Vote blue, no matter who. Vote. Vote. Vote.
3
Voters want changes in gun policy, wow stop the presses. They have for a long time, look at polling. It is your puppet masters Republicans, who have said no. The difference is now we are starting to sharpen the tines on the pitchfork, and you pretend to notice.
3
I'd be much happier about the current distress of the Republican Party in the polls if there were some less-corporatist party other than the Democrats as an alternative. Tweedle Dum isn't all that different from Tweedle Dee, and the gods know that we need something better than either of these two.
Yes, we do. And it's imbecelic to claim that there's no difference between the two: ask anybody whose kid got pieces of their brain blown out at Parkland, or who's LGBT and in the military, if they'd rather have to try and get decent treatment out of Hillary clinton, faults and all.
3
This article makes me sick. All that seems to matter is whether politicians can hold onto their seats. What about the lives lost due to inaction by both state and federal legislatures. It's past time to enact reasonable weapons restrictions: ban assault rifles, bump stocks and sales to those under 21.
5
There is close to half a billion guns in private hands with no national registry. There is also 3D technology that allows people to print parts of guns . There is also something called 80 percent lowers that allows people to have ghost weapons. There is no way any cute and neat " gun control" could work. The safe act in NY is a prime example of a totally disregarded law. You have to instill respect for one another and laws that force therapists and teaches to report problem people that could be an issue
2
The last time I remember young people making a difference in political terms was ... 1960s?
How sad that killing of innocents is what finally gets youth to be energized and angry enough to become activists.
How wonderful it is to see our youth be engaged and angry enough to become activists.
I can't wait for the November elections, when so many of these HS students will finally be eligible to vote, and follow their words with action - boot out those in Congress who are beholden to the NRA.
Even more wonderful, in 2020 many more of these youngsters will cast a ballot. I cannot imagine many of them will be voting for a republican.
4
The Second Amendment to the Constitution says that if you are part of a well regulated militia, your right to bear arms can not be infringed. But that leaves the people, their legislators and the courts to decide: who qualifies as being part of a “well regulated militia”; what is meant by the term “arms” (stones? Front loading muskets? Semi automatic so-called assault guns? Stinger missiles? Nukes?); and what is meant by “infringed”. Reasonable people can disagree what these things mean, but it is clear that the majority of the people now feel things have swung too far to the leniency side, that too many innocent people are being slaughtered (or taking away their inalienable rights to life and pursuit of happiness) for no good reason, and that reasonable gun control measures are critical for a civilized democracy to flourish.
2
I am seventy one years old and this past weekend reminded me so much of our rallies and demonstrations during the late sixties. I applaud and encourage every one of those who demonstrated. As those of us in the sixties demonstrated, passion, persistence, and being on the correct side of the issue is of great importance. There can be no question that the quagmire supported by Johnson, Nixon, et.al was brought to a much quicker finality because of the efforts of those of us who were passionate and marched at every opportunity in opposition to the military action in Viet Nam. Often, we were denounced as unamerican,"commies", and a host of other misguided descriptive names. Many called us out and said we should love america or leave it. We persisted and we won. The message to the marchers this past weekend is don't give up, expect to be verbally abused and criticized, and threatened with your life by some who oppose you. You know you are right. They know they are wrong. Don't give up----Don't ever, ever, give up.
8
Yep. No retreat, no surrender.
2
There is a basic issue that only the Courts can resolve and that is does the second amendment allow dissidents to arm themselves to the teeth to prevent the federal government from using its legal authority over individuals or was it written for the civil authorities on state and federal levels to arm civilians in case of civil insurrection? What is clear is the founders wanted to assure use of arms "for the security of a free state". The NRA with help of Antonin Scalia have rewritten the amendment to allow individuals to have a constitutional right to bear arms based on a notion that everyone is automatically part of a well regulated militia for defense against federal officials . This absurdity has led to a proliferation of guns particularly when the rumor is spread of Obama or a man of color seizing people's weapons.
The bottom like is extremists could arm themselves with IEDS and armed drones claiming they are preparing for federal tyranny. Young people see through this nonsense and ask for common sense gun control like registration of all arms and bans on military type assault weapons. Can the courts restore common sense to the second amendment or has the NRA permanently won the battle. It remains to be seen if Trump and the NRA have created a solid NRA voting majority on the Supreme Court.
Even if Democrats regain control in Congress, any new gun legislation will provoke cries for more weapons to prevent federal tyranny.
If we are going to reduce the incidence of gun violence in the United States, we need to ask ourselves why gun ownership is so popular here, when it is a non-issue in other developed countries.
6
"Everything new idea is impossible, until it isn't", said Al Gore.
7
How about simply eliminating the second amendment? No need for any firearms except for police and the military. This is the 21st century, not the 18th century.
13
Agree. But, it may take a multi-generational change in thinking for this idea to enter the mainstream.
7
Swell idea, GLO. You will find the instructions is the US Constitution.
1
I've been given to understand that the Constitution is not a suicide pact, Mike.
But perhaps you could explain just how many grade school kids, high school kids, and members of a music audience you think should be thrown into that mulch at the base of the Tree of Liberty we're droned at about so very, very often.
Really: what's the ante? How many of YOUR family, sisters, aunts, brothers, moms and all, are you willing to push across the table so you can say, "I see your twenty dead grade schoolers, and raise you..."
What's the number, fella? What's the number?
2
There will never be any progress on this issue as long as liberals don’t stop lying and acting in bad faith. Nearly every gun is a semi automatic so saying that you only want to ban semi autos is like saying you only want to ban cars that can drive to the grocery store. If you support a full ban, say so, but don’t lie and say you just want “reasonable restrictions.” Reasonable restrictions are Constitutional. A ban on all semi autos is not.
3
When a shooter comes into a school, he (so far, always male) doesn't stop to ask which kids have Republican parents, and then avoids shooting them. Get it? This isn't about liberals or conservatives, this is about children being murdered because of the EASY availability of semi-automatic weapons, and what many liberals know, and you apparently don't, is that the semis we are talking about are pistols and rifles with high-load clips. We aren't talking about revolvers, which technically (if it's a double-action) acts like a semi. And I'd be willing to bet that it's not ONLY liberals who want something done about this. I'll bet some of those parents who have lost children over the years were not strictly liberals.
The Framers of the Constitution had no way to know how technology would change in 250 years. In their day, people were using single-shot muskets that took a finite amount of time to reload. And NO one back then would have ever considered walking into a church or school or public square and shooting anyone at random, least of all children.
Continual death of people by gunfire in this country, and in particular, by gunfire in mass shootings, is not a political issue. It's a national disgrace. Get over yourself! It's time for change.
5
Assault weapons and military grade ammo. No civilian needs it. Can we agree on that?
4
It’s amazing when I make a post about how calls to ban “assault weapons” are made out of ignorance, that you reply with not a rebuttal, but a reaffirmation of your ignorance.
Today’s version of the “Boobus Americanus” is the Republican Party.
6
One of many problems of the GOP is their lack of vision. These kids, as the young protesters of the Vite Nam era, are new voters. As the old guard of reactionary right-wing evangelical hypocritical zealots are dying out, they represent the future with new voting power. The have failed miserably to see what is in front of them, mainly the big writing on the walls of the country. As in the recent past they will pay a very hefty price. Gone will be the Paul Ryans and Mitch McConnells, and they have nobody to blame but themselves.
6
Owing guns is a privilege not a right. With privilege comes responsibility. One should have to take training, demonstrate competency, and have insurance coverage to own a gun. These second amendment edicts by the extreme right are cherry picked to support their position. When the constitution was written we didn't have an army--citizens were expected to be called to action if need be hence the need for guns. 78% of the people in this country don't own a gun. So lets manage those that wants guns. They need to act like true sportsmen and demonstrate the need and skill to own guns.
8
wrong. so wrong on so many levels. it is a right. pls read the 2nd amendment.
3
@Frank: If you belong to a well-regulated militia.
6
Half a billion guns in private hands with no national registry , 3D technology also is allowing people to print gun parts , how do you solve that
Attention America! This is your next, best chance to purge the party of Trump-alikes, selfishness, and greed.
Don't let us down!
7
We are caught up in emotional overkill. First, these folks do not want to undo the 2nd amendment. They do not want to take everyones guns away. The use of this language is dangerous and divisive, The 2nd amendment begins with "A well regulated militia". First , what is a militia? is everyone a member since they are citizens? A militia appears to be an organization that one must join. To join most organizations requirements are usually demanded. So, gun owners must join the militia by applying and be screened to see if they meet the criteria. It does not say that everyone in the country can have a gun.
Next, the first words are a "well regulated" which means the writers were concerned about control of these "militias'. They demanded regulations. These people protesting actually are trying to get us to realize that we are not following the constitution but have made up a mythical idea of the 2nd amendment.
10
This unrest is about more than guns, school shootings, or massacres. It's about what happens to working Americans. Our lives matter even though we are not part of the economic elite. We are the ones who keep America running. We open the stores, clean up the garbage, work in hospitals, answer phones, educate children, care for the elderly, fly the planes, police the streets, wait tables, and so on. We deserve an America that is safe. We want an America where our children come home in one piece at the end of the school day. We want an America where our jobs pay enough for us to support ourselves and our families, where we make enough to be able to save for the future, where needing health care doesn't mean going bankrupt or fighting with the insurance company.
We want an America that works for us. We want an America where our welfare is as important as corporate welfare and one where companies are held accountable for the harm they cause. We want an America where our elected officials are responsive to us, not to whomever donates the most to their campaigns. And we want an America where all of us, no matter what our origins or skin color or religion, sexual preferences, or gender happen to be. are respected. I don't think that's too much to ask for when we consider who pays our elected officials and who elects them.
8
Nevadans voted for a private sale gun background check law in Nov. 2016 and Gov. Sandoval refuses to implement the law. These laws can pass in each state until Congress decides who their employers are but will Republican Governors sign them into law or implement them. Republicans wanted to pass a gun law where one law in one state is good in another state, states should resist this legislation. Republicans and Democrats should be held accountable for not protecting our children. Republicans like Santorum who call on students: "How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes...that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that", I guess he thinks children should solve problems and not adults. Considering we don't have any adults in the WH or in Congress perhaps the children are on their own. NOT.
8
The Democratic Party would win a large majority in the House if they just backed off on illegal immigration.
No country, in 2018 and with climate change, needs more people.
The Democratic position on immigration is why Trump is President. It is why the House will remain Republican.
5
@WillT26: So you think Americans should be willing to accept out-of-control healthcare costs, scores of mass shootings, thousands of gun-inflicted murders and suicides, massively damaging income inequality, unaffordable higher education, no social mobility, low wages, and a skyrocketing cost of living in exchange for throwing a few thousand people out of the country?
We already have strict immigration laws and quotas. All we have to do is enforce them. Nobody needs to vote Republican to do that.
4
Some time back, the NYT listed the money that the NRA paid to those in the House and Senate. It's time to see that list again. Please re-publish it with the amounts. By far, the most funds went to the GOP.
Why are the GOP on the defense? Their position to enable this cartel of the NRA to determine what the laws are in our country regarding the flagrant violation of the intent of the 2nd amendment. Reagan wanted gun control. The position on guns today is a gross distortion of the laws are country had just 20 years ago. Now we see the results. These results have not in any way deterred the GOP from their radical position that is killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens. You are responsible for this carnage. You made the decision to do nothing time and again. What are you on the defense for -- isn't your tried and true solution thoughts and prayers. Cut the hypocrisy -- you've taken more than your share of money from the NRA radicals. Let's see that list so it can circulate well before the mid-terms, PLEASE.
6
NYT: Please publish a list of senators and congress people who received donations (and how much) from the NRA regardless of political affiliation. Please include total amounts over their years of service. This should help bring back reasonable gun control come November since nothing will happen over the next 7 months. Thanks
5
Until they do, here is an article with interactive content to view those who receive NRA funding. It has all fifty states, not just the ones with the most. An important point made in the article is how much funds go to the state levels so turn the scope to all levels of government, not just those in DC.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/02/15/here-are-the-st...
Gun heads threaten lawmakers. Lawmakers are afraid of the gun heads.
Put GPS chips in all guns.
Add a camera and video record everything whenever it gets fired.
Any gun owner who fails to use and maintain their GPS gun chip is an an enemy of the state and will be treated like an enemy combatant and domestic terrorist.
Control your guns, gun heads.
2
Ok, half a billion guns in private hands with no national registry , go ahead and try that, or will it be another feel good law like the safe act which is ignored
1
There is reason to be optimistic about the effectiveness of the new anti-gun movement. The vast majority of the American public is strongly in support of more stringent gun laws and are making their presence known more forcefully. We will continue to pick the low hanging fruit like taking guns from domestic abusers and stopping under age 21 sales of certain types of guns. Over all gun sales are down. Remington is in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The stock of American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), the company formerly known as Smith & Wesson, has dropped 8% since the day after the Parkland shooting. Vista Outdoor (VSTO), which makes guns and ammunition, has declined 7%. Sturm Ruger (RGR) is down slightly. All while the broader market has risen. Keep the faith and continue to work at the state level. Even the NRA has a limited amount of money to take cases to the court. Even in the Heller decision Justice Scalia stated that there are limits to gun ownership. The Second Amendment does contain the word "regulated." Yell all you want you are on the wrong side of history on this.
4
Yes, the march was huge. And, yes, it was moving and potentially game-changing.
The New York Times should not, however, be in the business of predictions. One would think 2016 had made that clear. Instead, report the facts; do not divine the future.
Case in point. The first line of this article (emphasis added): "...the issue IS LIKELY TO play a major role ... and that Republicans COULD find themselves largely on the defensive..."
The next line: "The gun debate could play out very differently...." What do you mean, Times? It could play out? Very differently? Or could it play out only slightly differently?
Such speculation is unhelpful. Your reporting should be simply reporting how Republicans are – currently – changing their tact. Not what the future may entail.
7
I belonged to the NRA for a year but their constant begging for money drove me nuts--it was worse than AARP. And the moron politicians they support are insufferable. The NRA is a business that should be investigated, fined and heavily taxed like tobacco.
7
America off-shored all manufacturing and many service jobs and retained only armament manufacturing. Result? Violence at home and abroad. Those of us who support banning guns at home should also demand cessation of meaningless foreign wars. After all, others children are as precious to them as ours to us.
6
It shouldn't left to these kids. They can't be counted on to vote. It's our responsibility to get rid of republican political hacks!
1
The Republicans are morally corrupt, but until the Democrats stop their ridiculous identity politics, take the side of the average middle class voter and get a change in leadership, this movement will be aught for naught.
3
This is the same kind of head-in-the-sand / never-been-out-of-NYS writing that any intelligent journalist or editor would remember from 2016's version of the NY Times.
I WISH it were true, ... but I'm savvy enough not to confuse that with a prediction.
It bears repeating that even in a tumultuous year with an above average number of retirements, MAYBE 50 seats will have margins under 8-10% come November.
Anybody who thinks that "gun control" is going to "flip" more than a couple of those seats doesn't have his or her head screwed on.
Again, this is not some 2nd Amendment "nut" talking - it's somebody who applauds the young people for their activism. Yes, that'll help raise funds and improve turnout. But what someone said around the time that Trump stole the Presidency is more true than ever... almost the only thing you can do that would change things - sadly, not at all a really viable hope - is to move to this or that district in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin where (if we're lucky) a few hundred votes might turn a red seat blue.... Sorry, one other thing - a big one - if you can manage your life so that at some point you run for office, THAT could make a big difference.
But surely the Times need not waste ink singing to the choir. Remember who beat whom in 2016. There aren't many "blue dog" Democrats left, but Rep. Conor Lamb won a tiny majority by dodging gun control! Sen Manchin of W. Va would sooner change parties than ever vote for a ban on assault rifles.
4
It is very difficult for parents to vote for Republican party. Children are future of every nation. I can't see how we can accept the destruction of our future in exchange for the right to own the gun. How the politicians think that NRA donations are more valuable than the lives of our children. The second amendment life is expired. There is no point of keeping it. it is hazardous to keep the expired products or amendments.
3
The loss of the youth in Florida was tragic and should't have happened, but the NRA didn't kill them. On the other hand, abortion kills our future, especially in minority communities, and 300,000+ are annually killed by an organization financially and politically supported to the death, quite literally, by the Democrats. Pelosi and company can't salve their consciences by a few marches for legislation that, more often than not, they themselves don't vote for.
2
If you don't agree with abortion, then don't have one.
5
Woth that logic, If you don't like guns, don't buy one.
2
Young people need to vote in November IF they are of age. If not canvas stores, friends, neighbors to vote for change. Vote Democratic if you want anything done!!!
8
These wonderful kids need to pivot from protest to promoting political candidates both in the primaries and general elections. How great would it be to see elementary, intermediate and high school kids going door to door, raising money for and backing politicians they can't even vote for? What a first! That really would be democracy in the making!
Lockout adults, the children are coming!
2
How do you keep making the same mistakes? Convincing yourself yet again that the political domination time is here! Finally everyone sees how correct and wise your party has always been and how evil and horrible the other party has been! Didn't you see the coverage? Look at all the outrage on the news! Look at all the big named celebrities backing you!
But wait...where have we heard this before? Did half the country walk away from their position overnight? Almost sounds too good to be true. Surely it couldn't be yet another round of cultural domination selectively parroting back a single argument to make it seem more widespread than it is again, could it?
When you silence opinions, you are only protecting your ears from hearing them. You are not guiding the hand in the polling booth. Thats the trouble with rejecting debate in favor of cultural strong arming. Its all superficial
2
I now ask when a campaigner calls or comes to my door, "where do you or your candidate stand on gun regulation?" Most times they cannot answer me and I tell them to get back to me when they know the answer. I swear I will cross party lines if that is what it takes. Bottom line, I always vote for the best candidate but I am now going to be a one issue voter. I will vote only for those who are for sensible gun regulations. Every adult who sat on their duff owes at least that much to the children and parents of Sandy Hook Elementary and Parkland High School.
5
As a liberal, I often shake my head at how clueless the left can be.
The NRA effectively runs the G.O.P. It has roughly 5 million members, most of whom do not bother to vote in any of the organizations affairs.
Why dont about 20 million liberals join the NRA today and just take over at the next NRA group election that decides board members?
9
And, still ... not a single word about Kyle Kashuv. This patently elitist view of the issue of school shootings so defiantly continues to connect dots that do not exist.
Do your homework, America: read what young Kyle had to say over the weekend and get your heads on straight.
1
We have head what young Kyle has to say from so many others before him. No one is ignoring him.
1
The GOP is the party of death. Guns, the drug war, wars, environmental poisons and a for profit health care system. One must be either filthy rich or a good serf to be in the GOP. I am amazed at how many good serfs there are in this country. I guess the cults have warped their brains real good.
4
If there is one thing that will supercede political arguments, it is the voice of our children. They dont live in a political camp and cannot be seen as partisan by their parents, but they have the ear of the voters 24 / 7.
3
If anyone among Republican voters has any sense, they would be judging Trump as a big failure. I hope that the mid-term elections show results for the Democrats, but the Republicans are becoming like bloodsuckers that can't be removed without burning them off your skin!
5
Why not require a background check of the grandson who inherited his grandfather's guns. Who is to say that crazyness does not appear in perfectly normal families?
6
Arm teachers...my teachers couldn’t even hit the correct kid in the 2nd row with the chalk eraser!
14
There was one teacher, a band director, who I thought of when they started the “arm the teachers” argument. I am sure we would have had no drummers left or trumpet players.
On a serious note, in regard to the ridiculous argument of teachers carrying- as state employees wouldn’t teachers be required to have the same training, qualifying and recertification as other state employees who carry arms in their job? I say they should have to AND realize that there aren’t enough resources (time and money) for current law enforcement let alone to adding teachers to the mix.
Gun laws are easy to repeal and replace. Repeal and replace obstructing politicians. VOTE!
11
With all the talk, I never heard a word from one protester that said, disarm America. SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE AGAINST THE 2nd Amendment.
15
Sorry, calls to repeal the Second Amendment are all over the place in the comments sections of all the major news outlets including the NYT. It is now a lie exposed.
2
Registration is the first step to confiscation.
3
It is time to rid this country of the blight called The GOP. In my lifetime, the GOP has been on the wrong side of every major issue.
The GOP opposed the New Deal.
The GOP supported Joe McCarthey and the witch-hunts.
The GOP opposed the civil rights movement and the war on poverty.
The GOP prolonged Viet Nam.
The GOP engaged in dirty tricks under Nixon.
The GOP fights health care for all.
The GOP gives tax cuts to billionaires and corporations.
The GOP supports income inequality.
The GOP got us into the mess in the Middle East and thinks it is fine to torture.
The GOP is anti-science and are climate change deniers.
The GOP is bent on slapping more policies on my uterus than on guns.
The GOP has undermined the middle class with policies decimating unions and public schools.
The GOP is in bed with donors like the Mercers, Kochs, Adelsons and that cabal, taking orders from the oligarchs rather than doing what is right for WE THE PEOPLE.
The GOP is in bed with the NRA and has refused common sense gun legislation where daily gun violence has been normalized.
The GOP couldn’t care less about America’s kids.
Suffice it to say EXPECT US.
We will vote you GOP cowards out in 2018.
24
When Trump boarded AF1 for Mar a Lago, he turned his back on those kids and anyone else who has been the victim of gun violence. He does not care about the American people nor does the Republican Party he leads. They simply do not care. That is why voting is so very important! VOTE THEM OUT!
15
I wish the self-named pro-life movement was more vocal about saving the lives of children in classrooms, not just in the womb.
17
I was at the March for Our Lives in DC and I know that these kids mean business. They are firmly committed to achieving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in a world where weapons of death and destruction are not routinely available. If I were a politician of either party who has not publicly come out in favor of banning assault/military style weapons and other policy changes put forth by the March organizers, thinking this was going to blow over, I would wither get with the program or get my resume' ready. I'm with the kids - Vote them out!!
13
My family and I marched in Denver on 3/24/18. The turnout and the energy was amazing. All ages represented. The importance of voting was stated frequently. At one point a plane towing a sign flew overhead. The sign read "Cory Gardner accepted 3.5 million from the NRA. Who do you think he works for?" The crowd roared. Not a good day for Sen. Gardner who, as usual, was no where to be found in his state.
Several signs of note:
"Stop the Gun Nuts. Vote them out"
"We are not coming for your guns. We are coming for your seats"
And one inspired by John Lennon
"The NRA is Over. (small print): If you want it."
51
When did doing the right thing translate to doing the right thing politically? I don't want the second repealed just gun control reform and right now get the killing machines off the market, as in ban military assault weapons that are used for murdering Americans, not protecting them. Dozens can be slaughtered during one shooting and that needs to stop first as we work out the rest of needed gun control reform.
I think it is a bipartisan effort that Congress needs to undertake and they need to worry about the lives of Americans and not the polls. If you do the right thing for the right reason everything else falls into place.
7
GOP is in a state of denial that common sense among voters doesn't exist. Come November, truth will put them out of office.
8
On Sunday, March 25, 2018, Governor Kasich reportedly warned that voters “do want changes” on gun policy. Where has he been napping? He needs a shave and a change of shirts.
Val DiGiorgio, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, said that while Democrats won the Pennsylvania special election, the race had shown “the passion of Second Amendment supporters.” At the same moment, two-faced Republicans complain that targeted teenagers must not foster legislation with emotion. Say what? Republicans, straighten your act; the GOP, the party of emotions, needs to become a party of principles, to stop being two-faced. Teenagers are managing principles. Being years out of practice, it is too late for the GOP which needs tickets home and flashlights to illuminate their path.
11
Something that demonstrates the political incompetence of democrats is how badly they have handled this issue for decades. No one is going to take guns away; it's simply not possible without severe social upheaval. Democrats long ago should have made this admission to help counter the 'they're coming for your guns' argument. Most democrats don't favor taking hunting and home protection weapons. They should have made a public commitment long ago to protect those guns, but to oppose military grade weapons being in the hands of civilians. It would also be helpful to not oppose the weapons themselves, but the ammunition they fire. What makes 'assault weapons' so dangerous is the exceptionally powerful, high velocity ammunition that they fire.
15
Too late, the mask has slipped. Dems are anti-gun and wish to repeal the Second Amendment. One just need read the comments sections here in the NYT to discover that.
1
I thinks that is in fact exactly what their message has been. And a lot of gun owners agree. The NRA is a gun manufacturer trade group.
3
This is a very good point. There could have been a well-worded, 'platform statement' from the Democrats respecting hunting and home protection all the way in the days of the Brady Bill. Why wasn't there one?
3
The GOP should be real proud of itself. It's now the party of economic inequality, polluters, broken healthcare, massive budget deficits, school shootings and Donald Trump. If the Democrats can't work with that, they should just call it a day.
9
This is the problem with the Dems right now (well, other than that the now "old guard" are largely Clintonista/Wall Street type Dems) is that they're being swept away by all this single issue and identify politics stuff, of which the latest is a rehash of the periodically reoccuring gun issue.
The Dems BADLY need to win the midterms in 2018 and this is NOT the way to do it.
MASS TRACTION ECONOMIC DEMANDS THE WAY.
If only these various groups would include within their own demands a mas traction economic demand, like a $15 minimum wage, or any of a number of other worthy demands - now THIS would be a "thing". This would work.
The way it is right now, the energies of the Dems are WAY too diffuse. That needs to change for the midterms, AND for 2020.
"Republicans on Defense... "?
How many times have we seen essentially the same headline about "Republicans on the defensive"?
WHY is is ALWAYS put in terms of political gain and elections, and retaining (gerrymandered) seats?
How about framing this issue -- where it belongs -- on the so-called "Republicans" (the party really having become captive to right-wing extremists) thumbing their noses at the PUBLIC, in terms of what a clear majority of us care about (gun violence and sensible gun regulations in the wake of an endless cycle of senseless shootings, or no tax cut windfalls for the .01% and big corporations to the detriment of the rest of us (and Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the whole social safety net being shredded) and our crumbling infrastructure?
The ultimate end of government is not about elections, but about good government and the good of society!
How about focusing on THAT? Just a Modest Proposal!
7
Observing the pro gun talk is mostly about the concept of individual rights. The anti gun talk is mostly about actual injuries and lives lost. Is this ideology vrs demonstrated fact?
3
Someone perhaps Mueller or an investigative reporting will tie the NRA, Russian Oligarch money and the republican party together for the disruptive illegal force that they are. The NRA and the GOP are determined to divide the US, sow fear and dismantle our safety net. They are succeeding because too many people don't vote and too many people vote on single issues.
No more, never again. Vote Nov 6th. Vote your interests. Vote for anyone who is not a republican.
4
The whole "Red vs. Blue" scam is the longest running con game in our history.
Look at the recent votes in which both parties gutted Didd-Frank and both parties gave Trump an enormous increase in the military budget. There is no resistance. When democrats and republicans fight, it is not about changing the system - it is about who will run the system.
They squabble over guns now? Remember when Pres. Obama boasted:
"And in fact my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners – it has expanded them, allowing people to carry their guns in national Parks and wildlife refuges."
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/obama_chided_for_allowing_gun...
History reveals the simple truth: For over 100 years now our government has gone from republican to democrat to republican to democrat and on and on. The result is where we are now.
This is a dog and pony show.
Nothing will change in America until Americans reject the con game and think outside the box. But too many of us have been trained from childhood to only shop for "name brands."
Get off the treadmill.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
5
Of course! Thanks for opening my eyes!
People can't wait to give away their rights...free speech, self defense, privacy, who needs them? The government will look after you, just don't get out of line.
3
Children have the right to go to school without fear of being gunned down by a military style assault weapon.
3
I truly hope that the democrats make gun control a central component of the fall 2018 elections. While the democrats may pick up a few swing seats in the House they will lose 8-10 seats in the senate and the republicans will get to a 60 vote majority. What happened in Broward County was a failure of the local authorities (and the FBI), not the NRA.
4
Most Americans want sensible gun control. Most Americans want a ban on military style assault weapons. Most Americans have known someone killed by guns. We have an epidemic of gun violence. Action must be taken.
2
Younger people, in general, are less attached to guns and to our current interpretation of the second amendment, as our people of color, who are less likely to own guns. There is also an increased populations in cities and away from rural areas. These two forces mean that like it or not, the current power the NRA yields will be short lived and has most likely peaked. Republicans, too, are facing the same headwinds. Both need adapt to the changing times. Regarding the NRA, they should go back to their origins, which was a group that sponsored gun safety, and shooting instruction/tournaments.
3
The only way to get some regulation of firearms is thru bipartisan legislation with the following items: (1) universal background checks with all pertinent federal, state & local agencies; (2) extend the waiting period from 3 to 5 days to insure a complete background investigation; (3) total ban on high powered automatic rifles and lethal ammunition; and (4) Congress should propose an amendment to the Constitution that would permit the regulation of gun ownership & possession while not prohibiting reasonable gun use.
While we continue to debate gun regulation we should actually do something to make our children safer in their schools. Most of the school shootings have been kids killed by fellow students. Money should be appropriated to identify potential school shooters among the school population. Such students so identified can be counseled or other necessary steps taken to insure that they are not a threat to their fellow students. Schools also need to be "hardened" to make it harder for a shooter to enter and cause multiple casualties. This is already being done in some states. More school protection needs to be implemented.
9
Automatic rifles are already illegal and have been since the passage of the NFA in 1934.
3
Any teenager can buy an AR15, the weapon of choice for school massacres.
1
It should have read "semi-automatic" rifles.
1
If these protests can continue into the summer, they may indeed impact the elections, but I'm pretty sure they will NEVER change the mind of Republican politicians--even if they lose those elections.
As far as Kasich goes, he's a decent human being, but don't be fooled. He's a hard-core conservative any way you look at it.
5
The minds of Republican politicians will change as soon a couple of them lose re-election because gun control was an issue in their campaigns. And not before.
1
My generation is responsible for the reasoning (or lack of reasoning) that puts killing machines in untrained hands. The pro-gun lobbyists’ 2nd Amendment argument has contributed to unprecedented tragedy and is an insult to our Bill of Rights, which is a product of the Enlightenment. This argument has evolved into a scam to promote industry profits.
After the election 2016, I was so ashamed of our country. My immediate response was that we have to fix this as soon as possible... for the sake of our children and their future. A year of continued shenanigans and we still lack leaders to get us out of this mess. I am grateful for the young people participating in the March for Our Lives who offer hope and moral leadership.
5
What perfect timing! The CNN-inspired student marchers have reminded Trump voters that there is no one but Conservatives making sure the Bill of Rights prevails, including the right to own a gun.
In other news, the only way for a Democrat to win a House seat is to be the clearest image of Trump - pro-gun, pro-religion, pro-capitalism, anti-progressivism, and pro-family. Ya gotta love it.
The Dems will lose seats in both houses of Congress this fall - and deservedly so.
3
Keep believing that and stayed tuned for the mid-terms and '20. Our youth, supported by fellow progressive and energized citizens are going to upend your world.
3
They are shooting inspired you mean.
1
"The Dems will lose seats in both houses of Congress this fall."
Watch Fox "News" much? Somebody's in for a rude awakening this November.
3
Kasich is the loser who claimed that Trump had no chance of winning anything. He is still out of touch with reality. There are 90 million gun owners in America. They all vote.
5
They may all vote, but they don't all agree with you.
By 53-42%, those polled in gun owning households now support a nationwide ban on assault weapons. By 77-20%, respondents in gun owning households now support a federally mandated waiting period on all gun purchases. 55% of those in gun owning households now say it's too easy to buy a gun.
https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2521
1
those teens will have the last laugh, my bet is on them.
Many gun owners support sensible controls on gun access.
2
The influence of the NRA on legislators is already far out of proportion to the few thousands of dollars they contribute to any one campaign, or to their ability to deliver their dwindling number of one-issue voters. GOP politicians had better recognize this now, because an entire generation of high-school students is heading to the polls over the next few elections. Almost all will be voting by 2022, and very, very few will be voting Republican if the GOP blindly clings to their current policies.
11
I even question their numbers. I know someone who regularly gets a mailing from the NRA with his membership card enclosed. The only problem is that he is a gun owner, but he's never been a member of the NRA.
4
You still don't understand? Where do you get your news?
The power of the NRA has always been its PEOPLE - the millions of Americans determined to retain their gun rights.That is why you always lose elections that impact gun ownership.
1
"Thoughts and Prayers and NRA Funding"
Most Americans support stronger gun laws. Republicans in Congress fear alienating their primary voters and the National Rifle Association.
Senate
1. John McCain, Arizona
$7,740,521 from the NRA
2. Richard Burr, North Carolina
$6,986,620
3. Roy Blunt, Missouri
$4,551,146
4. Thom Tillis, North Carolina
$4,418,012 from the NRA
5. Cory Gardner, Colorado
$3,879,064
6. Marco Rubio, Florida
$3,303,355
7. Joni Ernst, Iowa
$3,124,273
8. Rob Portman, Ohio
$3,061,941
9. Todd Young, Indiana
$2,896,732
10. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
$2,861,047
House
1. French Hill, Arkansas
$1,089,477
2. Ken Buck, Colorado
$800,544
3. David Young, Iowa
$707,662
4. Mike Simpson, Idaho
$385,731
5. Greg Gianforte, Montana
$344,630
All of these representatives are Republican. The highest ranked Democrat in the House is Sanford Bishop, who ranks 41st in career donations from the NRA. Among the top 100 House recipients, 95 are Republican. In the Senate, the top two Democrats are Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who rank 52nd and 53rd — behind every Republican but Dan Sullivan of Alaska.
[This includes] money the N.R.A. spends on behalf of candidates, in addition to money it gives directly to candidates.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-...
5
with all due respect to Mr. Eberhart, who in the story said "The N.R.A. is really out of step with suburban G.O.P. voters,” that's only part of the story.
the NRA is out of step with VOTERS. period.
They are out of step with the general population.
and they are out of step with their OWN MEMBERS, who actually support stricter gun control and background check measures than the group does.
pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, the NRA is a joke and should be treated like one. they use big money to seem bigger and more important than they are and should be treated like the fringe organization they are.
and the GOP is their pet poodle, willing to roll over when they flash the cash, no matter what the people actually want. never forget that.
52
I also wonder about their numbers. I know of a gun owner who regularly gets a mailing from them with an NRA membership card in his name, but he has never been a member.
2
We need only to remove the special status of gun manufacturers. They should be subject to products liability laws, safety regulations, licensing, registration, mandatory liability insurance, and public health and safety statistical analysis.
As it is, guns have special rights.
33
The Republican Party has proven, over the last 30 years, to be the party of absolute corruption and ineptitude. They have now also proven to be the party of traitors. They have abrogated their duty to uphold the constitution and so have enabled the most corrupt Congress and "president" in American History to do things no one eve thought they would see - stealing an SC seat and enabling a corrupt "president" as he makes money off his office. Anyone voting for any republican is voting against the interest of the USA.
33
I am a middle-aged woman who is sick and tired of gun deaths. As a kid, I remember the older kid who shot himself in the shower that lived up the hill. As an adult, I remember the horror of my elder brother's first girlfriend who had some mental health issues who shot herself. Later, the same brother had a terrible time with drugs. I did an intervention with family and friends. My other brother took all his guns away. He will never have guns again. I am fine with it. The brother who took the guns is a hunter and responsible, using a safe. He gave all my elder brother's guns to the authorities when they came to his door.
I have a friend who was shot while driving in LA during the LA riots. Wrong place, wrong time. Another friend who had just moved to the U.S. from the Ukraine was terrified as guns went off in his neighborhood. I could hear it on the phone. Why do we want to live this way?! We don't!!!! Go vote!!!!
My heart is with these kids who march. There are a lot of us adults behind YOU! VOTE!
30
I am so sorry for the emotional trauma you have endured due to guns and gun violence. I too remember the suicide of my neighbor on Palm Sunday..43 years ago. I went on to become a Firefighter/Paramedic who has been on so many suicides by firearms that I have lost count. It should be a requirement to visit a morgue and see the result of a gunshot wound before you are allowed to own a firearm. So many people only have television to think they know what a gun is capable of doing to a human being.
5
Thank you, Hero (how appropriate a name). You are on the front lines of what really happens to people when they hurt themselves or others. Untimely deaths haunt the living. May we find ways to alleviate the pain and steer people towards healthy lives and communities.
3
Thank You KLL. The name was sarcasm went I opened the account. "Haunt the living" is a fantastic way of expressing how many people feel after a gun death, especially that of a young adult. The emotional trauma at the scene of a gunshot victim, especially a suicide is one the highest of levels in terms of friends and family that are left behind. The worst part of being on this type of call is how senseless it all seems. Death by a firearm, especially by suicide is instant..like turning off a light switch. There are other methods, but usually unsuccessful or the person may stop and seek help.
1
The NRA and the gun lobby, who are owned by gun manufacturers, bank on the short attention span of Americans on this issue. Why? Because they have years of experience with this, and have a well-oiled machine ready to go to counter this.
They see that here is a flurry of outrage and interest in this, and then a few weeks later the effort dissipates. During this period they remain silent except in conservative forums. Then the NRA gets the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to write even more permissive gun laws for lobotomized right-wing legislators at the state level, and those laws inch gun permissiveness (and gun sales!) forward.
They buttress this legislative effort with scare tactics (X candidate/legislator will take away your guns. Scary black and brown people are going to kill your children unless you have a gun to kill them, etc.) and the march toward total saturation of the nation with guns in every desk drawer, nightstand, schoolroom and church pew is a reality.
The anti-gun movement needs organization, sustained organization. The NRA is betting that it won't be there in November.
Please, folks. Prove them wrong this time! Vote the NRA toadies and slavies out of office--especially the long-entrenched ones (Steve King, Louie Gohmert, and all the rest). Let us see a real push. If this fails again, we will never get any kind of sensible reform, and more children and innocent civilians will be slaughtered, protected by these criminal organizations.
38
Neuter the NRA Now!
1
GOP is TOXIC after Roy Moore and Trump. Rep Steve King posted derogatory content about a Parkland survivor on Facebook. He needs to immediately apologize and then resign. Ray Sipe Registered voter
23
Rep. King mimics the president of the nation. In olden days that might have acceptable. It is not acceptable today owing to the president of the nation. These would-be politicians grossly attack citizens. War on citizens in a democracy is akin to civil war. Neither are man enough to apologize or resign. Resigning must be taken out of their prerogatives.
1
52 senators have an A-minus NRA rating or higher. In the House, of course, it's a lot more than that. All the Democrats have to do is make television commercials for local markets citing each member's NRA grade and it's Game Over.
25
Here's what it's come to.
If you heard someone 50-60 years ago espousing the sorts of views on guns that are now commonplace among gun-favoring elected officials and 2nd Amendment zealots; guns in schools, churches, bars, "Stand your ground", etc., you'd have written them off as a fringe nut job, and maybe alerted the authorities.
17
Those were the days before lobbying became ascendant and you could buy a congressman .
2
A citizens right to bear arms shall not be infringed. Period
4
Take a class in constitutional law. the enumerated rights in the amendments is not absolute, not right to bear arms, not free speech, not freedom of religion. Read about some landmark Supreme Court cases in these areas before you post something without qualifications or nuance again.
17
They have been years ago when it was decided that you and I cannot own military machine guns or when a state imposes a three day wait period before purchasing a gun. And the world did not come to an end and Obama did not take away everyone's guns.
8
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Oopsy, you forgot the ENTIRE FIRST HALF of the amendment, which gives the second half of the amendment its actual meaning. We have a well regulated militia now, where the colonies and the early republic did not. THAT was the purpose of the amendment. Along with ensuring people could hunt for food. (See below on the actions of the British at the time.)
Likewise, the Third Amendment -- "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law" -- was directly related to the situation at the time, when British soldiers confiscated the colonists' weapons (preventing insurrection & the ability to hunt for food), took their food, and took over their homes. Anyone with any sense knows that the founding fathers had absolutely no idea, or intent, that the 2nd Amendment would protect the right to own semi-automatic and automatic weapons used to mow down innocent people for no reason.
10
Santorum = "They should learn CPR."
Payne = "Complete Purge of Republicans"
16
“On the defensive”? EVERY republican who continues to protect this worthless demagogue who is truly imperiling the entire worl is a traitor! Bolton’s addition proves trump’s itching for war as one pathetic, egomaniacal means to protect himself! There WILL BE MASSIVE AND HISTORIC repercussions for those who ignore or protect him!
9
Gun Control OR Dead Children. CHOOSE.
24
The frustration is that so many millions of Americans do not vote.
They don't vote because they don't believe their voices will be heard, that their vote counts. And on this point, I don't blame them at all. It seems that the wealthy just gets wealthier, systemic racism becomes more ingrained, the middle class is shrinking and despite very loud pleas to work on gun regulation, nothing happens. NOTHING.
But, giving up doesn't seem to be an option either. I have my own children and our community's children deserve a better future than what we have now.
Vote. Register people to vote. Drive people to the polls. Vote. Vote. Vote.
17
Can we start with high-capacity clips? Ban every citizen from owning military grade hardware. It seems like an excellent place to start.
12
I blame unregulated capitalism for these deaths. We have placed profit above common sense and caring. We let those without health insurance die. We reward the wealthy with tax cuts and hurt the citizens with lack of funds. We bail out the banks, but not the people who fell victim to the banks. We let people shoot off AR-15's right on our soil. We have embraced capitalism to a degree that we are on our way to becoming tribes against tribes.
11
as with vietnam war and the draft, the kids and their parents have a stake in the gun debate.
teach-ins helped doom the vietnam war effort and the energized and teachable moments of mass shootings have a very great potential to do the same thing this year.
3
The issue is really not gun violence. It is comprehensive gun control.
3
President Trump says that “keeping our children safe is a top priority.” Is that a fact?
Senator Murphy has introduced or cosponsored legislation to close loopholes in our background check system; to make it illegal for those on the FBI terror watch list to buy a gun; to end the ban on gun violence research at the Center for Disease Control; to encourage licensing requirements for handgun purchases; and to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
President Trump and the Republican Congress have not supported these reasonable requirements. Why? What do they have against these requirements that would help keep our children safe? For that matter, why does the President and the Republican Congress not support a complete ban on the sale, transfer, gifting, or whatever of machine guns here in the U.S.?
Since teenagers are the ones being killed by assault rifles, and are the ones at risk in so many other ways, they should be afforded the right to vote in state and federal elections. When a person reaches the age of say 16 or even 14, they should be allowed into the voting booth.
On November 6th, such voters would show President Trump and the Republican Congress that they are aware of what Trump and the Republican party are doing on gun control (or, lack thereof), health care policy, tax policy, trade policy, foreign policy, environmental policy, immigration policy, and on a host of other issues.
9
Gun management is pretty straightforward (following the model of cars):
• All guns must be licensed.
• All gun owners must have background checks.
• All gun owners must take safety classes.
• All guns must have a serial number to identify ownership. If the serial number is eradicated, the gun, when seized, must be destroyed.
• All gun owners must carry liability insurance on their weapons to compensate for those murdered or accidentally killed by them.
• All gun thefts must be reported by the owner.
• Assault rifles and other weapons of mass destruction must be kept from the hands of ordinary citizens.
24
It should go one step further than that. It should also force everyone who owns a gun and each person in their home to register similar to the draft they had in the 60's. Be evaluated for any medical, whether it be physical or psychological, conditions. I was ruled out of the military do to having epilepsy. Things like this should be considered.
3
And somehow as a nation we continue to slaughter people every day. Sometimes in bunches and sometimes individually. So maybe there's a need to reconsider all those things you list, Mr. Wenz? They don't seem to be working at all.
1
The Republican Party chooses the NRA over our USA, our children and grandchildren.
43
As a side note, Remington just filed for bankruptcy today....
6
If only they had faith... that March for Our Lives scared up a lot of new gun sales.
Governor Kasich is correct when he says voters "do want changes" on gun policy. They want much more than just change - they want an END to the bloodshed and violence caused by people with assault weapons, and they want politicians who refuse to create laws to make these changes to LEAVE OFFICE.
Folks, it's simple: Do what the people tell you to do or lose your government job. Please know pledging to fight the NRA is NOT ENOUGH. Your promises, pledges, well wishes, thoughts, prayers, dreams, visions of Utopia for all are worthless. ACTION is what people want - NOTHING LESS WILL DO.
17
We want people to stop killing each other, but there is no such thing as an assault weapon unless you want to start with a rock.
The United States is a free country because of guns. We will keep it that way. The crazy people who can't understand reality are the ones who must change. I suggest you might be in need of medication if you think guns cause fights.
You have a mental illness that blocks you from seeing the real problem. YOU should never own a gun, or even try to defend yourself because you don't feel the obligation. So, you do not speak for me.
I challenge you to find someone who can kill 50-60 people with a rock. Assault weapons can kill 50-60 people at a time. People without assault weapons can't kill 50-60 people at a time. When is the last time you needed 50-60 rounds to drop a deer? Do you have to own an assault rifle to feel like a "man".
4
Guns don't "cause fights"....That is a strawman.
The issue is that of probability.
Too many guns and not enough safe regulation.
The math dictates what will happen.
This is science. This is reality.
Stop rejecting it willingly.
1
Republican contenders for election should be worried about the coming November elections. The Saturday rallies across our nation were amazing. Just as the generation of young Americans that rose up in the 1960s to protest against segregation, institutional racism, and the inaction of our federal government, the survivors of school and other mass shootings delivered a powerful message through their calls to oppose the NRA and to vote in the November elections. They did not call for repeal of the 2nd Amendment.
German sociologist Karl Mannheim wrote in 1928 that certain generations become more politically meaningful through the common experience of traumatic events. The Columbine-Sandy Hook-Stoneman Douglas generation has one thing in common: surviving mass shootings that killed friends and beloved teachers. These experiences have become central to their identity just as Pearl Harbor became central to the identity of the Greatest Generation. They and millions of their contemporaries are ready for social change.
The NRA generation of LaPierre and Trump is now on the backside of the demographic and social wave of change that is beginning to sweep across our country – as the Saturday rallies demonstrated. Their slogans are based upon fear and resentment. They are tired, and will soon be replaced. People want change that is positive and points towards unity and common goals. The Survivor Generation of mass school shootings (and other mass shootings) is beginning to lead the way.
9
I respectfully disagree. These kids will probably grow up and vote for Democrats who promise to stop wars and then turn around and make record arms deals with middle-eastern countries continuing the bloodshed all in the name of capitalism.
We just gave the Democrats control of everything a mere 8 years ago and not much changed except the rich got richer and our debt due to military spending increased.
I do not believe for one moment that this entire march was put together by teenagers. I just went to the March For Our Lives website and would like to meet the teenagers that a) designed the website, b) designed all of the merchandise that is being made, c) like to know where all of the merchandise is being made, d) who wrote the privacy policy for the website which would require an attorney. Who setup March For Our Lives, Inc.? Again, I doubt its the same group of teenagers that are taking the Tide Pod challenges online or walking off of cliffs playing Pokemon Go:) CLEARLY a LOT of adults jumped on the bandwagon to push their agenda. Am I to believe for one moment that kids who have not even graduated from high-school know where to rent a stage and sound equipment and how to set it all up? I had to go to college for web design and sound production. And where did they get all of the money to rent the equipment or travel from Florida to D.C., selling Girl Scout Cookies? No, the kids are the face but it was adults who did the organizing.
Of course adults helped. But you should have been in Washington to hear this young people speak. So many young American lives traumatized by gun violence in this country. Adults should be ashamed. Adults SHOULD be standing with this amazing young people. Listen to them.
Could it be that the absurd argument --echoed by our President -- that the solution to school shooting is to arm teachers has lit a fire of protest against the gun lobby? It's not hard to connect this argument to the greed of gun manufacturers since there are millions of teachers who'd be buying guns. And everyone has been to school and had a teacher who couldn't even correctly point out the kid who was talking in the second row, let alone shoot the right bad guy. I hope they've finally gone too far with their fear mongering
12
As a resident of a very gun friendly state, gun sales go up after each tragic school shooting and gun safety classes, especially for women are so full they have to create more. Any teacher who wants to can qualify to carry a loaded gun to school. In 2014 one teacher managed to shoot her self and the toilet when she took her gun off to use it. No safety, I guess. The typical reaction is that the more of us that are armed, the safer we will be. It is OK to have a gun in your college dorm here, so I am never who around me is armed. It does not make me feel safe at all.
6
The NRA will be working to sow virtual carnage in our next election so they can maintain their sowing of profitable real carnage with their sale of such efficient mass murder devices.
The students who the NRA delights in using for literal and virtual target-practice are requesting changes. The changes appear to be changes that are supported by a significant majority of Republicans and NRA members. There is no talk from the students of a ban of firearms--this talk comes from the NRA and Fox.
There is no talk (as is done with those who's products pollute with something other than mangled human bodies) of requiring a fund to mitigate the damage (in this case pay for funerals, medical expenses, long-term support for the maimed).
The students talk of sensible limits on putting mass killing devices into the hands of those who hope to use them on innocents. There is no talk about eliminating an amendment to the Constitution designed to support using militias to replace the need for a standing army--a concept proven unworkable by 1840.
The second amendment is short, but it includes the phrase: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..." The founders spent 73 letters on the regulation and security clause, and 67 on defining the right. The NRA and Fox would like us all to ignore the regulation part of the amendment, and focus solely on the rights, no matter how many die from ignoring the "well regulated" section.
5
Maybe they should invest in a historian instead of lobbyists....
(History of the NRA -- Wikipedia)
'After the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 became the first federal gun-control law passed in the U.S. Karl Frederick, NRA President testified during congressional NFA hearings "I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. ... I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."
The NRA supported the NFA along with the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which together created a system to federally license gun dealers and established restrictions on particular categories and classes of firearms.'
6
I predict that all these students and their millions of supporters will be eagerly waiting at the voting booths come November 2018 and 2020.
9
Will these be different voters than 2016?
Yes.. Some of them will be first time voters, and others, inspired by the young people, will turn out who didn't care about it before.
It is inconceivable that our president and politicians of all stripes do not understand the need to curtail, restrict or ban assault weapons regardless of what the constitution implies. The latter was agreed upon (mostly by slave holders) several hundred years ago when the country was being formed. If article 2 is getting in the way now of protecting the citizens, it should be amended. The carnage has got to stop. Hopefully, the young people will get it done even though it will be a tough struggle.
3
The gun issue is an opportunity for Republican't soul searching. While they examine their intransigence on guns, gun sales, and the pervasiveness of a gun mentality in an NRA world, they should also take long, hard looks at their party's other, ideologically related denials. For instance, an insistent demand for a $15 national minimum wage has been brewing for years. Republican't movement on that: none. Repeated pleas for affordable and viable health care coverage: the only replies have been infamous attempts to repeal what was in place, and ZERO ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS. The across-the-board favoritism to big business on centrist or slightly left issues vis a vis the environment, prescription drugs, taxes, infrastructure, privatization, big corporate mergers, the end of net neutrality, and the like is undeniable. Guns + all this = a heavy lift.
Savvy Democrats should, could and must link these and other issues to the core values and goals of the Republican't national party, which is OBSESSED WITH THE STATUS QUO QUID PRO QUO WEALTHY DONOR CLASS. Surely some Republican'ts realize this, and also that gun legislation might be the train that carries these other issues. The result could well be a debacle that is much more than a matter of guns alone. Just enough fed-up voters were induced by RED STATE issues, but even more may be turning BLUE as they see that some fools in Congress are still in denial about the overall message.
2
The student’s demands are overly modest and misdirected. Congress isn’t going to pass any gun law that would make a significant difference. And no gun law that would make a significant difference would withstand Second Amendment scrutiny. At best, Congress might ban assault rifles, which are used in less than six percent of mass shootings and in less than two percent of murders. Banning assault rifles wouldn’t reduce mass shootings by six percent or murders by two percent because killers denied assault rifles would use handguns. (The shooter in the worst school shooting—Virginia Tech—used handguns to kill 32 students and teachers.)
Several states have flaunted federal law by legalizing marijuana. The students should demand that their state legislatures defy the federal government and, if necessary, federal courts, by enacting stringent gun control measures or outlawing firearms altogether. If the federal government attempts to enforce federal court rulings against these gun laws, the students could resort to civil disobedience.
2
Successful March feels good. But good feelings do not change the outlook for legislation. Hope these youngsters can make it for the tough, long term work ahead. Getting like-minded citizens registered and getting registered voters to vote is what will matter. When legislators who go along with the NRA scare tactics start losing elections there will be a chance to pass appropriate legislation.
3
There are two sides: our children and other innocent Americans being shot, wounded, traumatized and/or murdered OR their firearms wielding assailants, abetted by today's once-great (not since Lincoln) Republican Party.
7
Just as the remarkable student movement for gun control student ignited the common sense passions of so many people around the world, the N.R.A. and its most strident supporters can conjure up new ways to instill even more fear among those gun owners who want unfettered access to the newest iterations of advancing gun lethality, all the while fearing confiscation of their military weapons.
3
RULES FOR GUN OWNERSHIP
1. Each and every gun must be registered with the proper authorities, with owner’s name, address, and all other contact information. If the owner changes residency, such change must be recorded with the proper authorities. A national searchable database of gun owners is mandatory.
2. If ownership of any registered firearm changes through sale or gift, the new owner must be immediately registered with the proper authority. If the new owner is a minor, the original owner stays on the registration. If the gun is lost or stolen, the proper authority must be notified immediately.
3. If any registered firearm is used in a crime, attempted crime, or intimidation of another person, the registered owner is to be arrested and the firearm confiscated.
4. If any unregistered firearm is discovered by any means, it is to be confiscated by the authorities and destroyed.
25
Absolutley - not that different to vehicle registration really with an added layer of responsibility -its not rocket science
3
My guess , there were NO founding fathers you agree with. The First Amendment was written to allow every gentleman a public voice. The Second Amendment was written to protect the gentleman from the government, when exercising his right to speech.
Without the right to keep and bear arms, the founding fathers knew, the right to speech would soon die. Without the Second Amendment, there will be no First Amendment.
So, what if we applied your rules to a protection you hold dear? Like abortion.
#3 is actually already illegal, if a gun owner commits a crime with a gun and done by the owner they will be arresred and the gun confiscated.
#3 should be written that if a gun legally purchased is traced to a crime, and the owner had not reported the gun as stolen or lost (as in #2), then they can be charged. This is important because there are some types in the loose gun states who fill up their trunks with guns, sell them in the black market, and if traced back can say "I dunno, most have been stolen or lost" and get away with it. if held accountable, they can't do this, and if they continually report guns lost or stolen after selling them illegally, it will raise red flags.
#1 doesn't require a national searchable database of guns, and that would bring all the legislation down. Weapons sales can already be traced, the problem is as in #3 is that today there is no accountability.
The irony of conservative gun rights talk is that conservatives go on and on about personal responsibility, yet when it comes to guns they refuse it, they refuse that gun owners be forced to report guns lost or stolen, they refuse laws making gun owners accountable if they don't report a gun gone and it is used in a crime, they don't require gun owners to have safety training, they don't require insurance or require guns be locked up.
1
I suspect the biggest fear Republicans all over the country have is that these gun safety rallies are registering people to vote who maybe stayed home in the last election. If there is anything politicians listen to more than the money they get under the table are these new voter registration cards.
39
The article assumes the issue will help the Democrats. The opposite might actually be the outcome. Clinton lost because the NRA spent a lot of money to make sure she did—and NRA members made sure they went to vote.
22
Now it looks like some of that NRA money was from Russia, are you expecting them to help again? Maybe that is why Mr. Trump is so reluctant to get the intelligence and law enforcement agencies involved in the voter vulnerability issue.
2
Of course the possibility exists but don't you think times have changed? Did you see the marches this weekend? I don't recall that the passion existed on the left then. You can try and compare apples and oranges but it never works.
1
Clinton lost because her message was old, flat and worn out. She ignored Olmsted's dictum to "Make no small plans for they have not the power to fire mens' imaginations."
1
In the PA 6th Congressional district (newly redrawn), Rep. Ryan Costello (R) announced last evening that he will not run for reelection. While this newly drawn district, in a suburban outer ring of Philadelphia, would have been competitive (Hillary +1 in 2016; new district is Hillary + 9)), one wonders if the large turnout for the marches, including a large one in West Chester (county seat), had anything to do with swaying his calculations for victory. Obviously there are many calculations in such a decision, but it might not have been a coincidence in timing.
4
With 78% of Americans not owning a gun and most likely favoring new gun restriction policies (assault weapons ban, strengthened background checks, etc.) this is an issue that will play heavily in November. And yet most Republicans are still having trouble getting behind the ideas. Just another sign of how strongly they represent the NRA and not their constituents.
15
You would have thought this desire for non-gun owners would have caught on a long time ago.
As much as the children in this weekend's march want to believe the NRA is the Devil Incarnate, young Cruz's killing spree was a failure on at least 4 levels of government. The FBI, BCSO, local police and the high school. Everyone, but the NRA, seems to bear responsibility for these deaths.
1
For what it is worth, I put the onus on the foster father who told Cruz he could move in with his guns if only they were locked up. Wow. A kid with quite a history of issues wants to move in with his guns and that seems okay to any man? And a gun safe is gonna keep out a teenager? If the foster father thought there was enough of a problem that he had to lock up the guns, why would he even allow them into his home?
The NRA actively lobbies to prevent any common sense gun regulations. NRA will not even permit research on the epidemic of gun violence on the US, an epidemic that affects young people.
I saw a snippet of an NRA rebuttal on one of this morning's news shows. No matter what their side of the debate is, they're continuing the pandering to their base. with their blend of false ( more like fake ) equivalencies in defending the indefenseble.
One way or another, they'll ultimately lose this argument, and badly.
13
Still, as another column in today's NYT notes, that gerrymandering in so many states may make it impossible for Democrats until after 2021 after the census and redistricting occurs. However, if Democrats could finally vote in a mid-term election, it just might be a game changer.
6
We control dangerous drugs, alcohol, and chemicals which are potentially lethal; we need to assert the same kind of control on guns and ammunition. The courts have never ruled that any amendment to the Constitution is absolute—even Scalia recognized that modifications could be imposed on the right to bear arms; in addition, there are current restrictions on owning machine guns, howitzers, missile launchers, etc. The NRA continues to represent gun manufacturers at its peril when a majority of Americans favor tighter restrictions on the sale of guns and ammunition as well as a ban on the sale of military assault-style weapons.
9
My hope is that these young people sustain their pressure on the WH and congress and those eligible to vote this fall do so. Change indeed is in the air.
4
The student leaders who appeared on national TV Saturday need to stay the course and remain leaders as they mature. The NRA is an evil, but formidable opponent, and it will be several decades before guns are removed from many households and are out of criminal hands, and before the Second Amendment is, hopefully repealed and replaced with very strict licensing laws. My generation carried the day on many issues, but let the implementation of some of them work more slowly into the mainstream out of necessity and, in some instances, neglect. The new generation of change agents need to keep their issues in the forefront, and many sure they are not. neglected. The issue of gun violence tears at our hearts. It must end.
2
It’s high time to retire the phrase “gun control”. This is phrase doesn’t properly address the issue. A more appropriate approach would be to eliminate the adversarial approach. A proper discription would be “gun or firearm management. This approach would would align itself with both content and structure 2nd Amendment.
68
The problem isn't just the term, the problem is the NRA and the gun manufacturers basically want no regulartion or "management". We have stricter rules governing car registration across the US, and for example federal law requires boats to be registered above 14' if they travel navigable waterways...yet outside the current (weak and porous ) background check rule, federal regulations have not changed since the 1960's ban on mail order gun sales and the 1930's restrictions on automatic weapons. The thing is, the NRA and the pro gun people don't even want those restrictions, their ultimate endgame is where anyone can buy a gun at will any time and any place. Let me give you an idea, bills have been floated that would:
1)Tighten the background check, have tightened reporting of things like criminal records and mental health issues
2)Require background check for all gun sales, including private ones, requiring for example gun dealers to run a background check for someone selling a weapon privately (maybe for a small fee).
3)Require that legal gun owners have to report any guns lost or stolen to the local police or the state, and if a gun that was legally bought ends up used in a crime and wasn't reported (the same law that governs cars, by the way) as lost or stolen, the owner can be held liable. This would eliminate the people who fill up their trunk with guns then sell them in the black market, then say if traced back "I dunno, must have been lost or stolen". All failed
any honest discussion has to see the 2nd Amendment as a net negative.
It is a false argument to say that the amendment alone protects gun ownership. Rather, it now simply prevents regulation, no matter how reasonable.
We have a permanent, slow motion mass shooting playing out daily in the morning news.
I think the term "gun safety" is frequently used now to address gun violence as a as political issue, which is less polarizing than the term "gun control". Republicans have twisted, vilified, corrupted and given the phrase "gun control" a negative connotation, much like the word "liberal" over the years, to the point now where Democrats and Liberals call themselves "Progressives".
1
There is no serious effort to repeal the 2nd amendment, it's not on the students' list, so it should never be alluded to by those in favor of rational firearms regulations. The disagreement is about what people have been taught to believe that the 2nd amendment says.
The 2nd amendment exists because some state leaders feared a federal standing army, wanted STATE militias whose function would be to maintain control within a state (e.g., the whiskey rebellion) or to defend the country against foreign invaders. There was tension from the beginning between the founders - some wanted a professional army, e.g., Washington had had a dim view of the militias during the revolution, considered them unreliable and poorly trained; that's why Von Steuben was brought in. Others believed that a less disciplined but more numerous civilian army would be its equal; however, the poor performance of the militias during the war of 1812 and various militia acts, led to the national guard, coast guard, and federal armed forces. I call that a learning curve, while others prefer an idealized (idolized) 'origin'.
The idea of an untrained, uncoordinated, and UNREGULATED civilian militia was not in the writings of the founding fathers, nor was the concept of private unregulated militias conducting cockamamy training with anti-government as their raison d'etre.
So, it was not intended to protect private ownership, and is unnecessary to do so as evidenced by private ownership in other nations.
14
It's strange how 'originalists' on the Supreme Court find no real meaning or intent of the Founding Fathers in the phrase 'a well-REGULATED militia.'
For Democrats, the key to winning the mid-term elections may be focusing on identifying legislators who are taking donations from the NRA or any organization fronting for the NRA.
Clearly identifying the politicians who are willing to continue taking NRA money will provide clear targeting for the new young voters who can be mobilized for this most-important election. And the politicians can be given the opportunity to refuse NRA money before the election.
Single-issue advertising emphasizing this key identifier could be very effective all across the electorate. Anyone accepting NRA money has blood on their hands.
3
Right on. There has been no more powerful moment in this movement than when a Parkland student asked Marco Rubio face-to-face whether he would refuse any donations from the NRA. And Rubio just stood there, gasping for air.
Crazy thing is only 3 percent of his donations came from the NRA.
Rubio, my Senator, is the epitome of the spineless politician. Zero integrity. Personally and professionally maligned by trump, but now one of his lick spittles. A candidate for President ? Not by a long shot.
1
As noted in this piece, for a very long time the conventional wisdom has been, "When guns are (or are perceived to be) on the ballot, Democrats lose."
If the rallies change this and help Democrats win, they'll have done a lot of good for the country.
2
Republicans have for some time been on the wrong side of most issues that impact people's daily lives: climate change, taxes, health care, Medicaid, public health, which includes gun safety regulation.
Republicans and for that matter also many Democrats have been beholding to special interests who have showered politicians with money. By taking the money politicians have in effect struck a deal with the devil.
As Bob Dylan said years ago: times, they are a changing. We are again entering a period of active change. Millennials have put politicians on notice that enact reasonable gun controls or we will vote you out. They will prevail as the facts and moral truth on this issue are on their side.
Politicians will need to learn that the real issues that impact people's daily lives are not 'Left' or 'Right' issues but moral issues. We know what needs to change and change is coming.
1
The blue state Democrats in Congress should draw up several bills to restrict irresponsible gun storage, sales, modifications, and financial liability, without banning or threatening to take away guns. Things like requiring liability insurance, locked storage of guns and ammunition, banning bump stocks and modifications to allow more than one bullet to be fired with a single pull of the trigger, disallowing armor-piercing ammunition, etc. should be pushed again and again. Every time the Republicans kill the legislation, the Democrats should point it out and note how much money each Republican candidate for reelection is receiving from the NRA to oppose reasonable regulation of gun ownership and use. If the Republicans get behind some legislation, the Democrats should claim victory for pushing them a small step forward, but point out that there are many more steps to sane and sound regulation of gun use and ownership yet to take, and that only Democrats are committed to taking them because only they (most of them) are not being bought off by the NRA. Importantly, at all times, the Democrats should point out that none of these legislative steps involve taking away people's guns, although Trump has suggested taking away guns from anyone who was ever diagnosed with a psychiatric condition and locking them up in insane asylums. Let the Republicans own that gun confiscation idea.
1
I'm originally from a midwestern state that tends to vote GOP, yet no one in my immediate family ever owned a gun, nor did I ever hear much about the issue growing up.
I firmly believe that the NRA is a front organization for gun manufacturers and dealers and, like others before them, such as the tobacco industry, try to convince us that curbing their sales (and massive, world-wide profits) would have detrimental effects on our constitutional rights.
Big scam, big bucks for already too-rich people. Some person who has a gun to protect their family, or a rifle to hunt, will never lose that right. But neither of those need assault, military-style weapons. Unless they think the deer are going to band together and attack hunters at some point.
185
I wish the deer would attack the hunters.
It seems from reputable news sources that the NRA is also a front for Russians who laundered tens of millions of dollars through the NRA to donate to the t---- campaign. As such, the NRA is not only a tool of the gun manufactureres, but a tool of Vladimir Putin as well.
1
I wish the deer could do that.
It would be great.
The demonstrations may have little influence by themselves but another mass shooting before the mid terms will. It's just a matter of time.
3
Perceived victimhood and fear always work well for the gun lobby, and republicans, and misinformation (such as "they want to take away our guns!") is easy to sow in such a fertile field of fear. At best, republicans will agree to small potatoes measures that will change little, including gun sales, but add another notch in victimhood and fear and being able to say "see, gun regulations don't work".
Lost on them (or conveniently ignored) will be the fallacy that only the 2nd amendment and narcissistic armed civilians stand between "us" (themselves, really) and tyranny or unchecked crime - other developed countries do not suffer from tyranny and generally have lower crime rates than the U.S., despite not having a 2nd amendment or a heavily armed populace, yet still allow some gun ownership but with stricter regulations. It's all a fallacy that has stared us in the face all along.
2
John Kasich has never had a pro NRA gun policy cross his desk that he hasn't signed into law. He is not a moderate, he is positioning for 2020 and too many in the media is buying his snake oil.
3
Why should there be such a thing as "gun rights"? The Second Amendment does not mention guns -- it talks of arms. Yet the private ownership of nuclear weapons and other WMD is banned. The Second Amendment is clearly an anachronism, and the idea that an armed citizenry can act as an effective counter-force to an abusive government is a fantasy. Unfortunately, the efforts of the NRA to imbue gun ownership with a religious basis as if Moses included "thou shalt have the right to keep and bear arms" as the 11th commandment have been successful.
I am waiting to hear a cogent argument in favor the the 2nd Amendment. Balance that argument against the fact that, excluding suicide, 15,549 lives were taken by guns in the US last year.
5
you've heard it many times. you just weren't listening because your opinion is right and any opinion differing from yours is wrong. that's defined as "liberal thinking"
And you have heard why nobody needs a military style assault weapon many times but you expect everyone to tolerate the massacre of our children in schools, churches, concerts, the mall, the movies, the streets.
While many voters sat out the last election cycle, the country swung very far to the right. This will now be counteracted by the midterm elections, boosted by irate women, young voters and others tired of the daily roller coaster of Trump's words and actions.
In 1993, I won an award by one vote (they recounted the ballots 3 times). Your vote can count!
7
Imagine how Democrats who stayed home in that tied Virginia district must feel. A vote from any one of them would have flipped the entire Virginia House of Delegates!
While the dislike for Mr. Trump, disagreement with the Republican party over many of it's views including but not limited to Ohio's act to ban abortion, national attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and education, and their do nothing and it will go away attitude toward reasonable gun control are part of their problem, so is the fact that they are mostly old white men in a country that is diverse and ready to be represented.
6
Well said, but there is one thing that bothers me. You seem to fall into the trap that gun control advocates fall into all the time; that is, considering the gun lobby to be Second Amendment people. They are not. They are willful purveyors of a purposeful misinterpretation of an Amendment that clearly intends that guns be "well regulated". Leaving aside the original intent of having a militia system armed with smooth bore muzzle loaders instead of a standing army (the existence of which at most violates the 2nd or, at least, moots it) it is time we take back the 2nd from the gun lobby and its political toadies. Instead of banging our heads against it (which has been futile because we foolishly allow the NRA to claim it as their own) it is time we demand it be enforced. Regulate arms well. You know, LIKE IT SAYS!
10
One young woman who spoke at the DC march but has not been quoted a lot much in print or TV summary reports spoke of the next steps that will happen this week and next while Congress and students are on spring break. Every member of Congress has local offices in his/her district that constituents can visit to express their concerns, can be asked to come to a local town hall meeting on gun violence--and she further suggested that if the invitation is ignored, invite their primary or other opponents. There were marches Saturday in all 50 states and in 390 of the 435 Congressional districts, and there will be follow-up actions all across this nation in the next two weeks.
Yolanda King lost a grandfather she never knew to gun violence 50 years ago on April 4, 1968--only two months before RFK was assassinated. Generations since then for half a century have failed to realize their dreams to end racism, poverty, and violence, both domestic and wars. We need to support and follow this new "great generation" as they move us closer to her grandfather's dreams.
91
The March for Our Lives is a remarkable event. It reveals the dismay of American voters particularly teenagers and young Americans towards the indifference of Trump and lawmakers toward the voters who demand gun control: for a ban on assault rifles and improvement in conducting background checks on people who want to buy guns. This event seems to reveals a change in the mindset of young American voters. They are less inclined to let adults handle the problems of the legislative process: they reveal more motivation than we have seen in decades to take a political stand. The student activists spoke well for the young Americans: they intend support lawmakers who are influenced by their interests: the voters. While the march was on, the Democratic Party was setting up voter registration stations in the cities. The liberal group, Invisible, was very active in calling on young Americans to become politically active. Jim Hobart, a Republican pollster at his hometown in Atlanta, gave regard to the young Americans who traveled for as much as ten hours to attend this remarkable event: he said that not only will this generation register to vote, but they will volunteer.
3
The children of Sandy Hook were unable to articulate their trauma, but the Parkland teenagers present their experience with a breathtaking eloquence and a resolve to keep on marching to the polls. It doesn't matter that they won't all be of legal voting age in November. They have parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and awakening Americans who will vote for them.
Their story is gut-wrenching. They do not want to be afraid to go to school. They don't want to walk past armed guards or armed teachers. They don't want lock-down drills to be a normal part of their school experience. They don't want the splatter of blood to haunt their lives. And yet. Every single school morning, parents potentially send our nation's children to the front lines of gun violence. Every single school day.
Think about that, NRA and GOP, because this is what your greed has wrought.
12
You don't really need to attack the 2nd Amendment in order to address gun violence. I know Bret Stephens advocates this approach. He presents his own intellectual justification.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/opinion/guns-second-amendment-nra.html
However, I mostly feel he presents this argument simply because such an extreme approach is never likely to succeed. Amending the Constitution is extremely difficult. Democrats aren't getting a super majority in the Senate by campaigning against the 2nd Amendment.
Brad S. Karp and H. Chrisopher Boehning presented a much more reasonable approach here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/24/opinion/sunday/stop-shielding-gun-mak...
Make gun manufacturers liable for their products. The argument targets a specific law granting immunity to gun makers. I would suggest extending the liability to gun retailers and gun purchasers as well. Guns are capable of killing people. Any involved in their public attainment should have to bear the financial burden of their risk to public society. You better believe behaviors will change fast. Witness Dick's Sporting Goods. They've, dropped assault weapons twice from their catalog now under the expectation of liability.
The method really does work. I suspect it'll work better than background checks and age restrictions too. Democrats should consider the argument.
2
Funny: the writers seem to believe they can safely ignore the upcoming primaries, where the issue of "Right to Kill" is bound to further polarize either party. In Florida, for instance, Andrew Gillum, the progressive insurgent for Governor, is now in a far stronger position vis-a-vis the Democratic Machine candidate. It's not a gimme that the more centrist candidates preferred by the Times will even make it onto the ballot in November.
2
Any member of the GOP whether running for re-election or to be elected needs to distance themselves from the like's of Trump or Rick Santorum who kiss up to the NRA, if they hope to have a chance in the 2018 elections.
2
When the "best" response from the GOP and their masters is: the NRA whining about kids bullying [the NRA] and Rick Santorum telling kids to stop "expecting everyone else to solve their problems..." Yes; the GOP is running scared.
10
Congress just passed a bill to interject themselves in ads regarding sex trafficing. They pass laws to regulate illegal drugs and set up a Department of Homeland Security to prevent terrorism. But none of this means anything if they will not pass laws to regulate guns. What is the sense of having a Department of Homeland Security when the guns laws in this country are so lax that any crazy can go to a gun show or the internet and purchase a semi-automatic with ammunition and the protective gear to then go out and shoot 20 or 30 people? This just shows how absolutely corrupt and morally bankrupt the Republican party is when they are more concerned with the NRA than the lives of the American people.
3
student gun walkout and marches. brought to you by the same group who organized the womens March in DC. with 2 kids in HS and a college grad, the education system is not a place of critical thinking, discussion and diversity of political issues. it is a place of systemic liberal brainwashing where liberal ideas are drilled into our young people beginning in early elementary school. the goal: to make our society an orwellian "group think" society where we adhere to the one "right" way and any other opinion is wrong and to be shunned.
1
You would know if you would listen, these young people have been traumatized by gun violence. They want it to end before they are the ones gunned down in school in 6 minutes by an AR15.
When the wind blows in Ohio, it will be a Chinook gently pushing Kasich out.
1
Repubs have little to worry about. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, and - yes - Russia will likely put them over the top as in 2016, unless Dem voter turnout is extraordinary.
"The GOP is put on the defensive."
Please, New York Times, less wishful thinking and more facts.
2
Politicians and elections aside, the marches are so very necessary in order to simply keep the populations eye on the ball and our status quo from falling further into the abyss of ignorance that still grips many parts of our nation.
I don't have a drop of respect for the NRA.
Why would I?
I can't recall them ever supporting anything I deem necessary to a sane society.
Women's rights? The ERA?
Nonsense. They sneer at such a concept.
Their idea of "equality" is a gun for a man and a PINK gun for a woman!
Given their demographics: white, male, older, Republican, voted Trump and Paul Ryan, there is literally NOTHING I agree with on their concept of society.
There are 5 million members of the NRA.
There are 320 million Americans.
78% of Americans do not own a gun.
So, let's get honest here: Let's talk guns and their impact on those 320 million.
How many know someone who has been part of a mass murder?
How many have lost family to suicide?
To a child picking up a gun?
To an accidental discharge in a purse or glove box?
How much did that cost?
What were the hospital or morgue bills?
Time lost at work?
How many innocents are being gunned down because the cops think that EVERYONE has a gun?
Why is it that mass shooters are never women?
All of that is why taking information by the CDC was forbidden by NRA-passed law.
They have hidden the impacts of guns, all guns.
I suspect that every person reading this knows at least one person who has been killed, maimed, wounded or suicided with a gun.
Do I care what the Second Amendment says?
Nope.
The NRA is filled with men and women who think that the EXCLUSION of women from the Constitution and the INCLUSION of their lump of steel is a real hoot.
ERA, not NRA!
5
The NRA tells us that guns in schools make schools more safe.
The NRA says more guns in society makes society more safe.
The NRA has a gun range next to HRA HQ, which is open for use by thr public.
Why does the NRA FORBID people who are licensed to carry from bringing their guns from that range into NRA Headquarters?
After all, by NRA logic, more guns in NRA HQ would make it more safe.
I suppose they have a good reason for keeping guns OUT of NRA HQ. I just wonder what that reason is. Could the reason be that maybe someone who is unbalanced or who does not like them might USE the gun?
Ya think? Hmmm ....
4
While governor, Kasich has presided over the loosening of gun laws in OHIO. Don't ignore this reality. Open carry, guns allowed in airports, etc.
And SANTORUM is now the NRA poster boy. He advises we teach kids CPR instead of doing anything about gun laws. CPR. Why not EMT training? Why bother with academics? Do something to protect our people!
2
On one of the Sunday talk shows, I heard a republican strategist repeatedly claim the trigger on an assault rifle was the same as his hunting rifle! It was so absurd, on it's face, that I yelled at the TV! Helpful, right.....
However, I've heard former military combat veterans say very differently, the velocity of the bullets is exponentially faster and extremely destructive to bone, tissue and organs.....in other words, these weapons are meant to kill as many people as possible in a VERY short time.
2
One thing I'd like to make clear. There are hunting rifles with more velocity, and that can fire massively destructive bullets, if that's what's on the cartridge. The difference between a hunting rifle and an AR-15 or other assault-type weapon is that the hunting rifles are not usually semi-automatic. There are semi-auto hunting rifles that shoot high velocity rounds. These are not what people are using to kill other people.
The assault weapons are built to be as similar as possible to their military counterparts. Their mission is to take down and incapacitate the target. AR-15s are .223 caliber (measure of circumference), a fairly small round, with lightweight bullets. They hit something and mushroom and bounce around to inflict wounds and destroy what it hits. They are NOT meant to hunt deer, elk, moose. They are meant to hunt people. They are semi-auto because the fully automatic version would be a military-grade weapon, like an M16.
The AR 15 can be fired very quickly, without any modifications. Listen to the audio from Parkland if you can stand to. Rapid fire shots from an assault weapon; designed to look and act like a military weapon. Nobody needs these weapons.
1
So the true motivations around all this MSD rancor is now revealed. Put the GOP on the run on the backs of dead school kids despite the lack of any cohesive solutions or honest desire for a bonafide "debate".
Ban military style assault weapons. They kill children. What’s to debate?
It is useful to say that America is experiencing most lethal shootings in world - Deadly shootings in one terrorist action ...
I say '' terrorist '' It is the qualifier that sticks well to skin of every monster who shoot loosely and with cold-blooded on a crowd - Innocent people who have never seen this murderous who practiced terrorism -
It is the case of Las Vegas, Nevada (2017). How can we describe killer of 53 innocent people and more than 529 wounded ...? or the one that ended lives of more than 50 people and 53 wounded in Orlando - Florida.
Americans know that these killings will continue ... Perhaps even more fatal where number would be bigger and unimaginable. Why such violence without anyone could stop these acts of violent bloodthirsty? Everything seems clear ... As long as NRA keeps friendship that has combination of excitatory and immediate influences at top of US power pyramid ...
An inseparable link that allows it the right to keep all these satanic - weapons.
NRA is powerful in view of number of its members and given funds injected into its accounts by powerful gunsmiths. Even better ! The most absurd of cases, NRA guarantees its survival thanks to 2nd amendment of US Constitution, yet "gone" and may not be eternally in force. In fact, no American politician can confront NRA because of electoral deadlines where it can throw weight in balance at opportune moment ... NRA = And for a few more murders at every moment.
If the NRA were smart it would support raising the legal age to legally buy an AR15 from 18 to 21. That would enshrine their legitimate place in a supposedly civilized society then.
Up here in Saugerties, Ulster County, NY, we expect to see John Faso, "Lifetime "A" Rated by the NRA, voted out of office. Our "hopes and prayers" are not wasted, as by all the anti-gun control legislators on all those children and adults, after they are dead, murdered by gun owners who have not been adequately background checked or who own assault rifles - to those children, adults and families we send our deepest condolences - our hopes and prayers are to elect a Congress in 2018 that does enough to halt these killings!!
2
Hunters are restricted in the number of rounds a gun can shoot--it wouldn't be sportsman like to hammer some poor rabbit with an AR15. Why don't we have the same attitude about shooting people--three rounds and you have to reload.
What no one seems to be saying is that we're all scared of guns. But those of us who believe in curtailing gun massacres are the brave ones--those advocating arming everyone are scared stupid--stupid because any review of harm from guns reveals it's the owners, friends and family who bear 90% of the harm. I suspect that playing possum when someone is burgling your home is probably the safest way to approach the problem.
1
The young protesters must vote for the Democrats and do not believe anything the republicans say about gun control just to get elected. Look at you so called president who promised to drain the swamp but he did not tell you he would be replacing them with a bunch of low life crooks.
1
Republican Congressman: "you know these so called children are just actors hired by the Demmicrats and Liberals, they don't really stand for anything. Oh hold on, I got a call from the NRA, as they say -- you don't keep God on hold. 'yes Mr. LaPierre, yes I was just explaining to the CNN reporter how these demonstrators aren't real children. Thank you for the contribution Mr. LaPierre"
1
If we dream of ethics from GOP . we are really kidding ourselves.
They shutdown govt in Obama presidency and now passed 1.5 trillion dollar deficit budget - and added tax cuts to uber rich!!
They have so far never uttered a word lest they antagonize CPAC or NRA ..
We need to stop dreaming.. if death of under 6 year olds do not cause any ethical challenge for GOP .. these are big kids at Florida .. like the NRA person stated last weekend.. really !
Only hope these kids and their family that showed up at these heart warming rallies across the nation .. will remember this when they vote next election in 2020 and all their adult life that which ever party they support .. Assault Rifles only kill people not animals!
You might be a Republican if ... given the choice between your gun hobby and the lives of kids, you choose your gun hobby
2
Perhaps it is time to give birth to the NNRA - "NOT"NRA! Personally, I will gladly fund as much as I am able to any and all of the organizations's efforts!
The electorate must demand real and significant gun law reform and must insist that any person running for political office on any level must stand first and foremost upon that platform. The media has a role to play in keeping the public focused on that goal and in moving public opinion toward that direction. The electorate must not be distracted by the machinations of the powerful influences who feel otherwise. This is the only way for us to effect change and I think if we accomplish this achievable goal many other progressive issues will follow.
1
Never Forget!
Never forget that these Parkland students are part of a cohesive community. They’ve lost friends, family, teachers and they will be in the same school till they graduate.
Never forget that many of these students are off to college in the Fall. And there they will be recognized. And they will organize! Some of them will join the college newspaper or debate club. They will not be silent. They will organize voter drives of their college classmates and community.
Never forget that these students have summer vacations. There is money for students to travel, speak, initiate voter registration drives: All. Summer. Long. They will be a visible presence in many communities and the press will follow them.
Never forget that these students have Twitter followers and voices. They are creative users of social media and the Media. They will not be forgotten, because they will not let us forget.
Never forget that these students have futures. They will vote. They will choose careers. They will inspire others.
Never forget that this time is different. We are moved by their energy. Their outspokenness. Their creativity. These are amazing young people and we love them all!
Never forget that all over the country every school does these drills - practicing in case there’s a shooter. And all these schools and their students will not forget! Every drill will remind them. Every drill will inspire them.
Never forget. They are the change we need!
42
If they (the students) want change, they need to vote. As it is, incumbency is often a major factor along with gerrymandering and there are a lot more issues besides guns that will keep Republicans in power. It will be difficult to overcome the Republican majority in the house and senate if there is the same democratic and independent voter apathy as 2016.
10
One of the goals of the March for Our Lives was to raise awareness that votes count, and that they'll be voting in 2018, 2020 and beyond. The inspiring kids who organized and marched made that clear. As well, there were voter registration drives at most if not all at all of the marches. I now feel better about our country's future thanks to these courageous, activist kids.
9
Open your ears. Almost every speech in Washington Saturday included the call to vote.
There are a lot more issues besides gun control that WON'T keep Republicans in power. We've already seen how they've alienated formerly solid Republican voters by sticking with their boy in the White House. Health care is a top issue among voters, but the GOP is fine with Trump's sabotage of the ACA, even thought that violates his oath to uphold the law according to his Constitutional duties. The negative effects of passing tax legislation that clearly favors corporations and the wealthy over the rest of us still hasn't been felt yet, and voters are unlikely to be happy with their tiny little refunds when their next health insurance premiums are due. There is their flagrant disregard for women's rights and for women in general. Then there is their opposition to reauthorizing DACA and their overall anti-immigration stance that is breaking up families and even deporting veterans who have fought for this country in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If I had more time and more space, I'm sure the list of things that Republicans are doing to ensure they lose the House, and possibly even the Senate, would be even longer. So besides gerrymandering and voter suppression, what else can they do to stay in power?
As some have said, every day a new Democratic attack ad is born. The midterms are the Democrats' to lose. Of course, that's what Democrats said in 2016 about the presidency...
There needs to be push back on the term "Second Amendment rights", a term parroted by even pro regulation politicians and journalist. James Madison and the Constitutional Convention Majority would not recognize contemporary interpretations of the Second Amendment. The Constitutional Convention overwhelmingly voted against attaching self defense and hunting language to the Second Amendment. The "Right to Bear Arms' language was derived form a 17th century British term that referred to an organized military formation like a militia. The new government was caught by surprise when an armed rebellion in Massachusetts a few years earlier had no organized force to oppose it. Washington himself admitted that if anyone had said at the time such a revolt was imminent he would have said that they belonged in an insane asylum. In contemporary examples when a Swiss or Israeli reservist has a powerful firearm in their possession, it has nothing to do with their individual right to possess firearms. This intent of the Founders was understood by the courts for several hundred years until recently. Call the NRA supporters gun rights activist or gun law proponents, but in truth the support they claim from the Second Amendment should be an open question.
23
but we have no "militia" when the gov't bees tyrannical and we need to stand up, we will be ce that militia. just like in the revolutionary war. that's why we need these rights. because if and when the day comes when we need to stand up, we need to have access to the tools.
Perhaps the NYT should reprint Scalia's opinion on the 2nd amendment. It is 180 degrees away from the NRA and ultra-conservative advocates who want us to believe it allows UNLIMITED free interpretation of the intent of our Founding Fathers.
3
You are correct in that the 2nd amendment is specific to State militia, as we had no standing army, hostile Indians and the British surrounded our young nation.
3
We’ve already had an assault weapons ban. There may have been cries of tyranny although I don’t recall them. We need to start with universal background checks, waiting periods, unfiform laws for sale and distrubtion, and a national gun registry. No one has their guns confiscated but we stop the transfer of guns from states with lax gun laws to places like Chicago and LA. Common sense.
9
The "sacrosanct Second Amendment" is not relevant to today's discussions over automatic weapons and the massacres of innocents. Automatic weapons had not been invented in 1788. "A well regulated militia" referred to pacifying Southern States by granting them the right to hunt down runaway slaves wherever they went, via bands of armed white Southern thugs.
In fact, the whole sickness of gun ownership is a product of NRA PR and lobbying, which encourages macho posturing, paranoia of The Other, and compensation for millions of men who have beer bellies and small penises.
I'm sick of them, and the Republican Party, too, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NRA, fossil fuel corporations, Wall Street, and anyone with a lot of zeroes in his bank account. Let's hope that today's kids blow them out of the water in the midterms, leaving them reeling and irrelevant once and for all.
189
Amen brother! I would recommend this comment a thousand times if possible. Enough!!
3
“A well regulated militia” seems to me to be one where you have every right to tell them what guns they can use and which ones they can’t, just as much a regulating anything else about them.
3
Thanks to the organizers of the remarkable worldwide awakening, "today's kids" can count on millions of voters turning out on election days in 2018 and 2020 to vote for Democratic candidates who will then have the majority in House and Senate, and will pass legislation supporting gun control.
2
I believe that the exposure to guns in this country should be the same for the politicians as for its citizenry. If open carry is allowed in public it should be allowed in Congress. If concealed carry is allowed in public it should be allowed in Congress. If assault weapons are allowed in public they should be allowed in Congress. Congress should be a reflection of our values, not immune from them. Maybe then Congress will address these issues, or the alternative, take mandatory CPR classes.
"No law or regulation will be passed that will limit our access to guns in any legislative location where state or federal legislators create legislation. Any existing regulations or laws that limit access to guns in these locations shall be considered unconstitutional and be repealed."
83
Armed guards at the Capitol building in DC block a tourist's bringing in a little pinkie-sized penknife atrached to a keychain. I know. I couldn't take the tour because they wouldn't let me in with "a knife" (as if I were Jim Bowie). I wasn't about to throw away my little red relic to suit a cowardly population of political leeches, with their incomparable medical benefits paid for by middle-class people like me.
If Congress votes to allow guns in cars, churches, schools, and shopping malls, then please let them allow guns in their own place of business.
Preferably guns with really big magazines. And carried by people you'd check if they were getting onto airplanes. Also by those on Medicaid because they're crazy.
2
Agreed, and judges should also allow guns in their court rooms, again because it’s a good idea. Then we’d arm judges (as in suggesting teachers be armed) and it would be great for everyone.
3
And in the White House.
1
Congressional districts have been so warped by GOP gerrymandering that Democrats must fight even harder to win House seats even with Republicans on the defensive. I hope that the youth who have found their voice with the gun issue will keep their passion for the long haul. Republicans have fortified their position by making changes that are hard to overcome especially as they have packed SCOTUS with justices who support their hijacking of elections. Some how we must keep our focus and work with the long term in mind as Republicans have done. The American people as a whole support Democratic ideals, and Republicans know this but do not acknowledge it. Mobilizing those who sit on the sidelines is the Democrat's greatest challenge.
20
By starting the article with the statement that Democrats have to defend in states "where the Second Amendment is sacrosanct" you imply that the debate concerns repeal of the Second Amendment. This is also the way Marco Rubio framed the debate, as if the Second Amendment explicitly stated that every citizen has a constitutional right to any sort of weapon in any circumstances, and that any gun control law would be an infringement of that right. The writers needs to understand the implications of their words in how they frame the debate. Or maybe they do?
60
Completely agree. The Times did this in its reporting over the weekend as well, and it's hugely frustrating. The Second Amendment is *not* the dividing line, and expressing it that way just plays into the "anti-2A" rhetoric and #2A hashtag of the Loesch/LaPierre extremists. *No one* is advocating repeal of the Second Amendment. The students and the marchers are advocating a reasonable interpretation of an amendment that *begins* with the words, "A *well-regulated*..."
2
There is a a long standing control on guns used for water fowling. The magazines is limited to three rounds. Applying this limit to all long guns doesn't sound draconian.
2
I don't think it is about repealing the 2nd amendment for most people, it is about the notion held in gun heavy states by many that guns because of the 2nd amendment can't be regulated (hence the 'sacrosanct'). Gun states, people like Rubio, say that because the 2nd amendment doesn't enumerate which weapons are allowed and which are not, by default people can own what they want. It is an article framed in the same fundamentalism that has people believing the earth is 6000 years old, and it leaves out that the constitution's 2nd amendment could not anticipate the future. The same people say because that is the 2nd amendment, it comes before all others in importance other than the first (which contains freedom of religion so that stands above everything else), which is ludicrous but it is what they believe. All rights have bounds and burdens upon them, the first amendment is not absolute, anything that involves public safety and the rights of others end that, all rights have an implicit burden of your rights end where mine begin. You don't have the right to own fully automatic weapons (for most people, federal gun licenses to own them are very, very strict), you don't have the right to own RPG's or tanks with working guns or aircraft with missiles or machine guns, because that is a threat to public safety (kind of like not shouting fire in a movie theater, 1st amendment doesn't cover that).
2
Our politics has been a zero sum game due to non-participation by many people, but especially the young. The game changer, even in states like Indiana and Missouri, will be if the kids can maintain the intensity, register, and vote. If and when that happens, all bets are off and the underlying assumptions for the analysis in this article will be obsolete.
22
Good point. We are starting to see a lot of conventional wisdom commentary about gerrymandering and historical voting patterns and inertia. We who habitually pay attention have known for a long time that a dramatic rise in turnout will have grave consequences for the GOP dominance we have suffered under for too long.
The hard right is passionate, well-organized, and obscenely well-funded, but they are a demographic minority with very little potential to expand. If the millions who have heretofore stayed home get motivated,we're going to need a new conventional wisdom.
1
I hope these kids show the same passion against the GOP as they whittle away at their rights of free speech, taxation without representation, voting rights, stopping unending wars and so on. There is a lot to be fixed in this country. Starting their protests with wanting gun control is a great start.
20
I am glad they are nervous. When you are voting the wrong way all the time against the American people you deserve to sweat. They are owned by the NRA and are afraid of the NRA threats to vote new members in. This GOP needs to be replaced with people who want an affordable health care plan save our planet from the poisonous polluting coal and get rid of all automatic weapons for sale to the public in the USA. I don't know about you but that makes me nervous knowing I can be shot with an automatic rifle during a shopping trip.
23
The crisis of gun violence in America, and the unwavering refusal of the GOP to cooperate on any form of corrective action, is a frightening barometer for our next catastrophic issue which is climate change.
Confronted with the physical evidence of dead bodies of children of all ages, the GOP tosses out solutions such as "more guns" and "take CPR" so you can respond when your classmates are dismembered by .223 cal hypersonic bullets.
If anyone needs proof that literally dead and dying constituents won't motivate GOP congressmen to collaborate on a problem solution, school shootings and common sense gun control is it.
Thus, anyone who thinks the GOP will come to their senses on climate change in time avoid mass human extermination is going to be tragically disappointed. The survival of our nation and the world depends on voting the GOP out of Congress permanently.
20
Not since the protests against the Vietnam war have young people been so mobilized and outspoken on an issue. Today young people are fighting a war for their lives on their own soil against gun violence that has killed so many young people whose lives were just getting started. Seeing these young people and listening to their eloquence in standing up to the NRA and to the politicians that have been bought by the NRA gives me hope for the future of our country.
The election of Trump and the subsequent destruction of our government, our middle class and our standing in the world has been distressing to watch. This new generation gives me hope.
28
Saddest line in the article - only 1 in 5 believe Congress will act, despite voter wishes and public safety.
15
Those 1 in 5 are the same people I ran into at the place where I get my hair cut. I was talking to the woman who owns the shop, and we were talking about our disgust with middle America who support trump, continue to, despite everything, and this woman, typical of more than a few, chided us for talking about 'those people' that the Trump supporters had real issues with economic security and their families, we didn't understand their culture and values, etc (and she got a multi layered color job with cut that was like 280 bucks...), she is one of the 20% who thinks somehow you are dealing with people in other parts of the country who have goodwill towards other, rather than being people who continue to support policies rabily that leave kids dead, other people dead, and who support the GOP who has had a major hand in their economic misery.
To believe our gerrymandered, non democratic system (and yes, folks, it is non democratic, when a minority of the people who live in rural, barely populated states have more power than the majority, it is non democratic), where the rights of the few are allowed to overwhelm the rights of the majority, we no longer have a system that protects the rights of minorities or majorities, what we have is a political system that has been allowed to be bought, sold and wrapped up in a neat package of gerrymandering...and the 'opposition' does nothing, or worse, pretends "their" congressman and "their" reps are okay, while sneering at the rest.
Then 100 percent of those voters need to vote for change.
Looking from the outside, what I don't understand is that this isn't an "all or nothing" demand is it? No one is saying ban all guns. It seems incredulous that some reasonable middle ground cannot be reached here. And that the slaughter of your children isn't enough to make both sides sit down to try to really address the gun violence in the US. Facts are facts - all countries with reasonable gun control laws do not experience the bloodshed seen daily in America. And those countries, of which we are one, do not ban gun ownership. It makes my brain hurt to try to see the reasoning of those opposing such laws - and makes my heart hurt, as I expect to hear of another mass shooting somewhere in the US any time soon.
7
You mean "it seems incredible." But I agree with your comment.
Many of us moderates here in the United States are incredulous that our politicians are increasingly stupid, extremist, and intractable. But we are also horrified that our citizens (see adjectives above) continue to vote them in.
I am not against gun ownership, only against guns that can kill two dozen kids in the space of 10-15 minutes. You want a gun, fine, buy a gun that holds six bullets. And I am all for background checks.
And if push came to shove, yes I would welcome the confiscating of civilian arsenals stored in the basements of crazy people. Take the AK-40s or whatever they are and give them one Chuck Connors rifle in exchange.
1
Kasich signed laws allowing concealed carry at daycare centers and universities, cut the training required for concealed carry, and permitted guns in bars and restaurants for people who didn't personally order alcohol. Until recently, his campaign website linked to an NRA thank-you letter.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/22/john-kasich-re...
I say this not to accuse him of hypocrisy. People should understand his long record of widening gun rights, but we should also welcome converts.
Rather, my primary point is: This is what happens when the winds start to change, and what seemed forever impossible starts to become realistic. Not-very-courageous politicians start changing bandwagons.
214
@Bill: I've been saying for a long time that Kasich is a wolf in sheep's clothing. In comparison to many of his fellow Republicans, he comes across as reasonable, but don't be fooled. If he signs the bill the Ohio legislature is currently considering that would ban all abortions, he'll tout that move in a possible 2020 presidential campaign pandering to the extreme right. He reminds me of Pence...
5
Thank you for pointing this out. You are right too that Kasich is not who he tries to appear to be. Not at all.
2
The kids are showing us the way , I just hope the candidates the Democrats put forward are equal to the task.
I believe we need to follow the Connor Lamb strategy which is to tailor the fundamental Democrats goals to their constituency.
It's those fundamental goals that are critical.
Equal Human rights and opportunities for ALL.( including equal pay)
Reducing the rampant income inequality in this country.
Ensuring Health care for all at a reasonable cost.
Reducing the cost and increasing availability of college education.
Renewing our infrastructure, including renewable energy investment and technical education.
Immigration reform.
Gun control
All to be paid for no increase in debt.
Democrats have to remember the wise words of St. Francis of Assissi
First do what is necessary , then what is possible and then the impossible.
What is necessary is to win the House and Senate in Nivember.
Then we have to do the possible . For example Universal Health Care is a great goal but to do it on our current cost structure will be a disaster. We need to bring prescription drug prices to European levels , set up a single payer system for uninsured using Medicare. Set up a panel of experts to map out a plan for Universal Health care
The National Democratic Party needs to set out a series of actions to achieve these goals, candidates can adapt them to their own unique constituencies.
7
Do you suppose we can include an honest conversation about the likely tax increases needed to have a robust Medicare system for the uninsured? with the surge in retirees and a declining birthrate, tax increases - or diverting billions from defense spending - seem inevitable to support this kind of solution. I don't sense public will to discuss tax increases, and zero political will to dent the defense budget.
2
Rubyfruitgirl,
While we're at it, lets talk about the amount of money we pay for insurance and compare it to the tax increases.
Constant fear of tax increases paralyzes the US into coming to useful solutions to national problems.
My plan for the uninsured will be a public option using Medicare.
The admin costs will be significantly less than insurance companies, apply the subsidies currently available under ACA and with lower drug prices to European levels we should be able to offer a pretty compeititive and affordable plan.
It's so clear that the people are against guns while money and the gop want to sell more. Things will change only if everyone votes. Just like when younth activism ended the Vietnam war because their survival was at stake, they have become energized to end the gun culture and will bring about change. But if the gop is heading for a loss, the DC junta will start a war as a pretext to cancel the elections.
7
It is time to go to high schools (17 year olds can register if they turn 18 before November) and colleges and register young voters. The gun march was full of voter registration people. Now the rest of us need to be true citizens. In many districts it is the last chance to combat gerrymandering and voter suppression. The NRA strangle hold is over.
34
Gun violence certainly is not, indeed, going away. The only question is, whose violence?
1
What keeps replaying in my mind about the NRA and gun control is that for so many legislators to be against gun control legislation suggests that they are in the pocket of the NRA. If that's the case, they all need to be investigated for taking bribes or campaign finance impropriety. Is the NRA so powerful until they are exempt from condemnation even with the killing of children? Are they making that much money off of gun sales until they can bribe legislators and lobby that successfully? Do that many Americans own guns, making the NRA that powerful?
2
The NRA is powerful because the gun and weapons manufacturers are supporting the NRA. That is where most of their money is coming from. The membership donations are a pittance compared to the what they receive from the weapons manufacturers. Less than 10% of gun owners are members of the NRA. The NRA claims 5 million members, which may be inflated, out of the 73-81 million gun owners.
The tragic, and foolish, point of the moment is that the NRA gun advocates and many Republican candidates are insulting the youth at Parkland (including victims), and bluntly telling the world that their lives don't matter as long as every angry loser continues to have the right to the weapon of mass murder of their choice.
This is obviously not a winning proposition, given the reality that these youth will inevitably take over.
Gun advocates are refusing to face reality: the overwhelming majority of Americans support some gun regulations, and continued school massacres will only make the public revulsion against guns and those who claim unbounded rights more thorough and determined.
Gun advocates are hastening the day when Australian-style gun regulation happens in the USA, with their refusal to deal with reality, and their attempts to demonize and ignore the victims, and indeed the majority of Americans.
To keep the guns they want in free circulation they need to address the consequences: the idea that "these deaths are the price of freedom" will never be accepted publicly unless the gun hobby shows some sympathy and understanding for the victims and their families, some rational plan to reduce the death toll, and does something to pay for all the harm, as best as possible.
You cannot win with the proposition "my hobby gets to kill for free" ... people will not take it.
8
adults need to remind other adults that voting does matter and it's the very least they can do so these kids don't have to do it for us.
shame on all of us if we don't.
5
In comparison to other developed counties, the gun homicide rate of the US is literally off the charts.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/21/17028930/gun-violence-....
It is a national problem that our nation’s leaders and policy makers are responsible for. And since the NRA has dictated our national policies on guns for the last few decades—to their Republican benefactors—that organization deserves a good share of the blame.
5
Thank you the linked article is one of the best explainers of the link between guns, violent death overall and homocides that I have ever read. I should like to see someone from the other side try and debate these facts.
I was 11 years old when Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis and soon to be followed by the the murder of RFK. But it was earlier that year when the youth of America came out in force to protest against the Vietnam War which eventually led to Walter Cronkite's famous on-air turn against the war after his extensive visit to Southeast Asia. LBJ realized that once he "lost" Cronkite he also lost "America" and declined to run for a second full term. We have no Cronkite now (and how appalled would he be by Trump and his degradation of our nation) but we still have multitudes of young Americans who have shown a passion and zeal to take on the odious NRA and their lobbyist bought pols in Washington. They need to keep up the pressure, register to vote, and do to the NRA and its ilk what was done to the Vietnam War apologists...that is turn the tide of public opinion then turn out the compromised pols who care not a whit for public safety and decorum as opposed to NRA contributions and retribution if they don't toe the line.
191
I remember that too Marty. Of course now the Repubs have Fox News, what do you think are the odds of them "losing" Sean Hannity?
3
Walter Cronkite would be so much more annoyed and appalled by the behavior of current TV media. ANd those of us who marched against the VietNam debacle were not driven off-track by a lack of facts or the reality of a solution.; It's offensive to compare the high school marches of a single weekend (and likely none further) with those of a prolonged and persistent series of demonstrations for nearly six years.
It's all about money.
Banning bump stocks, and assorted trigger devices is a sop that doesn't effect gun manufacturers bottom line.
Remington is going bankrupt in part because of Sandy Hook lawsuits.
A trigger accelerator manufacturer, "Hellfire" went bankrupt because of a lawsuit over a 1993 mass shooting.
Take the companies on in a friendly venue and sue them into insolvency.
As they bleed out from settlements and legal fees, they will have far fewer dollars to buy legislators.
Then the laws will change.
Follow the dollars back to the nest and destroy it.
5
Well said! Thank you!
SO, everyone marched. What are they going to do when they discover that Gerrymandering works, no matter how many people march?
1
When someone has to be dragged screaming to the party you will have to forgive us if we don't believe the sincerity . We have been shouting loud and clear for decades and yet, no response. Now, as in all big problems, this has become so complicated, so extreme it is harder to roll back. The same steadfast, unapproachable politicians will do as little as permitted on gun control, get reelected and then go get back in bed with NRA. Don't believe not one minute they"get it!" What they get is if they don't give some they won't have jobs, i.e. Power, control, money. I don't believe in overnight converts. If they were the moral, ethical guys we all know and love, they would've got it after ,say Sandy Hook, Columbine, and say the next half dozen more shootings without getting their ethics challenged. And now begrudgingly they will one by one get in line and start educating us on gun control. Hypocrisy thy name is "republican!"
7
Still don't get it, do you? The recent March for Our Lives wasn't a product of the "left".
It was a product of Americans who are sick and tired of being killed because of the lax gun control laws that allow people who have no business owning fire arms unlimited access to buying them.
There is no reason why this should be a politicized matter, when the lives of men and women, Blacks and whites, girls and boys, Republicans and Democrats are all at stake.
And if those millions of individuals who came out across the planet to march can't get that point through -- then there's no doubt that the people on top who should be listening, have chosen not to.
40
I live in a "deep red state" (Georgia), but in a suburban area. Voters are not all ignorant sheep. I hope the day is near when people stop buying all the lies coming from the political establishment about not just guns and gun control, but health care and other societal issues too. Citizens in Canada, the UK, France and other countries can have guns, but ownership and sales are regulated, and those countries are not awash in gun violence and gun-related crime as our cities are. The GOP has always painted Canada as this socialist hellhole. Really? I think they have the right idea on guns. I think in the end, people, especially suburbanites who want to live in safe neighborhoods because they own homes and are raising kids, care more about outcomes than clinging to some purist political philosophy.
17
All of this runs on turnout. The NRA’s power was not it’s money but it’s reliable voter base. NRA voters vote and they vote in nearly every election. The nice lady across the street with two young children meant to but didn’t have the time and the people two doors down “don’t follow politics”. But your NRA neighbor always bites. Alabama at 16% Roy Moore wins flashing his gun. At 40%, different outcome. So Alabama isn’t such a conservative state as it’s normal voter turnout. The NRA voters are not only determined voters, they are encouraged. They win when they vote. They get positive feedback from voting. The real question is whether new voters will be as disciplined
4
Our Republican-dominated House and Senate will never legislate to control guns, act on global warming and Medicare for all. Nothing will change until voters place country over party and vote for Democrats.
1
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Republican Party and their loved ones.
3
The March For Our Lives, The MeToo Movement, and Black Lives Matter all coalesce at this point in time to create a perfect storm of indignation and righteous anger that is uprooting and disassembling the tone-deaf bastion of self-serving , smug white male dinosaurs that run this nation. (nevertheless however,they persist ...)
It is crystal clear who these good ol' boys work for - themselves, their like minded pals, and their plutocrat donors. They don't represent what the overwhelming number of Americans want because they don't work for us. Even though we pay them.
What kind of rip-off deal is that ?
I believe that change is not coming - It's already here.
Long overdue.
3
Enough is Enough!
The voters needs to vote out any politician who receives money from the NRA - for they are NRA PUPPETS.
5
It is freedom of the press and transparency in government that matters as much. Each candidate could be asked if they support the NRA and if they are receiving money from the organization. It is kneed-jerk. The press is the need and the NRA is the jerk.
2
These students are going to channel their energy into a voting drive that will bring these NRA-backed cowards down.
3
NRA paranoids!
No one wants to take away your guns. No one wants to take away the 2nd amendment.
You had 8 years of Obama, and how many guns were taken from you?
Zero
Use your brains.
This is not about your right to own a gun.
91
I dunno, I definitely want to take away their guns. Most of them, at least.
3
Its about time that the inverse NRA rating becomes a critical part of deciding who to vote for. A candidate that gets an F from NRA is a fantastic candidate. Lets get some serious advertising against those who get funded by and rated A from NRA.
3
If the passion of the moment is to have any effect it must be translated into action at the ballot box. That means a willingness to vote out any incumbent Democrat or Republican, who is not willing to take strong action on gun control. It means supporting those candidates who are willing to take action. It also means we must have a congress that is not deadlocked and is willing to govern. The existing congress does not fill that bill. It is time for a change.
57
Almost 4 million Americans reach voting age this year. They have the opportunity to make a big difference in both Congressional races and in their state elections. Republicans beholden to the NRA have nothing to give these kids. If these young voters keep their momentum through the fall, we could see the turnover in legislatures that will make a difference.
180
This could change the gerrymandering. Hopefully, too, there are some Republicans that are tired of the gun violence. School shootings have gone on now, for 15 YEARS.I would like to see some figures on the number of people killed in the U.S. compared to the deaths of the soldiers overseas. It might become clear that we are, for all intents and purposes, at war over here, too. AND, we are losing.
5
The GOP is tone deaf when it comes to gun control. It was obvious by the statement the ex-Senator Rick Santorum made on CNN this weekend when he showed his disdain for the marching students saying to the effect that they shouldn’t expect someone else to solve their problems and should be more proactive by taking CPR classes. How ridiculous.
These student are doing all that they can to express how they feel and how inadequate our elected officials are in responding to the ever increasing gun violence in this country. To suggest that somehow it is the student’s problem and not the elected officials is more than ridiculous, it’s criminal. These students will soon be voters and along with the rest of the nation that believes that in gun control will show that they can do more than march and will be proactive in voting these people out of office.
266
Congress should be happy that they are being asked to help with this problem. We have seen, first hand, how some students deal with their problems.
1
The Republicans and the NRA need to learn CPR. They'll need in after the 2018 and 2020 elections.
2
CPR = Complete Purge of Republicans.
When the money donated to Rubio by the NRA is divided by the number of US gunshot school children, hence the $1.05 price tag worn by marching school children. This should be done for every politician in the crawl under any videos. The same should be shown for money donated to our Congressmen from single donors such as the Mercers and the Kochs and Dem donors.
When our politicians publicly state that they are voting for a bill "to pay back our donors" such as the recent GOP tax bill (which was an unprecedented giveaway to the wealthiest of the wealthy and corporations and which is causing a doubling of the deficit....in good financial times)......we no longer have a democracy looking out for our national welfare. We have a corrupt and bought government....of which Trump is indeed representative and not an exception.
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ANYwhere else that would be called "graft"and is illegal.
graft | ɡraft |
noun
practices, especially bribery, used to secure illicit gains in politics or business; corruption: sweeping measures to curb official graft.
• gains secured by corruption: government officials grow fat off bribes and graft.
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It wasnt the number of gunshot school children. It was the number of school children in Florida, representing the price per child he is supposed to represent.
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I am a fan of John McCain, but it deeply troubles me that he is the largest recipient of NRA monies in the US Senate. I would like him to be remembered for other things.
As he enters his sunset days, I wish he would seal his legacy by donating the millions of NRA dollars he received to a worthy cause.
6
This march by our youth was exceedingly important, children shaming us into doing what we were supposed to be doing all along, protect them and allow education in a safe environment develop their natural talents, as they are the future of this country. We, ossified by complacency, let them down; it's time we show the 'ganas' (the will!) to be part of a solution...and not the problem; too many guns for the asking, with the eager assistance of those with blood-drenched hands (and conscience): the N.R.A./Gun Lobby/republican politicians in congress. Enough of this carnage!
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Yes, they have been let down, but by the NRA and the elected officials whom the NRA has bought and paid for. Most of us, including me and my entire family, shun guns, hate their prevalence, and publicly revile a culture that has elevated the second amendment over the right of all of us to life and to free speech, and so on. It's time to VOTE OUT those pols who have given their allegiance to the NRA and its allies over the right to be safe and secure that are innate human rights, including for my children and grandchildren. I was proud to march on Saturday in DC with my husband, my daughter and her family, with almost all of our friends, with our in-laws, and to know that our other daughter was marching with friends in NYC at the same time.
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