Category Archives: Guns

Who’s Really Behind Gun Violence?

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Certainly the NRA and other gun rights groups deserve a lot of the blame. Over the past 30 years, they’ve evolved from organizations intended to preserve hunting and to promote gun safety into lobbyists for gun manufacturers.

But the real blame for increased violence belongs to those who have fostered paranoia. Paranoia about crime. Paranoia about minorities and immigrants. Paranoia about a potential financial crisis. Paranoia about non-Christians. Paranoia about a world catastrophe. Even paranoia about our own government.

The loudmouths on Fox News Channel and right wing radio have convinced the weak-minded that non-white, welfare-abusing “takers” are out to get them and the fruits of their labor. In their little minds, Democrats and liberals are destroying the United States. They believe that our nation is headed toward bankruptcy and socialism or worse.

The result has been a dramatic spike in sales of “tactical” weapons (aka military-style assault rifles and shotguns) and semi-automatic handguns since 2009. There has also been a six-fold increase in non-Islamic domestic terrorist groups since 2009. And we now have thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of “preppers” who are stashing food, water, weapons and ammunition in preparation for what they consider the inevitable failure of our nation.

Moreover, the vast majority of gun sales and paranoid activity has taken place in the Southern US, mostly since the election of our first black president.

Coincidence? I think not.

With Each Mass Shooting, The NRA Has More Blood On Its Hands.

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The National Rifle Association is fond of saying that increased gun ownership reduces gun violence. Indeed, on the day of the Newtown tragedy, the lead story on the NRA website was headed “More Guns, Less Crime in Virginia.” The story quoted statistics from a Virginia Commonwealth professor that show gun sales in Virginia have climbed 73 percent since 2006, while the number of violent crimes involving guns have dropped by 27 percent over the same period.

Assuming those numbers are accurate, they don’t provide a true picture of gun violence in the United States. In 2007, the US ranked number one in gun ownership with 88.8 guns per hundred people. The next closest country was Serbia with 58.2 guns per hundred people. Our closest neighbor, Canada, ranked 13 with only 30.8 per hundred. And Mexico ranked 42nd with 15 guns per hundred people.

If more guns equals less gun violence as the NRA suggests, why then do we rank among the world’s leaders for gun violence, with more gun deaths than every European nation and Canada?

In the last decade approximately 270,000 people were shot and killed in the US. Moreover, according to FBI statistics, 8,583 of 12,664 murder victims in 2011 were killed by firearms.

True, gun deaths in the US have been dropping since the 1980s and 90s when crack cocaine turned our cities into virtual war zones, but the US has few peers when it comes to gun ownership or gun violence.

We have the NRA to thank for that.

Since the 1980s, the NRA has spent millions for lobbyists to liberalize gun laws. It has rewritten conceal and carry laws making it easier to carry a concealed weapon. It helped end the Clinton-era ban on assault weapons. It has mounted legal challenges to every single gun control law. It has fought background checks and gun registration. It has helped promote ever more lethal guns and ammunition. It has even pushed to legalize silencers for “hunting.”

One has to ask the question, who are the NRA members planning on hunting?

Is It Finally Time To Talk About Guns?

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Every time there is a mass shooting, the National Rifle Association, Fox News Channel, right wing radio loudmouths and the GOP say, “Now is not the time to talk about gun control.” They claim that doing so would be disrespectful to the victims.

Seriously? Talking about measures to prevent more victims is disrespectful?

Given that we’ve just experienced yet another mass shooting, this time in an elementary school, I think any reasonable person will now admit that the time to talk about guns is finally here! When small children, teachers and school administrators are targeted, we must finally examine the role of guns in a civilized society.

To start the conversation, allow me to make a few observations:

1 – Outside our military, no one in the US needs a military-style assault rifle. These weapons have no purpose other than to kill people.

2 – Almost no one needs to carry a handgun. Handguns are virtually useless as a means of defense. If an attacker is armed, and has his weapon drawn, it’s already too late to draw your own weapon. Moreover, if you’re carrying a handgun, you may be all too tempted to use it; in a fit of anger; in a personal crisis; or in a moment of fear.

3 – Guns in the home are only useful for defense if they are readily accessible. However, if they are easily available for the adults who own them, they are also available to children in the home.

4 – Guns are far too easily obtained by the criminally insane. Any non-felon can walk into a gun shop and purchase as many guns and as much ammunition as he can afford. The only regulation is that the buyer pass a quick background check. Worse yet, anyone can purchase guns and ammunition at one of thousands of gun shows without any restriction at all! (40 percent of guns are purchased this way.) It’s time to change the gun show exemption.

5 – A national registry of the owners of handguns and assault weapons is not a threat to anyone’s freedom, except those intent on causing harm. There are far too many guns in the hands of US citizens for any “black-shirted anti-second amendment thugs” to take them away from us. The benefits of being able to quickly and easily track guns used in the commission of a crime far outweighs any potential inconvenience to the gun owners.

6 – Dramatically reducing the sale of handguns, assault weapons and large capacity magazines will eventually be rewarded with fewer mass shootings. It may take a while, but it will gradually take these weapons of choice out of the hands of the criminally insane.

As important as reducing the availability of weapons that have no purpose other than to kill people is the need to moderate our national paranoia. Despite claims by the far right, the UN is not going to take away our freedoms. And given our enormous military budget, we have no one to fear but ourselves.

Race And Politics In America.

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When Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States in a veritable landslide, many Americans believed it signified a post-racist US.  But instead of marking the end of racism, Obama’s election revealed it.

Look at what’s happened over the past four years.

Even before the election results were counted, white right-wingers questioned Obama’s citizenship and, thus, his right to be president.  They claimed that the election was stolen through voter fraud by minorities with the help of ACORN. The Southern Law Poverty Center, Homeland Security and the FBI noted a spike in the number of racist domestic terrorism groups.  Gun sales soared on baseless fears that our first black president would take away our guns.  And an all white group of Republican politicians made it their priority to block every Obama-backed bill and nomination in order to make him a one-term president.

And that was only the beginning.  The racist assault on this president was carried out in many other ways.

For example, during the 2009 State of the Union speech, a white congressman broke protocol to shout “you lie.”  White parents and politicians tried to block the president’s address to schoolchildren for fear their kids would be “indoctrinated.”

When President Obama authorized loans to US automakers, an almost entirely white group of angry citizens demonstrated with undeniably racist signs portraying our president as the Joker, calling him a communist, a socialist, a fascist and even a racist.  The focus of their wrath allegedly was that they were overtaxed, despite the fact that their taxes were the lowest in 60 years.  They called themselves the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party and threatened to “exercise their Second Amendment” rights.  They called themselves “patriots” and the President a “Kenyan.”

Backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, the Tea Party verbally assaulted President Obama’s healthcare plan (a plan originated by Republicans and signed into law by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney).  Much of the anger was directed against non-existent “death panels” and fear that illegal immigrants might be helped by the plan.

In the 2010 mid-term elections, many Tea Party members were elected to Congress, mostly from southern states that once had been part of the Confederacy.  Undeniably, race played a very large part in their elections.  Tea Party candidates won by creating fear of our “illegitimate, un-American” president and of anyone who looks like a Latino immigrant.

There have been videos of racists, including some cops, taking target practice with photos of President Obama as the target.  Racists have regularly flown the Confederate battle flag from the back of their pickups to show their hatred of our president.  There have been a host of racist bumper stickers and T-shirts attacking our president.  Republicans even ridiculed First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to improve the health of children through exercise and better nutrition.  Not because it’s a bad idea, but likely because she’s not white.

Leading up to November 6, race continues to play a large role in the 2012 elections.  Republicans have passed voter ID laws in order to suppress Democratic votes in minority-dominated areas.  There have been attempts to intimidate and mislead minority voters.  Republicans have tried to limit poll hours to make it more difficult for working minorities to vote.  At the same time, Republicans have resurrected anti-gay marriage propositions in states in order to excite their most highly-prejudiced base.

Throughout many parts of the nation, yard signs and campaign materials for President Obama’s re-election have been stolen or vandalized with increasing frequency.  Opponents shout racist threats and obscenities at those who display their support for the president.  A racist was admitted to a rally for Mitt Romney with a T-shirt reading “Put the White back in the White House.”  And, in the most telling example of racism, Colin Powell’s thoughtful endorsement of President Obama was ridiculed merely because they’re both of African-American heritage.

Think about that.  Should we then dismiss any Romney endorsements made by white people?

A License To Sin.

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As I passed by a church recently, I spotted the following on its bulletin board:  “It is by grace that you will be saved.  Not by works, but by faith.”

This highly questionable translation of Ephesians 2:8 is a great excuse for people to do whatever they want.

Want to steal from someone?  Go ahead.  Want to lie, cheat and steal to win an election?   That’s okay.  Want to fabricate evidence to take your nation to war?  You can simply pray your sins away.  Have faith and ye will be saved.

What ever happened to the 10 Commandments?  And the Golden Rule?

If this is what many of our Christian brethern now believe, is it any wonder that there is so much anger and violence in the world?  Is it any wonder that much of the Christian right is now armed to the teeth?  Is it any wonder that so many Christian televangelists have run off with their congregation’s hard-earned money? Is it any wonder the Bible is being used to justify the denial of rights to gays, lesbians and others?  Is it any wonder that the so-called faithful have memorized Bible verses to justify their own narrow-minded agenda. 

In doing so, they’ve overlooked the core teachings of their savior.

That’s the very convenient thing about the Bible.  You can find a verse to justify almost anything you want to do or believe.

The Trouble With Arizona.

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In recent years, Arizona has earned a reputation as hot, crazy, extreme and angry.  I hate to admit it, but these characterizations are all accurate.

Certainly, the “Valley of the Sun” surrounding Phoenix reaches summer-time temperatures that would make Satan drool.  But the extreme heat could also refer to Arizona politics.

You see, Arizona was settled by Confederate soldiers and Confederate sympathizers who were escaping the aftermath of the Civil War.  Drawn here by the prospects of ranching and prospecting for gold, these people were literally running away from civilization.  Of course, that might also describe many of the more recent arrivals.  Since the invention of air conditioning, conservatives from Southern California, New England and the upper Midwest have been drawn to Arizona by its reputation for conservative politics.  Tired of being part of a political minority in their previous states, they came to Arizona to get their cowboy on.

This is, after all, the land of Barry Goldwater.

Now in the political majority (albeit a slight majority), these people buy cowboy hats and guns and strut around like the bullies they are.  Our legislature reflects this mentality.  Over the past 8 years, the Arizona government has cut nearly $2 billion from public education because Teapublicans consider it a form of socialism.  As a result, according to some surveys, our state now ranks 51st in spending per pupil (behind all the other states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico).  The Arizona legislature has sold off our state buildings, even our state capitol, to private enterprise resulting in millions of additional spending per year.

The Arizona legislature and our finger-wagging governor signed SB1070 into law – not just to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants, but to further populate the private prison industry.  This despite the fact that Arizona already leads the nation and the world in the percentage of its citizens that are incarcerated.  In fact, Arizona spends 40 percent more on prisons than any other state in the Union (that is, if you still consider Arizona to be part of the Union).

In recent years, the state has closed many of its state parks and many of its Interstate rest stops despite the fact that tourism is Arizona’s largest industry.

Now many Arizona conservatives are pushing a sovereignty bill that would attempt to reclaim national parks and federal lands.  Of course, this would be unconstitutional.  But that doesn’t matter to these ideologues.  We already lead the nation in the number of lawsuits and legal challenges to the federal government.

Of course, many of us are working hard to change the state and it’s renegade image.  Our reward is to have political signs stolen, cars vandalized and numerous physical threats.

So Kansas, you can now enjoy a sigh of relief.  Your state is no longer considered the wackiest state in the nation.  Arizona has seen your wackiness and raised you a large sum of stupidity.

Get Yer Guns Before Obama Bans Them!

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For the past four years, the National Rifle Association has fomented panic among the pistol-packing, assault rifle-collecting gun nuts that President Obama is going to take away their Second Amendment rights.  Of course, this fear has about as much veracity as the claims that President Obama is a foreign-born, un-American, freedom-hating Muslim.  But wingnuts and the NRA have never let the truth get in the way of a good fear-baiting story.

The truth is that Obama has never publicly stated a position on gun ownership.

Nevertheless, the NRA-fueled concerns persist, creating a huge windfall for the gun industry.  Domestic gun sales have soared.  And with each new mass killing, the sales spike higher, putting even more guns in the hands of the paranoid, the bullies, the cowards and the mentally-disturbed.  According to Sturm, Ruger & Co. President and CEO Mike Fifer, “It took us nearly all of 2011 to build 1 million firearms, but in 2012 we accomplished it on August 15th.”

The NRA rumors and racist lies about Obama have even given birth to a new industry – that of “prepping.”  Demand from hate-mongering wingnuts, domestic terrorist groups and the tinfoil hat crowd has led to thousands of Americans building “safe houses” and stocking them with enough food to last for years and enough weapons to launch World War III.

Of course, it can’t all be credited to the irrational hatred of our first black president.

Some preppers believe in the Mayan 2012 “prophecy.”  Some believe the Teapublican lies that liberals have led our nation to the precipice.  Others are worried about the black-shirted “New World Order” taking away our freedoms.  Even more are worried about the growing Latino, African-American and immigrant populations which will relegate angry old white people to minority status.

Let freedom ratta-tat-tat-tat…er, ring.

A Few Questions For The NRA.

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Following a series of mass shootings, I’d like to know how members of the National “Rifle” Association feel.  Are they satisfied that military-style assault weapons are now readily available to every disturbed lunatic who has the money to buy them?

Do they feel anything when they see bloody corpses of innocent people lying on the floor of high schools and universities, on the cement in grocery parking lots, on the floor of a theater…even lying on the floor of a church?

Do they feel pride that gun sales peak after each mass shooting?

Do they still want to allow the unrestricted sale of silencers and night vision scopes?  Do they still want even higher-capacity magazines?

Truth is, all NRA members have the blood of innocents on their hands.  Lots of it.  Without NRA-sponsored laws in all 50 states, few people would be packing.  Assault weapons and high capacity magazines would be prohibited.  There would be thorough background checks and mandatory training for gun buyers, even at gun shows.

Without NRA-sponsored laws, fewer people would feel the need to carry guns, fewer lunatics and criminals would own them, and fewer people would live in fear.

For more, read The Teapublican Book of Lies available at Amazon and other on-line bookstores.

Why You Should Hate Teapublicans. Let Me Count The Reasons.

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1 – Richard Nixon’s Watergate break-in intended to literally steal an election. 

2 – The “Southern strategy” in which the GOP embraced racists. 

3 – The “Moral Majority” in which the Party embraced “social” issues. 

4 – Reagan’s union-busting. 

5 – Elimination of loan interest deductions resulting in huge tax increases for the middle class.

6 – Cuts to capital gains taxes and estate taxes on the wealthy. 

7 – Reagan’s Iran-Contra plan which financed Central American death squads.

8 – Deregulation of Savings and Loan institutions resulting in the loss of billions.  

9 – Gun laws putting military-style weapons in the hands of millions. 

10 – $60 million witch hunt and impeachment of President Clinton. 

11 – Massive voter suppression giving the 2000 election to George W. Bush. 

12 – Bush’s failure to act on warnings of a 2001 terrorist attack. 

13 – The Bush tax cuts.

14 – The unnecessary and completely unfunded war in Iraq. 

15 – “Swift-boating” of Vietnam War Hero, Sen. John Kerry. 

16 – Richard “The Dick” Cheney. 

17 – The outsourcing of our military to corporations. 

18 – Awarding government contracts to corporations with offshore “headquarters.” 

19 – Deregulation of banks resulting in mortgage fraud.

20 – The Great Recession.

21 – Subsidies and tax breaks for corporations that send jobs offshore.

22 – Fox News Channel and right-wing hate radio. 

23 – Unsubstantiated claims about President Obama’s birthplace and religion. 

24 – The Tea Party.

25 – Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, Steve King and Paul Ryan. 

26 – Attacks on women’s rights. 

27 – Attacks on the LGBT community. 

28 – Plans to repeal The Affordable Care Act. 

29 – Assaults on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. 

30 – Obstruction of hundreds of President Obama’s appointments. 

31 – Filibusters. 

32 – Buckley v. Valeo resulting in a ruling that money is free speech.

33 – Citizen’s United which gave corporations the same rights as people.  

34 – Voter ID laws intended to steal the coming election.

35 – Attacks on Public Broadcasting, education and the environment.

36 – Blaming the poor and the unemployed for our deficit.

37 – Blaming teachers and first responders for our deficit.

38 – Trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

39 – Vilifying immigrants to get votes.

40 – The debt ceiling debate.

41 – Embrace of Ayn Rand’s self-centered philosophy.

42 – Lies, lies and more lies.

Learn more in The Teapublican Book of Lies available from Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores

Everything Wrong With Politics All Wrapped Up In One Super PAC.

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If you watch television news, you’ve probably seen the despicable “birther” ads paid for by the super PAC, Conservative Majority Fund.  The anonymous group is also running a commercial “to stop the UN gun grab.”  This little gem claims that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are set to sign an agreement with the UN that will take away your guns.

Oh my, the Black Shirts are coming!  The Black Shirts are coming!

Before you grab your assault weapons and head for your hideout, you should know that the commercials are just more Teapublican lies, albeit some of the most disgusting yet.  You already know that President Obama was born in the US.  And, in reality, the UN Arms Trade Treaty is designed to control arms trade between nations to prevent weapons from being sold to rogue groups such as al Qaeda.  It will do nothing to interfere with Second Amendment rights.

Of course, the Conservative Majority Fund offers many other reasons you should be afraid – very afraid.  It wants you to be afraid of voter fraud so you’ll accept highly restrictive new voter laws.

No group better exemplifies the toxic state of political discourse in the US.  No group better exposes the Teapublican tactics of fear and voter suppression.  And no group better illustrates the problem with the “money equals free speech” ruling by the Supreme Court which allows anonymous billionaires the opportunity to buy an election.

To learn more about Teapublican tactics and lies, read The Teapublican Book of Lies, available at Amazon and other on-line bookstores.