Lets Have A Rational Conversation About Guns

Would stricter gun control help?
As the country recovers from the shooting rampage in Arizona on January 8th, 2011, we all wonder about our safety and the safety of our elected officials. Some blame the "dont retreat, reload" Tea Party culture. Some are questioning the lenient Gun Laws in Arizona. Here in Massachusetts, the Gun Control laws are extremely stringent. According to former Boston police lieutenant Thomas Nolan, Arizona gun law has no waiting period, and does not require licensing or registration ...

After the Arizona shooting: coming together for gun control (The Christian Science Monitor)
As President Obama and other leaders try to pull the nation together in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting, Americans can also try to draw closer on a highly divisive issue related to the rampage: lack of Gun Controls in the United States. Debate on this topic has long been polarized. And after every recent massacre by someone who should not have had a gun, little changes in the nation’s Gun Laws. The gun lobby paints those who support reasonable gun restrictions as simply “antigun,”

How Violent Talk Blocks Sane Gun Laws
The slaughter in Tucson hasn’t shaken us out of bad political habits. Instead of promoting a sober conversation about the dangers of violent political talk, it has reinforced divisions between left and right. Even responsible Conservatives have dismissed any suggestion that Saturday’s attack is reason enough to condemn the threats of violence that have become standard to the discourse at the extremes of their side of politics. More importantly: We have not focused at all on how the...

The Problem With the Militarization of Rhetoric
Washington—The slaughter in Tucson hasn’t shaken us out of bad political habits. Instead of promoting a sober conversation about the dangers of violent political talk, it has reinforced divisions between left and right. Even responsible Conservatives have dismissed any suggestion that Saturday’s attack is reason enough to condemn the threats of violence that have become standard to the discourse at the extremes of their side of politics. More importantly: We have not focused a...

Why Gun Control (Still) Won't Work
It has been a dismal decade for Gun Control advocates. They lost the federal so-called assault weapons ban when it expired in 2004. The Supreme Court made history by proclaiming an individual right to own Firearms for self-defense. A Democratic president came into office vowing not to take away anyone's guns. So it's no surprise that anti-gun forces would take the Mass Shooting in Tucson as a rare opportunity to reverse their fortunes. It's also no surprise that their proposals are models of fut...

Closing the Gap
When Jared Loughner walked into the Sportsman’s Warehouse in Tucson, Arizona, to purchase a Glock 19 on November 30, 2010, he had every right to walk out the legal owner of the semi-automatic Handgun. In hindsight, after he used that weapon to kill six innocent people and wound more than a dozen during an attempted Assassination of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, it is easy to question that sale. Given current U.S. Gun Laws, however, there was no reason to prohibit the transacti...

MSNBC Ed Schultz Has (Live TV) Proctology Moment
MSNBC’s Ed Schultz desperately needs a proctologist because he just inserted his own head up his own rear - and on national television, no less. It must hurt even worse considering Schultz began his broadcast by having so much fun using the Tucson tragedy to bash Conservatives.  First off, he began by smearing the armed services.  The cause of the horror at Tucson was because of “the crisis of under treated Mental Illness among our Veterans and other mentally ill Amer...

Media Point Fingers at a Favorite Enemy -- The Second Amendment
It was inevitable. After spending several days following the Tucson massacre working to curtail the 1st Amendment, the left and the media are now targeting the 2nd. As always, they have help from either those legitimately concerned for their safety or others trying to scavenge political points from the dead and wounded. Following the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is planning to push a bill “to ban the carrying of any firearm within 1,000 feet of what he describe...

Third gun control bill proposed since Tucson shootings
Stumble This! High-profile gun violence has historically renewed legislative interest in the cause of Gun Control, and the shootings of twenty people in Tucson, Arizona is no exception -- only this time, the measures face steeper hurdles than before. Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York, is the third congressman to propose a gun control bill in the wake of the Murders on Saturday. (The other two are also New Yorkers.) His bill seeks to accomplish a goal other gun control advocates have ...

NY GOP Congressman joins Lautenberg in fight for gun control
In the wake of Saturday's senseless shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8) and several others, which claimed the lives of six innocent individuals; conversation has heightened in various areas. Political vitriol has certainly be at the forefront with liberals and Conservatives slinging mud at each other in nothing more than finger pointing. Elected officials have weighed in and most have tried to watch what they say in order to pay proper respect during this time of mourning. Both ...

Robert Creamer: Do Americans Have the Right to Bear Weapons of Mass Destruction?
The massacre and Assassination attempt in Tucson have reignited the ongoing battle over what limitations should be placed on our rights to Bear Arms. Let's assume for a moment - though there are many Constitutional scholars who disagree -- that the majority of the Supreme Court is correct in its view that the Constitution does in fact confer on Americans a right to bear arms that is similar in scope to our right to free Speech and assembly. What does it actually mean, that we have a right to b...

Glock Sales Skyrocket After Arizona Shootings
Yes, really. In the very strange logic of Arizona gun buyers, Glocks are now an Endangered Species and therefore must be bought and added to the collection right now. One-day sales of Handguns in Arizona jumped 60 percent to 263 on Jan. 10 compared with 164 the corresponding Monday a year ago, the second-biggest increase of any state in the country, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data. Handgun sales rose 65 percent to 395 in Ohio; 16 percent to 672 in California; 38 percent to 348 ...

Poll respondents: Tucson shooting 'isolated incident' & concealed firearms should be allowed
A slight majority (51 percent) of respondents to a survey conducted Jan. 10-11 by Vision Critical & Angus Reid believe the Tucson shooting last Saturday was an isolated incident resulting from an individual's action. About a third (31 percent) said the shooting was the consequence of a negative tone in U.S. politics. And 37 percent said they expect there will soon be more such incidents. In addition, 73 percent of respondents said that citizens should be allowed to carry a concealed firearm...

Sen. Barbara Boxer In Her Own Words
At a Press Conference in Southern California Tuesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer talked about the Mass Shooting in Arizona that left six people dead and 14 others injured included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Sen. Boxer's remarks in her own words: Like many Americans, I have been deeply affected by political Assassinations in my lifetime – John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. – three figures who inspired me. And it took years and years and years – maybe 15 or 20 years &nda...;

Rep. Louie Gohmert Drafting Bill To Let Congress Carry Guns In U.S. Capitol & D.C.
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) recently signaled his intention to submit a piece of Legislation that would make exceptions to a number of Firearms laws by allowing members of Congress to carry guns in D.C. and even into the Capitol building, including the chamber floors. "There is a rash of Legislation further infringing on Second Amendment rights that has been unwisely proffered in the wake of events in Tucson," Gohmert told The Hill in a statement. "If members of Congress wishes to carry a wea...

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) To Propose Bill Allowing Guns On Floor Of U.S. House
Teabagger Rep. Louie Gohmert says he will introduce a bill authorizing members of Congress to bring guns to work. “It’d be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District,” he said. “I know friends that walk home from the Capitol. There’s no security for us,” he said, adding that the measure would deter people from attacking members. “There is some protection in having protection.” He said there were times during the Health Ca

Karl Frisch: Arizona Aftermath: Real Second Amendment Remedies
Growing up, my father -- now retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after 35 years of service -- frequently took me shooting and to just about every gun show within a 100-mile radius of our Southern California home. In fact, as I write this, several of the guns from his collection are on display at the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia. I may be a progressive but I have absolutely no problem with private Gun Ownership. If we are to learn anything from the horrible...

Jared Loughners gun: The assassins weapon of choice
Glock helped create the modern U.S. gun market — and has become a preferred killing tool for criminals and the mentally disturbed. Gun-control advocates hope last weekend’s Arizona massacre will finally bring scrutiny to the secretive—and many say, sinister—Austrian company that made the semi-automatic pistol used to grievously wound Representative Gabrielle Giffords and leave six others dead. The family-run gunmaker, the Glock company, headquartered in a small Austrian v...

In wake of tragedy, New York gun laws unlikely to change
The tragedy in Arizona leaves us with many questions.  We wonder why Jared Loughner did what he did.  We wonder why no one stopped him until it was too late.  Many across the country now wonder how this tragedy will effect Gun Laws in their state.  In the wake of the shooting, gun sales have increased dramatically in several states.  Many fear increased restrictions on Gun Ownership and stricter requirements for dealers and buyers.  Here in New York, Gun Laws are am...

Why there's no more debate on gun control
FORTUNE -- The tragic shooting on Saturday of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and 19 others has renewed a national conversation about whether our Gun Laws need tightening. But the chatter for the most part has so far ignored a curious fact: in Congress, the arena where any new restrictions would be decided, the debate effectively ended years ago. Even over the last two years, when Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress, Gun Rights advocates led by the National Rifle Associati...

Changing gun laws would test advocates, NRA
As a leading Gun Control advocate in Congress prepares a bill in response to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, we look at the political clout of the National Rifle Association. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat whose husband was killed in the 1993 Long Island railroad shooting, is getting ready to file Legislation seeking to ban the type of high-capacity weapon clip used by alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner. McCarthy told the Huffington Post today that she is realistic about...

Louisville lawmaker working to ban guns from state Capitol
Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11)- The Arizona shootings have sparked a debate over Gun Control in the country and if guns should be allowed in State Capitols. Currently in Kentucky, guns are permitted, but two lawmakers in Louisville want that to change. State Representative Darryl Owens called last Saturday's shooting, killing six people and injured others including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, frightening, tragic and unnecessary. It is also why he has contacted House Speaker Greg Stumbo, to ban...

Louisville lawmaker working to ban guns from state Capitol
Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11)- The Arizona shootings have sparked a debate over Gun Control in the country and if guns should be allowed in State Capitols. Currently in Kentucky, guns are permitted, but two lawmakers in Louisville want that to change. State Representative Darryl Owens called last Saturday's shooting, killing six people and injured others including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, frightening, tragic and unnecessary. It is also why he has contacted House Speaker Greg Stumbo, to ban...

Tom DeLay Says He Would Welcome Guns at His Public Events
Unrepentant but facing three years in Prison on a money-laundering conviction, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay maintained his innocence Thursday and also said he hasn't changed his hard-line stance on Gun Control in the wake of the Arizona shootings. DeLay, who represented a Houston-area district, was one of the Most Powerful and feared Republican members of the House of Representatives in the first half of the last decade -- and also an ardent backer of Gun Rights. On NBC's "Today" show,...

Rep. Charles Rangel: STANDING UP TO GUN VIOLENCE
The tragic massacre in Tucson, Arizona last week is a grim reminder of what can happen when political Rhetoric spirals out of control. Constant vitriol creates a climate that can turn volatile by the ease in which people have access to dangerous guns.  My constituents have a special understanding of this tragedy because of the amount of gun violence that has been in my district. In fact, far too many people across our great nation have attended funerals of family members, friends and other l...