54% of the Senate voted for background checks, and they together represented roughly 63% of America’s population. But because the Senate is not a democratic body, majority support wasn’t enough to win that vote. The world’s greatest deliberative body, ladies and gentlemen.
Obama wants to put every private, personal firearms transaction right under the thumb of the federal government and he wants to keep all of those names in a massive federal registry. There’s only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners – to either tax ‘em or take ‘em.NRA executive Wayne LaPierre • Cherry-picking a single phrase from President Obama’s inaugural address to become the subject of his latest rant against the President and the push for stricter gun control. While we’re not big fans of LaPierre ourselves, we’d hate to see the man work himself into an early grave over these fears, and just like to remind him that sometimes tracking the sale of certain products can be extremely beneficial. Even when the products being tracked were manufactured with nothing but the best intentions (We’re looking at you pseudoephedrine). source
Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.White House Spokesperson Jay Carney - Commenting on a new political ad, released by the National Rifle Association, which calls President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for opposing the stationing of armed guards in every school. We’re inclined to agree with Carney on this one. Say what you will about the man’s legislative agenda, but reasonable human beings should be able to agree that children aren’t acceptable targets for political attacks. source
After the Sandy Hook shootings in Newton, Connecticut I started a petition urging the Obama Administration to work with Congress to limit access to guns. I first posted it here on tumblr and it quickly took off, making it’s way to Twitter and Facebook, eventually going viral.
In a few days it became the most popular petition on the “We The People” White House petition site, and even prompted a video response from the President. Here’s the fun part… I found out a few days ago that I am invited to the White House this Wednesday.
While details are up in the air, I know there will be an interview, and a good chance to meet the king of Dad Sneakers and his #2, as well as some other fun stuff. So with that said, here’s a big thanks to everyone who supported the petition, because it does matter. If you have any questions/comments please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them. Wish me luck (I need a haircut and a shave).
Now this is awesome. Best of luck!
There is a surprising, so far, a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks. Not just close the gun show loophole, but total, universal background checks, including private sales.Joe Biden re: the proposals being considered by his gun control task force. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic Governor of Colorado, echoed this same sentiment today. In addition, Biden said that he’s “never quite heard as much talk about the need to do something about high-capacity magazines as I’ve heard spontaneously from every group that we’ve met with so far,” and said that the president has given him until Tuesday to present a set of recommendations as to how best prevent future incidents like the one in Newtown. source
It’s no secret that I don’t like guns. But neither am I someone who thinks gun owners are all wingnuts who are stockpiling guns to protect themselves against the government (which is why I frequently lampoon those who are doing this) or to murder their neighbors. If you want to think seriously about ways to put a brake on gun deaths in our country — apart from arming everyone, which is the NRA position — simply publishing a list of (some) (potential) gun owners isn’t going to help.Ari Kohen • Offering an effective bit of commentary regarding the gun registry map put online by a New York-based newspaper. What benefit does posting public information about people who have guns offer? Not a lot, honestly. It doesn’t add much to the gun control debate, it shames and endangers people who don’t necessarily deserve either shaming or endangerment, and it gets away from the actual issue at hand. Yes, it’s public data. No, it doesn’t really shine a light on anything, other than that this is a really effective way of pissing people off.
We’re fighting terrorism, which comes under very specific geopolitical and military circumstances. This is not something that compares with the situation in the U.S.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor • Disputing claims, made by the National Rifle Association last week, that they were an example for the U.S. to follow in adding police officers to schools. But they dispute this, first off, because those officers are dealing with terrorism, not school shootings. Secondly, the rate of school shootings and civilian gun ownership is actually very low in Israel. Third, the officers were added in a period where there were no recent attacks at schools. And finally, there have only been two school shootings in Israel in the past four decades. As it is, the guards Israel does have are lightly armed and have a support system in case something does happen.
But if Mr. LaPierre had any intention of softening his rhetoric regarding the recent Sandy Hook grade school shooting in Connecticut – particularly in light of normally pro-gun pundits and elected officials distancing themselves from his adamant stance – that was not apparent Sunday when he sat down for an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“If it’s crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” LaPierre told NBC’s David Gregory. “I think the American people think it’s crazy not to do it. It’s the one thing that would keep people safe and the NRA is going try to do that.”
Alright man, will do. Side note, FWIW: Then-president Bill Clinton tried the same thing in 2000, a year after Columbine, and drew heavy criticism from Republicans for the effort. Clearly, it wasn’t successful. (ht climateadaptation for that last bit)
And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal. There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like ‘Bullet Storm,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Splatterhouse.’National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre • Taking a swipe at a number of video games during his speech on Friday—where he also suggested that the solution to school shootings was having armed policemen at each school. Mind you, two of these games, Splatterhouse and Mortal Kombat, have each been around in various forms for two decades or longer, though both have had relatively recent entries. Anyway, can we call them the National Retro Association? It’s like they traveled back in time and pulled these lines out of the mouths of analysts in the wake of Columbine.
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing:” This morning, President Obama announced the formation of what’s essentially a gun control task force—a policy team tasked with crafting concrete proposals to reduce gun violence. The group will be headed by Vice President Biden, and its proposals will be due on the President’s desk “no later than January.” Obama emphatically rejected the notion that the team is a “commission;” he insisted that it will not “be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside.” He also pledged to speak of the proposals, whatever they may be, in his State of the Union address next year.
The National Rifle Association broke its silence over the Newton, Connecticut mass shooting on Tuesday, releasing a statement announcing a “major news conference” this week where it could offer “meaningful contributions” to prevent future massacres.
The NRA had been in virtual silence since the grisly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, but now has released this statement, teasing some level of increased participation on the topic. What will this mean? It’s hard to say. But this at least hints at a step that’s invariably relevant, if not crucial, should any form of gun control conversation occur — the NRA coming to the table in good faith.
100,000 signatures and going strong.
Thanks to all who have signed, reblogged, tweeted etc.
Keep it up. Let’s shoot for 500K.
This is now the most-popular WhiteHouse.gov petition ever. And it came from Tumblr.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
