Last week President Obama tearfully announced new measures included in an Executive Order meant to curb gun violence, such as better background checks at gun shows. He has always said that the day of the Sandy Hook massacre of innocent children and teachers was the worst day of his Presidency.
Of course, the wingnuts who believe he is still planning a "Gun Grab" and martial law don't understand real emotion when they see it. They immediately jumped to bizarre conclusions and conspiracies to explain the President crying over dead children.
Because they are insane. And heartless!
The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage, but they can't hold America hostage. We can't accept this carnage in our communities.
The National Rifle Association is always proud when a woman straps on a gun and walks through Target or Home Depot, but they really despise women who want gun control. That's why in a recent article, the NRA is attacking Shannon Watts, the activist Mom who created "Moms Demand Action."
In an article called "Not Watt She Seems," NRA has chosen to demean Watts by making her the caricature of a 50's retro paper-doll housewife surrounded by household objects such as a feather duster, an iron, and a spatula. In essence, the NRA is depicting women as Stepford Wives.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG IS BANKROLLING “MOMS DEMAND ACTION,” WITH SHANNON WATTS AS HIS STAND-IN, STAY-AT-HOME MOM.
BUT A CLOSER LOOK REVEALS HER COVER STORY TO BE PAPER-THIN.
Ms. Watts was not an activist or involved in gun issues prior to the shootings at Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012. The day after the tragedy, she started a Facebook page called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America....
. . . The registered address for her pr firm was a residence, so presumably she was running her pr firm out of her house. Her children were all well into school-age or older, so it’s likely that she had plenty of time to run her business during the day. Watts’ biography on Linkedin.com states that she ran the public relations firm until June 2012. Also, for the 20 months ending in June 2012, she was a consultant for the large public relations firm FleishmanHillard. Also, in May 2010, Watts and her husband opened the Watts Fine Art gallery in Zionsville, Ind. There’s nothing wrong with that, except “running a streetfront art gallery plus public relations business from my house” is not the impression conveyed by “stay-at-home mom.”
"The idea that I might be able to stay home and do something other than cook and clean seems beyond their grasp," Watts says. "They believe real moms wear dresses from the 1950s and use rotary telephones and iron — which, in my opinion, is what the dryer is for." The image is an odd move for an organization so actively courting women to join their ranks. "For them to denigrate women, who make up the majority of the electorate, seems incredibly short-sighted," Watts says.
Rebranding?
The NRA ultimately loses the argument by insisting that Watts has no right to be as accomplished as she is, since she calls herself a stay-at-home mother. That is insulting to all women throughout history, It seems as if Wayne La Pierre believes the old cliche of women being "just a housewife," as if women were ever "just" anything.
The ironic thing about the NRA's argument is that it portrays Watts as both an accomplished and effective activist, so they are admitting they have a Renaissance woman as an adversary. And now that they are throwing down the gauntlet, even bringing the ages of her children into their criticism, they deserve whatever despicable fate awaits them in the future.
Watts and @MomsDemand fought back in social media with the hashtag #MomsNotMaids and graphics making fun of the NRA's backward and sexist view of women.
There's a Sheryl Crow song called "Every Day is a Winding Road" and that line pretty much sums up the twists and turns of conspiracy theorists. Nothing is ever what it seems. Truth is an illusion. Their favorite song should be "Everything is a False Flag," which means that for any given news story, it can be explained away as an event staged with actors to make a political point.
The "flag" in the name refers to Naval Warfare in which a ship will fly the flag of another country to sneak up on the enemy. Espionage groups all over the world allegedly "stage" false flag operations to confuse or cast doubt on other countries.
For a modern origin, False Flaggers point to something called "Operation Northwoods."
In the U.S., the biggest "Mother-of-All False Flag" conspiracy theory could be the idea that the Bush Administration "staged" the September 11 attack in 2001. Countless websites and books are devoted to the idea that George Bush himself gave the order to implode the Twin Towers, and that there never was a plane crash at the Pentagon. The 3000 victims were collateral damage in a bigger plan by Cheney and Rumsfeld to justify going back to Iraq to conquer the country, and steal their oil. Bush went along with it so he could finish what his father started with the first Gulf War by capturing Baghdad and killing Saddam Hussein. With a war already going in Afghanistan, America didn't want another war front, so to convince Congress the Bushies invented imaginary Weapons of Mass Destruction or WMDs that Saddam didn't actually have. That part of the story is true and confirmed by then-Sec. of State Colin Powell, which proves to False Flaggers that the rest of it must be true.
Others blame the "Zionist Conspiracy" - the idea that Israel set up 9-11 so that the U.S. would wage war on Muslims all over the world.
And of course, while Bush never captured Osama, his army did capture Baghdad and Saddam Hussein, and he managed to install the Patriot Act, a type of draconian law in which we are supposed to be afraid of our own shadows, see every Muslim as a terrorist, while the government remains an ally to Israel. To the false-flaggers, that partial truth means that EVERYTHING has to be true!
Even today you can find "9-11 Truthers" on Twitter:
@English103@martinhume 9/11 was the biggest example of a false flag attack/inside job, without a doubt.
These days false flag theories get their start on far-right radio with people like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck who are paranoid and think they see government propaganda black-operations going on every time something happens. The people who believe False Flag reports are known as "Truthers," which is sort of a take-off on "Birthers" - the anti-Obama crowd who believe that everything about his life is a manufactured lie, from his birth certificate to his college degree to the way he governs. These theories are fueled mostly by hatred and the GOP has used the ideas to fire up the base and view the President as "the other" - some exotic, un-American creature.
The False Flag meme blames everything on Obama, even horrible school shootings, terrorism, and bad weather. The nutters believe that Obama is creating a false reality to frighten people into passing his programs, such as gun control and climate change. And sometimes, as with Obamacare, the GOP fought against it so long, they are just in denial about how successful it is. Oh, and also Benghazzzziii!!!
Here's a compilation of Alex Jones on The Boston Bombing:
The most recent spate of False Flaggers are sympathizers with the National Rifle Association. You could say they have a persecution complex, believing that Obama is still going to grab their guns, even though he hasn't made one move to do it in almost seven years. These gun-lovers were behind the theory that the Newtown/Sandy Hook Elementary shooting was a staged event to drum up gun control support - and of course they blame Obama: The Sandy Hook Truthers - Shooting was Staged with "Crisis Actors"
Recently a Sandy Hook Truther got into trouble for continuing to harass the parents of a victim, even stealing a sign that had been erected at a playground to honor the child. The man was hunted down and caught by police after he sent pictures of the sign to the blog The Daily Banter. Kudos to Bob Cesca and Chez Pazienza for helping to catch this creepy guy!
Police have told us that The Daily Banter‘s reporting on the story was instrumental in catching 28-year-old Andrew David Truelove and bringing the case to a close.
As we reported here last week, someone claiming to have stolen the signs contacted me and e-mailed pictures of the missing panels, boasting that he had taken them and then called the families of both McDonnell and Kowalski to taunt them by saying that their children had never actually existed and the Sandy Hook massacre was nothing but a hoax. I passed along all the information this person had sent me to the police department in Stonington, Conn., which was working the case. I’ve been in contact with detectives there several times since.
It turns out the photos that we received were loaded with metadata, including geotags, which led Stonington to contact Herndon, where many of the pictures were apparently taken. Police there tracked the geotags to the home seen in the photos we posted last week, which was actually a small unit rented by someone named Alan J. Truelove. They obtained a warrant and this morning arrested Truelove, the father of the man suspected of being the actual sign thief, Andrew David Truelove. While the elder Truelove hasn’t been charged with anything yet, since he denies knowing the signs in his home were stolen, while being questioned he apparently asked the police how they could be sure the Sandy Hook shooting had really happened. So, yes, it looks like he’s a Sandy Hook truther just like his son.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The NRA crowd seems to be coming up with a new False Flag theory a day:
Some of them believe Elliot Rodger, the Isla Vista California shooter who documented at length his own plans to kill women who wouldn't sleep with him, was just a cog in the wheel of Obama's Gun Control Plan:
The fact that the 140 pg manifesto of Elliot Rodger has already been released to the public. Hmmm. sounds like another CIA #falseflag
A gun found at Target in the children's department was put there by the Gun Control group Moms Demand Action to cause an incident so the #NRA will back down on allowing Open Carry in their stores. Yeah, that makes sense - NOT.
Loaded handgun found in SC Target toy section, Open Carry TX boss CJ Grisham alleges false-flag: http://t.co/e52oaoafnC
A shooting at the Forsyth Georgia County Courthouse was staged to slam both gun lovers and "Sovereign Citizens" - a type of Libertarian who believes the federal government has no jurisdiction, such as Cliven Bundy.
The Isla Vista, California, shooting was shocking not just for the senseless killing of six young people, but for the chilling motive of the equally young murderer, Elliot Rodger. In his "Manifesto," Rodger explains his vendetta against all the women who ever ignored or rejected him, as well as his anger at his three "irritating" roommates, all Asians, whom he stabbed to death. Rodger's egomania and Narcissism is evident in both his videos and his writing, and his hatred of women is creepy and maniacal.
It would be easy to just label him a mentally-ill Sociopath like many of the other shooters and just move along. But Elliot Rodger's attitudes are all-too-familiar for anyone who has followed politics since 2008. He basically shares many of the same values of the macho NRA and GOP: the #BundyRanch NRA neanderthals who gladly used women and children as human shields; the #OpenCarry movement that is pushing "Guns Everywhere" bills and invading meetings by the group Moms Demand Action; as well as the #TeaParty of Paul Ryan and Bob McDonnell who want to probe pregnant women with 9-inch wands and force them to have babies with rapists.
Heck, if Rodger hadn't burned out early, he could have been their next leader!
Open carry is about intimidation, not rights. Gun dudes with assault rifles get kicked out of Chili's and Sonic http://t.co/mpmuo7HVue
— Kennett Area Dems (@KennettDems) May 28, 2014
It’s time to call misogynist extremism by its name.
On Friday night, a young man went on a massacre in Santa Barbara that left six other people dead and seven injured. In the hours before the massacre, the suspect, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, had uploaded a video to YouTube titled “Retribution.” In this, and in a 140-page manifesto published online, Rodger claimed that he was going to prove himself the ultimate “alpha male” and take revenge on all the “sluts” who had sexually rejected him: "Tomorrow is the day of retribution, the day in which I will have my revenge ... you girls aren't attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. I’ll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you. You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one, the true alpha male.”
You girls have never been attracted to me. I don't know why you girls aren't attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It's an injustice, a crime, because ... I don't know what you don't see in me. I'm the perfect guy and yet you throw yourselves at these obnoxious men instead of me, the supreme gentleman.
I will punish all of you for it. (laughs) On the day of retribution I'm going to enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB. And I will slaughter every spoiled, stuck-up, blond slut I see inside there. All those girls I've desired so much, they would have all rejected me and looked down upon me as an inferior man if I ever made a sexual advance towards them (scoffs) while they throw themselves at these obnoxious brutes. I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you.
You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one. The true alpha male. (laughs) Yes. After I've annihilated every single girl in the sorority house, I will take to the streets of Isla Vista and slay every single person I see there. All those popular kids who live such lives of hedonistic pleasures while I've had to rot in loneliness for all these years. They've all looked down upon me every time I tried to go out and join them, they've all treated me like a mouse.
. . . You've forced me to suffer all my life and now I'll force you all to suffer. I've waited a long time for this. I'll give you exactly what you deserve. All of you. All you girls who rejected me and looked down upon me and you know, treated me like scum while you gave yourselves to other men. And all of you men, for living a better life than me, all of you sexually active men, I hate you. I hate all of you. I can't wait to give you exactly what you deserve Utter annihilation. (laughs).
Father of Isla Vista victim isn't done: "I don't give a s--- that you feel sorry for me... Do something." http://t.co/HN97zkVeCu
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 27, 2014
No idea how my son will die, but I know it won't be cowering like a bitch at UC Santa Barbara. Any son of mine would have been shooting back
— Todd Kincannon (@Todd__Kincannon) May 25, 2014
The media causes mass murders by sensationalizing them and stoking political controversy. The media does this for money: ad clicks, ratings.
— Todd Kincannon (@Todd__Kincannon) May 27, 2014
I’m not talking here about the three tragic murders Rodger committed by stabbing before his driving and shooting spree; I speak now only to the families of the gunshot victims in Santa Barbara:
It’s a tragedy.
I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But:
As harsh as this sounds – your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights.
Richard Martinez, whose son (Christopher) was among the murdered, choked back tears at a news conference, blaming politicians the next day: “The talk about gun rights. What about Chris’ right to live?” Martinez said – and much more.
There are no critical words for a grieving father. He can say whatever he wants and blame whoever he’d like – it’s okay by me. You can’t take a step in his shoes – at least I can’t.
But the words and images of Mr. Martinez blaming “the proliferation of guns”, lobbyists, politicians, etc.; will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left.
Joe the Plumber: The real victim of Santa Barbara shootings would be me losing my guns http://t.co/o2orP7XJy4
Before I tell you how the NRA and our members are going to Stand And Fight politically and in the courts, let’s acknowledge that all over this country, tens of millions of Americans are already preparing to Stand And Fight to protect their families and homes. These good Americans are prudently getting ready to protect themselves. . . . A heinous act of mass murder—either by terrorists or by some psychotic who should have been locked up long ago—will be the pretext to unleash a tsunami of Gun Control.
No wonder Americans are buying guns in record numbers right now, while they still can and before their choice about which firearm is right for their family is taken away forever.
After Hurricane Sandy, we saw the hellish world that the gun prohibitionists see as their utopia. Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn. There was no food, water or electricity. And if you wanted to walk several miles to get supplies, you better get back before dark, or you might not get home at all.
. . . President Obama is leading this country to financial ruin, borrowing over a trillion dollars a year for phony “stimulus” spending and other payoffs for his political cronies. Nobody knows if or when the fiscal collapse will come, but if the country is broke, there likely won’t be enough money to pay for police protection. And the American people know it.
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face—not just maybe. It’s not paranoia to buy a gun. It’s survival. It’s responsible behavior, and it’s time we encourage law-abiding Americans to do just that.
. . . To preserve the inalienable, individual human right to keep and bear arms—to withstand the siege that is coming—the NRA is building a four-year communications and resistance movement. The enemies of the Second Amendment will be met with unprecedented defiance, commitment and determination. We will Stand And Fight.
. . . Every gun owner should be an active member of the NRA. Every gun owner should be sure that every member of his or her family is an active member.
. . . We will not surrender. We will not appease. We will buy more guns than ever. We will use them for sport and lawful self-defense more than ever. We will grow the NRA more than ever. And we will be prouder than ever to be freedom-loving NRA patriots. And with your help, we will ensure that the Second Amendment remains America’s First Freedom. We will Stand And Fight.
"Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals."
Because you need a gun to fight those damned hurricanes and tornadoes.
~ Doug D. on Daily Caller
You're right, a gun won't protect you from a tornado or hurricane. Wayne is just saying that it'll allow you to rob someone of their food and water.
~ Thoth on Daily Caller
And let's not forget about the Martians...everyone knows the Obama administration is secretly working with the Martians through NASA to take over the world...but they have to get our guns first!
~ RenegadeFL on Daily Caller
Is the NRA more or less threatening they will shoot and kill Americans who try to enforce laws they disagree with? Hypothetical laws that haven't even been proposed except in their paranoid minds? Because if you are threatening to kill Americans for enforcing the law, you're not exactly helping your cause. In fact, I'd say you're doing a fine job of making the argument for the other side. It's clear your type is incapable of being trusted with firearms. You are a clear threat to our society and should be treated as such.
~ Confabulat on Daily Caller
The only thing that will stop a bad zombie with a gun is a good zombie with a gun.
~ RDK541 on Huff Post
Hurricanes, tornadoes, riots, people wearing crocs in public, reality television, sales on Black Friday, plagues of locusts, lizard people...yes, yes, these are just some of the perils we face.
~ Sabazinus on Huff Post
We have a strong agenda coming up for next year, but of course a lot of that’s going to be delayed as the “Connecticut Effect” has to go through the process. [...] What’s even more telling is the people who don’t like guns pretty much realize that they can’t do a thing unless they talk to us. After Connecticut I had one of the leading Democrats in the legislature—he was with us most of the time, not all the time—he came to me and said, “Bob, I got all these people in my caucus that really want to ban guns and do all this bad stuff, we gotta give them something. How about we close this gun show loophole? Wouldn’t that be good?” And I said, “no, we’re not going to do that.” And so far, nothing’s happened on that.
~ Bob Welch of the Wisconsin chapter of The National Rifle Association
The remarks by a NRA lobbyist that the organization's efforts would intensify after the "Connecticut effect" subsides are callous and offensive and should be denounced by the NRA. If the NRA believes that Americans are going to forget what happened two months ago this week, it is sorely mistaken. What the NRA doesn't seem to understand is that the so-called "Connecticut effect" is actually 20 children with their whole lives ahead of them taken from us in a matter of seconds - and six courageous educators who simply came to school to help children and, instead, lost their lives trying to protect them. The unimaginable pain their families and the Newtown community and our nation feel will not wear off anytime soon.
~ Senator Richard Blumental D-Connecticut, in an editorial on Huffington Post
Bob Welch is neither a staff lobbyist nor a contract lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. He does not speak for the NRA.
~ Official NRA Email
While it’s not clear whether Welch, a former Wisconsin state legislator, has ever been paid by the NRA to lobby the state legislature in Wisconsin, it is clear that he and the group he represents has claimed to speak for the NRA in the past.
Welch is a registered lobbyist for Wi-FORCE (Wisconsin Firearm Owners, Ranges, Clubs & Educators, Inc.). The Wi-FORCE website is emblazoned with the words “An NRA Chartered State Association” as well as a newsfeed from the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, the group’s lobbying arm.
~ Talking Points Memo
The response that most of us had to Newtown wasn't the "Connecticut effect"...but humanity. And humanity should be able to outlast the NRA.
~ Will Bunch on Philly.com
The House Gallery in the U.S. Capitol had a distinctively Connecticut cast for President Obama's Tuesday night State of the Union speech.
At least half of the two dozen invited guests who were victims of gun violence are residents of this state. The guests, invited by the president and members of Congress, included the parents of a little girl killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14; a teacher wounded in the same incident; and the head of a liquor distributorship in Manchester where eight employees were shot and killed in 2010.
. . . We could proudly call Tuesday night's display of resolve "the Connecticut effect."
~ Hartford Courant Editorial
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ted Nugent at SOTU
State of the Union Seating Planners Troll Ted Nugent, Put Him Next to Gay Civil Rights Activist from Portland
. . . Lauderdale, best known for founding the "little orchestra" known as Pink Martini, is the anti-Ted Nugent: A liberal, Occupy-Movement-supporting, openly gay civil rights activist who favors gun control and loves classical music.
~ Gawker
. . . there he was, sitting quietly in a corner of a visitor’s gallery on the upper level of the House chamber, a guest of conservative Republican congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX).
. . . Asked about Obama’s remarks, Nugent, best known for his 1970s hit “Cat Scratch Fever,” mimicked a slow yawn before offering his, well, critique.
“Does kiss my ass ring any bells?” drawled the Nuge, who sported a camouflage cowboy hat.
“I’m so excited that someone is going to bring about world peace and save the children,” he quipped.
“And thank God he’s gonna stop global warming, I was starting to get concerned.”
. . . “I’ve heard this predictable flowery feel-good speech of denial before,” Nugent said at one of his many stops in front of the TV cameras.
“It’s a scam, and I think it’s epitomized by his dishonesty in the overt attempt to infringe on our Second Amendment rights” to bear arms.
Nugent was eventually introduced to a reporter from the Voice of America.
The rocker grinned and interrupted: “I’m sorry, I’m the f—ing voice of America!” he boomed.
It deeply pains me to report that the prez is a master scam artist-didnt believe a word
The Nuge does not stand and clap for "our brave men and women in uniform are coming home"
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 13, 2013
We found Ted Nugent!WAy up in the corner wearing brown sports coat and black shirt. He didn't stand when prez praised bipartisanship.
— Howard Fineman (@howardfineman) February 13, 2013
Ted Nugent may not be dead, but thanks to the gun policies he supports, 20 first-graders are. #p2#p21#uniteblue#lawrence
...Politico reported that Nugent held court with reporters, telling them that Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), who was paralyzed in a shooting accident, had “Shit for brains” because he was critical of Nugent’s attendance at the address. He also denied threatening President Obama.
NBC News’ Luke Russert later asked Nugent if he thought that was “an appropriate thing to say about a sitting member of Congress who’s in a wheelchair?”
Nugent, no stranger to feces, responded that it would take “genuine fecal material instead of brain matter” to suggest that he doesn’t “feel sorry for the victims of violent crime.”
(I will post some of the transcripts when they are available tomorrow)
From Gayle Trotter, a senior fellow at the conservative Independent Women's Forum
Guns make women safer. Using a firearm with a magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, a woman would have a fighting chance even against multiple attackers.
Young women are speaking out as to why AR-15 weapons are their weapon of choice. The guns are accurate. They have good handling. They’re light. They’re easy for women to hold.
And most importantly, their appearance. An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon, and the peace of mind that a woman has as she’s facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals.
And if we ban these types of assault weapons, you are putting women at a great disadvantage, more so than men, because they do not have the same type of physical strength and opportunity to defend themselves in a hand-to-hand struggle. They’re not criminals, they’re moms, they’re young women. And they’re not used to violence confrontations.
The peace of mind that she has, knowing that she has a scary-looking gun, gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals. If we ban these types of assault weapons, you are putting these types of women at a great disadvantage–more so than men because they don’t have the same type of physical strength and opportunity to defend themselves in a hand-to-hand struggle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the dumbest thing I've heard so far. Ask Ms. Giffords if she would have had time to whip out a AR-15 when she was attacked. Most gun violence happens in a split second, even the police who are the trained professionals have a hard time reacting.
~ Hawaii55 on Washington Post
Looks like someone wants to be the next Sarah Palin! But could you please leave us ladies out of your defense of Second Amendment rights? That is not a gun in our pocket and we are not happy to see you.
~ Jezebel
A young woman in her home defending her babies against three, four, five violent intruders? What kind of gun-nut fantasy is this? When does that ever happen? She might as well say that she's defending her babies from 20 shambling zombies.
~ amordecosmos on Raw Story
If their baby is crying, maybe they should put down the f***ing rifle and pick up the baby.
~ Flying Squid on Raw Story
She forgot to mention the approaching horde of zombies, the black helicopters hovering overhead, and the imminent threat to her bible and her 75-foot American flag, by god!
There she stood, proud and fierce, the wind of history stirring her long, dark hair. Before this intrepid mother, her screaming babies behind her, a hit squad of Black, Arabs, Mexicans and gays pounded at her door, their fangs dripping with an evil hunger to take a census. Momma Gayle Trotter held up her terrifying weapon, and the ravening horde fell back in fear.
And now a word from our sponsor, Big Guns R Us.
~ jimbo92107 on Raw Story
A woman with a baby in one hand and and AR-15 in the other, fending off marauding gangs of rapists. Put the comic books down, sweetie.
~ HoratioGalt on Huffington Post
We seem to have a lot of people who believe the zombie apocalypse is actually happening right now. Either that, or they think Red Dawn is a documentary. Good grief. Our gun problem is directly related to the damaged people who are so afraid of life, they can't envision life without a weapon at their side. These are fear based people - lacking self esteem and self confidence. We do not need these people making our legislative decisions. I'm sorry their parents didn't give them enough love - that IS sad. But now they need to take their damaged selves home while the healthy people solve problems.
~ Stanwyck on Huffington Post
Question: Where in the world do these people live that women are having to single handedly repel multiple attackers to defend their home and children? Have we entered the days of Mad Max and the liberal media is just keeping quiet?
The idea that we are just an AR-15 away from totally anarchy is absurd. And sitting in front of the United Stataes Senate and claiming women need fully automatic weapons to repel the advancing hordes makes you look foolish and diminishes the Pro Gun Rights people who aren't nuts.
~ danzbassman on Huffington Post
One only wishes [NRA Executive VIce President and CEO] Wayne LaPierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of these [school shooting] scenes, where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestine still containing the poor wads of half-digested food that were some innocent bystander’s last meal.
~ From author Stephen King's ebook on Gun Violence
My problem with background checks is you’re never going to get criminals to go through universal background checks. All the law-abiding people . . . you'll create an enormous federal bureaucracy, unfunded, hitting all the little people in the country who will have to go through it, pay the fees, pay the taxes. We don’t even prosecute anybody right now that goes through the system we have. So we're going to make all those law-abiding people go through the system, and then we aren't going to prosecute any of the bad guys if they do catch one. None of it makes any sense in the real world.
~ Wayne LaPierre of the NRA
Mr. LaPierre, that's the point! Criminals won't go to purchase the guns, because there will be a background check! We'll stop them from the original purchase. You missed that point completely! And I think it's basic. (applause in the room)
~ Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois
Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation.
For our children. For our communities. For Democrats and Republicans.
Speaking is difficult but I need to say something important.
Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children.
We must do something. It will be hard but the time is now.
You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.
Thank you.
~ Former Representative from Arizona, Gabby Giffords, opening testimony in the Senate Hearing on Gun Control
Actually...while we're having this hearing, and we certainly don't know the details, but in Phoenix, Arizona, there is another what seems to be possibly a shooting with multiple victims. And it doesn't seem like anybody's been killed, but the initial reports are 3 people injured . . . with multiple shots fired.
~ Gabby Giffords husband, Mark Kelly, at Senate Hearing on Gun Control
Groups are calling on gun rights activists to go to local gun stores, gun ranges or gun shows in order to send a message to the president and Congress.
“The Obama administration has shown that it is more than willing to trample the Constitution to impose its dictates upon the American people,” “Gun Appreciation Day” chairman Larry Ward, president of Political Media, Inc., said in a press release. “If the American people don’t fight back now, Obama will do the Second Amendment what he has already done to the First with Obamacare – gut it without a moment’s thought to our basic constitutional rights.”
The groups are hoping to reach up to 50 million Americans ahead of “Gun Appreciation Day” which will take place two days before Obama’s inauguration.
“We have never had a president who so callously disregards the Constitution, Congress, the courts, and the will of the American people,” Ward said in a statement. “And that’s why this outpouring of public support is so important for our constitutional safeguards to keep and bear arms. If, as this president claims, the American people are at risk from murderous rampagers, the logical solution is to arm, not present a docile target.”
In Indianapolis, police said a 54-year-old man was injured when he inadvertently shot himself while leaving a gun show.
Emory L. Cozee was loading his .45-caliber semi-automatic when he shot himself in the hand as he was leaving the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife show at the state fairgrounds, state police said. Loaded personal weapons aren't allowed inside the show. Cozee, of Indianapolis, was hospitalized for treatment. Police say the shooting was accidental and no charges will be filed.
And in Ohio, a gun dealer in Medina was checking out a semi-automatic handgun he had bought Saturday when he accidentally pulled the trigger, injuring his friend, police said. The gun's magazine had been removed from the firearm, but one round remained in the chamber, police said.
Police Chief Pat Berarducci said it appears the bullet ricocheted off the floor and struck the friend in the arm and leg. The man was taken by helicopter to a hospital 30 miles north in Cleveland, Berarducci said. His condition wasn't immediately known.
The most casualties came at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina, where attendees bolted -- with at least one woman wiping out in the frenetic scene -- when gunfire rang out around 1 p.m., as seen on video captured by CNN affiliate WRAL.
Police later explained that a a 36-year-old man from Wilmington, North Carolina, was unfastening the case of his 12-gauge shotgun on a table near the show entrance when it accidentally discharged. The man planned to sell the shotgun at the show.
The bird shot ended up injuring three people. One was a sheriff's deputy, who suffered a slight injury to his hand and was treated and released at a local hospital before returning immediately to work, said Joel Keith, chief of police of the North Carolina State Fair.
A 54-year-old woman from Benson, North Carolina, was being treated for a wound to her right torso at a local hospital, and a 50-year-old man from Durham, North Carolina, was treated for an injured left hand, Keith told reporters.
"I want to emphasize that this is an accident," Keith said.
