By Doug Porter
As Vice-President Joe Biden’s task force has been meeting with pro-gun and gun safety groups over the past week, it’s dawned on the extremists in the mix that something more than rhetoric might actually happen in the wake of last months school shooting in Connecticut.
The report that some actions to regulate or oversee gun/ammo sales might come about through executive order has sent some advocates into a frothing frenzy. Today’s column will focus on their statements and attempt to place these firearm fanatics into a context that makes sense.
This week in gunnuttia kicked off when Radio Host Alex Jones went on a scathing pro-gun tirade on Piers Morgan’s CNN show, saying: “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! Doesn’t matter how many lemmings you get out there on the street, begging for ’em to have their guns taken. We will not relinquish them. Do you understand?!”
Legislators in Georgia and Indiana are pushing bills that will remove restrictions of concealed firearms being brought onto college campuses, despite the opposition of law enforcement official in those states. From ThinkProgress:
According to the Brady campaign, “Eighty-six percent of campus police chiefs disagree or strongly disagree that allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campus would prevent some or all campus killings.” But despite the general consensus among law enforcement, the gun lobby is engaged in a serious effort to put guns on school grounds.
The claim that adding more guns decreases violence is unfounded. College campuses are actually among the safest communities in the country — much safer, even, than the areas surrounding them. Ninety three percent of the violence perpetrated against students happens off campus. At the same time, the risks of keeping guns in the home translate to campuses, too. Whether by homicide or suicide, people in a home — or, indeed, a dorm — with a firearm, are more likely to be killed by gunshot wound than in a home without a gun.
“We Shall Overcome” Part One
Let start our tour of Gunnuttia land with burned-out rocker Ted Nugent, whose fetish for firearms extends to his performances, where he’s been known to wave assault rifles around on stage whilst yelling “Hey, Obama, suck on this”. Check out this video link if you don’t believe me.
Talking about potential gun safety measures over at WND.com (a very right wing web site), Media Matters reports Nugent wandered into some very strange territory:
“But there will come a time when the gun owners of America, the law-abiding gun owners of America, will be the Rosa Parks, and we will sit down on the front seat of the bus, case closed.”
He’s also a board member of the National Rifle Association.
“We Shall Overcome” Part Two
As I mentioned earlier this week, the gun extremists are staging a national “Gun Appreciation Day” to coincide with the weekend of President Obama’s second inauguration. Check what Larry Ward, chairman for that event, had to say on CNN:
“I think Martin Luther King, Jr. would agree with me if he were alive today that if African Americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country’s founding, perhaps slavery might not have been a chapter in our history”
Guns are a Part of Motherhood
I am even more speechless at this one. From Buzzfeed:
Meanwhile, the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative organization, stoked the fire by casting the 2nd Amendment as a women’s issue, warning that Obama’s gun control efforts could put women at greater risk of rape or other violence.
“I am passionate about the 2nd Amendment, particularly because I’m a mother. I’m a thirty-something year old woman with a 3 year old and a nursing newborn. Without my concealed weapon, I wouldn’t be able to protect myself against an assailant that seeks to do me or my family harm,” Forum Fellow Anne Rittgers said in a statement.
“Laws limiting magazine capacity and availability of semiautomatic handguns will directly impact women, who use these weapons for self-defense inside and outside the home. Any executive action by President Obama to restrict guns will limit a women’s capability to fight back against attackers and protect herself and her family,” she added.
Guns Are Part of Manhood
Yeah, yeah, we all knew that. Take a gander at this video from self-described CEO James Yeager in Tennessee. He went on YouTube and Facebook to let the world know he was ready to “start killing people” if President Barack Obama decides to take executive action to pass further gun control policies. He’s since replaced the original video with a slightly less threatening version. (WARNING: Language in this video might not be suitable for the workplace.)
UPDATE: The International Conspiracy/United Nations/Illuminati have struck. From the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security:
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security announced today the suspension of James Yeager’s handgun carry permit after he was featured in a threatening YouTube video post that went viral earlier this week.
The decision to suspend Yeager’s handgun carry permit was based on a “material likelihood of risk of harm to the public” (TCA 39-17-1352).
Arizona Sheriff Arpaio’s Arm the Criminals Program
I don’t know how this guy manages to stay in office, but you gotta admire his ability to inject himself into any crisis. Members of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s volunteer posse started patrolling around Maricopa County schools. Only there’s just one, teeny, tiny potential problem. FromCBS5/KPHO News:
Arpaio wants his army of 3,000 volunteer posse members to look like sworn deputies and sometimes perform the same duties. But an in-depth project by CBS 5 Investigates uncovered a number of posse members with arrests for assault, drug possession, domestic violence, sex crimes against children, disorderly conduct, impersonating an officer – and the list goes on.
These are crimes that are not tolerated in many professions, especially professions with an implied authority.
“We have about 600 (members) armed with guns,” said Arpaio. “We haven’t seen any problems with posse men and women shooting people and everything else. Where are all the problems?”
Except the Sheriff didn’t bother to tell some schools about sending out these posse members. Taft Elementary School Principal, Russ Heath, talking to ABC15 News:
“I was a little confused when I was in parking lot with those two gentlemen in the marked car. It sure seemed like from the uniforms they might have been regular deputies, but I’m not sure I’ve seen uniforms for the posse members.”
What Exactly Are These People Frothing About?
So far nothing has actually been proposed. There are plenty of reports in the news media about what different people think should happen. One thing we know for sure is the National Rifle Association is unhappy about the fact that there are even discussions taking place about anyrestrictions or regulations relating to guns. From Buzzfeed:
“We [the NRA] attended today’s White House meeting to discuss how to keep our children safe and were prepared to have a meaningful conversation about school safety, mental health issues, the marketing of violence to our kids and the collapse of federal prosecutions of violent criminals,” the group said.
The NRA said they will oppose efforts to tighten gun laws following the shooting. “We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen.”
No! Even to Research About Gun Violence?
Yes, when the NRA says they’re opposed to “tightening” gun laws, they mean everything. Even science can not be allowed to examine the sacred bond between a man and his guns. From Reuters:
Research restrictions pushed by the National Rifle Association have stopped the United States from finding solutions to firearms violence, more than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on gun violence in a letter on Thursday.
“While mortality rates from almost every major cause of death declined dramatically over the past half century, the homicide rate in America today is almost exactly the same as it was in 1950,” the academics wrote in a letter organized by scholars at the University of Chicago Crime Lab research center.
“Politically-motivated constraints” left the nation “muddling through” a problem that costs American society on the order of $100 billion per year, it said.
No! Not Even to Better Background Checks?
The one item that Vice President Biden has strongly suggested will emerge from his task force will be the recommendation that background checks on gun purchases be strengthened and made universal. Certainly, the NRA can’t be oppose to that seemingly sensible suggest, can they? From Vanity Fair:
A January 2011 poll conducted for Mayors Against Illegal Guns by the bipartisan polling team of Momentum Analysis and American Viewpoint found that 86 percent of Americans and 81 percent of gun owners support requiring all gun buyers to pass a background check, no matter where they buy a gun or who they but it from,” the Web site for Mayors Against Illegal Guns reports. O.K., so, right!
Out of curiosity/sheer terror, though, we wondered about the nominal substance of N.R.A.’s opposition to universal background checks. It took us about 30 minutes of Googling to actually track down a more substantive answer than “the N.R.A. does like background checks!” and “the N.R.A. believes ex-criminals have paid their debts to society,” but we eventually stumbled upon a number of press releases on the N.R.A. Web site that criticize background-
The Ridiculous ‘Why’ Behind the Gunnuttia Mindset
If you drill down past the rhetoric and the posturing of the NRA’s extremists (A 2012 poll shows that 74 percent of NRA members support mandatory background checks for all gun purchases) it comes down to one simple reason to own guns. It’s not about the hunting, or protecting the home. It’s about resisting tyranny.
If you are of the mindset that there is a real threat to your personal liberty coming from the government, then buying tons of ammo and assault weapon is apparently the answer.
I’ll let Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera respond to that one, as he did yesterday morning:
“I think that paranoia is unfortunate… when you examine those people who are stocking up arsenals of AR-15s and .223 Bushmasters, they are often people who are so deeply suspicious of their own government that it is bitterly ironic that these are the same people who claim a mantel of patriotism.”
And here’s the ridiculous part as far as I’m concerned: Do these gun nuts really think their puny weapons have any chance against a well-armed and trained military force? Would they really feel comfortable killing fellow citizens?
Here’s the Real Deal
Most Americans support actions aimed at reducing gun violence. While the NRA touts its 100,000 new members, 400,000 people have joined with NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s (and the mayors of 800 other US cities) Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Their “Demand a Plan” petition has garnered 900,000 signatures.
These are the real patriots. “We support the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to own guns,” reads the coalition’s mission statement. “But what binds us together is a determination to fight crime, and a belief that we can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them.”
Have a good weekend.
On This Day: 1912 – The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)-organized “Bread & Roses” textile strike of 32,000 women and children begins in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It lasted ten weeks and ended in victory. The first workers to walk out were Polish women who, upon collecting their pay – which had been reduced – exclaimed that they had been cheated and promptly abandoned their looms. 1964 – U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry released a report that said that smoking cigarettes was a definite health hazard. 1964 – “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash became the first country album to top the U.S. pop album chart.
Eat Fresh! Today’s Farmers’ Markets: Fallbrook (102 S. Main, at Alvarado) 10 am – 2 pm, Imperial Beach (Seacoast Dr. at Pier Plaza) 2 – 7:30 pm, Kearny Mesa (No. Island Credit Union pkg lot 5898 Copley) 10:30 am – 1:30 pm, La Mesa Village (Corner of Spring St. and University) 2 – 6 pm, Rancho Bernardo (Bernardo Winery parking lot 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte) 9 am – noon, Southeast San Diego(4981 Market St. West of Euclid Ave. Trolley Station) 2 – 6 pm
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Doug Porter
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Drilling down even further- & I think you are quite right about the underlying anti-government paranoia- is the obvious point that the anti-government paranoia is directly correlated to a Democrat in the White House. (It happened with Bill Clinton, too.) An African American Democratic president has added a highly combustible racial anxiety and racial animus to the generic mix.
The inversion and appropriation of the language associated with the Civil Rights movement to convey the “victimization” of white people vis a vis access to guns makes me want to heave. “Banning people and THINGS (my emphasis) for the way they look…” and “law abiding gun owners will be the Rosa Parks…” and MLK would support gun access… is non-reality based bullshit that should be soundly discounted and ripped from the whole conversation. Doug- you did a great job of soundly discounting.
I heard this week that Barack Obama quietly signed into law a provision for lifetime Secret Service protection for ex-Presidents. Before now, POTUSes were covered only for ten years. Good idea, all things considered.
I’m as anti-gun as anyone I know, and among my male friends are two whom I’m convinced sincerely believe that their guns offer them protection. I’ve argued with them. Both became angry during the argument. How we reach guys, and it’s mostly men who’ve made this argument a political one, is not so easy to answer. I suspect we’re going to see some increasingly extreme behavior before gun violence is brought under control, and maybe the extremity of the behavior will be the best argument for control. All of us are going to have to grab this issue without fear, and keep up the debate in the face of rage, knowing there’s really no choice.
I know that this would be a huge political hurdle, but it will never be cleared without a running start: We need to repeal the Second Amendment. Gun ownership should be a privilege, not a right.
It would seem as though this story has found its way into a couple of very pro gun violence sites. Those of you trying to comment from those places would do well to read SDFP’s comment policy FIRST. See especially rule # 1.
Thom Hartmann contends that the 2nd amendment originated in order to placate the southern states which had militias whos purpose was to keep slaves in line. This is from his website:
The Words of the Second Amendment Should Be Clarified: “A well regulated SLAVERY-ENFORCING Militia being necessary to the security of the” slaveholding states…
Thom’s discussion yesterday of Prof. Carl Bogus’s insights about the reason for the Second Amendment was truly amazing. That is, the “militia” referred to in the Second Amendment is actually referring to slave-owning enforcement groups, who call themselves “the militia.” It was the southern slavery-enforcing groups that the Second Amendment was referring to. The militia were required to administer punishment to slaves violating the rules, and the slave-owners were forced to agree to allow the militia personnel to do their terrible work.
Therefore, every time someone says “a well regulated militia” to defend the Second Amendment, we should make sure that we clarify and say, “A well regulated slavery-enforcing militia” to put those words and proper context.
For background on this, please see: http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/hidhist.htm
According to Professor Bogus: “James Madison wrote the Second Amendment to assure the southern states that Congress would not undermine the slave system by disarming the militia, which were then the principal instruments of slave control throughout the South.” These militia groups were used by slave owners to suppress blacks and enforce ongoing slavery in the South. These certainly are not the kind of groups that we think of when we think of militia groups united against English soldiers, etc.
Ensuring that these violent and heartless paramilitary militia personnel in the South would always have firearms, and the slaves would not, helped ensure the long continuation of slavery, a truly evil activity.
For Professor Bogus’s full paper, please go to: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1465114
Actually the only “gun safety” group there was the NRA. The others would best be described as “victim disarmament” groups, since nothing they ever propose does anything conducive to “saftey”.
On one of the Sunday morning “politics” programs, one comment particularly caught my attention. We already know that there is a very substantial majority of gun owners AND of NRA members who agree there’s need for much better gun control (among other strategies to back us down from the extreme violence we’re seeing & being bombarded with by the media). The comment was that the NRA leadership no longer is acting on behalf of gun owners but is acting as a lobby for the gun manufacturing and resale industries. NRA members who support greater gun control MUST come to understand this and stand up to their so-called leadership!
Here’s another disturbing aspect of the NRA’s influence:
Huffington Post article
I am the NRA and I don’t know any other gun owners or NRA members who want more laws enacted.
John L, both of your sources are incorrect. All you need to do is read the writings of the founders, George Mason in particular, and you will see how wrong you are. Here’s one for your review: “I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials. ” – George Mason – author of the 2nd.
Sorry Steve C, but self defense is a RIGHT and you should have the very best tool for the job.
Anna, your reply is just nonsense.
Bob, I don’t know what you are talking about. Almost all of my friends are law – abiding gun owners, you are not going to “reach” us with your nonsense. We will not disarm and we will not stand for anymore gun laws. There are more than enough on the books already. There are over 20,000 gun control laws on the books, if that’s not enough for you, too bad.
Steve, you have to ask yourself, would the police be fine with firing on their fellow citizens? Because they would be the ones starting this show. You and yours always seem to bring the argument that citizens cannot fight the US military. While I do not want things to come to that, do you not remember Viet Nam or Afghanistan or our own revolution? History is replete with examples of exactly that happening.