America`s Gun Culture

[theticklemister]

Four more shot dead in Aouroa. The same town as the cinema shootings.

[Declan]

Hoping to "strike the fear of God in the gun-grabbing politicians on both sides of the aisle" and thus prove they're not about to just roll over and die (no pun intended) amidst all this silly fuss about those poor children at Sandy Hook being massacred because there wasn't enough firepower available at that  school which we all know would have stopped it all even though that's never worked before, a new coalition of gun advocates and conservatives have sensibly declared Jan. 19, right before Obama's inauguration, "Gun Appreciation Day," wherein supporters are called on to line up "around the block" at gun stores, gun counters, gun shows, and gun ranges to protest the inexcusable "post Sandy Hook assault on gun rights" by an Obama administration that "has shown that it is more than willing to trample the Constitution to impose its dictates upon the American people" by denying us our right to die a bloody, pointless death at the unregulated hands of unbalanced gun-owners, much like our right to die from lack of affordable health care, and besides, freedom and values and tyranny and. The same day, the NRA is hosting a tutorial for Nevada elected officials only on the wonders of semi-automatics. Same justifications. Sigh.


"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." - the enlightened folks organizing this event.

[Oraisteach]

728 people now dead from guns since Sandy Hook (as of 11/8/2013).  Should hit the 1000 mark pretty soon.

[johnneycool]

Another school attack in California yesterday, luckily only one student was shot and is in a critical condition. A teacher is said to have talked the gunman out of it..

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/11/uk-usa-shooting-california-idUKBRE90910T20130111

[seafoid]

http://www.progressive.org/banning-semi-automatic-weapons-not-enough

America, the Violent: Banning Semi-Automatic Weapons Is Not Enough

By Matthew Rothschild, January 11, 2013

I'm all for Pres. Obama's and Gov. Cuomo's efforts to ban semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that this is going to make much of a dent in the gruesome gun death toll in America.
Every year, about 31,000 people in the United States die from gun violence.

When you examine that shocking figure, a few surprising facts pop up.

First, almost two-thirds of those killed by guns are people who commit suicide. About 19,000 in total.

Then, of the 11,000 homicides, the vast majority of these are with handguns, not semi-automatic rifles.

And of the 600 fatal accidents with guns, semi-automatic rifles are not responsible for many of those, either.

As a result, much of the effort, following the horror at Sandy Hook and Aurora, won't really get at the underlying problems of gun violence in America.

One of those problems is the illegal drug trade. If we legalized drugs, the gun violence in our cities would go way down.

Another problem is the lack of awareness of the warning signs about suicide. As the saying goes, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and the Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should do a public education campaign to make us all more attuned to those warning signs.

And finally there's the violence-soaked culture we live in—and I'm not taking the easy way out by blaming Hollywood or video games.

No, I'm talking about our blood-soaked history: the extermination of Native Americans, the imposing of slavery on African Americans, and the running of an empire that lives war to war and inures us to violence.

Starting with the war against the Philippines in 1898, when Pres. McKinley vowed to Christianize the Filipino people and killed 500,000 civilians in the process, the U.S. empire has stacked the corpses high. The multiple U.S. invasions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the U.S. support for dictators there, cost hundreds of thousands of lives over the last century. The atomic bombing of Japan was a muscle-flex of empire, most recently demonstrated by Oliver Stone in his epic "Untold History of the United States." During the Vietnam war, the United States killed between two and three million people in IndoChina. U.S. support for the dictatorship in Indonesia in the 1960s and 1970s cost close to a million lives. George W. Bush's war on Iraq also killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people. And Barack Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan—and his all-out use of drones—has caused many innocent people to die, even as he bemoans gun violence.

Knowing somewhere deep down of the atrocities we are responsible for has corroded our collective conscience and helped make violence the American pastime. So yes, by all means, let's ban semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition.

But let's get to the bottom of America the violent, while we're at it.

(Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine. He is indebted to Kevin Alexander Gray for helping him think through this issue.)

[ballinaman]

Piers Morgan and some absolute pro gun notjob.....jaw dropping stuff all the way through the interview...crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWQPZ-taYBs

[Oraisteach]

Wow, Ballnaman, I'm no Piers Morgan fan, but I admire his poise, equanimity and unwillingness to chase that jerk down every one of his rabbit holes.

It's a month since Sandy Hook, and 1,046 people have suffered gun deaths in the US.

[tyrone exile]

I only thought the nolan show was bad last night, can you imagine if the american flag was took down from a city hall?
Its the same problem as here, People who are either not educated or very poorly educated are targeted with issues to stir up support for organisations, In America there told that there trying to take away the second amendment, just so the NRA can remain so wealthy and powerful. Here Unionists have used the flags issue to try to regain a seat which they were probably going to win back anyway. Its all fairly depressing that people can be pulled in by such sound bites!

[The Iceman]

I couldnt believe the rants of that guy on the Piers Morgan show, thanks for posting. Piers was definitely shitting himself, that was one angry raving lunatic.
All bought up in the conspiracy theories and completely anti government. Couldn't believe his threats for the Republic to rise up if they tried to take their guns.... crazy stuff

[Hardy]

Piers Morgan and some absolute pro gun notjob.....jaw dropping stuff all the way through the interview...crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWQPZ-taYBs

Holy Moly! Crazy people on TV to explain why the crazy people have guns.

[Hardy]

Whoooo-hoooo!
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/854183

The prophet in the window (and the neighbours' dog)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HIP1wTLwuQ

[theticklemister]

Whats the oul saying about swings and roundabouts...........


former US Navy SEAL who wrote a best-selling book about his experiences as a sniper has been fatally shot along with another man on a Texas gun range.

'American Sniper' author Chris Kyle, 38, and a second man were found dead at Rough Creek Lodge's shooting range in Glen Rose, Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said.

Witnesses said a gunman opened fire on the men, then fled in a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims, according to the Star-Telegram.

The newspapers said a 25-year-old man was later taken into custody in Lancaster, southeast of Dallas, and that charges were expected.

Glen Rose is about 80 miles (128 kilometers) southwest of Dallas.

Mr Kyle wrote the best-selling book, 'American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History,' detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009.

Investigators did not immediately release the name of the second victim.

Mr Kyle was sued by former Minnesota Governer and ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura over a portion of the book that claims Kyle punched Ventura in a 2006 bar fight over unpatriotic remarks.

Mr Ventura says the punch never happened and that the claim by Kyle defamed him.

Mr Kyle had asked that Ventura's claims of invasion of privacy and "unjust enrichment" be dismissed, saying there was no legal basis for them.

However, a federal judge said the lawsuit should proceed. Both sides were told to be ready for trial by 1 August.

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'American Sniper' author Chris Kyle was shot dead yesterday

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[theticklemister]

Efforts to free a five-year-old boy from a gu n ma n in an un d ergro u n d bu n ke r in rur al

A 'm e a n ma n'

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[stew]

The looney left, in full flight, Obama has a case to answer on this one!!!!

Dont get me started on that cnut Pelosi, I absolutely hate that bitch as much as I did Thatcher back in the day!Pelosi Backs Obama on Secret Execution of Americans Without Trial

House Democrat leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is under fire from across the political spectrum after admitting in an interview, among a host of other controversial positions, that she was not opposed to President Obama's secret executions of U.S. citizens without a trial or even charges. She also claimed that, depending on the timing and situation, it was acceptable for the executive branch to simply "disappear" Americans and keep it secret — a wildly unconstitutional notion that even most Third World dictators would never dare support publicly.


I hope Pelosi disappears the hoor!!!

[Puckoon]

The looney left, in full flight, Obama has a case to answer on this one!!!!

Dont get me started on that cnut Pelosi, I absolutely hate that bitch as much as I did Thatcher back in the day!Pelosi Backs Obama on Secret Execution of Americans Without Trial

House Democrat leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is under fire from across the political spectrum after admitting in an interview, among a host of other controversial positions, that she was not opposed to President Obama's secret executions of U.S. citizens without a trial or even charges. She also claimed that, depending on the timing and situation, it was acceptable for the executive branch to simply "disappear" Americans and keep it secret — a wildly unconstitutional notion that even most Third World dictators would never dare support publicly.


I hope Pelosi disappears the hoor!!!

You have of course information demonstrating that President Obama has carried out secret executions of US citizens without a trial or even charges?