about to be tossed out would be of small use when there are 300 million guns out there. The NRA says that in the hands of responsible gun owners, supposedly NRA members, guns are safe. Why then do firearms injuries go down during NRA Conventions? If guns were safe in the hands of these NRA members, why are there fewer injuries when they are not in possession of their wepons?Please read this New England Journal of Medicine.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1712773
For safety reasons, are NRA Conventions "gun free zones?
5
Once upon a time a President who changed his mind would be called a "Flip-Flopper". Donald Trump doesn't even make up his mind, and he is all over the map. He is the King of Flip-Floppers.
6
Shouldn't it all come down to knowing what Trump will do next by asking Putin?
5
The man bends whichever way the wind blows. He has no convictions of his own. And how could he? He doesn't read. He doesn't study the issues. He watches Fox News and reacts to whoever is pulling his strings and fawning over him the most at that moment. He's a puppet, not a leader.
11
As expected the NRA chewed Trump a new one, told him they could expose that he got $30 million of laundered Russian money from them and blow him out of the water. Both he and Pence listened. Not unexpected, plus he was only trying to show off before. Trump hasn't a clue what he's doing and tariffs are another diversion that won't work.
8
NRA MAGA = The NRA makes America grieve again...and again...and again.
8
Why are we still paying attention to what Dishonest Don has to say about anything? His policy pronouncements rarely amount to more than a just a performance for the cameras than they suggest actual conviction on any given subject, and usually with a 24-hour shelf life. His presidency mainly serves as a distraction from where the actual control of power is being wielded in our lives today, by the so-called 'conservative' American oligarchy.
Want actual change? Vote their Republican enablers out.
10
I don’t give a hoot what that shameful lobbyist Cox said or what inept Trump and Pence said to him.
Americans want gun laws to protect our children. We want all gun applicants investigated, waiting periods and assault weapons banned!
Not one of the three has explained:
1. How we are going to get “dangerous people” off the streets when we have no way of knowing who they are with the faulty system of gun registration we have in this country?
2. How will be take care of the mentally ill when we have the the worst single healthcare system in the civilized world?
Explain that. But in the meantime Ban assault rifles. They are killing our kids with NRA help!
11
Did anyone not see this coming? (Really, Diane Feinstein?) Trump may not be afraid of the NRA but he 30 million reasons to like it. Second unscheduled and unannounced meeting with the NRA in a week, and both only days after Trump looks like he might act against guns. Talk about having your mutt on a short leash.
7
The deep state at work. NRA = Death
10
Anyone surprised by this? Ok raise your hands...
4
Hey Trump,
Who wears the pants in the White House? You or the N.R.A.? My guess is Ivanka.
6
Wayne took Donnie to the woodshed.
8
trump is a notorious coward. he's afraid of the n.r.a.
7
In other news, the law of gravity is still in force. Also, the sun is bright. And i you stop refuelling your car, it will cease to operate. Plus, if you don't drink water you will die.
Got any more astounding completely unexpected announcements to make to us?
5
Another profile in cowardice from the Grifter in Chief.
7
So, once again the NRA opposes any sensible laws to prevent national tragedies. So, to heck with it all. Repeal the second amendment completely. Why try and appease a minority of people anymore? We tried to meet in the middle and it got us nowhere. I no longer want to meet in the middle. Just end this insanity once and for all!
8
Really is anyone on the face of the Earth surprised by this walkback?
Trump without a script is not much more than the "prattler-in-chief;" a stream of consciousness self-promotor.
No wonder his "administration" is in total disarray. The day that now semi-famous photo of Trump and Dianne Feinstein (laughing?) was published in the NYT with the accompanying article, I absolutely knew Trump's remarks would go absolutely nowhere. No one with two functioning brain cells believed what Trump said on Wednesday.
I mean, Trump's phone number is on LaPierre's speed dial, for Pete's sake.
4
of course he will. he is just as greedy and immoral as the NRA. How many rubles did you funnel to Traitor Trump, NRA?
3
NRA obviously thinks they control Trump. We will see if he is his own man or simply another stooge of the NRA.
1
The NRA spent $31 million to defeat Clinton and fund the Trump campaign and nearly $500 million on pro-gun legislative campaigns. These politicians have been bought and the NRA will prevail.
7
NRA cowards. No thought for those dead, only their own petty profits and self interests. You're all at the end of the power road
4
NRA lies. Children die.
10
Trump has used bait & switch his entire life, and in 50 years Americans could cease getting sucked in by it. It is the only thing that is predictable about both Trump and the USA. He will use bait/switch, and we will fall for it, every time.
5
Damn! The next thing you'll print is that the Easter Bunny isn't real. The depth of my disappointment has no limit.
4
"[Trump] even suggested a conversation on an assault weapons ban." (NYTimes, 28Feb2018) But as many suggested, Mr. Trump's position is, uh, fluid. Still, such a ban is the crux of the matter. These are weapons with high rates of fire and capable of holding large numbers of bullets and/or being quickly reloaded. They have no legitimate use by civilians. With many thousands of sales locations in the country, people who want one will find a way, regardless of background checks, age limits, whatever. The sale needs to be declared illegal, and current owners required turn them in. Some have proposed registration and liability insurance, but how can insurance cover a dozen or more murders? And no, the 2nd Amendment does not guarantee ownership of such weapons.
2
Our so-called president's precarious mental state presents an imminent danger to himself and others. He must be removed from office before his irresponsible remarks and actions ignite a second Civil War.
6
"I can tell you're afraid of the NRA. I'm not afraid of the NRA." Where did I hear that just a day or two ago?
3
Count on Trump retreating from gun control not promoted by the N.R.A.
2
The following comment is with respect to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
As the Parkland story unfolds, the government seems to have failed at every level. Specifically, BCSO did not intervene, before and during the shooting. Pass what law you will, but, if law enforcement makes no effort to prevent before or stop during an event, there really isn't any point passing any more laws.
17 days after this shooting, most, if not all gun shows will be counting record attendance. Walmart, Dick's and every other lemming might be cutting AR sales, but, does anyone really think AR sales are going to fall? Gun maker stocks fall? Maybe, but, they won't be going out of business. High capacity magazines and ammo sales, I'm sure, are going well. This gun crime, then new gun law, AKA, chicken and egg, story goes on and on. And, if there appears to be a chance the Democrats take back the House, gun sales will just ramp up. Even more.
You anti-gunners should learn about guns. Take a gun safety class. A concealed carry class. Go to a range, rent a gun, shot some some ammo. You would be surprised what you will learn and who you will meet. But, I'm going to the gun show.
By conflating "mental health reform" with with reporting, tracking and declaring people with cognitive, sensory, and emotional challenges to be unworthy of the rights and freedoms conferred upon citizens, Republicans are preparing to worsen a crisis they initiated during the Reagan era. Not only will this disenfranchise and punish people who receive a psychiatric diagnosis, but it will lead to people avoiding the care and treatment they need out of well placed fear that they will be designated "a sicko" and made vulnerable to incarceration in behavioral health institutions. Not only is this a gross injustice to the 4% or more of the population who, annually, struggle with the syndromes that psychiatrists use as diagnoses (with little insight into what causes or cures them), but the resulting avoidance of care and treatment will increase the danger that people in crisis pose to others. There is no reason why someone with, say, OCD and a tendency to wash their hands 50 times a day should be denied the right to own a gun, make their own decisions, and fully participate in society, but already, at the state level, the effective criminalization of people with psychiatric conditions is beginning, even as Republicans strip away mental health care protections written into the Affordable Care Act. This is a dangerous and abusive idea that should stop immediately.
2
So...President Flip-Flop is at it again - no surprise that one. The NRA showed up and sorted him out with a noogie!
3
What is Arch Moore's daughter smiling about? Her state is another red state basket case wholly dependent on blue state tax dollars. And ground zero of the opioid crisis. Again, what is Arch Moore's daughter smiling about?
BTW putting Feinstein next to Trump for the photo op of her giggling while being rolled by Trump just about clinches the election for Kevin DeLeon.
4
So much projection in the meeting with Dems and GOP on guns. "You're afraid of the NRA!" translation: "I'm afraid of the NRA". He is WEAK. He can't think for himself.
3
No0w that Delat has ended discounts for NRA members, let's hope they take the next small step -- stop accepting them as passengers....let's see what that kind of 'gun control' does for GA's lt governor and our so-called president.....!
1
Trump is a salesman's dream - just make sure you get to him last and he'll buy it.
2
I knew Donny's supportive statements are too good to be true!
2
NRA is evil/vile and should be stopped and controlled - for 300 millions guns (including warfare AR-15, etc.) own by American citizens - - on a population of 326 million Americans is a complete nonsense. Human integrity demands to stop manufacturing guns and to stop buying guns from European dealers to USA. Trump is a helpless puppet in the hands of the NRA. Fate is at hand now for him.
This guy has always played dirty and he has never gone up against anyone like Mueller. Aside from being very capable, Mueller also has the funding at his disposal to not be outspent by Trump, which is how guys like him usually win. These are the smart kids in class and they are going to take Trump and family apart piece by piece. When he can't take it any longer or they are very close to nailing him, he'll suddenly develop a health problem that forces him to resign the presidency. It will be his only way out.
The man personifies the very worst characteristics of America.
He is a disgrace.
2
No one knows what Trump is going to do about anything. The NRA doesn't know. The Republicans don't know. The Democrats don't know. We don't know. Trump doesn't know.
4
That didn't take long.
5
Trump: “The Second Amendment [& the right to have guns] is on the ballot in November.
The only way to save our Second Amendment is to vote for a person that you all know named Donald Trump, OK?
I will tell you. I will never let you down.”
May 20, 2016: Trump’s speech at the NRA Institute, thanking the NRA for their presidential endorsement.
Trump will not pass laws against the NRA, regardless of the massacres.
3
This president has absolutely no idea what he wants. He is just blowing in the wind (and he certainly is NOT "the answer (we wanted or have been waiting for), my friend). He was for (some form of) universally healthcare before he was against it (remember he said that every one in the US would have great health care?). he was in favor of " a bill of love" for DACA recipients before he was against it. Heck, the man doesn't even know whether or not he wants his family members in the WH, his own daughter included. This, form another article in the Times, "Privately, some aides have expressed frustration that Mr. Kushner and his wife, the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, have remained at the White House, despite Mr. Trump at times saying they never should have come to the White House and should leave. Yet aides also noted that Mr. Trump has told the couple that they should keep serving in their roles, even as he has privately asked Mr. Kelly for his help in moving them out." Why, then, should we be surprised when, one second, he says one thing, and the next he says exactly the opposite?
1
Once the NRA, the rulers of the Republican Party, had their meeting with the little child who has no integrity, they new they good change his little mind. We need to vote the party of the NRA out of office in 2018 and beyond.
1
I feel that the NRA is a terrorist organization. Their drive to spread guns throughout our society is causing terror in our streets, our schools and our government. With most Americans in support of reasonable gun control, our government is held hostage by the NRA to the point where the government is no longer supporting the will of the people, but rather the will of the NRA. What is the definition of a terrorist organization if this is not it? Rise up in support of our children, our schools, our streets and our society to live is peace rather than fear. Defeat the NRA!
4
Re: "Mr. Trump called for comprehensive legislation that would, among other things, expand background checks to firearms purchased at gun shows and on the internet".
How many times will this myth be reported? It is disheartening that neither lawmakers nor the President know the law.
In order to sell firearms commercially, a business must possess a Federal Firearms License (FFL). All FFLs, therefore all bussinesses that sell firearms legally, are already required by federal law to run a background check on *all* purchases. Whether they are selling on the internet or at gun shows, a background check is mandatory.
FFLs that sell firearms online require the firearm to be sent to your local FFL. They do not mail you the firearm. If they do, they are breaking federal law. When the firearm arrives at your local FFL, you fill out the paperwork, and they perform the background check. If they do not, they are breaking federal law.
If an FFL has a booth set up at a gun show to sell firearms, they must run a background check. If they do not, they are breaking federal law.
So where does this idea of a "gun show loophole" come from? It's not a "gun show loophole", it's a "private citizen loophole" in *federal* law.
Federal law does not require a private citizen to run a background check when selling a firearm to another private citizen. But, many states do have these laws. A private citizen who tries making a business out of selling firearms without an FFL is breaking federal law.
3
Of course, the Republican president will "retreat from gun control." He has demonstrated time and time again that his "calls" for "comprehensive" anything are just in-the-moment utterances.
2
And here we thought that windsock on the Whitehouse was only for the Presidential helicopter.
2
From the article:
President Trump: “I like taking the guns early,” he said, adding, “Take the guns first, go through due process second.”
"The reaction from the N.R.A.’s allies on Capitol Hill to those comments was fierce the next day, as conservatives vowed that such measures would not become law regardless of Mr. Trump’s declarations."
What is alarming, is that only conservatives are reported as vowing to thwart Mr. Trump on this very bad idea of removing due process before government may take action. Am I to believe that liberals would back the president because the move would be a small win for gun control?
The top lobbyist for the NRA got through the almighty and powerful gatekeeper - John Kelly? Anyway to find out if Kelly is getting money from NRA?
1
Why am I not surprised?
2
This was oh so predictable. Remember the immigration performance? ("I'll sign anything you send me. I'll take the heat for you!') And now guns ("I like taking the guns first. Due process later.") until the NRA got hold of him. Just as believable as his claim that he would rush into a building without a weapon to confront a shooter with an AR-15. Right. It's the constant con (con-con-- the Trump dance?)
2
They came by the White House last night and dangled a check in front of him.
4
That didn't last long. Now who is afraid of the NRA. Will make a great campaign commercial.
1
Republican legislators in Georgia just voted to punish Delta Airline for severing its ties with the NRA.
That just goes to show how beholden the Republican Party is to this lunatic fringe organization: the flea on the tail that wags the dog.
That the NRA is essentially dictating how a state legislature sets business tax policy is appalling and frightening. This is a poster-child for corruption, and a prime example of why the Republican Party is unfit to govern at any level. The GOP serves its puppet-masters, not the people.
Hey Delta: Minneapolis is a major hub. We have sane government here. Obviously Georgia Republicans think it's more important to dance to the NRA's tune than value the 5th largest company in Georgia.
1
Trump doesn't have an original thought or opinion on his own.
He parrots the last person he talked with.
Heck of a way to run a country.
3
May? You want fake news, Republicans will do anything meaningful about gun control. I don't even listen.
2
Great day for NRA and stock market.
1
The NRAs supporters wild negative reactions to the calls for reforms shows that they are much more interested imposing their political power than stopping the mass murder atrocities that have plagued the country over the last several years. The Georgia state legislature has reached a new low in their 2nd amendment uber alles with their penalizing Delta Airlines. The wildly over broad interpretation of the 2nd amendment has created unintended consequences that could potentially destabilize the country.
2
Does the NRA EVER LISTEN or watch the news? And Trump has to stop playing golf with the head of the NRA. The NRA are masters of brainwashing and so is Trump. However the NRA has Congressmen in its deep pockets, and now it has our President. He needs to walk away, as do the Congressmen as this all is a conflict of the public interest.
3
If this were “The Apprentice”, I’m sure a contestant who spoke for Trump without his permission would have been fired.
2
As numerous readers correctly commented, Trump's words mean nothing. His actions are the proof in the pudding. He obviously has no fixed positions on anything, and cannot be believed. I no longer wonder about his mental competency; he is thoroughly in his dotage, unable to hold a consistent thought for more than a few hours.
Please, Republicans, stop your partisan nonsense and think of the nation. Pence may be much worse for our social contract, but he doesn't appear to be insane or corrupt. Trump is both.
7
trump has no knowledge of any policy matter and also has no desire or ability to learn. He merely agrees with whatever the last person to speak to him said. Nothing more than an empty vessel incapable of critical thought.
4
Anyone thinking that the NRA does not have influence over this president,think again. They could get into the White House for a meeting with Trump the same day he supposedly looked like he was going to do something about gun control.
4
Jon K:
I certainly didn't vote for Trump, but at this point I would be thrilled if I thought he had any sort of strategy or plan or idea or mental process at all beyond his own narcissism. I don't understand why you think he has any principles to do any diplomacies FROM. Those of us who you describe as not giving him "a break" don't understand how "you people" voted for a fool and a con man whose biggest accomplishment has been to do a Reality TV show and to put the business his father handed down to him in constant bankruptcy.
One meeting televised, one meeting not. Which one do you think was the one where anything real happened?
6
Of course he'll backtrack. This is a standard trick of his, to say what the left wants to hear, get good press, let the public think he'll do the right thing, then go ahead do as he and the big money wanted all along -- no change, more guns.
6
The NRA and its bought & paid for politicians are under attack.
The public has been given the names of the politicians, lobbyists, and corporations who support them. For the first time, the average American knows who supports the NRA.
Delta, Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods are using this moment as a marketing campaign to get on the right side of the majority. They are capitalizing on free advertising & goodwill. It is almost priceless.
There might be 300 million guns in America but the NRA doesn't have close to 300 million supporters.
I think the NRA is about to step into Harvey Weinstein's hot tub. Be careful the water is very hot.
3
Is there ANYONE reading this who thought he would do this? Anyone? What we are witnessing at this time is the undisputed collapse of the USA. We have allowed special access to an exclusive organization (the NRA) to our central government and indeed to policy that governs everyone of us in or outside the NRA. Our nations leadership have been bought long ago, but these days, these special interests are very open and arrogant about this special access and CONTROL they have.
Nikita Krushchev said "America will fall without a shot being fired. It will fall from within" .... prophetic to say the least.
3
What a Surprise that would be.
Donald Trump says one thing and then corrects himself.
That has never happened before!!
1
It's like Seth Meyers said the other day; Trump's opinions are formed by the last person with whom he spoke.
Now there is a man who sticks with his principles.
3
Given that almost everything Trump says is either false or a deliberate lie, I would hardly call a reversal a "retreat."
In fact, the five-time draft dodger has been in retreat his entire life when it comes to actually taking a stand for anyone other than himself.
3
Perhaps congressmen and women could start wearing nascar-esque jackets emblazoned with patches of those who contribute money to them.
What, exactly, IS the NRA? It's an association of gun owners, and gun nuts who for some reason became so powerful in the mid-1970s that they now wield some sort of perpetual, mysterious power over elected officials?
When, exactly did the NRA get invited to the debate and WHY are congressmen beholden to them? Is it money? Fear? Influence? All of the above? There is not any other organization in this nation that wields such disproportional, underhanded, and despicable influence as does the NRA. And its all about one issue.
Let rural people have their guns. In those places there's nothing standing between you, your property, and someone who wants to take it and no police protection nearby. But rural people must realize that in urban areas there is a different set of assumptions under which people, ALL people, operate that includes no need for personal firearms. ANY firearms.
1
"Perhaps congressmen and women could start wearing nascar-esque jackets emblazoned with patches of those who contribute money to them. "
Good idea. See Michael Moore's Sicko movie about health care. he ha a scene of congress people walking into a hearing room with a bubble above their heads showing how much money each got from health care industry.
1
"I play to people's fantasies.... That's why a little hyperbole never hurts."
Donald Trump
Art of the Deal
7
He specializes in fulfilling death wishes and champagne send offs.
1
Trump and the GOP's spine is made out of butter.
8
Margerine..since its the closer analog to a fake Republican party that cares..
2
Is there really any doubt that guns are accoutrements of cowards?
2
Now NRA speaks for the POTUS!!!!
When did we turn in a banara republic when banana companies spoke for the
"elected" governments?
11
Trump never meant any of the things he said about gun control He is a bald-faced liar, even about murdered children.
13
Is anyone surprised by this?
9
we all knew this would happen!
11
Of course he is! Follow the Russian money to the NRA and then tie it up in a neat package for Trump!
8
If you put Trump on to of a barn he'd make a perfect weathervane. Whichever way the wind blows!
7
So much for leadership Trump
5
Wow, Trump changes his mind and position 24 hours later. Would anyone have thunk it!
4
"No puppet. No puppet. You're the puppet."
Do I need to name the source of that quote?
7
If cops could Stop & Frisk, they could have stopped Cruz from even getting to the school in FL.
It's time to repeal the 4th amendment !!
You should have no problem with this, unless you're hiding something illegal.
The NRA donation of many, many $millions to Trump in 2016 has paid off in spades! It's not "special interest groups" that have authority over Trump and Republicans, it's $$$ that pay for congressional "positions".
5
And now, to no one's surprise, we have Thursday Trump.
5
The NRA controls this country.
7
Money control this government. Ergo, the NRA controls this country.
2
"After a meeting in the Oval Office, the N.R.A.’s top lobbyist ... " See, right there, that's the problem. First sentence.
50
I'm still ticked at you for taking my pen, Klompus! You'll never get on the board of Del Boca Vista!
Another more than vivid reminder of the long overdue, much needed amendment to the constitution, "It is hereby proclaimed, all direct and indirect forms of lobbying of all three branches of federal and state government is forever banned".
Lobbyists and their money, and the guiltless politicians who greedily accept same are, quite literally, killing us. "it's just business" is the mantra. Term limits and actively participating via voting would go a long way to deter this insidious cancer destroying our spirit and our country.
4
It's nice that the NRA can provide input to the President directly. When will the President meet with the families of the victims of Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, etc. ?
7
There sure are a lot of comments about the NRA owning Trump. He's a billionaire. He could buy the NRA. Probably 10 times over. Maybe 100 times over.
1
So you've seen his tax returns.
5
Did you ever notice that he doesn't like to spend his own money?
Trump's not as rich as he boasts that he is. Come on catch up to the truth!
2
The, "What it Takes to Buy a Gun in 15 Countries." Article is really misleading. In the US is depends on the class of fire arm and state of residence. A handgun in New York approximates most of the steps in the more difficult countries, and one cannot buy an assault rifle in this state.
2
Nothing stops you buying it in another state and then sneaking it in by car. State borders are lines on paper maps.
1
Was North Korea on that list?
When Trump came out Wednesday with some rational, intelligent ideas about gun control I just sat back and waited because I knew that on Thursday he would change his position to something different and more in line with the NRA and I was not disappointed. Well, I am disappointed that we have a president who changes his mind from one day to the next and offers no real leadership and lies besides that. And he's already said he's going to run for re-election. God help us! I hope the American voters wake up before 2020.
9
The Press = Charlie Brown
Trump = Lucy
Once again, the scribes spend a week touting the independent Trump who will be able to get done what no president before. All because he made some comment to gain cheap adulation. And then ye yanks the proposal.
Splat
4
It's not hard to love our eel-in-chief. "Two-faced" has a new adherent. School students need to continue to make their voices heard.
9
Of course Trump's blather on Wednesday did not change Senator Capito's mind. She knew that Trump would change his mind on Thursday.
Republicans control the government. There are no adults in charge. There are no clear heads or steady hands to moderate Trump's madness. In November we must replace all Republicans with Democrats.
7
Note to Democrats: If at all possible, don't allow yourselves to be used as props in the Trump circus. It momentarily makes Trump look sane and maybe even reasonable, but it's a charade in a house of mirrors. It's not real and it's not a good look.
Unfortunately, you need to figure out how to negotiate with a hyperactive marionette who temporarily gets loose but is quickly brought under control by the darker forces surrounding him.
It's probably an impossible task.
7
The Democrats would have to fight the PRess for role of straight man.
1
Of course he will. All that stuff yesterday was performance, part of the "Hey, I'm President!" reality show, emphasis on SHOW. Today we are back to reality where the president does whatever his bosses in the republican party tell him to do.
7
I don't think anyone with any modicum of judgement believed Trump was sincere. I believe he always lies... well rare exceptions maybe. He must "get off " when the Dems take him seriously. Trump and NRA doing a Kabuki dance. I don't think one needs music to do that dance.
Even the media is fooled consistently.
3
There's a part of me that believes Trump is that incompetent and delusional enough to fail to realize that we don't live in an autocracy where we can just confiscate guns without due process. Then there's the other part where I think he's that manipulative enough to comment about taking guns without due process so he can create panic among hardline gun owners so that any debate about gun control goes nowhere.
3
A Republican president with real strength and real concern for the lives of innocent citizens could stand up to the NRA and persuade his gun-toting MAGA "patriot" base that reasonable gun regulations were not only constitutional under the Second Amendment but necessary. A Democratic president declaring the very same thing would have no chance of getting a bill through Congress. It's time for President Trump to show if he is a strong leader, or just an actor playing one in a movie.
4
Of course he will retreat: he is a blustery coward and does not want to offend his supporters. While these school and other shooting episodes are horrific, and the outcry has been greater on this recent tragedy, the event will fade into the past with the very short memories that so many Americans seem to have. Trump plays those short memories like a master showman... which is approximately what he is.... and not a President.
4
Well, that didn't take long.
3
Every Trump appearance begins to resemble a re-run of "The Apprentice".
5
All I can say after my daily eye roll is, figures. Random thoughts meander, flitter around and dissolve as another enters aimlessly.........
6
Research has shown that public opinion has virtually no influence on legislation. Lobbyists, PACs, special interests, major corporations, Wall Street and the super rich are running the show. We need to get out the vote and continue calling and writing our legislators, but we should also boycott businesses that use their money to push legislation harmful to us and the planet. Don’t shop at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Menards and other stores owned by the mega rich individuals controlling congressional Republicans. Don’t buy products manufactured by the Koch brothers, such as Dixie brand, Stainmaster carpet, Brawny, Angel Soft toilet tissue and many more. Koch Industries are huge polluters and therefore support environmental deregulation. They had Congressional Republicans sign a pledge promising to take no action on climate change!
Unless we get rid of lobbyists and campaign donations, there is no hope of making our “public servants” champion legislation for the public good. Trump, along with his cohorts aren’t working FOR us, but rather AGAINST us. We have to take back OUR country!
5
Of course Trump will retreat. He loves, loves, loves having his meetings televised so he can run his mouth while appearing like someone who can bring everyone together over his amazing deal making abilities. Once out of the meeting he quickly changes his mind, finds someone to blame, and tweets about them as the problem to the whole mess. A master con man.
6
There used to be a time when there would a huge outcry when a political flip flopped on an issue
This president has taken it to another level and made it into an art form
A performance worthy of an Oscar this Sunday; the only issue being that this involves human lives and their livelihood
4
Why aren't the chiefs of police of our major cities and the American Medical Association invited to an oval office meeting to discuss guns?
It's so obvious: the Republican party is owned lock, stock, and barrel by the NRA--pun intended.
32
Perhaps law enforcement and medical personnel have even more urgent matters to address in the Oval Office.
2
Everybody already knows that coveting and compulsively shooting military-grade weapons is creepy.
3
Insurance.
The AMA loves to have their members be able to bill health insurance companies.
Police forces everywhere have since 2001 received substantial federal grants in order to turn their community police forces into mini paramilitaries. They have an interest in allowing crime to continue.
1
So, who's afraid of the big bad wolf ...er, NRA?
And he huffs and he puffs...
8
It boggles the mind how congressmen are beholden to this organization.
The NRA's influence would diminish overnight if congress would wake up, standf up, and do the right thing.
3
lol democrats got played again
good job
2
Trump did exactly the same thing with DACA.. Why is anyone surprised? The only deeply held belief Trump holds is that he should prevail and be rich.
18
trump's bizarre photo-ops, first regarding DACA and now gun control, demonstrate one thing: he is incredibly easy to manipulate. When Democrats in these photo-op meetings tell him what is needed, he agrees. When Republicans then tell him that isn't what they want, he agrees. Then the photo-op ends, and the people who actually run things in the White House get their shot. Someone, perhaps Stephen Miller, tells him that he wants to end chain migration, end the lottery system, and deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible, and DACA is no longer on the table. In this case, the NRA gets their shot, and gun control is off the table.
We live in interesting times.
8
At some point, this country has to address that we have a russian plant as a president. He's feeble minded and is singularly focused on his and his family's personal wealth. I see tepid steps by the media to start asking the hard questions but Trump's refusal to implement the sanctions for Russia's meddling in our elections speaks loud and clear: He's a traitor.
20
Lying Liar Lies Lustily. Hey, NRA! Hang your hat on this guy's words. Hey GOP! You too. You can't make policy out of random thoughts that pop into someone's head. What will he say in 5 minutes? Probably the opposite of what he said in the last 5 minutes.
6
Kudos to Delta for discontinuing discounts for NRA members and they should take up the offer of saner states like NY for a new home - Georgia is mired in the bog of Trumpism and have lost their souls.
15
America what have you done to yourself? America what are you? Where are you?
13
Trump it turns out is not only Putin's puppet, but Cox's puppet. How ironic that the guy who cartoonishly said he would have rushed into Parkland High School ,even without a gun, to save the day,wilts as soon as the NRA reminds him what he really thinks about gun control. Turns out that the bully in the White House got roughed up rather easily by the NRA.
15
once a coward always a coward.
7
What a disgusting group. Vote them out in 2018 and beyond.
10
What? The Con Don not keeping his word? Anyone surprised? He lies every time he opens his mouth and the press/media keep covering the lies ad nauseum.
No problem. WE THE PEOPLE are finally taking matters into our own hands, including gun retailers and businesses that supported the nra. The next step is to have the Great American Gun Meltdown where people who want to see fewer guns on the streets of America - especially machine guns - turn them in to the local police station to be melted down. Gun owners will not be reimbursed. They will have guns not necessary to protect their homes melted down as their civic/social responsibility - because they want a more civil, safe society.
Meantime, WE THE PEOPLE will elect Socially Conscious Women and Men who will pass regulations that will stop the carnage on OUR streets, schools and other public places.
Attention gun owners: WE do not want your guns. WE want your guns to stop killing us and our loved ones. Don't you?
10
So who's afraid of the NRA now??
ELV
1
Trump lied??? I'm shocked!!!!!!
3
The NRA owned Republicans and Donald, are puppets. Remember, the NRA has ONLY seven million members!
We, the People have the power to fire each and every NRA owned Republican!
9
a gun club controls the U.S. government? a deluded paranoid mission? Lapierre protects us from socialism? sharia law? I never voted for the nra. i do not need their help. the gun club wants to do away with the video game club, because gamers kill people?
1
You do not address who Senator Caputo is speaking to? I assume NRA lobbyists as a reader I would like to know their names. If it is her assistants I would like to know their names.
Trump's words are hollow. His followers take his words and tweets at face meaning but this last year has proven that Trump lies 100% of the time and his word has no meaning whatsoever.
Trump is a flim flam man and will say anything at the moment to get praise.
6
Trump dances but the NRA calls the tune.
4
I'll save all of us the heartache of watching to see if anything will be done to help prevent the next massacre of our children: Nothing will be done.
Nothing will be done.
There is a republican in the White House, and we have a republican congress.
They are all owned by the NRA.
Nothing will be done.
VOTE THEM OUT.
9
Trump and the GOP are never going to make even the smallest changes in the federal gun laws or lack thereof. They have courted the NRA and even more extreme gun rights groups for years and can count on the members of those groups to vote for the GOP candidate no matter how opposed they are to the rest of the GOP agenda. The GOP knows that any GOP member of Congress who supports tighter gun laws will face a primary challenge by a toady of the gun lobby.
Trump's supporters have been conditioned to disbelieve anything reported that conflicts with what he now says. They believe that the traditional news media is part of vast conspiracy to undermine the Dear Leader.
Trump's only hope of staying in office and being re-elected is to retain the support of the folks in the red hats and the money from the NRA. In the last 13 months, when has Trump accomplished anything progressive? Anyone who gets hope from his ever changing positions is fooling him- or herself.
5
Well I never believed he was sincere just grandstanding in front of the camera like a good monkey.
4
When will we name the issue GUN SAFETY instead of gun control?
13
I don't watch Fox News, but I would be interested to know whether the trump's performance during the gun control meeting was televised, or did they not air it? How did trump's loyal base react to his supposed support for gun control?
I see a comment here about trump playing diplomat to the NRA. Sorry, but Diplomacy is too a big a word for trump to know, let alone act upon. Call it what it is: he just doesn't know what he "fervently believes" until someone else tells him, which makes him easily the most easily manipulated person.
Unless a miracle occurs, it looks like the 2nd Amendment and its rabid adherents are here to stay.
8
And the lightspeed back peddling begins!
9
Boy, I'd like to be a fly on the wall at that meeting to hear what was said. I guess that NRA money speaks louder than the 30,000 people who die from gunshots each year.
13
No surprises here, Trump, speaks out of both sides of his mouth willing to appease whoever he needs to for the moment.
8
Long ago, many of us have stopped listening, have stopped believing what he says. We pay attention to what he does. Yes, he’s the president and his words should be important, but with over two thousand lies and still counting and with talk that changes depending upon whom he speaks with last, what’s the point of relying on anything he says?
8
Today’s least surprising news.
16
Jim Henson is jealous. He never created a sock puppet as realistic as Mr. Trump.
11
What this is saying is that there will be no changes until the gun-loving states, like Floriday, Georgia, Texas, change. The students and their older brothers and sisters and parents and friends must force the changes with their representatives in the state legislature and their representatives in Congress. The gun-loving states are strangled by gun rights. Once enough of them change, then the laws can change at the national level. And then the NRA needs to change through the efforts of their members or through a drop in membership.
And the list of changes is lengthy. Every gun-rights law at the federal level needs to be ended.
6
Lol. The NRA called Trump into the Oval for a meeting with its goons and told him what he thought.
Weak.
7
THe NRA are nothing bust a bunch of Right wing extremists who could care less about our children and gun control. It NOTHING to do with the second Amend. Now that AH in the White House is going to go back on his word just like everything else he claims. It'd sad..I love this country ,but I am embarrassed by our Gov't and this Admin. Pathetic!
7
Is anyone really surprised by this?
5
conservatives would revolt against gun seizures by the government without due process.
And so would liberals. Due process is the basis for our constitutional rights.
4
It would appropriate for news media to carry a disclaimer when ever they report anything Trump says. The disclaimer should read.
"Readers are cautioned that whatever Trump may say at any given point, has no meaning there after. "
5
In this episode of Jello-Trump, he's shifted his opinion once again.
He's got multiple personalities from day to day.
5
Because, you know, it is much more important to ensure people who are too afraid to go out with out a gun, or have an irrational fear of a "tyrannical" government, have access to as many guns as possible. The fact that the resulting flood of guns leads to 300,000 gun related deaths per year is irrelevant to the psychopaths at the NRA.
4
This behavior will continue every day until the November 2018 election, when, if everyone votes, a Democratic House and Senate will bring "stability" and "sanity" back to our Federal government.
How can President Trump govern if he changes his mind as he listens and agrees with people of every viewpoint??
Will the Republican leaders of the House and Senate step up and say we cannot have this situation anymore??
3
Surprise!
Just be sure to VOTE in November and in every other election too. Or we can kiss it all goodbye.
4
My car can be impounded by police or booted by private parking lot owners for parking in the wrong place before any judge gives me a hearing and passes judgement. My car is my property. I need my car to work for a living and to rush home with my gun to protect my family from an armed intruder. If impounding someone's arsenal of guns and ammo who has made threats to commit a mass murder at a school is denying him "due process," then I want equal protection under the law for parking violations.
5
So, Was Trump's supposed support of gun control just a way to extort money from the NRA? Notice how gun control groups can't get with a mile of Trump but the NRA can see him whenever it wants. If anyone thinks the Donald Trump cares at all about Americans killed in mass shooting they are fools.
6
If you looked for the definition of "windsock" in the dictionary you would see a picture of Trump. Whichever way the last wind blew is Trump's direction.
5
The Second Amendment is not and never has been about "due process" for accumulating numerous assault rifles and other "weapons of mass destruction' by individual gun owners.
This is the NRA exploiting the meaning of the Second Amendment and struggling to continue to make itself relevant in a society that clearly takes another point of view: responsible gun control with no accumulation of multiple military-style assault rifles for private ownership.
This weaponry possession - and this does not mean owning a licensed handgun and a rifle - with essentially "weapons of mass destruction" to kill numerous members in society in minutes must stop.
Let's see lists of all state and federal legislators in this country as well as Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates who have received electoral financial support from the NRA to determine who exactly votes with the NRA and then vote them out on November 8th because the “fix” is in: Delta Airlines was just monetarily punished by the Georgia legislature voting to rescind the airlines substantial tax breaks as a result of Delta Airlines placing the safety of all people over money and weapons.
And, of course, the occupant in the Oval Office has started his NRA backtracking while stating just days ago while addressing Senators, "You're controlled by the NRA. I'm not."
4
Yeah. In case anyone was confused as to who's in charge on gun control issues....
3
Clearly assault weapons are the problem here. Why the foot dragging? Trump is going to do absolutely nothing about this. We all know that. What this country needs is a federal law banning the sale and possession of all assault weapons. A 90 day amnesty period for assault weapon owners to turn in their weapons should be sufficient to rid us of this clear and present danger. Assault weapon owners if you ask them cannot justify owning these monstrosities. Think about this angle. What if the Columbine shooters had had assault weapons there in that high school in Littleton, Colorado? Fortunately at the time assault weapons were illegal. George W. Bush's decision to let the assault weapons ban expire was one bone-headed blunder, one of many during his presidency.
5
If the effort to evaluate the mental health of gun buyers is successful, can we apply whatever process results to Presidential candidates? Delusional Donald would NEVER qualify and would be prohibited from appearing on the ballot.
But, Senator Hruska's comment on Harrold Carswell comes to mind: "They[mediocre people] are entitled to a little representation, aren't they...?" I guess he would rationalize a 'President Trump' by saying that the mentally ill are entitled to a little representation, aren't they?
As I have stated many timed before; ... Whatever statements Trump makes at any time, and any place, have been always proved to be MEANINGLESS!
3
Breaking News to nra, do not believe everything you hear.
You have have projected your wishes into what you heard.
You cannot stop the anguished voices of the people in this country.
And as we speak there is news of another shooting in a Michigan.
We are approaching a tipping point regardless of your conversations.
3
Our great and brave President who would have rushed into Parkland empty handed to face down a crazy with an assault rifle, cowers when confronted by the NRA.
7
Just barely over 24 hours... that's about what was expected, and by no means a record for the shortest time between saying one thing and then the opposite. Too bad there's not some sort of prize for all of us who predicted this yet another about-face by capricious Trump.
6
Trump says all kind of things he doesn't mean (or just outright lies). Did anyone really think he has the integrity to do what he was saying about gun control? Of all politicians, he the most fearful of the NRA. That the NRA is stating this just shows how much of a little chicken the Donald is. Cluck, cluck, cluck!
2
It's simple: Ban and confiscate all semi-automatic long guns, and pistol magazines with capacity greater than 10 rounds. Bolt, lever, and pump or slide action rifles and shotguns can be allowed because, while suitable for hunting or home defense, they are much less useful for mass murder.
6
It surprises me that people were surprised by his 'sudden' pro gun control stance, and now are surprised by his flip-flop. It's merely one more remake of his film which we've already seen several times, e.g., DACA, bump stock ban.
On gun control, this has been a common tactic even before Trump: pretend to be open to change after a tragedy, and then slowly backtrack, quietly do nothing after bombastic statements, as the pro-control fervor wears off.
4
Sounds like its going to be yet another 'Chuck and Nancy' moment for our erratic and harebrained President. Just wondering if the Orange One simply forgets what he says to different people on different days, or if he is simply a pathological liar. In either case its scary to think this guy controls the levers of the most powerful country on earth, and the one more people depend on for maintaining humanities equilibrium then any other.
2
It must have been Trump's bothering him that caused him to rethink his position.
This problem goes well beyond Trump. A mid-size nonprofit ($200m a year is not that big when compared to for instance international aid organizations like Save the Children, IRC, CARE, Mercy Corps, MSF, etc. I find it telling that so many American businesses cut special deals to benefit NRA members, but none of the INGOs I list above with much larger budgets and more supporters doing good work to save humanity have received any such member/supporter benefits from corporate America.
With 5 million members, the NRA holds this country hostage and rabidly promotes the sale of weapons of war that in numerous cases have been the tool of choice to kill our children while they are at school.
This is a new day. I am comitting for the long haul, no matter the inconvenience, to the many children around this country who are pleading with adults to end this insanity. I have severed ties with several corporations, including Amazon (I plan to avoid ALL Jeff Bezos’ owned companies) that streams NRA TV and FedEx that continues to give NRA member discounts. I am taking names and sending money to opponents of NRA supported politicians. When companies start losing money and when a few of the politicians who are the NRA’s largest recipients of cash fall, and when states like Georgia who just went after Delta for dropping its NRA ties, lose business, then the pendulum will swing toward sanity. Guns and violence will still be a terrible problem, but the curve will finally begin to trend down.
3
The Trump show is its own 3 ring circus, led by a man with no shame, a limited intellect, and the most superficial understanding of events and policy.
That he's more entertainer than politician and supremely narcissistic allows him to take up most of media oxygen with a constant stream of outrageous distractions.
It's highly embarrassing to us as a country, but his policies keep his base energized, and more importantly he provides cover for the agendas of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Scott Pruitt, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, Ajit Pai, and whatever the heck Devin Nunes is trying to accomplish.
Three more years of this and our country will be unrecognizable.
5
Of course trump will. Why is this news to anyone. trump like to talk the talk, but won't walk the walk.
The most telling sign from the Trump reign as to why Democrats though they do well enough in elections at times don't accomplish as much as Republicans to advance society in certain directions is that you keep seeing Democrats get all giddy and smug at some word or hint from Trump that he might betray the billionaires and the gun lobby and the like. Schumer came out of some meeting months ago bragging that he could manipulate Trump because Trump liked him (nothing came of it; at least Sally Field actually got to keep her Oscar) and a few days ago all the teasers on the evening news shows were "see why Senator Feinstein has such a big smile on her face" (because Trump came out for gun control; likely nothing will come of that, especially if Dems get all happy with him just for saying something when they know his word means nothing). Chuck and Diane, you're very welcome any time to join a poker game out this way.
While the First Amendment to the Constitution has limitations, the Second Amendment has become inviolate, with seemingly no restrictions. The NRA is not about protecting the Second Amendment, it is about protecting corporate interests in gun sales. The NRA has flexed its muscles in the past few days and we have seen its tentacles reach into the White House and into the Georgia State legislature. No lobbying organization should have that kind of unrestricted power. It has literally subverted the will of the people of this country. The only way we can change any of this is to vote against any member of Congress or state legislature given a good grade by the NRA. Further, I am calling on all responsible gun owners who are members of the NRA out there to join with us who want reasonable restrictions on certain kinds of gun ownership to make your voices heard by the NRA. Why should we all be held hostage and literally have to fear for our lives and especially our children's and grandchildren's lives every time we or they walk out our front door? Why are we allowing one organization to control this country? Why is Congress?
Many thanks to the corporations who have begun to shun their association with the NRA. I hope Delta moves it headquarters from Atlanta.
Years ago a mother who had lost a child to a drunk driver began a grassroots organization "Mother against Drunk Diving" and it has been highly successful in its efforts. We need that kind of effort now.
3
Why is Trump meeting with the NRA? Are they an arm of our government? Are they elected officials? Of course not. They are a lobbying group. Draining the swamp was supposed to remove this type of interference from our government.
6
The NRA owns the GOP and has for decades. Only 6 Republicans do not receive donor money from the NRA. It has even received money from a Russian politician named Alexander Torshin who is being investigated by the FBI for funneling his money through the NRA to the Trump campaign.
MSNBC reports gun industry sales were $17B TOTAL in 2017 - all guns, and that the AR-15, the military assault weapon of choice, manufacture doubled from 2015 in 2016. NPR reports that the majority of Americans want gun control reform. The poll also found widespread bipartisan support for a range of gun-control policies, including:
requiring background checks for all gun buyers (94 percent),
adding people with mental illnesses to the federal gun background check system (92 percent),
raising the legal age to purchase guns from 18 to 21 (82 percent),
banning bump stocks (81 percent),
banning high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds (73 percent) and
banning assault-style weapons (72 percent).
It is all about money and corruption and not about saving lives or even caring about the victims of mass shooting. They don't and their inaction proves this.
America has a lot of corporation backing supporting our movement for a ban on military assault weapons of mass destruction.
We need to remind Congress that they are working for us and not the NRA. A teen in Texas was just arrested with a semi automatic rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition and how he got this rifle is yet unknown.
1
Yes Mr. Trump, "respect the 2nd Amendment". As in, limit guns to people engaged in "well regulated militias" like the National Guards of our 50 states. At some point the Supreme Court needs to step up to the plate and remind everyone what the 2nd Amendment actually says.
3
It is very troubling that the NRA spoke for the President about his position on gun control. Clearly, the NRA has control over him.
5
As a liberal, you know that things are bad in the country when, at times, you're almost nostalgic about George W. Bush's administration.
3
The NRA had to remind Trump who's boss. Hint: It's not him.
3
The fix is in. Or not. Continual confusion is guaranteed when you expect consistency and clarity, not to mention compassion, from a man who has shown none of the above in private life. And when you expect legal wisdom from a man who suggests going through due process "second." Beware the man who used President Clinton's example of appointing his wife to head a commission as the legal argument for expanded nepotism. Any reduction of civil rights for convenience will be used to restrict rights for other reasons.
1
I'm sure the NRA and Trump discussed their mutual friends in Russia. The sowing of chaos continues unabated.
3
Boy do we miss Obama!
12
@PT from Melbourne, FL - with all due respect, gun violence has been a growing epidemic in the country for decades, occurring during Democratic as well as Republican administrations. Between April 2009 through October 2017 alone, there have been 25 mass shootings in this country.
2
Didn't take our weak kneed so called president long to retreat.
5
And he caved in to the NRA AKA Not Real Americans.
5
This NPR story explains a lot of this: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590076949/depth-of-russian-politicians-cu...
2
Perfect demonstration of the shadow government we have....the NRA.
4
Wow. I thought Trump would reverse himself on his gun control statements at the televised meeting in a couple of days. Turns out it was only a matter of hours! The next person to walk in the room was able to change his mind.
SQUIRREL!
4
And this now as we awaken to yet another fatal campus shooting, this time in Michigan. The GOP is taking blood money.
2
Trump had the very same type of engaging meetings twice before - health care and DACA. We know how those turned out. The press got taken in again by him! I couldn't believe the headlines.
3
Who needs gun control when we know that the likes of Trump will rush in unarmed to face down the next school shooter armed with an AR-15?
Backed up by his poacher sons pretending to be hunters.
MAGA!
5
Perfect proof that gun money is running the republican party. I'm sure Cox and his cronies reminded trump of all the money they gave him and will give him forward. Money talks, and nobody understands that more than trump. So much for being a man of the people.
2
So who set up the NRA meeting so quickly? It was COC Kelly !
2
Jello-O Man Strikes Again.
(Yes, for those paying attention, I used the identical comment two days ago.)
5
You let lobbyists control your political system, folks, and you get what you deserve. You elect corrupt politicos who peddle influence and you get what you elected. You knowingly elect a self-serving, racist, sexist person for president and you reap the rewards of it. You think uncritically about the veracity of those who claim to be leaders and fall in line with their every word and you wonder about the outcome. Many will run like rats when this administration's ship sinks and swim onto the decks of other hulks of cupidity and avarice.
3
What a wimp we have for a so-called leader. The NRA just flips him like a switch. The Clintons were long accused of being the ultimate flip floppers but this guy takes the case.
2
“If she (HC) gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said.... He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
6
If anyone thought Trump would do anything to limit the NRA's power or influence you need your head examined.
Words come out of his mouth. They mean less than nothing.
3
The big story here is NPR's report on the NRA's ties to the Kremlin.
3
Of course Trump changed his tune. I guess we shouldn't have expected anything less from America's biggest liar.
It's also no surprise that the Republicans have zero interest in gun control. These people are just bottom of the barrel terrible.
To the families, students, and teachers of Parkland; to all those across the country who have been victims of gun violence; and to all who seek responsible gun laws that will protect our citizens, because that's simply the right thing to do: I'm so sorry about these latest pronouncements thrown down from the miscreants in Washington. You deserve so much better. We all deserve so much better. In November, let's vote with that in mind, because these people aren't going to give us the better world we seek. They've made that abundantly clear.
1
My thinking then was and confirmed now is that Trump was merely engaged in blue sky loud thinking on this issue, and taking a contrarian stand (to his own base's) just to gauge reaction as managers often do.
More gun control laws are not the solution. What happened in Parkland was that the background laws we have already on our books did not work well and FBi did not bother to act on tips that could have stopped this lunatic in his tracks and saved several lives.
Also, background checks are only as good as the database on which they are made. If the military did not report to the database a person with criminal discharge or if people having mental illness are shielded under privacy laws, of course, a person with mental illness can buy and use guns.
Background checks are made against historic information and do not factor in future intent, which is unknowable barring some clues such as the ones this Parkland shooter provided and ignored by our authorities.
So, quit spazzing out, Liberals.
1
What more do we need to see and hear??
25th Amendment now!!
Sanity in the White House, Now.
Please!!
2
This is news? Just typical behavior of our sorry POTUS.....sigh.
2
"POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control."
Yeah. And what day of the week is it today?
[so much for decisiveness from goldilocks and good ol' "A pence for your thoughts, Mike"]
1
Maybe it was all just a ploy by Trump to get the NRA to pledge a huge contribution to his re-election fund. I'm sure they can always get the Russians to kick in, again.
1
I'm surprised that a top lobbyist for the NRA even has the courage to come out into public to make such a claim. Rather than condoning what they do by gushing over their words like they're sacred, ostracize and ignore them, rewarding them with lavish coverage is part of the greater problem. There are plenty here to share the blame with.
1
Of course he will retreat. You cannot depend on anything he ever says.
1
When will the U.S, come to realize that their current stance on gun control is not working. It seems you are governed by profit and only profit. All sense of right and humanity seems to be lost since Trump took office.
1
Trump can't make up his mind simply because he lacks a moral compass so he considers whatever the last person he spoke to told him to be his original thought. That, coupled with his being barely literate, is where we are . Scary
2
Trump's words mean nothing. Never have. Never will. If he is having a nervous breakdown, or even a stroke, it is hard to tell. One thing is sure, though. He is unfit to be president of the United States.
7
Why is it so important to prioritize virtually unfettered access to powerful, military-grade weapons over the safety of innocent citizens? Why are politicians so gutless that they can't stand against weapons that can - no, do - kill and injure innocent people by the hundreds (remember Las Vegas, it wan't that long ago), while at the same time support the ability for normal, well adjusted citizens to own and use guns that are appropriate for hunting (animals).
Don't talk to me about hunting. A single action rifle or shotgun works pretty well for ducks, deer, etc. (Duck hunting with an AR-15? It's disgusting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o6TOuM2Ivg)
Don't talk to me about self defense. A good handgun works perfectly well against a home invader.
Don't tell me the AR-15 isn't a problem. It's been the weapon of choice for too many mass shootings.
I've had enough of being bullied by the NRA!
7
There are practical considerations in the secondary market for guns known as gun shows. How does one sell his or her guns when they are no longer needed padticularly, if the guns are part of an estate and the inheritors do not want to keep the guns, for example? Further, how do the sales people at the gun show determine if the customer should be qualified to buy the gun in a timely manner suitable to the sellers convenience? This is a big quandary and a legitimate reason why there is such reluctance to even try to regulate this resale market place. Proponents of gun control for these outlets should propose workable solutions for a smooth operation for resales.
I am a believer in the right of all levels of government under our Constitution to define and regulate Arms owned by the People without abridging their right to own a collection of Arms. It is up to the Supreme Court in any case to determine when the Right has been abridged. If not being able to own an Assault Rifle as defined by the law and retain it in ones home is ruled by the Supreme Court as not an abridgement of the Right to keep and bear Arms, so be it.
There is absolutely no reason in my opinion for a member of the general public to own an assault rifle and the U.S. could look to other countries to see how gun control is handled there.
Actually, I agree with your reasoning with respect to an actual assault rifle in the home. There have been problems with the definition of an assault rifle though. To me any personally owned rifle should not have the capability to accept a detachable large capacity magazine or to be capable of rapid reloading of the small capacity magazine which should preferably be an attached tubular magazine. This will be almost a dead on arrival idea in our present Congress.
An imaginary Trump tweet: "I would not run towards the shooter either, not if I was in a tank."
3
Hey Trump supporters, are you still glad you support a president willing to let due process slip by the wayside and allow any police officer to confiscate your guns, merely because the police officer has determined you are not fit to have those guns? Now that's an executive order I'd love to see carried out! It would be the perfect ironic twist of all time.
2
What a surprise. This man has the attention span of a 2-year-old.
4
Now THIS is how a master Conman operates. Flip-flop, 24/7, keep everyone off balance, and " just see what happens ". If somehow a miracle occurs and something GOOD comes of this, it's purely accidental. That's just how he Rolls. Thanks, GOP/NRA Party. November.
1
So the NRA owns Trump after all. No surprise, Trump has no strong convictions except enriching himself. I'm sure whatever they paid him was well worth it, for being able to continue flooding America with guns and having mass shootings every week or two.
But stay tuned folks, there will be nothing done about gun control after the next mass shooting, next week, either.
9
He is as irratic, purposless, and random as dirt particles suspended in water (Brownian Motion). The only reason to listen and be aware of the irrationalality of Trump is because it is so critical to the national well being. He's the president. His stupidity has consequence. Mueller's careful, detailed pace may be to slow to save us. Hopefully 2018 will come in time and people will vote a Dem majority in the House and Senate to clip the wigs of this vulture. Beware, when thing get bad enough, he will take us to war to distract us from his corruption.
5
We all know the NRA owns Trump, owns him like a cheap cigar. All that noise he made about "doing something" was just nonsense he was spewing. As the days go on, the conversation again on gun control will disappear until the next mass shooting. Then it will be the usual GOP message..."our thoughts and prayers", or "now is not the time". Our thoughts and prayers haven't stopped a single shooting again or saved the lives of anybody, nor is now is not the time. No, you useless and spineless GOP, the time for this was a long time ago when babies were murdered in Newtown. If murdered babies didn't stir your conscience, it's obvious that nothing will, no more children murdered, innocent people massacred, or another mass shooting. This GOP will never serve the people, but they will serve the NRA as the bought and bribed people they are. This President isn't going to anything because 31 million dollars from the NRA means more than the life of children. Our children, especially the victims deserve better, much better. We must not allow these spineless people to diminish their value and their lives, and the pain many families live with now.
5
More like the DJT we know and despise.
5
Since when does the NRA speak for the President?
4
Answer: When they own him.
4
trump finally met a bigger bully.
3
I never believed that Trump's position on gun control ever changed. This was merely window dressing to distract people and make us think he was being a real leader.
Don't let this brief moment of sanity make you conclude there may be hope. Until the Republicans are out of office there will be no sanity and change.
1
He is unstable and should be thrown out of office immediately if not sooner!
2
We're surprised by this?
2
Would someone please take the boy president to the nursery playroom, put a hair shirt on Pence, and put an adult in charge of the country. This adolescent behavior of Trump is ruining this country.
2
Really sad and pathetic to watch. A movement towards religious tolerance and secularization in Iran probably would have lasted longer as a real possibility than the now-dead chances for reforming America's gun possession and purchase laws.
1
Well, if the NRA folks are the last ones Trump talked to on the matter, then of course he agrees with them.
2
Announce, equivocate, then lie. It's the same pattern again and again with this guy. Trump goes along with whomever talks to him last, regardless of how dimwitted that person may be. While the public seems to understand this very well, Feinstein and the rest of the Democrats can't seem to figure out that the man is a dishonorable, deceitful liar who cannot be trusted.
1
Not to be to blunt but it the Repuplicans in congress are paid hacks for the NRA. Would they be licking gunowners barrels if it was their children and grandchilrdren lying dead in the hall from a blast of bullets? Sadly , the answer is yes : Money before country and money before family after all " It's nothing personal , just business." On another note Scott Pruit is afraid to fly coach because of securtiy reasons and my grandkids are afraid to go to school for the same reason ... it is clear that the mental ill can buy guns and work in congress.
3
The puppet masters and their puppet.
2
The toothless tiger,the NRA does NOT control our nations gun laws.
WE the People do!
Boycott Georgia!
Vote out the thugs who accept cash from the NRA in exchange for our safety and lives!
Boycott companies that push the assault weapons!
Do NOT stop this fight otherwise we are all complicit in the next slaughter.
2
This is classic Trump - a smart, but completely immoral, deflection away from scrutiny of Jared, Russia, collusion, obstruction.
Even the massacre of school kids is fodder for the machine to manipulate his base.
1
Left.
Right.
No left.
Wait, wait.
Yes go straight.
President Trump.
Backseat driver.
We're driving.
He has no idea where he's going.
Can we please stop.
And shove him out of the car.
4
Stop paying attention to anything that Trump says. Focus your energy on your elected representatives if you are blessed with one with a brain and a conscience. Trump is a lost cause with regard to rational decision making and Pence is just his stooge.
2
The NRA spent $200 million on elections from 1997 to 2016.
Labor unions spent $1.6 billion in 2016 alone.
The NRA couldn't be called chump change relative to the unions.
And this is a surprise to? No one.
2
Economics is one answer. Boycott NRA-supporting companies. But, most importantly:
Vote, vote, VOTE. If you have a teen, turning 18 by November, help them register. Register yourself, your family, friends. Have elderly neighbors? Drive them to the polls. Going to be out of town? Absentee ballot.
And, did I say, VOTE!
2
More prayers and thoughts from the GOP coming. The NRA is covered in blood and McConnell and Ryan are right there with them.
2
So how many times will we have to watch this play over. An exhilarated press giving Trump's latest conversion glaring headlines only to have Trump pull out the rug from his new position a few days later. Well at least he got a two day reprieve on the Russian story and his corrupt brood.
1
What took the NRA so long to change trump's mind - again?
2
He’s simply afraid of the NRA. So much for being a tough guy!
1
This is the same president who suggested to a congress member just a couple days ago that the member might be "scared of the NRA"? The same Trump who urged those attending to put together meaningful gun legislation? One meeting with the NRA operatives, and the NRA once again rears its ugly head to take charge of the president and congress which they believe rightfully belong to them--after all they paid good money for the lot. More children will be slaughtered, of that we are assured.
1
And that is why gun control will not happen.
The top NRA lobbyist gets direct access to the most powerful man in the world within 24 hours of him saying something about gun control
The NRA is incredibly powerful.
2
Trump only remains in office because his GOP enablers keep him there to serve their own destructive purposes.
1
I think it's pretty funny that trump says he's not afraid of the NRA, and then the NRA comes out with a statement one day later about what trump believes which is a total reversal from comments made by trump himself just a day earlier.
GOP is owned by the NRA
3
It is instructive when the NRA releases the Trump White House's position on gun control.
1
Rifles—including assault rifles—are used in a small percent of murders as well as in a small percent of mass shootings. According to the 2016 FBI Uniform Crime Report.
• 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.
According to a USA Today study, semiautomatic rifles—including assault rifles—are used in 8.6 percent of mass shootings.
This doesn’t mean that you could save 374 lives per year by banning all types of rifles. Killers denied rifles would use handguns or shotguns.
1
So glad that the NRA speaks on behalf of the president on this important policy issue!
2
Does anyone now feel like Charlie Brown did with Lucy and the football? What a joke.
1
The man is an empty suit...no he is more dangerous than an empty suit.
1
Every scrap of evidence suggests that Republican hero Donald Trump is the mindless puppet of the !%, NRA, and Vladimir Putin. Blowing off steam here is fine, but If any of this is to actually be changed, it must begin by voting on November 6.
1
The NRA reminded him that "we are in this (that Russian money laundering/collusion thing) together" and he got back in line.
Nothing more.
1
Is this Trump being Trump or Trump being senile? I really think that at this point there is serious cause for concern.
4
If he reverses his speech on restrictions on guns it only shows how weak a leader we have.
The NRA and the republicans should be ashamed of themselves. How many more innocent people have to be slaughtered before
We have restrictions on who can buy a gun.
Only the police and military needs to have these types of weapons.
5
At least there is no pretense here. The lobbyist used to be invited to the back room to write the Laws. Now we can all see in bright daylight how our Democracy is being hijacked.
4
As we repeatedly se that Trump is so easily influenced by whoever is currently standing before him, it is not hard to extrapolate to influence by charming and clever Russian dictators. Trump is such an easy mark, since he appears to have no principles.
5
The Trump administration is sinking. It's like the Titanic, bow underwater.
Trump is just trying to distract everybody. He'll say anything, as long as it gives people the impression that he actually can decide something, and distracts their eyes from the sinking ship, and all the rats fighting for a lifeboat.
Guns, the tariffs on steel and aluminum, he'll do something crazier and crazier every day now, and none of it has any reality to it, except for the chaos and destruction it will cause.
For the NRA and single-issue gun-rights voters Trump is a predictable disaster they should have seen coming. He has no commitment to anything other than his ego and his wallet, no principles. You may get him to "retreat" today, so what?
Trump is destroying the GOP, outraging women, including the critical demographic of moderate/swing voters. There's now a reasonable chance that Democrats will take the House and the Senate in 2018. If that happens what do you think Trump will do then, what tune do you think he will sing?
it's a big mistake for the NRA to support Trump. You would be better off with Pence. But either way, you overplayed your hand, went too loony. Wayne just convinced everybody that he's nuts, too.
People want some sanity. And they don't want their kids getting shot. If you cannot figure out how to deliver that, you are sure to lose, though you might slow it down.
Also, PS: don't bet that Gorsuch will save you.
7
The fact that Trump is so easily swayed by the last person who speaks should frighten even the Republicans and NRA. Access to the President's ear has always been important in determining policy but Trump's ignorance and guilibity takes it to a new level.
Fox and Friends has such sway I'm surprised that this show and that of Judge Jeanine Pirro aren't run on a 24 hr rotation, with a pop of Hannity to liven it up, to make sure Trump tows the line.
1
I just want to know how long the NRA is going to be allowed to run our congress an the President?
5
One can only imagine the threats made to Mr. Trump by the NRA last night. How dare he rile his base...those gun-loving caretakers of our children, born and unborn. No one takes their guns.
1
And Pence was there to help impart the message!
1
We the people? Government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Obviously not.
3
I watched the woman NRA spokesperson interviewed by Anderson Copper on CNN last night. Her argument against a simple move like raising the required age to buy assault rifles from 18 to to 21 was that this would "punish" other teenagers for the misdeeds of a few. Amazing - is this the best they can do? Disgusting.
3
Perfect headline. Retreating is his best skill.
2
In light of this, typical behavior from Trump, let us not forget the closed door meeting with the Russians last May.
3
Major flip-flopper...negotiating with Trump is like "...negotiating with Jell-O?" Even Jell-O has more consistency than this waffler. Once again, it'll be left to partisans in Congress to sidestep and totally ignore this POTUS until it's time to stage a signing ceremony. DO NOT hold your breath.
1
We know that Trump is not petrified of the NRA, though, because he said so. Also, he probably offered to deploy himself in the next school shooting incident, willing to charge unarmed, in a golf cart if it will fit through the doors, straight into the melee. He'll hurl hamburgers, cheeseburgers and insults at the shooter until our great leader emerges on the other side triumphant, but hungry.
1
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are to be voted on in November of this year. Choose wisely, grasshoppers.
2
$30 million buys a whole lot of Orange love.
For others, like the Georgia GOP peach assembly it comes a whole lot cheaper.
Hope you enjoy spending that NRA money Political Hacks. Children and a lot of everybody else are dying throughout this country so you can have some corrupt organization buy you a medium rare steak at the restaurant of your choice.
2
The paragraph where you have a solution to mass shootings did not print, can you please submit it again.
1
Doesn't take a paragraph: Australia. England.
Congress and the NRA can go round and round all they want. Watch these kids. They are great and thoughtful and are tired of being sitting ducks. They too have constitutional rights to life and liberty to name a few. With their voices and votes they will throw these money grabbing and soulless people out of office. Watch out entrenched incumbents you are about to become irrelevant.
1
Republicans continue to accept the killing of children so gun manufacturers can make money. Unconscionable. But predictable.
As Ben Carson said, he never saw a bullet-ridden body that was more devastating than taking away the right to arm ourselves. That's how they think. Sickening.
2
And your solution?
Mike -- you keep writing this over and over. Simple: Australia. England. It works. You don't like it. It's going to happen unless the mass killing stop. And you know they won't.
In other words, all those of us who are sane will get is an hour of TV: nothing will be done. The same will happen in Florida.
Oh, wait, my bad. We'll get a rich list of excuses for doing absolutely nothing, starting with the spanking new, "That was just a brainstorming session," and running all the way to the classic, "You libs need to learn not to take Trump literally."
1
The NRA has once again proven that dollars are the only thing that matters. A minority of the population with a deadly hobby are holding us all hostage to an implausible version of the second amendment. We will continue to watch our fellow citizens get slaughtered because the gun lovers get a thrill out of controlling the power elite with vitriolic arguments and paranoid projections. GET OUT AND VOTE!!!
2
Oooh, what a surprise, Trump went back on his word about dealing with the "gun problem" in this country.
Follow the money.
The NRA spent $14 million on ads for Trump and the GOP in the 2016 election, $11 million of which went to Trump. All but 2 Republicans receive a grade of A- or higher from the NRA (John McCain was one).
The Guns R-Us NRA also spent $34 million on ads against the Democrats (most of whom received an F grade from the NRA, because they want at least some gun safety laws. $19.8 million of the NRA's efforts went to ads to defeat Hillary.
Never mind that according to Quinnipiac poll taken after the Florida h.s. massacre of students and teachers, 66% favor gun control, while 31% did not. Even 50% of gun owners want gun control.
In the old days, it was a choice of guns versus butter for the politicians; now it's guns versus children.
Actually, with Trump and the GOP in charge, it's guns, and no butter and no help reducing the deaths of 1300 children killed by guns (CNN).
Have Trump and the Republican party no shame? Another easy answer: follow the money!
1
You failed to mention that the unions spent $1.6 billion on Hillary and the dems in 2016.
You also failed to offer JUST ONE solution how to stop school shootings.
In the old days, 50 years ago, there were more guns in the country, gun classes were offered in schools and almost no mass shootings.
Mike -- Yes there were gun classes in the schools. What gun did you shoot 50 years ago? I shot a bolt-action 22LR.
I never put in the work (and the kiss-up) to make it into the honor guard. They got to parade with M1903 Springfields. (bolt action) I don't remember whether they ever got to shoot them or not, but if they did ... wasn't often.
I feel sadness and shame that the highest position of U.S. government has become a mockery.
2
Is anyone surprised? It's all a show, a pageant, paid for by future taxpayers. What will DT do next?! Stay tuned!
1
All it takes with Trump is money.
1
Of course he'll back down- that's what wimps do! Just like he promised to bring big Pharma prices down- after a private meeting at the White House with all the pharma execs he did a perfect 180.
1
Why does this not surprise me?
NRA “suggests” Trump may retreat from gun control? More like the NRA made Trump an offer he could not refuse.
At least POTUS 45 is consistent on being inconsistent.
2
It's nice to see that the NRA continues to guide our public safety policy, in particular policies that make our children safer in their schools.
Maybe we should consult an army of software hackers to guide our nation's information security strategy?
About that 2nd Amendment -- doesn't it refer to a "well-regulated militia" as its primary justification for its existence? Can we really say that all those guns out there in the hands of ordinary citizens are well regulated? And isn't a "militia" a group of citizens who are ready and willing to be called upon to assist in a national emergency? It seems to me that those who think the 2nd Amendment guarantees their right to own people-killing weapons for their own purposes haven't really read or understood the whole thing. Let's all start fighting for the "well-regulated" idea at least as hard as the NRA is working to prevent "infringement."
Bigger/Biggest question. Why is Trump meeting with a lobbyist? Any lobbyist?
Anywhere? Anytime? That is what staff is for. That is what they do, or should.
If POTUS and VPOTUS support "the Second Amendment, support strong due process" then they'd want gun control. But their Party would suffer angry calls and the incumbents would watch in horror as some campaign contributions went to ever-more extreme right-wing challengers.
Yet another reason we need to publicly fund all House and Senate race candidates. To have a House member spending half their time looking for campaign contributions to keep on the two-year treadmill for re-election is poison for legislation that focuses a bit more on constituents who might not write the largest checks.
To me it seems that the only possible solution at this time is a tax. Tax guns like we do cigarettes and liquor. We don't outlaw their ownership and we use the tax money to help pay for mental health. Also, the CDC should be involved in research of gun violence to study effects. There should also be a daily/weekly/monthly and yearly count of deaths attributed to guns so we the American people can really get a handle on this seemingly phenomena. Let us, the citizens have the right to see the facts.
Neither the original position nor the supposed new position is of any great importance in the grand scheme of things. The President, while important in many ways, does not pass legislation, so his opinion is just that, an opinion. It is the legislators who propose bills, debate them, and pass them. The most junior Representative of the smallest district has more actual power to enact or defeat gun control than does Mr. Trump.
1
Those who are in power are never those who are adversely affected by policies passed and actions taken. Gun control, war, health care, all of these issues result in death and suffering faced by us, the people. The NRA, and all its affiliates, do in fact have blood on their hands and have effectively placed guns ahead of human lives. NRA = guns > human beings. It's a sad state our country is facing and tragic that those who are making the decisions are without the decency and dignity to protect those who are vulnerable.
We need to return to our roots, as a country, as a community, as individuals and actively reconnect to our sense of morality and justice before that dark cloud on the horizon becomes a permanent presence in American culture.
1
' My heart' the under 18's!
Being as how Trump is easily swayed by last impressions, how about every week a different high school, or group of high schoolers, heads to the White House on this and any other issue critical to the next generation. Youth is full of contagious optimism - maybe even Congress will catch on.
Is it the Second Amendment which the NRA and their faithful conservative followers are here to protect, or is it high powered weaponry and gun manufacturing? Say we replaced every gun in the United States with the musket tomorrow. If every store and gunshow sold only muskets, would the NRA be okay with that? My guess is that there would be an enormous uproar. But what then would be their argument? This hasn't been a constitutional issue for over a century now.
Anyone who is surprised by this hasn't been paying attention for the past few years.
Interesting. So was the plan for the NRA to say it first? It will be interesting (and sad) to watch how this plays out and results in zero action from the adults. I can only hope that the youth of America keeps the pressure up.
Apparently, for Trump, the answer to whatever is "blowing in the wind", is always, just plain "blowing wind".
The mystery is, how he can get away with it, time, and time again. Perhaps, it is just a matter of control our expectations: "OK, so he lies, so what?".
1
Can we reach we really say this flip-flop and his newest tariffs are the actions of a sane man?
The right to own property is basic to her system. License to own a hospital or nursing home is considered property. If eminent danger is suspected by the state health department it can revoke a license to such a facility and give a Due process hearing afterwards. So too, the right to seize a weapon from a dangerous and/or mentally unstable person, even under the Second Amendment,With a due process hearing after-the-fact seems appropriate.
The scary thing about Trump is that other heads of state or government can NOT trust him and hopefully will never trust him with anything. The other issue is that one can not trust Trump with highly sensitive or highly classified information for he may divulge this kind of information unintentionally, or for that matter intentionally for his own gain, to politicians or other heads of state.
1
Impressive how Trump is always consistent in his message. Once he announces an opinion on any subject that opinion remains in force. Unless he has another conversation. Then all bets are off.
Trump saw what many of us saw, that Washington politicians were in the pay of K street, that Washington was doing the will of lobbyists and ignoring the will of the people.
The poor had been abandoned by liberals. After seeming to promise a path to universal health care, Obama spent eight years crafting Obamacare which seemed designed to enrich health insurers while insurance premiums for Americans continued to grow. Poor Americans who stood in line behind Spanish speakers in the ER, when they were informed that the cancer that might have been caught with routine checkups was not inoperable.
They were confronted with a president who didnt care about their suffering but favored instead the illegal immigrants who had streamed across the border and marched to provide amnesty to Dreamers.
These Americans voted for Trump in the hope that he would be DIFFERENT from all the politicians they had grown to despise.
There was always a chance that once elected, he would reject the lobbyists and do what is best for the country.
He now has a chance to reject the NRA and lead the US to sensible gun control.
But he is revealing himself to be just as corrupt as the politicians he promised to drain from the swamp.
His offensive rhetoric gets in the way of his one good idea.
America needs to stop illegal immigrants. But why antagonize Mexicans? Why not help Mexico provide family planning to get its own population growth under control?
And why not encourage small families in the US?
Gun sales are not the worst problem. It's the existing inventory of guns already out there, about one per person. Even if gun shops were closed, the Dark Web would be the avenue for invisible sales of the existing guns.
So somehow that inventory must be reduced. The only thing I can think of is a combination of penalties for ownership of military style weapons, and buy back programs as incentives to get rid of them.
The NRA was a sensible organization up to a few decades ago. It emphasized gun safety and marksmanship. Hopefully, once the inmates that are running that asylum are gone, it will return to it previous sensible objectives.
A full day has elapsed since Trump, before cameras and witnesses, said he supported the confiscation of guns. If history is any guide, his position today will be diametrically opposed to his position expressed yesterday. And he will deny having expressed his initial position.
2
Both opposite views are probably true, at the same time. DT proposals don't really amount to much control of guns at all, while stirring controversy and keeping him in the news. The gun lovers will just buy more guns and the need to get assault weapons out of the hands of citizens, good or bad, sane or not, is not even mentioned. Churn the waters and do nothing substantive to solve the real problem of weapons of mass destruction.
Money over morals is how Trump is driven and GOP are driven. I hope and pray the children involved in the Florida school shooting can change a few hard hearts in their congress when they march soon in D.C. The goal needs to be stop the sales of automatic weapons and bullets to the public. I feel the only party that can make that happen is our Democratic Party with a Democratic President.
1
Sale of guns should be conditioned with the consent of parents; in case there is no parent, then consent of patronizer or custodian. This is the only rational way to deal with the issue so rampant in the United States today.
We have to begin pushing lawsuits against gun manufacturers, holding them responsible for injuries and deaths. It looks like only money may turn this tide.
1
As someone watching from outside the US borders, it was a sad and bitterly laughable to watch the entire spectacle of the bipartisan discussion on what to do about guns and mass shootings. Every purported know-it-all from both houses, led by the used-car-salesman-in-chief, trotted out pet theories, virtually all without any supporting data, while Trump did his impression of a high school football coach rallying his players before a regional playoff. "terrific", "beautiful", "fantastic" concepts all the great words, easily bandied about and designed to play out on a stage of improvised concern and greeting card sincerity. Cut to the next day, a good lunch with the NRA and all the brave talk of standing up to the NRA lobbyists and once again all is forgiven, the new checks are in the mail and everyone can compliment themselves and each other for their sterling performance as a lawmaker intending to make a "real difference this time". A sad once amazing country lost and adrift in its own Fun House.
1
Give the man a chance. I read these comments and a lot of you people are so bitter he won the election that you would prefer to see Trump fail at gun control just to see his approval ratings tank even further.
I watched that bi-partisan meeting at the White House, and I was blown away at the things Trump was saying. It was one of the most unifying, bi-partisan meetings I've ever seen. And if he can actually pull off real, meaningful gun control - who cares whether it's from Trump, Obama, or whomever?
Of course he has to play diplomat to the NRA. Because if the NRA is enraged you're not going to get enough republican support on a gun-control bill. That's called diplomacy, and it's what's needed to pass a real gun control bill through a sharply divided Congress.
19
Until it wasn't "the unifying, bi-partisan meetings"
6
You confuse diplomacy with pandering.
8
I hope Jon K. is right. It's also possible that, as some have suggested, the President is susceptible to whomever talked to him last, so... time will tell.
Connie Hassett-Walker
http://njcriminologist.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-most-surreal-photo.html
1
To any who weren't convinced before, this story should dispel all notions that Trump's words represent a commitment by our president to take action. Just two months ago, he made a promise to sign any congressionally produced DACA legislation but then went full paleo on DACA. Now this. Face it, he'll say anything and its opposite if it suits him.
Anyone who still trusts Trump, beware! He will waffle on every tough issue and end up on the side of doing nothing or worse.
125
The gangsters of the NRA made Trump an offer he couldn't refuse, reminding him that they own him.
When does Mueller look into the money laundering between the NRA and the Russians? Soon I hope.
159
Why do you assume Mueller isn't?
By the way, Trump supports the NRA openly and willingly, so why do say it "owns" him?
Did you read that story, too? PU, there are a LOT of Russian money funneling into the NRA just when they triple what they paid for McCain's lame run.
1
Looks like the NRA took Trump to the woodshed.
2
That was easy...flip-flop
49
Only if you believed Trump's statements.
1
We learned from the start that he tends to agree with the last person he listened to.
49
That's why he demanded they go with the adoption story to cover for the collusion effort in Trump Tower. Last man Trump talked to before he boarded AF1? Putin.
so maybe we should get a group of the Florida students and family members into the Oval Office ASAP!!
1
I have known pet snakes who were more reliable than Donald Trump. There is a reason why he has no close friends. His children stay close because they have financial ties that bind. But nobody remains closely attached to this predictably unpredictable adolescent.
49
Trump's word is worth nothing.
And isn't that a great situation for a president of the United States, who can call upon citizens to give their lives for their country.
57
If a tiny little group like the nra can have the power to sway a fickle president's brain and to put the squeeze on Congress, what is the point of calling ourselves a democracy? The average voter who wants changes to gun laws needs to make better choices, be better informed - you have the power to send someone to Congress who isn't bought and paid for... currently, the entire lot is a bunch of cheaply bought commodities with zero thinking power and zero empathy.
49
You're absolutely correct. Only big powerful unions should be able to influence politicians.
I guess in addition to voting, we should pool our money.
Mr. or Ms. Peace, you have put your finger on THE question: how, in a democracy, can a small group (of any kind) have such a stranglehold on the whole country?
I think the answer comes from the role that money (in all its forms: lobbying, contributions, advertisements, etc.) plays in politics. But whatever the answer, we've got to stop it. We need due process for democracy.
1
I knew it that Trump would surrender to NRA. Trump fluctuates more than NY weather. Moreover, he does not know anything. He does not speak from his mind or heart. This is like empty vessel sounds much. Nobody can trust him or depends on him ( may be except Putin). If you are a GOP, you must be a NRA PUPPET.
24
I'm sure it was an honest mistake. He knew the positions. He just forgot which one was the NRA's.
29
Sad times, in the past the flip-flop was the domain of candidates selling themselves to both sides for votes. We've never seen a gymnastic show like this, but then we've never had such an injured individual occupying the Oval Office.
18
This was DACA all over again. Trump seems reasonable until he’s not. I really hope the midterms are the beginning of the recovery of this nation.
37
Trump returning to the NRA fold - least surprising headline in the NYT today. Since Ryan and McConnell won't let anything happen to make any gun safety progress, Trump's moment of 'leadership' on guns was going to be nothing more than unreality TV anyway. Blue wave coming in November - though Putin votes GOP overall, Trump/GOP efforts to protect our elections pretty much on a par with gun safety initiatives. The malevolent nonfeasance is as scary as the overall malfeasance.
20
Gosh, what a surprise!!!
13
". . . it may have taken the gun rights group only a little over a day to persuade the president to back away from his apparent embrace of gun control"
This scenario clearly demonstrates Trump's weakness more than the NRA's power and influence.
And here, for just a New York minute, I thought our leaders had turned a page and real, honest to goodness change in gun legislation was going to occur. And yet his supporters still believe everything that he promises. The windsock once again blows empty air into the faces of the American public. Thanks for the continuing heartbreak and disappointment Mr. President.
153
Marge the main reason for this is that he is a compulsive habitual liar. None of the Democrats who were giddy before the cameras believed him then, it was just good optics for them. I am sorry your bubble was burst soon but you were wearing your rose colored glasses on Wednesday. On comment I remember from the live coverage from one of the gun control advocates that if it didn't get fixed now, it would be in November. That is when you get to clean congress of all the enablers who serve the NRA and the donor class.
2
Hello Mr. Ferlin,
I threw away those cheap rose colored glasses after I saw the damage Ronald Reagan creased while president. I was just hoping against hope that this was a turning point, but then, in all reality, if nothing changed after Sandy Hook, why would the Florida tragedy be any different? I'm an optimist at heart, but this president and his administration are wearing me to the bone with continual lies and betrayals. Sincere thanks for the comment and for sharing your thoughts. Very much appreciated.
2
Stupid, selfish, and unprincipled people make terrible leaders. Stop voting for them.
36
Why do you vote democrat all the time?
Everyone who is surprised raise their hand? Trump just put his foot on the neck of school children across the country. Cowardice and greed. His DNA.
19
OK, with this latest unsurprising corruption by the NRA and Trump's complete turnaround on any hope for sensible gun control, we have to hit the enablers where it hurts: the pocket book. Or if you prefer, the economy at large.
I opened an online savings account with First National Bank of Omaha this week.
I spent a bunch of money at Dick's Clothing and Sporting Goods this week.
I refuse to ship anything via FedEx until they verifiably change their policies.
I support Delta Airlines and am not supporting Georgia in anyway I can think of until that state changes.
My list of Do's and Dont's is evolving. It'll continue to coalesce as I learn more about who profits from our national madness with guns and who has put their foot down and says, "I can't be part of mass shootings and ridiculously easy gun ownership anymore!"
And I will continue to vote and encourage others to vote. The good will win, the bad and corrupt will lose.
82
I’m right behind you! Oh by the way, don’t forget to make a donation to Everytown for Gun Control.
13
Yeah, Everytown needs money to produce lies, lies costs money.
Already do, Scarlet and the Brady Campaign and a couple of others.
1
We have to get passed whatever is practical at the moment. Let's unite behind one thing we can all agree on. At the next school shoot-em-up, let's drop Trump in there so he can rush in without a weapon.
39
A leader makes change practical. That’s his job - but we knew he was unqualified, didn’t we?
1
Although expected by many, the Fake President's basic treachery to those distraught, deeply grieving students and parents assembled for his concocted "show meeting" earlier this week, will only deepen their resolve to get gun control legislation enacted, post the midterm elections. To have so callously manipulated those Americans, some of whom traveled great distances for that meeting, is beyond despicable. Are there even words to describe this lumpen piece of moral rot occupying the Oval Office?
35
Simpleminded Trump doesn’t have the cunning to arrange a “show meeting.” He believed his commitment, then forgot it the moment a shinier object caught his eye.
1
I can think of many words to describe him, but this newspaper won't print them.
Trump's backing away from at a tough stance on the NRA and gun control is as certain as his blaming others for his actions and global warming. The only bet would be on how long it would take. In this case it took as long as a snow ball's melting in hell.
Trump talked so tough earlier in the week, but bullies will back away from other bullies they see as stronger. Standing up for the defenseless and those with little money is just not in Trump's character. So when Trump started posturing and declaring how little he feared the NRA, you knew that he would cringe and flip when challenged. But this is what his base wanted, only the illusion of toughness, not someone who would ever do the right thing in the face of some opposition.
23
What does the NRA know about Donald Trump that we don't?
21
The NRA has the same info on him that the Russians do. Without both of them he won’t have a big enough campaign war chest to run again.
1
They have a dossier, oh, that didn't work before, sorry.
Trump the liar flop-flips again.
18
He is in “our thoughts and prayers” that he DOES NOT win another election anywhere and his Congress the same.
There's the Trump bravery we've all come to know and mock. Coward.
32
Exactly how does Cox, the shameful lobbyist for the NRA who suggested, “keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous people” plan to meet this goal without gun controls. Illogical!
He did not explain how because inevitably there is NO way. That has been proven time after time by the extraordinary number of mass shootings in America. The NRA is a heinous, money hungry, ignorant mini group that should be abolished to save the vast citizenry of America that wants gun control. Majority should rule. Out them!
10
Flip-Flop!
Flim-Flam!
Con Don don't stop!
11
I forget - what is Donald Trump's favorite dessert, chocolate cake or cheesecake? What did they serve last night? Cheesecake? Then cheesecake it is. Oh, wait, cherries flambe tonight. Prepare for a paradigm shift.
8
I like the fact that the generation who will be taking the torch are getting front row seats to cronyism, deep pocket lobbying and the lack of true representation of the people. If you want to see change, VOTE them out!!! A vote against them is a vote against the deep pockets of the NRA.
10
Seriously? Who has the deepest pockets? Who has been running the democrat party for 60 years? The unions.
As the world turns from Trump in horror, we will soon face the task of a smooth transition back to reality.
Can it safely be done with such an emotionally-unstable actor?
4
It’s scary how feeble minded Trump is.
He can be made to change his mind in no time by just anyone.
The question of How this clown can be POTUS will haunt us for decades to come.
8
Remember when Gary Trudeau used a waffle to represent President Clinton? Well, I think that Waffle had more attention span than Trump.
7
Think this is the definition of the availability heuristic from Tversky and Kahneman...
Surprise Surprise !! anyone remember DACA and the promise he made when he met with both the Democrats and the Republicans and then flipped when scolded by the Republicans? Can we now please elect a leader that will stick to his words and reads and listens and comprehends what he's reading?
6
All of this just confirms my belief that thorough, comprehensive background and mental health checks should be conducted on all candidates who run for political office in the United States. This would have eliminated people like Trump and Pence achieving high office and, as a result, respectable gun control laws would now be in place therefore eliminating the substantial loss of life we are experiencing due to mass shootings. It would certainly be more beneficial to our country to detect defective, corrupt, aspiring political leaders early on, which would certainly be a detriment to the continuance of the corruption in government we live with now.
7
How did we reach this point where one group, the NRA, can influence national and state policy. Money! The NRA won a supreme court decision declaring themselves an "armed militia," thereby winning the right to own and carry guns. That did not include the right to unfettered use. One can own a car and drive it LEGALLY, i.e. in accordance with local laws. Road racing and such is relegated to legal race tracks, not public highways. One can own a gun legally, but the IRA and its most ardent supporters deny any attempts to restrict their use dispite the harm they can cause. Such restrictions are not illegal. For my part, people can own all the guns they want and can afford, but their use should be restricted to legal gun ranges. Its time to replace elected officials who value their paid "public service positions" and its money more than their service to their county and consents to be put out to pasture.
5
How much money has the NRA spent in the last 20 years vs. what unions spent in 2016?
One visit by the guy with the cash and Trump backs off on what he said a day or two ago. Now there's a surprise.
6
What was Trump’s price this time to rollover? Apparently he feels that lives of American citizens are worth less than the $30 million he got from the NRA in 2016. Put Barron and his grandkids in public schools.
Further proof that the NRA is what is running our country. An organization of supposedly ~5M people are controlling what gets passed into law, or even presented in Congress, when we have nearly 325M citizens, the lion share of whom support more gun control. This all boils down to greed, not the 2nd amendment.
10
Wait, I thought the evil 1%ers ran the country.
It is difficult to wrap one's brain around ANY meeting that Trump has. I am not at all surprised that Trump's position may have changed in less than 24 hours. The whole meeting with legislators on gun matters had the air of a campfire with pubescent boys -- Remember the movie Stand By Me?. Not only Trump but the GOP reps have all backed down. When nothing again comes of government intervention in our weapons crisis, Trump will find a way to blame in on the Dems (remember DACA?), Once again, the slaughter of children will fade into the past. Roadblocks are already in place to blunt the remarkable student "uprising". The National Mall, where the march planned for March 24th is scheduled to congregate, is booked for a "talent show", and it seems the talent show has been deemed by the powers that be to be more important. Hope the kids don't lose either faith or momentum, and that reasonable Americans (97% of whom want at the very least universal background checks) will raise their voices and use their pocketbooks to make change happen. I also wonder how the GOP (i.e., the NRA) can say that a ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional. We HAD one for 10 years already, during which time deaths were reduced...but the majority GOP in Congress refused to renew it.
6
For all the awful things Trump has said and done to taint his time as President, it's amazing how much his image would shift historically if he's able to pass comprehensive gun control.
2
Don’t hold your breath that Trump will take any stand on guns that his base and the NRA refuse to accept. Best to home school the kids and stay away from large crowds like he claimed to have had at his inauguration.
Please give JUST ONE idea that will stop mass shootings. Just one. You can't.
It's great to know the GOP does have a tipping point. Election meddling by an adversary? Private business dealings out of the Oval Office? Nepotism? MEH.
Guns of course.
21
Tuesday November 6 will be mid-term elections and time to bring decency back to congress. I have never seen people so energized about voting out the greedy, the evil, the bad seeds. No more sleazy congressmen working for the NRA and special interest groups over the citizens they swore they would represent! Times up, NRA.
27
Congressmen? You mean congresspersons, don't you?
It will be hard to live through 3 more years of this especially for those of us without too many years left.
Of my three closest friends who voted for Trump, one is sorry he did, the second has gone silent on the topic, the third continues to defend Trump like a raving madman when he is not otherwise engaged watching Faux News. He is a good man but appears to be slowly losing his mind, standing up for what is starting to resemble a ship of fools with Trump in puppet mode.
The Senators and Representatives have banned all guns from their workplace. If they are pro-gun, why have they banned guns at work? Feeling unsafe, perhaps?
27
How long ago was murder banned? How has that worked out?
This is why Donald keeps those White House TVs tuned to Fox News at all times. He needs constant reminders of what he is supposed to stand for. He has a tendency to forget depending on who's sitting in front of him at any given moment.
10
With Trump, any "decision statement" is really just a "talking point", they change also immediately. Anything at all can alter Trump's "thought processes", a smell, an argument, another random thought, etc. all can result in a new "revelation" and change of position, etc. I cannot imagine how our country can actually accomplish anything with a rudderless captain.
6
It can’t and putin is counting on that
That didn't take long!
Guns Over People!
20
Gotta hand it to Trump: Consistently inconsistent, often walks back on statements, lies unabashedly, talks tough but acts like a wimp, and never, ever admits he was wrong or might have acted/spoken differently.
30
Why anyone would take what Trump say seriously day to day is beyond me...He has no principles and no ideology other than his greatness ...Think Jared can be manipulated easily?? ---this guy is equally bendable for the right price. Disgraceful
10
If the reports are true, it's a flip-flop. Or, more precisely, a flip-flop-flip. Mr. Trump opposed gun control, then supported it, now he opposes it again.
With this kind of "leadership" we will not see background checks, a ban on assault rifles and large capacity magazines, and other measures to prevent more tragedies.
8
The NRA sent Trump a big ole box of money and his opinion changed. How surprising.
7
Correction: The NRA sent a big box of rubles and his position changed.
3
That would be a big surprise.
2
What Trump said Wed was just a ruse. Just performing for the cameras. Need to quit expecting this liar to change. He won't and every day we buy into his chaos is another day that his and the Republicans Russian appeasement is allowed to carry on.
7
It it appears that gun control advocates want to run background checks on all gun purchases, I can go along with that. But in the same breath these persons do not want to fix NCIC, NCIS or the old III. Well, these record keeping agencies are what they plan on using to verify persons for gun purchases. Thus, evidently we want more gun control but we want to base it on an extremely faulty reporting system? Any LEO with investigative experience will tell you that the data currently stored in these systems is merely a suggestion because different agencies remove persons on the list for either political, investigative, or corrupt purposes, or poor data entry by a person making minimum wage. It seems the suggestion would be akin to treating a person for an illness using the wrong lab tests. I see some political grandstanding on this issue.
3
Advocates, gun grabbers, whatever you want to call them, they have no solutions, not one. They just want more control.
Many are suggesting that voting them out is the solution. But in this gerrymandered country, boycotts may have more power. For any insitution that supports the NRA keep the wallet shut, reduce the foot traffic, and vocalize why they've lost your business. This is a capitalist society. Wall Street interests rule.
5
I think the average citizen would be shocked and outraged at the huge influence lobbyists have over legislators and legislation. Everything from approving specific language in bills to deciding whether or not things see the light of day are under the control of people who only care about money and their own concerns.
That’s why you take such pronouncements like Trump’s with not a grain, but with a boulder of salt.
So...how much value does your and your kids’ life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness really have? Don’t ask Congress or the President...ask the NRA, Big Pharma, tech...the list goes on.
We the People are just pawns in a big game.
5
Chris Cox and the people he works with should die of shame.
2
Despicable Republicans Congress--OUT!
5
This guy has no core , no compass.
Even murdered children cause him no personal transformation regarding murder weapons in the hands of civilians
Hey is blown every which way by whatever wind blows hardest. He wished he never win. That’s the only thing I agree with him on
7
Our president: the wind sock.
6
As is always the case, when the NRA says jump, Republicans reply "How high"?.....
5
More guns equals more death. The NRA has so much blood on its hands. Vote out anyone who supports them.
6
Shame on Senator Capito!!! Shame on the NRA!
Gun restrictions are the logical way to prevent US citizens from shooting each other, either carelessly or with intent.
Bearing arms should NOT be the right of every Tom Dick or Harry. The Privilege should be deserved and earned.
4
POTUS changes his mind.....(yawn)....
1
Is the President so stupid that he doesn't realize how bad it makes him look to have held this meeting so that the NRA could take him to the woodshed?
4
So call or email your representatives n Congress. Blow up Trump's Twitter feed. And above all, vote!
2
Once again, Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she will hold the ball and he believes it until the point when she changes her mind, pulls the ball away then berates him for being so stupid. The only reasonable recourse is to take the ball away and send Lucy back to 666 Fifth Avenue. VOTE THESE IDIOTS OUT! Stupid Charlie Brown.
4
trump is a traitor and an idiot who needs to be impeached before he does more damage to the country. send him to Gitmo !
7
Oh, the NRA announced they met with Trump, got him to back down, and basically told the nation that he back under their thumb. Yeah, right, Trump loves those kind of national announcements. He loves being told he's their whipping boy, subservient to them and totally beholden to them. We'll see how that goes.
4
Sarah Sanders was just shoved out to the press briefing room to deny that this was the case! They are is desperation mode!
Wonder what dirt the NRA has on DJT?
And Pence. Maybe he was caught having dinner with a woman without his "mom"!!!!!
2
MeToo moment for the Market!
"Help! He won't keep his grubby little hands off of me!! Where's the GOP when you REALLY value your freedoms?!"
It's one thing to steal because your family is starving, but dumping the market just to cover for your flunky grifter of a son-in-law? Oh, that's right
Trump's covering his own basket as we know the Kushners aren't above turning on their own nation, much less their own family. Imagine what Jared's dad might flip his son's charges for...
3
Then the carnage at the ballot box will be greater. Most of Americans want sensible gun laws and these assault rifles and any accessories that make standard rifles into killing machines, banned, along with better screening for gun buyers. If they think people are going to forget by the time November rolls around, good luck with that pipe dream. Americans have had it with these mass shootings and we will not forget.
8
These people are really NOT talking about gun control but rather what Trump really said or meant or didn’t mean or say. The subject matter is always about Trump which is what Trump wants. He probably couldn’t give a damn about guns or gun violence unless it reflects badly on him.
5
Well it took a White House lunch And dinner for President Trump to return to the NRA. They bought him for $30 million and there was a snowball's chance in hell that the NRA was not going to get full value for their dollars spent.
Trump performed his reality TV show schtick on Wednesday with great flair. We all knew that it was just Trump playing for the cameras. What he was saying went against all previous statements and the cult of the NRA is perhaps just as great as the cult of Trump and they will not be denied.
America yet again sinks into total depravity refusing to do one damn thing regarding mass shootings in our children's schools. You would hope that all blame could be laid to Trump, McConnell and Ryan and that they will suffer the consequences of their cowardly failure in 2018 and 2020.
That hope fades each and every time we as a society do nothing.
6
Oh, how could anyone have predicted this. Lying flip-flop boy changed his mind after someone coughed on him. What a joke this man is. And for anyone supporting this train wreck, I have to ask. Do you also change your opinions on a daily basis? Or do you not care at all and just support whatever this man says?
4
The latter, unfortunately.
Let's hope we don't have an international crisis while the presidential train is going off the rails.
It's like trying to hammer a square peg into an Oval Office.
9
Trump uses fear to dominate. Guns are about fear.
Recall what FDR said at the beginning of his first inaugural address?
===================================================
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
Let me suggest that Democrats use FDR's fear remarks to fight back.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
The NRA stands for something much more profound than "guarding" the second amendment. Trump sees it for what it really is - an organization comprised of people who are unable to think for themselves and are only too happy, like many Republicans, to vote against their own interests.
5
I'm shocked, shocked.
4
You can almost see the quivering strings on this puppet as the puppeteers fight for control.
3
The bad actors in this world all play this prez like a violin.
3
Trump and poor attention span is killing us!
2
Trumpism…how do we stop it? First of all stop making him seem as if he is a new phenomenon. He isn’t. He can be looked at historically where he emulates any number of Dictators. He can be looked at through the lens of psychology where Trump is narcissistic, sociopathic, psychotic. Whole sections of bookstores are dedicated to his DSM diagnosis. Trump did not rise to power, the GOP created the environment from which Trump crawled from the primordial, greed driven, political soup. The environment created by the GOP was one where they played upon the fears of specific group’s people, those paranoids in their varying forms, and then told those paranoids that the GOP will quell their fears. Trump, being a psychopath/narcissist actually believes in his superiority and it is his money that feeds his ability to project his faux sense of being better than everyone else. It is Trump’s lessons from reading “Hitler’s Speeches” that has allowed him to take to an even further degree, the control of those well-conditioned paranoids. How do you stop it? Understand who he controls. Remove their fears…with blatant truth. You can't depend on the republicans but the democrats "must" speak factual truth while admitting past omission and a desire to lead the people properly. The media must stop giving him the free exposure to project his form of control. Get the democrat voters the right ID and a ride to the voting booths even if it means spending campaign money to get them there.
2
$30 Million Pieces of Silver.
That's how much filthy NRA money was pumped into the 2016 Trump Campaign.
Expecting any meaningful change from THIS White House? You MUST be joking.
4
Trump changed his mind. How unusual. He says things, meets with someone else and changes his views. He wasn’t ever going to cut Medicare and Social Security, ever! Then he proposed a budget that cuts both programs, claiming that they are entitlements. Well, we pay for these programs every pay period. He just says whatever hair-brained idea comes to him that he feels will garner votes and make him look good at that moment in time. What a fraud.
2
This is all a charade. Nothing will get done on gun control until Republicans are voted out of office.
4
“we all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA.”
Way to contradict yourself in a single tweet.
You can't keep guns away from people without gun control.
1
Any one, especially in Congress, that banks on anything Trump says is a fool.
The circuits in his brain must be like an eight highway overpass. His memory like a morning fog.
Dealing with him is like dealing with an abuser; lies, ultimatums, power plays, insults, control.
His inability to get things done is a blessing.
The stories about his ineptitude, his past, his boorishness, lack of attention span, mood swings, narcissism...are getting dull. We get it. He's a misfit for the job.
Yet, with all of this, he's still popular with the Republican "base". That should tell us all we need to know.
And for Republicans, Trump is the "useful idiot".
4
The NRA and unknown foreign backers are considering leasing 666 fifth ave.
At above market rates.
Anyone need more splaining?
2
My guess is that the Russians are fueling the flames of this gun division that we have. The Russians clearly are watching how we argue about stuff that other countries have settled long time ago. To them, guns guns and more guns creates a chaotic, ungovernable country that can start spinning off into many different directions. The Russians don't care about invading or even nuking the US, but what they would love is anarchy and 'freedumb' blabbing yahoos with guns to back them up and deadly infighting among all the demographic elements. They are sowing chaos and the gun issue is potentially the juiciest chaos maker. Can we now encourage all Russian citizens to buy and store guns? Do you think Putin wants that? I don't think so, but he does want you to have that ungovernable situation over here.
6
So, just who runs this country? To a scary degree, the NRA, apparently. Those wonderful folks say jump and entire state governments (I'm looking at you, Georgia) and the "president" ask; when, where and how high?
NRA leaders like to say they are just doing what its members tell them to do. Bunk. As in all cults, membership is told what to think by its leaders.
This would be a great time for those wonderful, Constitution- and Christ-loving members of the NRA to read Federalist Paper No. 10. In it, James Madison, writing as Publius, warns of the dangers of "factions" in a republic.
What is a faction? "By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."
Madison warns of the "instability, injustice, and confusion" factions can create.
Remind you of any particular faction in America today? One, say, which is driven by the impulse of passion for guns?
3
"Oh was I not supposed to say those things? Jeez, I'm sorry. People seemed to really like it and they were smiling at me, so I just kept talking. I can't really remember what I said anyway, but I know it got some people to say good things about me. Can you tell me what I'm supposed to say now?" --Trump in yesterday's meeting with the NRA.
1
Trumps words from his meeting with members of congress are on tape. Every news network showed them last night. The Democrats should hold him to those words and constantly introduce legislation that matches what was said. If it gets passed, great! We finally have sensible gun legislation. If GOP Congressmen or Trump himself block it then hammer them with this issue in the midterms. Make the President keep his word or pay a price if he doesn't
The outrage with the NRA has to be sustained and peak in October and November, and then every October and November going forward. I have had enough of this paranoid, extremist group/industry arm running public policy. I no longer want to put my children at risk to satisfy the bottom line of the gun industry and the fantasies of people who envision themselves fighting off the government with their assault weapons. Vote and volunteer! Get people to the polls! Let's get the cancerous GOP and their outrageous policies out of power.
2
The President and Vice President are a bit smarter than readers may give them credit for. One may appreciate--and they do from intelligence reports--that no forensic investigation, or 3rd party probity, has been undertaken, let alone completed for the Florida event and therefore there are no verified facts and data. There are stories, assertions and a photo-montage of emotionalism (unfortunately led by media), but no appeal-proof, let alone trial-ready, facts (indeed, there are none extant in the public record for any similar events). To call for various regulatory responses (or even to let certain media positions remain unchallenged) at this point, would be like pursuing new regulations from an airplane crash, without an accident investigation, public hearing and report. It would be incoherent and counterproductive. Due process indeed. While Liberals are frustrated, and Feinstein Inc. is stewing, perhaps the objective NYT article on assault weapon myth, full of unpleasant facts, would be helpful in the debate: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/sunday-review/the-assault-weapon-myth...
A retreat from what? Stop assuming when this man enters a room that he has a well thought out position on any topic. He is, as my new age friends like to say, always in the moment---what comes out of his mouth maybe mirrors a comment from Fox or Friends, or something said to him on the golf course or a dinner at his country club, or maybe a factoid dropped at a briefing that he left early---who knows. What is astounding is his base doesn't care that most of his "moments" make no sense at all---or are just plain nonsense.
I think that he has all these weird announcements to gain attraction away from his Russian probe. His one day change of mind on gun issues. His thoughts toward executing opioid dealers. His ideas on tariffs. Taking guns away without due process. All to make smoke screens to cover Mueller.
Of course Trump is now onboard with the NRA again, they are the last people he talked to. This is a common theme where Trump has very little self directed point of view of his own and then is easily swayed by the advice of others and whomever he spoke with last.
The private sector, it turns out, is much more sensitive to the winds of change than Congress. Let's hope that momentum continues.
1
Well, that didn't take long, did it? But then, anybody who has been keeping tabs on the capricious tendencies of Donald Trump, already knows he changes directions with the wind which is why any previous indications that he might be willing to support a more strenuous type of Gun Control reform wasn't even worth the ink that printed it.
In short. There's no reason to believe that Mr. Trump will ever part company with the N.R.A. and the gun-loving base that supports him. And that won't change no matter how many school-shootings take place.
And sadly, it's only a matter of time before something like that happens again.
1
Of course trump won't support gun control following a session of mind control with the nra. He was reminded of who put him in the WH. Believing anything that comes from this "man's" mouth is for the weak of mind.
The NRA reminded him of 30 million reasons to change his mind and that Vladimir wouldn't give more millions of reasons if he stayed the course.
Trump's comments, on any and all subjects, should always be deemed -- what's the proper word(s)? -- "flexible". Or perhaps "likely to change"? Maybe "lie" gets to the point more succinctly. At base, nothing he says at any given moment is worth the bother. In this case he may just follow the money.
It's a pattern. Trump's supporters probably feel betrayed for a day. They reaffirm their support to him after his next day's reversal!
1
Owning a gun in America should be a privilege but NOT a right. That is how guns are dealt within other civilized countries.
Americans should have to undergo rigid and lengthy background investigation before they can own a gun.
There should be a waiting period.
Assault weapons should be banned entirely. You do not need an assault weapon for hunting game.
Owning a gun is a right, not a privilege. If you want to change that the minimum you would have to do is get rid of the 2nd Amendment, for which you do not have the votes. But even if you could do that there are many state constitutions which protect individual gun ownership as a right.
Other than determining if someone is a felon or has been adjudicated mentally ill what would a background check need to do to satisfy your desire to be rigid and lengthy.
The 2nd Amendment is not about hunting. Come on. You really think that people who had just fought a revolution were concerned about protecting citizens' right to hunt?
I did enjoy my 5 minutes imagining a decent push from DT re safety for us all. Then I remembered - someone else will say the opposite to himand there goes another moment of hope.
NRA's and Trump's tweets are irrelevant. What will matter is March 24th and November 6th.
Is it a stretch to imagine that Mr. Cox carried the same leverage held by Uncle Vladimir over the president? Cox, while in Congress, was as unprincipled then as now. The NRA has already sold out our country to the firearms industry; Putin hasn't killed as many, but he will do what it takes to maximize harm to us.
"Due process" is the NRA's euphemism for "do nothing." In fact, the Second Amendment and due process leave plenty of room for all the (frankly modest) common sense and life-saving measures embraced by a substantial majority of the country -- eliminating background check loopholes, keeping guns away from the mentally ill and dangerous criminals, banning military style assault rifles and high capacity magazines. Does anyone seriously believe that if the Founders who drafted the Second Amendment were part of today's debate, they would view the deadly fringe policies of the NRA as constitutionally protected?
Jefferson would. He thought routine revolts were a good thing. Likely Madison would as well. Also George Mason and Patrick Henry. You can actually look up their quotes on guns, militia, revolution, resistance to tyranny and so on.
The president made it clear:
He wants all the big guns at the table.
Of course Trump will retreat. That's what people with no core convictions do.
May I make a suggestion to my friends on this forum? If you are as concerned as I am about gun violence and the safety of our children, please advocate for voting against your Republican legislators. A vote for any Republican needs to be considered a vote for the NRA who work tirelessly against common sense changes in our gun laws.
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If you live in a state that is a lock for Democrats, please consider sending campaign contributions to Democratic candidates in other states that might be closely fought.
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Of course trump back-peddled. He has to be 'liked' by everyone around him at all times. The NRA, Russia, Republicans and just about anyone can curry favor by (1) - Being the last person to speak to trump before a vote. And (2) - massage his incredibly fragile ego.
The NRA has nothing to fear from trump. The NRA does fear an open and free election. Vote in November and show trump and the NRA they are not speaking for you by voting for gun reform candidates.
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Just as he is seems unwilling to stand up to Russia, Donald Trump will never stand up to the NRA. Or to anti-immigration hard-liners. Democrats must realize by now that when Trump appears to embrace a part of their agenda, he is merely pandering to his audience (whether it be teachers, governors, or moderate members of Congress). He is the ultimate political coward. Of the countless lies that Trump has told while in office, one of the least obvious but most consequential was this: "I will take the heat."
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The kids have it right: vote them out.
Change will be very incremental, if possible at all, until red-state voters get rid of these Congresspeople.
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This guy, Trump, seems like he’s in over his head. Maybe time to vote him off the show.
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If I may change the subject. By the way, does anybody know if Trump really donated $1 million to the Hurricane Harvey victims as he said he would?
4
“I like taking the guns early,” he said, adding, “Take the guns first, go through due process second.”
Trump further added -- and for some reason this hasn't been quoted everywhere -- “I think they [the police] should have taken them [the guns] anyway, whether they had the right or not.”
Now Trump may retreat from gun control? I expect so. His whole life, and his whole presidency, show that you just can't rely on anything Trump says.
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As far as I am concerned people like McConnell, Cornyn, Cox, Kennedy, and Moore mentioned here are enablers of those who will easily kill others. The fact that they aren't interested in the slightest change in how we allow murderers to obtain guns (with a nod to Cornyn for of the so-called Fix NICS Act) means the blood of future victims is assuredly on their, of those of their ilk, hands.
While our laws call for due process the NRA has translated that into the quintessential "law abiding citizen" with a gun for whom no restrictions shall be made to their ability to amass any number and type of mass killing weapons. Right up until they pull the trigger and then they are disavowed as mentally ill. There must be a means to have due process without enabling those who want to murder you, your children, your families and friends.
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The only thing surprising about this capitulation is how short a time it took.
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Truly, this is a societal problem, not one of politics or idealism. The discussion ought to explore for what reasons we as a society value more self protection, rather than the protection of all. Would this not be the greater good? Answer that, and we will overcome this and many other vexing challenges.
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Those 17 deaths in Florida are fading, becoming a distant memory. The second amendment zealots are counting on that, just like previous mass shootings. Congress in the end will have done nothing, and the NRA will resist all efforts at ANY gun control, because they feel their "rights" will slowly erode. Good meeting with the NRA, Trump!
....on to the next shoot 'am up in a few weeks.
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I am so shocked Trump reneged on a promise and changed his mind after a few lobbyists talked to him. Shocked!
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Yup, he's reneged. Swishy wishy washy as he is.
1
Did anyone really expect anything different from this individual acting as POTUS. It's the same MO he's used since his days of campaigning, and the GOP will continue to enact every destructive piece of legislation they can up until judgment day, 11/2018. I certainly hope the Parkland young adults and young adults in every other school setting do not despair. Instead, I would implore them to continue with their righteous movement to make our schools safe.
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What's surprising is that anyone is surprised. The man is a blank page just waiting for someone to tell him who he is. Russia seems to have made the most indelible impression on him; Trump is Putin, Putin is Trump.
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My school had a credible threat against it this week and a student was arrested. He had, of course, an AR-15. My children’s school had a credible threat against it and a former student was arrested. A school district nearby closed for several days due to ongoing threats. Other schools in our area also experienced threats. This is the new normal; we cannot allow it to continue.
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If you are not yet old enough to vote, lobby your parents, family and friends to do so and vote the gun zealots out. We have a right to live, work, and go to school without worrying about a loony-toon with a high-powered assault rifle and a grievance (real or imagined). The right to live in peace should not be subordinated to the archaic right to arm a 'well organized militia'.
Donald Trump has been very consistent for decades. His first priority is always and only to be the center of attention, and in this he succeeds again and again. Shut off 24/7 media attention and he would shrivel up.
5
What about “due process” for the victims?
4
Holding these meetings is what Trump does before he does what he planned to do all along: what benefits him. Remember the bipartisan meeting with legislators about the Dreamers - the "bill of love"? Everyone was so hopeful. We know how long that lasted after a lengthy gov't shutdown was averted. And remember when Trump met with the union bosses; they came out of the meeting so enthused about his support for labor. Since then, Trump's NLRB appointees have rolled back Browning-Ferris and a host of other union worker protections; the NYT reported one labor chief as saying, "What he's doing hasn't matched up to what he said." Duh.
Examples of Trump's faux "meetings" are everywhere, from the environment to health to job security. And Trump's statements in them are as phoney as the compassion talkingp-points he recently used in his "meeting" with the Parkland survivors, especially #5: "I hear you." Are you listening, NYT? How many times can you report that Lucy will hold the football for Charlie Brown?
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the lobbyists are writing the laws. the occupant of the white house just goes on television.
Of course he did! You can not trust anything to be true with this President. Facts, beliefs, desires for legislation, policy - its a free for all. I can not wait to get our country back to normal. What a storm we are weathering on many, many fronts every. single. day.
2
How long can the president hold a thought in his head? The walk-back was inevitable.
What DJT says when the cameras are rolling is not what he says privately...or after having a "great" meeting with the NRA.
2
Are you surprised? By now we all know that Donald Trump lies daily, repeatedly and habitually, even when confronted with evidence to the contrary. He stands for nothing beyond his own self-aggrandizement. A book title describing Putin's Russia, referenced today in this paper by Ms. Goldberg's essay, is an equally apt description of the Trump administration and any policy statement our Russophile president makes: "Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible."
AARP has about 40 million members and couldn't drive the outcome of health care debate. The NRA has around 4.5 million members.
How is that this one organization with an order of magnitude less members can hold the entire country hostage to their policy agenda - of guns begat guns. And get special 1-1 meetings with the president so he can do another spineless flip-flop.
The only way to drive this is for each voter who wants to change gun laws to tell their elected officials - you take a single dollar of NRA money you won't get my vote. Period.
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We citizens are merely the hapless consumers of our corporate government. Big donors are the shareholders and the toadies in the legislative and executive branches know whom they must please. The shoddy quality of the end product doesn't matter: profits do.
It's pretty easy to deliver your promises if you change your stance multiple times per day. How anyone with a straight face can say that they support this cowardly weasel is beyond me. The chances of everyone's opinion flip-flopping in synchronicity is pretty minuscule I would think, but I suspect that none of this has anything to do with principles.
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If Trump had an oval office meeting with the NRA, is he also having official meetings with gun control groups? If not, why not?
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The 2nd Amendment was kept in place when they stopped people from buying Tommy Guns (machine guns) 84 years ago. It will not go away today if they stop people from buying semi-automatic assault rifles, but like the Tommy Gun ban it will keep people from having the that type of fire power.
The NRA and the current administration need to get on board with this or both will feel the repercussions of their in actions.
Here are just a few more headlines which might help explain the Trump administration:
"International Associate of Oil and Gas Produers Suggests Trump May Retreat From Oil Exploration and Drilling Regulations"
"National Alliance of Charter School Authorizers Suggests Trump May Retreat From Education Performance Requirements"
"Community Financial Services Association Suggests Trump May Retreat From Regulating Payday Loans"
The sad thing is, this list could continue ad nauseam.
2
How will we survive this administration?
This is a typical Trump fiasco. He will say anything to pander the people he’s speaking to. His words are meaningless, & should be taken with a grain of salt.Judge him for what he does not by what he says.His administration is unraveling & so is he.The sad thing is, his base comprised of extremists, bigots, & the illiterate will stick with him to the end, which fast approaching.
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And the saddest part of all is that 1/3 of the electorate actually believe that Trump is doing a great job and would vote for him again. The problem lies much deeper than Trump, the NRA, the 2nd Amendment and Due Process!
1
Of course Trump will retreat from doing anything regarding gun control. He just threw out a crumb or two to people who support gun control as a diversion. You know, a diversion from Jared, Hope Hicks, Paul Manafort, Russia, Stormy
Daniels (anybody remember her?), etc. His diversion and outright lying has become the new normal. We have only two choices, get used to this or get rid of him.
2
I cannot honestly understand how an organization like the National Rifle Association exists in the United States. It works against so many freedoms. Children are murdered and the organization moves to enrich itself and darkly promote an agenda that harms the advancement of a modern society.
There is no compromise, vision, or understanding in its sights - the diatribe is automatic and fired in all directions, intelligence and compassion casualties long ago.
1
How the NRA exists? - $$$ always talks for politicians.
It seems that twice in two days, Donald Trump has literally been swayed on the issue of gun control by the last people he talked with. On the first day, his expansiveness about new restrictions was downright bizarre. After having it all publicly unsaid for him by the people he had been with on the second day, he declared their meeting "great".
Now comes his abrupt announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum immediately after talking with executives in those industries, before his staff had finished studying the matter and against the intense opposition of his chief economic advisor.
This is neither the calculated chaos nor the habitually erratic behavior we've been taught to expect from Trump. It's deterioration.
The Times recently reported that Jared Kushner's troubles and other pressures have been "taking a toll" on the president, if I remember correctly. I believe it, and I'm not jeering. The spectacle that has inspired our derision and anger up to now may be taking a genuinely pathetic turn.
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Perhaps pathetic, but downright horrifying: it exposes just how erratic, impulsive and ignorant he is. That's quite dangerous as the walls continue t close in on him.
1
Quelle coîncidence to encounter this commenter's name and location just as I'm making my way through Trollope's 1875 novel. This is "the way we live now " and Trollope's portrait of his main character, Melmotte, fits Trump to a T.
1
I am trying but can find no sympathy for Trump or anyone voluntarily in the White House or in his orbit. I do, however, have sympathy, fear, and dread about our country, no thanks to him or them.
Took him less time to change his mind that he changes his underwear!
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I find Pence more reprehensible and dangerous than Trump... Only a charlatan or a complete fool could claim to follow Jesus while opposing the poor, sick, and hungry, all while spreading hate and lies about anyone whose look or lifestyle doesn't fit into his tiny white box... Did I mention he opposes modern science? Of course like all hypocritical science deniers, he reaps the rewards that science has brought him: Airplanes, computers, smartphones, medicine, electricity, etc... His supporters are made up of the NRA, mass polluters, corporate criminals, false Christians, rubes, boobs, and bigots (typical Republican constituency)
Man of God? Not buying it. He is part of a willfully ignorant cult of liars that always act in their own self interest... In my book, members of this cult fall several notches below the pathetically paranoid lunatic he is waiting in the wings to replace...
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Jeff old sport, you sound like a very angry misinformed liberal.
Jeff I couldn’t have it any better,
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"OK, anyone who is suprised by this please raise your hands. Anyone? Anyone at all? Bueller? Bueller?"
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The only surprise is that anyone meeting with him, Democrat or Republican, still takes what he says seriously, especially during a televised event. When will they learn? Why do they still bother meeting with him?
1
Surprise, surprise, surprise - not one hand raised!
The NRA denies having any raw naked power to control government and that it's just the strength of its members that gives them outsized clout compared to any other organization.
You know, to make that sound the least bit plausible you might think they would sit back a little and let those elected lead after current events. But no. That is too big a risk. The need to protect their profits is too great that it becomes automatic to demonstrate force and to quickly knock down any possible
We saw it in Georgia where an actual state government shilled for a private organization against another that did nothing but say no more discounts based on NRA membership.
And immediately after Trump told people not be afraid of the NRA and that he was listening to the people the NRA slaps him upside the head and reminds him that they are in charge.
These things weren't subtle, or nuanced, or imagined. No. they are boldly in your face. There isn't even a pretense anymore - just like with the other donors to the Republican party who make demands and get them while the Congress admits they are doing so.
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And of course, Trump being the coward that he is, would have caved to far less pressure.
2
Who didn't see this coming? Of course Trump changed his mind after meeting with the NRA. He only voiced his "gun control policy" after meeting with the heart-broken kids the day before. Trump is a blank slate that voices fill in with whatever. He has no mind of his own. He might meet with Veterans for Gun Control and change his mind back, but then meet with Gun Owners of America (the 2nd largest pro-gun group in the US) and change it again. This is not how to make coherent policy on a matter as important as children's lives.
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If you truly believe what you said, then you are being played as Trump intends.
What? So Donald lied when he said that he wasnt owned by the NRA? What a shocker. Actually, it was probably a clever ploy by Donald to get more money out of the NRA to stay the course instead of actually listening to those who came to Washington to plead for gun control.
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Bah, humbug! I was just starting to give him a chance.
4
Another Trump game of 52 pickup.
"Yes I'll play cards. The game is 52 pickup. I throw the cards. You pick 'em up."
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Does anyone with brains believe the clown....at all?
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Who said Trump’s public policies have no direction? Fact is, it’s precise and consistently inconsistent —all determined by a simple dynamic.......whoever Trump spoke to last.
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And carries a bag of $$$.
1
There are many lovers of the outdoors like me who grew up in the woods and on the rivers and lakes hunting and fishing who have never been members of or supported the NRA, but the time has come to do more.
Perhaps we need an RGOA or Responsible Gun Owners of America who support the Second Amendment, but not the right of anyone to own any kind of gun they want.
No respectable hunter or outdoorsman wants or needs military-style weapons.
Nor do we want lunatics, felons, woman-beaters, or anyone under the age of 21 to be able to buy a gun.
We want background checks and gun registration.
We want to mandate safety training as part of new gun ownership.
We want guns to be safe and for areas like schools and churches to be safe from guns other than those in the hands of security officers.
Folks need to get away from using terms like "gun control," and start talking about "gun safety."
Here's my recommendation to members of the NRA.
Instead of renewing that membership to a trade organization dealing in death that is the biggest threat to your responsible ownership of guns, take that $40 or $50 and invest in the three "B"s: Beer, Bait, and a Bag of ice, and take your wife, your kids, or some of your friends out on a river or lake for a day of fishing.
It will do your soul a heap of good and will be a better investment of your money.
For me, I'm offline for awhile for a walk in the woods where I find peace no one will ever know from being a member of the NRA.
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Didier, you may want to do a little research in order to discover that the military uses shotguns and bolt action rifles all the time. As a self respecting outdoorsman you would have to give up these to support your position.
The only bad thing is that there still 300 million guns out there!
I know, right? Wouldn't you think gun owners would appreciate being part of an elite collection of Americans who are trained and knowledgable about weaponry, whose services can be sought and appreciated for the actual skill they can bring to bear? Instead of a collection of inept, malicious, paranoid losers, which is the unfair rep they've acquired by supporting a group like the NRA.
1
Once again, we see a Tuesday Trump and then a Thursday Trump. He cannot be believed or trusted. Anyone who believes what comes out of this man's mouth is a fool.
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NYT is taking NRA's words as gospel and assuming they speak for Trump.
BB...they do. Indeed the NRA speaks for Trump and for many other Republicans.
The NRA does speak for Trump.
Don't they?
1
Once again, we have a bridge in NYC to sell anyone who really believed this moron would not start back peddling......who's "afraid of the NRA"? HE is....
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No, what a surprise! And here I thought Trump was ready to take on the NRA. Go figure.
3
Trump is so predictable. It will be Chuck and Nancy's fault that a strong gun control law won't pass. They let that pesky wall get in the way.
Trump's only negotiating tactic throughout his career was the appearance of unpredictability. After an unrelenting spotlight on him for over a year, he can't hide just how weak he is.
10
How on God's Green Earth does a lobbiest get private audience with The President and Vice President?
The answer is guns is one of the single-issue voter issues that has gained the right a near coup of US and state governments. Losing just the 1 or 2% that vote only on this issue is enough to tip the scales left.
The right has taken advantage of the teensy margins (and huge money) in 99% of elections. Winner takes it all. This have given special interests like The NRA far too much power.
If we want to change this dynamic, all must become informed and all must VOTE.
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"It's time for a president to step up." --Donald Trump, February 28, 2018
"Thanks for stepping up for us, Mr. President." --National Rifle Association, March 1, 2018
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The so called president is an imbecile and a liar.
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Someone asked me, a gun safety advocate, why I didn’t support Donald Trump’s apparent change of heart regarding sensible gun regulations. I said, “I don’t believe anything he says because he has no core values apart from garnering praise in the moment.” Thus, one needn’t be Nostradamus to have predicted this headline.
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Some of us asserted that Donald Trump was a chaos candidate, who had no core principles beyond "I am in this for ME."
Now all of us are seeing how Donald Trump swings from one extreme to the other, and takes on the position of the last person to talk to him. Yesterday he was all for legislation to limit access to guns by 18-20 year olds. Then the NRA and Mike Pence sit him down for a chat and that is off the table.
Yesterday he unilaterally announces import tariffs on steel and aluminum, and markets around the world tank.
I ask the Editors of the New York Times, and the reporters of the New York Times why YOU could not see this, when it was apparent to anyone who reviewed Trump's business history. The Cincinnati Enqurer, a very conservative newspaper, that had not endoresed a Democrat in over 70 years, understood and stated in the editorial in which they enfdorsed HRC that:
"Trump is a clear and present danger to our country."
So how about it? You influence a wide swath of American society. Where is YOUR "Mea culpa"?
When are you going tp start pointing out that if we continue down the path on whch we we presently find ourselves, that our country, and the world, may come to a bad end.
When are you going to go to the mat?
4
It was shocking to see Sens. Feinstein and Koblucher grinning ear to ear at the White House meeting with Trump. Fool me once shame on you......
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That reminded me of a scene from any movie in which the bossman tosses the books and floats up to the ceiling in hysterics. Time to give Trump that straight jacket he keeps miming us.
You have to be a sucker if you thought the meeting where he seemed to change his position meant anything. You had to look at that and the reaction of the Republicans to know that they weren't going to change anything at all anyway. He knew that too. It was just theater.
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A for real satyr play, with erect goats and hysterical goofballs.
So he’s “afraid of the NRA” after all?
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He's got $30 million reasons why he doens't what us to connect the NRA to Russian money. THAT he's afraid of, but aren't he and the NRA both in the same crack? Hardly leverage, more extortion before the fall.
1
Kids, pay attention! First we get tragedy, then thoughts and prayers. Next we get glimmers of hope that something—this time—will break through and meaningful gun control legislation will happen. Then the NRA are invited to the Oval Office, the meeting is declared “great,” and Republicans are triumphant. Yup, they’ll “focus on mental health.” Arm teachers. Point fingers as to who dropped the ball and who didn’t “run inside” guns ablazin’. The two-headed god of the second amendment/due process will make a brief appearance peeking around some massive Corinthian column in the Congress, eyes glowing red. And those promising a meaningful if overdue fix will scatter, their (forked) tails between their legs.
To all of the young people whom my generation has massively failed to protect; who valued AR-15 enthusiasts more than we valued your lives and futures; who offered thoughts and prayers rather than profound apologies for our own failure to be courageous and take on those who permitted your slaughter, and further failed to atone for those failings by aggressively changing things, here’s my lesson for the day: Take matters into your own hands. Please.
1. On your 18th birthday, register to vote. Use that sacred right—NEVER fail to use it. Not just once every 4 years, but in EVERY election. All politics is local.
2. Vote EVERY Republican out of office, EVERY office: local, state and federal, in 2018, 2020, and 2022. No exceptions.
Now, spread the word.
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There he goes , again...
9
I had a sudden flash of Ronnie and Nancy watching TV in the afterglow basking in the admiration of many here who once thought he had to go. "I told you I age well, Nancy."
Yes, heaven has also got a TV hacking problem.
The nra takes donations and memberships from foreign and Russian nationals - who are they really representing?
It is to Russia’s benefit if we have chaos and our Russian NRA is driving the bus the wrong way on the highway
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We're watching a man, with a true personality disorder, try to do the job of president of the U.S. This pathetic man's one daily mission is to make himself look like a hero and keep the spotlight on himself. He will say anything and do anything to achieve this ego assuaging goal. We've seen it over and over again, as he flip flops on every issue, makes up outrageous assertions of fact, and gaslights the world. The one thing he said at the meeting that was very revealing was that the representatives in that room were afraid of the NRA. He forgot to mention that he is also terrified of the NRA. I bet it didn't take but a minute or two for the NRA to put him back on track with THEIR agenda. Trump is a coward.
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Trump " I would have rushed In unarmed to stop Florida high school mass killing". In a pig's eye would he have done this. He can't even stand by his words in front of a NRA lobbyist. Weak in the knees, yellow stipe down his back, shaky hands, face it America, he cares about his donations rather than the lives of children. I am sure Mr. "Right to Life" Pence contributed to the meeting to help the NRA in "changing" Trump's stance. Maybe Wayne LaPierre and Dana Loesh are the real president and First Lady of our country. Money talks.
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There’s a Tuesday Trump and a Thursday Trump.
Saturday Trump is the Fox and Friends Trump.
Our nation is in grave danger.
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Yes, the NRA has open access to the White House; meanwhile students directly affected by gun violence get their March for Our Lives rally bumped from the National Mall for a talent show. Arm yourselves, kids, America's got talent!
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How convenient it must be to favorably cover the NRA when it serves the purpose of eviscerating our President.
The voting booth is the only place to address the Republican gun fetish. NRA Republicans view their 2nd Amendment rights as absolute without regard to the consequences, and that's just not a workable position to hold in a democratically governed nation. I have no doubt that many Republican voters hate the idea of a Democrat in leadership more than they hate watching other people's kids get killed by shooters armed with their beloved assault rifles. It is up to the rest of us to prevent the carnage they have planned for the country.
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I don't know about you city folk but down here I use my assault rifle for deer hunting. I use a 100-round drum magazine and unload the entire drum into and throughout the animal with special flesh-shredding rounds. This yields some lovely venison burgers, no meat grinder required.
I just hope you all can live with the guilt of taking that away from me if your position gains any traction. Add to that, I would have to become competent enough to kill the animal with one shot. Shucks, I could starve!
2
I'm an NRA member. I don't see how Trump's mood does anything to change the law of the land or the legislative process needed to make any changes to the laws. I also don't get some of the rigidness of the NRA. I can't think of a reason why civilians need large capacity magazines. Certainly not for hunting, target shooting, or protection. But I also don't support the very many who, no matter what is suggested, argue nothing goes far enough and whose real agenda is to make gun ownership so difficult as to essentially slowly make them go away. Because of that agenda I'm glad the NRA, which I don't always support, is there.
2
There are extremists on both sides. As usual, the majority are in the middle. The “real agenda” you fear is just that–a fear. The majority of us just want to be able to send our kids to school without having to worry that we didn’t say “I love you” because we may not see them again.
1
Then please speak up within your membership and express your opposition to high capacity magazines. Question the NRA agenda on this issue from within. There is no good reason why assault style weapons are necessary for sport or subsistence hunting. In fact, if people really want to make hunting a sport, they would do so with bow and arrow, not a firearm. Bow and arrow are great upper body strength training.
1
We are not surprised in Trump's turnabout. The only way to rid our country of the grip of the NRA is to vote out the Republicans in Congress and the state legislatures.
Let's start with Florida which leads the states in NRA domination and the proliferation of gun legislation that harms its citizens. Then, let's move to Texas which allows campus carry, of all the horrid laws our legislature has put into place.
3
Somehow Trump must think that his televised meetings are like tapings for his reality show. Say anything and the editors will cut and splice it with outtakes on the cutting room floor.
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Maybe the Russians gave the NRA the information Trump doesn't want out. What would the Russians care if Americans shot themselves up? Once you get to the level of nuclear war an armed nation certainly isn't a threat.
5
It has long been observed that Trump's pattern is to agree with the last person with whom he has spoken.
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There is not and never has been a single ethical
or humane reason why America has such hideously inadequate gun control.
As things stand the NRA is a hostile immoral organization whose number is few but whose power is inordinately large compared to the American majority. When it comes to assault weapons they are a despicable band of outlaws no better than the criminals they are constantly supplying with arms. The NRA will be abolished but how many of our children will die before that happens ??
3
There's a lot to unpack here. America has the Second Amendment which gives an individual right to gun ownership as decided by the Supreme Court in the Heller case. If D.C. hadn't been so hard headed as to try to ban handguns in someone's home the Heller case wouldn't have existed. But D.C. overreached and lost badly.
The NRA is made up of people who believe in the right to bear arms. That in and of itself doesn't make them immoral or despicable.
In America we can't abolish organizations solely because of their beliefs. You can, after all, still become a Nazi or Klan member or other white supremacist. The NRA isn't going to be abolished.
If you have evidence of the NRA constantly supplying criminals with weapons please share it. That would indeed be game changing news.
I suspect however that you don't have such evidence and are just calling people names because you disagree with them politically. This is human nature of course but such hyperbole needs to be recognized for what it is.
"The top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association claimed late Thursday that President Trump had retreated from his surprising support a day earlier for gun control measures after a meeting with N.R.A. officials and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office."
If this is true, and there's no reason to think otherwise, then Trump is clearly exhibiting signs of dementia. He already backed down about immigration. Now he's doing the same thing about gun control. And he has gone around his own staff to announce these ridiculous tariffs, which the world community hates and which will decimate our economy and manufacturing. Even PUTIN says Trump is a waste.
How can this country survive with this kind of instability coming from the President?
Trump has to be removed from office. There is no time to wait. As Thomas Friedman said in an earlier column, this is a RED ALERT for America, especially with Trump having the nuclear codes.
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So, help me understand why the NRA receives a closed door meeting with the president but he is unable to find the time, or the courage, to attend a rally or meeting to meet with the youth who have been harmed in this terrible tragedy.
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Would any one be shocked if trump retreated on any gun control proposals. That's what he did with DACA. It seems he is now distracting us with his tariff proposals, to side track the gun issues. I don't think its going to work.
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Planned Parenthood works for abortion rights. The ACLU works for 1st, 4th and 5th Amendment rights. The Electronic Frontier Foundation works for privacy rights. The NRA works for 2nd Amendment rights. We’re all after the same thing: For the government to leave ordinary law-abiding folks alone. And none of us gives up.
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Son of Liberty, Planned Parenthood works to provide HEALTHCARE-breast cancer screenings, Pap smears, etc.- to women.
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Yes, all these organizations have additional ancillary activities. But I think you missed my point about what we're all after.
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We have a bad case of the jitters and the president continues to promote it. Is he for or is he against implementing measures to limit access to assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammo magazines? Is he afraid of the NRA as he accused two Senators at the recent White House meeting or is he not?
Our Second Amendment rights do not depend upon the NRA and its propaganda. It is an organization that lobbies for the firearms manufacturers and their marketing of guns. It has a reported five million members. Most gun owners are not members and don't own AR-15s. Most are responsible people.
So what's the president's game? We don't know because we cannot trust what he says from day to day. Hardly has he said he would support stronger background checks, ban of bump stocks, raising the age to purchase firearms to 21, than he backs off in tweets. His spokesperson Sanders must suffer from verbal whiplash because she cannot make a statement that he won't later contradict.
This is the state of affairs in Washington today.
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This is legalized bribery. I understand the necessity of interest groups when it is collective bargaining for underrepresented groups and to amplify the voice of the people, but in this regard, we are not dealing with representatives who take public opinion and support as their guiding principle. Instead, those with the money and power get direct access and in this very blatant example, a politician's mind, albeit one which really has no firm compass on any issue, is changed in an instant against the will of the people. What's even more shocking is how transparent this process is. They weren't even trying to hide it after the fact. It is deemed acceptable. This is not just a republican issue, Democrats are equally guilty albeit with different groups that right may despise. This is such a fundamental threat to democracy. We must get the money out of politics otherwise we truly live in a faux democracy, real plutocracy.
1
As ever, Trump is all over the map. Those on the right who abide him because he's going to stack the SCOTUS etc are complicit.
If any other President flip flopped and consistently demonstrated the glaring incompetence of Trump they would be gone. Trump should be too.
1
Sigh. Trump was praised for sounding reasonable during his televised DACA meeting. Trump loves praise. Trump saw students getting huge press coverage for speaking out against guns. Trump loves huge press coverage. Ala-kazam! We have Trump sounding pro-gun control in a televised meeting.
When will we learn? He does things so he can watch the coverage of himself on the news later. There is absolutely zero reason to give credence to anything he says. Trump's relationship to the truth is that of two strangers passing in the night. He fully reneged on his DACA statements after the first televised meetings. Perhaps he will do the same on his gun statements. All I know is, what he says in a televised setting is in no way predictive of what he will do.
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The NRA blew it. Gun sales are weak without a bogeyman who wants to take your guns away. They should let the president* frighten the gun owners into more stockpiling of AR-15s and high capacity magazines.
Well, that didn't take long. Not that I expected it to. I knew that as soon as he made his earlier remarks his people would explain to him what he said and he would walk it back immediately.
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Stay tuned; a pattern could be developing.
Two highly divisive issues (DACA and guns). Two nationally televised charades during which Trump transiently abandons his positions, just long enough to befuddle our hapless Congressmen. Leading to complete confusion, enhanced divisions in Congress . . . and no legislation.
We like to think he's an imbecile. But note every 3-4 days he whips up a new shiny object for the press to chase . . . and they fall for it. (CNN appears to be so obsessed with Russia that instead of waiting for Mueller's conclusions, they spend endless hours conjecturing and opining; sadly discrediting what should be a "go-to" for unbiased journalism). And the same "show" twice in a month i.e. televised events, using Congressmen as props, transiently looking presidential. Confusing policy-makers who are trying to craft solutions, but dividing everyone on red-meat issues. If true to form, Trump has no intention of helping to craft sane gun legislation. And in the end, he'll blame the suckers in Congress for not getting anything done, while consolidating his base. (And on steel he might reverse with "I tried to protect American workers, but Congress stopped me"). He's eviscerating public programs and aiming to neuter Congress, the Courts and the Press. The work of an imbecile?
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EXCUSE ME???
Lobbyists for the NRA have direct access to the President?
In the Oval Office?
Who let them in? Does no one see the danger of big money lobbyists taking precedence over citizens?
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President Trump was all for taking weapons away from citizens who show signs of mental instability until the NRA pointed out that under that edict Trump would quickly lose access to the nuclear football.
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I thought maybe the reason Trump was “talking tough” was to shake down the NRA. I wonder if the NRA contributes cash to the “Trump campaign”? If so I wonder how’s much.
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31 million
Trump repeats the last thing he's heard, from the last person he's spoken to.
The smartest pols now realize the necessary maneuver - be the last guy who's spoken to Trump before the vote is taken, the button is pushed, the bill is signed.
This is not leadership. This is not governance. It's manipulation, and the manipulators - who will all fade into the shadows when Trump is gone.
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I saw the crawl of "breaking news" float across my screen last night, and wondered what all the ruckus was about.
Just the day before, the "breaking news" was the fact the president "stunned" the nation with his support for rational gun safety reform.
For me, at that time, the only news was that so many were being snookered yet again, by a president who knows what he wants but will promise anything if it garners him more attention.
Did anybody seriously think Donald J. Trump would put the needs of school kids reeling from tragedy ahead of his devotion to the NRA?
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You nailed it, Ms. McM... here's the last paragraph from my NYTimes comment yesterday on President Jell-O "stunning" everyone:
"This is much the same tactic Trump has used from day one. I'm more than a little surprised that Feinstein and Klobuchar took the bait on this. Give it a day or two and the tweet from the twit will smooth all those ruffled NRA feathers, and we'll be back to business as usual."
Of course, I forgot this is the NRA we're talking about here, so it didn't even take a day for them to get him back on track.
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He is devoted to their money. And their money came from Russia. sounds like a RICO case to me.
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Jim. if you think they were duped by the dog and pony show then you are the mark. Their giddy performance was their act of getting along. They and a few others in that room that knew this was going to get on the right track in November, not before hand. That will require removing the cancer of the GOP from your congress.
1
I am fine with whatever the NRA wants it’s pocketed senators to do. Only on one condition: people should be allowed to carry guns to Capitol Hill. They only need not to be “crazy”. The senators should figure out whatever screening measures would satisfy them about potential for “craziness”, since they think this is quite easy to figure out. They should also arm themselves, since that’s such a good idea. These are Republican suggestions for our country, so let them implement them at home, and show us the way.
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The NRA is literally calling the shots......I see them as a domestic terrorist organization that also takes $ from Russia and other nations. They are not in step w/ the majority of Americans who do want gun control....they just want to sell more & more arms & ammunition while Americans are killed every day....that includes children. They own Trump, they are not good people, listening to Wayne LaPierre speak was scary....so un American and such a real threat to us all. Guns have one purpose and one purpose only: killing. How strange that so many of them pose as Christians.
54
The NRA is the #1 sponsor of domestic terrorism in our country.
4
Quite frankly, when it comes to the future of this country I fear Right Wing Evangelical Christians much more than any Muslim terrorist.
4
Perhaps it was a recent episode of Pod Save America I was listening to in which the joke in the white house was, “what’s Donald Trump’s position on x?” And the answer was, “I don’t know, who was the last person to talk to him?”
For such a tough talker, he seems remarkably spineless.
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