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| 04:11 PM | ||
| Users Online Now: 2,296 (Who's On?) | Visitors Today: 1,380,786 | |
| Pageviews Today: 1,985,295 | Threads Today: 548 | Posts Today: 10,606 |
| 04:11 PM | ||
USA Gun Control Timeline, a social experiment...Post Sandy Hook to Present | |
milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344  United States04/11/2013 07:13 PM  Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | [link to www.washingtonpost.com] "* Republicans who voted with Democrats to proceed: 16 Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.); Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.); Richard Burr (R-N.C.); Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.); Tom Coburn (R-Okla.); Susan Collins (R-Maine); Bob Corker (R-Tenn.); Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.); Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Dean Heller (R-Nev.); John Hoeven (R-N.D.); Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.); Mark Kirk (R-Ill.); John McCain (R-Ariz.); Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.); Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)" "* Democrats who voted with Republicans against proceeding: 2 Mark Begich (D-Alaska); Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)." "* Senators with an A+, A or AQ rating from the National Rifle Association who voted to proceed to debate: 21. Alexander (A); Ayotte (A); Max Baucus (D-Mont.) (A+); Burr (A+); Robert Casey (D-Pa.) (A); Corker (A); Chambliss (A+); Coburn (A+); Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) (A); Graham (A); Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) (A); Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) (AQ); Heller (A); Hoeven (A); Isakson (A); Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) (A); Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) (A); Jon Tester (D-Mont.); Toomey (A); Mark Warner (D-Va.) (A); Wicker (A+). (NOTE: An “AQ” rating means a candidate had no voting record at the time of the NRA scoring, but had generally said things in agreement with the group.)" "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 08:46 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The natives appear to getting restless, oh what should the messiah do??? "‘I Don’t Trust the Government’: Ted Nugent Tells CNN What He Thinks of Senate’s Gun Bill (and Recommends Eric Holder Be Arrested)" [link to news.yahoo.com] "Sporting a graying beard and his signature camouflage hat, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent on Thursday dismissed the Senate's gun control bill as a "feel-good measure" that won't stop any shootings. Towards the end of his interview on CNN, Nugent recommended that Attorney General Eric Holder be arrested for gun trafficking. "I don't support the bill. I agree with the 90-plus percent of the law enforcement heroes out there, the real warriors of the street, that reject this as a feel-good measure ," Nugent said bluntly. "I reject it out of hand as a feel-good measure that's not going to accomplish anything. It won't stop any shootings, that's for sure." Nugent said he supports police enforcing the gun laws that are already on the books, rather than adding even more regulations. The Senate gun bill would expand background checks and likely include amendments from senators in both parties. CNN's Erin Burnett then asked Nugent about New York's new gun legislation that allows police to confiscate firearms from people who are determined to be mentally ill. TheBlaze has reported on the instance where a law-abiding gun owner's guns were confiscated by mistake in New York...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 11:30 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | NICE!!! "Gun-Rights Backers Launch Recalls against Giron, Hudak" [link to thecoloradoobserver.com] "DENVER–Two more recall campaigns against Democratic legislators launched Thursday after receiving approval from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. State Sens. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) and Evie Hudak (D-Lakewood) become the latest electoral targets of gun-rights advocates incensed over the three gun-control bills passed by the Democratic legislature and signed in March by the governor. Both Giron and Hudak supported the bills. The efforts bring the number of recalls now underway to four. Groups gathering signatures to oust state Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and state Rep. Mike McLachlan (D-Durango) kicked off in late March. “We’re good to go. I’m having someone sign a petition right now,” said Victor Head, president of Pueblo Freedom and Rights, which is organizing the Giron recall, in a Thursday phone interview. “I’m about to pick up our T-shirts.” He said his group has already reserved a table at the Tanner Gun Show at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo, traditionally a hub of gun-rights activity. “This is a bipartisan effort. Our graphic designer has two Obama stickers on his car,” said Head. “The pushback here is huge. We’re sending a message that we’re not going to take it.” Meanwhile, the Hudak recall campaign plans to kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Olde Town Arvada Town Square. The campaign needs about 19,000 signatures to force a recall election. “We can’t make this happen without you, if you love your liberty please show up and support the cause,” said a Thursday post on the Recall State Senator Evie Hudak Facebook page. “OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD!!!” Not everyone in the gun-rights camp agrees with the recall route. The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners announced last week its intention to defeat gun-control supporters in swing districts when they come up for reelection in 2014. “I want payback now, but just like hunting season, there’s a season for political payback, and that’s the election season,” said RMGO executive director Dudley Brown in an April 3 video message. “Let me be clear: We will fill our tags politically.” Political analysts point out that recalls can be backfire by actually strengthening the recall target if the effort fails...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 11:45 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Lest you have ANY remaining doubts about the full court press being employed by the left! "Dad Furious After Finding This Crayon-Written Paper in Florida 4th-Grader’s Backpack: ‘I Am Willing to Give Up Some of My Constitutional Rights…to Be Safer’" [link to news.yahoo.com] "The words are written in crayon, in the haphazard bumpiness of a child's scrawl. "I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure." They're the words that Florida father Aaron Harvey was stunned to find his fourth-grade son had written, after a lesson in school about the Constitution. Florida 4th Grader Brings Home Paper That Says, I Am Willing to Give Up Some of My Constitutional Rights in Order to Be Safer...paper Aaron Harvey's son wrote as part of a school lesson, "I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure." TheBlaze has redacted the child's name. Harvey's son attends Cedar Hills Elementary in Jacksonville, Fla. Back in January, a local attorney came in to teach the students about the Bill of Rights. But after the attorney left, fourth-grade teacher Cheryl Sabb dictated the sentence to part of the class and had them copy it down, he said. The paper sat unnoticed in Harvey's son's backpack for several months until last week, when his son's mother almost threw it away. The words caught her eye in the trash, and she showed it to Harvey, who said he was at a loss for words. He asked his son, who said Sabb had spoken the sentence out loud and told them to write it down. Harvey said he asked some of his son's classmates and got a similar answer...." Thread: Dad Furious After Finding This Crayon-Written Paper in Florida 4th-Grader’s Backpack: ‘I Am Willing to Give Up Some of My Constitutional Rights…t Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/12/2013 11:58 AM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 11:54 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | NOTHING suspicious here, now move along good citizen... Newtown families: Victims turn lobbyists NEWTOWN FAMILIES GET HANDLERS: CLINTONITE SHEPHERDS ON TV, HILL... [link to www.politico.com] "When a lobbyist for families of Newtown shooting victims called the office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to set up a meeting, the first response was a standard D.C. offer. They could get a meeting with her staff, and a quick and simple “hello” from Collins herself, they were told. The families’ answer: Not good enough. According to their lobbyists, the families have a rule against staff-only meetings: they won’t do them. They insist on sitting down with the senators themselves. That rule is just one of the ways that the Newtown families, political novices just a few months ago, are proving to be savvy, effective advocates as they promote the gun legislation that has finally begun to move through the Senate. The families are well-educated, and many are well-off. They have been polished and sharp on TV. They’re mostly non-political, but quite accomplished in their own fields. With access to money and media, they’re using persistence, visibility — and, most all, their unique moral authority — to help prod Senate action. They also have their own lobbyists — several of them, in fact...." Thread: Newtown families: Victims turn lobbyists Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/12/2013 11:56 AM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 09:31 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation |  The EASIEST economic development job in the world right now...."Texas governor to Connecticut gun maker: "Come on down"" [link to news.yahoo.com] "AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry on Friday said a gun manufacturer that has decided to leave Connecticut should "come on down" to the Lone Star State. PTR Industries, a maker of military-style rifles, threatened to leave Connecticut after the passage of one of the toughest gun-control laws in the United States. Connecticut enacted the measure in the wake of the Newtown school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six adults. "Hey, PTR," Perry posted on Twitter on Friday. "Texas is still wide open for business!! Come on down!" The Connecticut law bans high-capacity ammunition clips of the kind used in the December school shooting and adds to the firearms covered by the state's assault-weapons ban. A second Connecticut gun company, Stag Arms, a maker of AR-15 style rifles, is also threatening to leave the state. The companies are being wooed by officials from gun-friendlier states such as Florida and Arkansas, as well as Texas...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 09:57 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | To HELL with principle...How do I get re-elected in 2014??? "Gun Measures Put Moderate Senate Dems in Bind" [link to news.yahoo.com] "President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. The choice: Either they stick with Obama and gun control advocates — and give an opening to campaign challengers and the National Rifle Association to assail them — or they stand with conservative and moderate gun owners back home worried about a possible infringement on their rights. Five Senate Democrats — Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina — are seeking another term in states carried by Republican Mitt Romney last fall. For the next few weeks, at least, the spotlight will be on how they maneuver as the Senate debates gun-control legislation pushed by Democrats in response to the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting. Two other GOP-leaning states with large numbers of gun owners — West Virginia and South Dakota — will have open seats following Democratic retirements. Republicans have placed many of these states at the top of their priority lists as they try to gain six seats to win back the Senate majority. Debate begins next week on Senate legislation that would require nearly all gun buyers to submit to background checks, toughen federal laws banning illicit firearms sales and provide more money for school safety measures. The background checks are viewed by gun control advocates as the best step to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from accessing weapons. The NRA has opposed the expansion of background checks, saying it could lead to federal registries of gun owners. It has sought better enforcement of existing laws, which it contends is too easy for criminals to circumvent. "There's a fear in these states that this is going to go further and farther than anyone has suggested," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But he said efforts to curb gun violence were aided by the emotional toll of the Sandy Hook shootings, in which 20 children and six adult educators were killed. "Newtown changed everything," he said. Thus, these Senate Democrats are weighing the possibility of angry voters next year against pressure from fellow Democrats. So far, they're divided. Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands. He pointed to the 18,000 phone calls his office has received about it — he said only 2,000 of those callers favored it. "I represent Montana — that's my first loyalty," Baucus said. "They're my employers. That's why I'm here...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 10:15 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "House GOP shows little appetite for Senate gun control measure" [link to thehill.com] "Growing momentum in the Senate for new gun control legislation has failed to flow down to the House, where just a handful of House Republicans have embraced a deal to expand background checks for firearm purchases. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and multiple Republican members of the Pennsylvania delegation are backing a compromise brokered by the Keystone State’s Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that advanced in the Senate on Thursday. Yet in interviews, those lawmakers said they have had no discussions with the House GOP leadership and don’t know what the prospects for the legislation would be in a chamber dominated by conservatives. While party leaders have made a concerted effort to prepare their rank-and-file for a major immigration push this year, they have not done so on the gun issue. Senior aides say the topic has rarely come up in leadership meetings, as top Republicans stick to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) plan to wait on Senate action on gun control. For a second straight day, Boehner refused Thursday to commit to holding a full House vote on Senate-passed gun legislation. But he said the House would not ignore an issue thrust into the spotlight by the December shooting of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn. “Listen, our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these victims,” Boehner said. “And I fully expect that the House will act in some way, shape or form.” Any Senate bill, he said, would be referred first to the Judiciary Committee for hearings...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/12/2013 10:18 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Explaining the Gender Gap On Gun Control" "Most women support strengthening gun laws, compared with fewer than half of men." [link to www.nationaljournal.com] "While gun-control legislation is a politically risky vote for red-state Democrats, it’s also an issue that could hurt the GOP’s efforts to attract female voters. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 65 percent of women favor stronger gun laws, compared to 44 percent of men. That’s consistent with previous polling; a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed 61 percent of women and 45 percent of men in favor stricter gun laws. Richard Feldman, the Independent Firearms Association president and a former NRA lobbyist, said that the gender gap on gun laws is a long-standing one, and that much of it has to do with who owns guns. “The gender gap is real, but when you look at the gun owners and the non-gun-owners, that differential is going to drop substantially,” he said. Although gun ownership among women has increased over the previous decades, men are still three times more likely to own guns than women, according to a March Pew Center survey. And opinions on the effectiveness of gun laws vary greatly depending on whether you own a gun or if there is one in your house. According to the Pew survey, 66 percent of people who live in gun-free homes say stricter gun laws would reduce mass-shooting casualties; only 35 percent of people in gun-owning households agreed. In some ways, it’s a chicken-or-egg question: Is it that people who are prone to buying guns are already against stricter gun laws, or that owning a gun changes people’s opinions about gun laws? Whatever the case, polling has long shown that women favor stricter gun laws, and the emotional effect of the Newtown shooting has brought those feelings to the fore...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/13/2013 11:12 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Cindy Sheehan , Part II??? "Newtown mom makes heart-wrenching plea on gun laws" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Francine Wheeler blinked past her tears, looked straight into the camera and asked Americans to push for tougher gun laws, drawing on courage she said comes from the memory of her 6-year-old son, Ben, murdered in his first-grade classroom in Newtown, Connecticut. "His boundless energy kept him running across the soccer field long after the game was over," said Wheeler, describing her son during what is usually President Barack Obama's weekly Saturday address to the nation. "He couldn't wait to get to school every morning," she said, her voice breaking, her husband David beside her, sighing and swallowing hard. The address was the culmination of a week of emotional pleas in Washington from families of the 26 people killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14. "To us, it feels as if it happened just yesterday," Wheeler said, recounting the horror of waiting at the firehouse after the shooting "for the boy who would never come home...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/13/2013 11:17 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Voices of Newtown: How gun violence victims became effective lobbyists" "The testimony of Newtown parents and others who have lost loved ones to gun violence has become a potent political force on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debate stronger gun safety measures." [link to news.yahoo.com] "When it comes to gun safety – especially in the wake of a string of horrific multiple shooting deaths – “Nobody has a more important and powerful perspective on the issue than the families who have lost loved ones.” That statement, by White House press secretary Jay Carney Friday, can be viewed cynically – as if gun control advocates, including President Obama, had "exploited the tragedy for political gain,” as National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre put it a week after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., December 14, 2012, which killed 20 first-graders and six adult educators in a hail of semi-automatic weapon fire. But that perspective, conveyed by those who have lost loved ones or been the victims of gun violence themselves (such as former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords), in fact is the most emotionally powerful and politically effective way to convey the message. We saw a lot of that this past week, and we can expect to see a lot more this coming week as the US Senate and House of Representatives take up gun control measures. On Saturday, the President’s regular radio/Internet message was delivered not by Obama himself but by Francine Wheeler, whose six year old son, Ben, was among those killed at Newtown. She is the first person to deliver the address other than Obama or Vice President Joe Biden since the two took office in 2009. “Ben’s love of fun and his excitement at the wonders of life were unmatched,” Mrs. Wheeler said, her husband David at her side. “His boundless energy kept him running across the soccer field long after the game was over. He couldn’t wait to get to school every morning. He sang with perfect pitch and had just played at his third piano recital. Irrepressibly bright and spirited, Ben experienced life at full tilt.” “I’ve heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded,” she said. But not for us. To us, it feels as if it happened just yesterday. And in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun. Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief.” (Slate keeps a tally of those Americans killed by gunshot since Newtown. As of Thursday, it had reached 3,413.)..." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/13/2013 11:21 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The NRA is NOT omnipotent, but this article COMPLETELY disregards that all supporters of the 2nd Amendment are NOT necessarily members of the NRA, and I would say MOST are not... "6 reasons why President Obama will defeat the NRA and win universal background checks" "Following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. in December 2012, the gun-control debate is in full swing. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are pushing for more regulation, including restoring the assault-weapons ban, limiting high-capacity magazines, and implementing mandatory background checks for all gun sales. Gun-rights advocates oppose the initiatives, citing Second Amendment freedoms. The battle lines have been clearly drawn – and Americans have seen this face-off before. But this time around, things are different. Something is going to happen this session in the US Congress that hasn’t happened in more than a decade: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is going to lose on a top priority issue – specifically universal background checks. Further measures on guns are unlikely to make it through Congress, given that the Republicans control the House, but public and political opinion is swaying in favor of background checks. An Obama victory on this issue before the 2014 mid-term elections won’t be easy, and he’ll have to use a lot of political capital to get there. But here are six reasons why President Obama will defeat the NRA on universal background checks." [link to www.csmonitor.com] "6 reasons why President Obama will defeat the NRA and win universal background checks 1. NRA has alienated key Democrats 2. NRA isn’t as scary anymore 3. NRA can’t deliver swing voters like it once did 4. NRA won’t be the only big spender anymore 5. Democrats will remember Joe Baca 6. Newtown is different." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/13/2013 11:23 AM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/13/2013 11:26 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | *SHOCKING* said NO ONE, EVER... "EDITORIAL: Blumenthal uses Sandy Hook to raise campaign cash" [link to nhregister.com] "We’re glad that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Gov. Dannel Malloy are talking in detail about the victims of Sandy Hook as part of a push for federal gun control legislation. Members of Congress need to know that Dylan Hockley “loved jumping on trampolines and watching movies” and that he “died in his teacher’s arms.” They should meet Benjamin Wheeler’s parents and know what they’ve lost. What Murphy and Malloy are doing is not politicizing a tragedy. It’s an important part of the discussion around restricting the kind of mass murder weaponry used to kill 20 children and six educators on Dec. 14. They are helping give voice to the victims’ families. Malloy went so far as to send public Twitter messages to U.S. senators who were blocking a vote on gun legislation, asking that they return phone calls from the daughter of murdered Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung. The issue took a disgusting political turn on Thursday, though, when U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., used Sandy Hook to raise money. The money is not for one of the relief funds set up to help victims’ families, or to fund mental health services, or to support autism research...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 01:25 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "‘Anyone Would Be Proud to Have This Factory in Their State’: Blaze Readers on Connecticut Gun-Maker Leaving Over New Gun Laws" [link to news.yahoo.com] "Connecticut-based gun manufacturer PTR announced this week it is leaving the state following the passage of new gun control legislation it said proved that state leaders have "abandoned the proud heritage that forged our freedom." Here's what some of you had to say about it: TomFerrari Gun & ammo manufacturers should take it upon themselves to commit some percentage of their capacity to civilian market only. This would show a commitment to their customer base, assure SOME level of arms & ammo to the public, & assure stockholders of long term business continuity. Otherwise, they are likely to see new competition emerge as the demand has grown but not the supply. This may be from new startups that only serve civilian markets, or, more likely in the short term,foreign manufacturers flooding into the US market. Why not? We chased off (regulated away) 'all' other US manufacturing already!..." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 10:21 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "SNL Lampoons New Gun Bill: Dealers Must Ask, ‘Are You a Good Person?’" Video @ link... [link to news.yahoo.com] "NBC After the Senate vote this week to begin debate on the new gun control bill, "Saturday Night Live" brought up Sens. "Joe Manchin" (D-W. Va.) and "Pat Toomey" (R-Pa.) to explain some of the compromise they worked out. But their "compromise" turned out to be a series of absurd provisions, including: o No one can buy a handgun from a private dealer without being asked, "Are you a good person?" and then the follow-up question, "Seriously, are you?" o No limit on the amount of ammunition you can carry in magazines...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 10:48 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | [link to www.slate.com] "Lori Haas nearly got kicked out of the Senate viewing gallery. The upper house was voting on whether or not to allow a debate on gun legislation. Haas’ freshman senator, Tim Kaine, spotted her from the floor. He waved up. She waved back. That nearly violated the churchlike protocols of the Senate. But Haas negotiated with Capitol security to keep her seat and count out the votes, on her fingers, occasionally pumping her fist when a surprise Republican “aye” came through, stopping only when the vote came in—68-31 for cloture. “I was counting all the yes votes,’ ” she said, after she and fellow gun-bill advocates left the gallery. “I knew they’d gotten to 60, but I was afraid I’d counted wrong. I didn’t want to get that wrong. This is very emotional for me. I’ve been working on this for six years.” Six years ago, a Virginia Tech student who should have failed a background check turned two semi-automatic pistols on a classroom, killing 32 and injuring 17. Haas’ daughter, Emily, was one of the 17; she took two bullets to the head and wondered whether she’d bleed out. Her mother became a full-time gun control campaigner. Like the other activists in the Senate Thursday—some of them Newtown family members who wept as senators spoke—she was calling the cloture vote a win. For gun-bill advocates, from the White House on down, any bill is a win. They haven’t actually seen the bill they’re celebrating now; Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Pat Toomey have only released a fact sheet before they introduce their compromise amendment. They know that this bill will chuck multiple brass-ring priorities recommended this year by the White House’s task force. No assault weapons ban, no ban on extended magazines. Just a background checks plan that was, until yesterday, being worked on in consultation with the NRA itself. That doesn’t matter to the advocates. At a press conference before the cloture vote, flanked by family members of those wounded or murdered in gun massacres—again, with some of them weeping openly—Sen. Chuck Schumer imagined a world in which the NRA was reeling. “With the vote that we take today,” he said, “we are turning the page against the NRA’s dominance.” He was so dedicated to the long game that he’d even skipped another press conference, after Toomey fretted about the optics of appearing with the NRA’s New York bête noir. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was saying the exact same thing, only louder and with more snark. “The NRA’s real thing was to stop anything," he said. "And once we have some sensible gun laws, and once elected officials understand they don't have to kowtow to the N.R.A., that the public has a voice here, and the public wants to be heard, and the public is going to vote in the next election whenever anybody is running, based on whether people were rational on this and tried to save their lives, that's what matters here.” If it all sounds theoretical, that’s because it is. Democrats haven’t moved a gun bill in two decades, preferring (or being forced into) an accommodation with the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby. But what’s happened to the NRA? They think it’s been brought lower—it’s got a modest plus-7 favorable rating in the last relevant poll—by its bridge-burning approach to the gun debate. So Democrats are adopting Saul Alinsky’s 13th rule, to “freeze” and “personalize” and “polarize” a target, although the NRA has done some of the freezing all by itself. Before today’s vote, a Democratic aide told me that the party had run the numbers on the Senate races targeted by the NRA in 2012. In 13 out of 16 races, the NRA lost. It accused Barack Obama of harboring a “secret plan to destroy the Second Amendment,” and then lost to him. Twice. In Virginia, even...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/14/2013 10:49 AM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 03:28 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Close vote seen on background checks on gun buyers" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan Senate proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers gained the backing of one Republican and the potential support of a second Sunday as sponsors said the vote expected this week was too close to call. The plan would "strengthen the background check system without in any way infringing on Second Amendment rights," Maine Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement explaining her support for the measure. But she added that "it is impossible to predict at this point" what will be in a final bill. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has a B+ rating from the National Rifle Association, said he was "very favorably disposed" to the proposal that has emerged from Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. "I appreciate their work," McCain said. "And the American people want to do what we can to prevent these tragedies. And there's a lot more that needs to be done, particularly in the area of mental health." It was in McCain's home state that a gunman with schizophrenia shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head during a 2011 rampage in Tucson that left six people killed. Collins and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois are the only two Republicans who are expected to vote for the compromise as of now. It will take 60 votes to pass, meaning that more Republicans will have to come on board because some Democrats from gun-friendly states are expected to oppose the measure. "It's an open question as to whether or not we have the votes. I think it's going to be close," Toomey said...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 03:52 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Reason # 1 for NO "Gun Free Zones"... 4 robbers invade home; owner shoots 2 dead... "2 charged in attempted home invasion, 2 others killed" [link to abclocal.go.com] "FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Investigators say two men who attempted to invade a home early Friday ended up dead after a gun battle with the homeowner. It happened in the 7500 block of Levi Road at approximately 3:37 a.m. After the exchange of gunfire, both robbers left the home. One of the men, 20-year-old Xavier White, was found wounded on Martha Court. He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where he later died. Police said the body of 25-year-old Dominik Lavon Council was found along the shoulder of the road in the 5400 block of South Sumac Circle around 5:45 a.m. Police said the homeowner was also hurt in the gunfire. That person was not identified. Saturday, detectives identified two additional suspects. They are 24-year-old Lamyer Gorminie Campbell and 24-year-old Derek Rashaun Hair..." Thread: 4 dudes invade home...2 live to tell about it Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/14/2013 07:51 PM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 03:58 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Perhaps he'll get Breitbarted, one can only *HOPE*... "Bill Maher: 'The Second Amendment Is Bulls—t!'" [link to www.breitbart.com] Video of this smug, sanctimonious (tiny) PRICK @ the link... "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 07:20 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Is the National Rifle Association beginning to lose its clout?" "A major gun rights group has announced its support for a compromise Senate measure that would expand background checks on gun buyers. The National Rifle Association continues to oppose such checks even though most NRA members support them." [link to news.yahoo.com] "Is the National Rifle Association – the political bulwark against any gun control legislation – beginning to lose its influence? It’s way too soon to declare the powerful NRA on the wane. Its approval is still eagerly sought by many lawmakers who tout their high ranking by the organization. But in the wake of recent mass shootings that have shocked the nation, many gun rights advocates – including many NRA members – are shifting in favor of stricter gun safety measures. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which boasts 650,000 members and supporters, is backing compromise legislation in the Senate which would expand background checks on gun buyers. That proposal – put forth by Senators Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia and Pat Toomey (R) of Pennsylvania, both NRA members and gun owners – would expand background checks on firearms transactions at gun shows and for online sales. “We decided to back it because we believe it is the right thing to do,” Julianne Versnel, the Citizens Committee’s director of operations, told the Washington Post. So do most Americans, including most NRA members. According to a CBS/New York Times poll earlier this year, 92 percent of Americans and 85 percent of those living in a household with an NRA member support universal background checks on gun buyers. Other polls put NRA backers of background checks at about 75 percent. In another development Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins, (R) of Maine, announced that she too will back the Manchin-Toomey proposal. (Earlier, Sen. Mark Kirk, (R) of Illinois indicated his support for the compromise measure, which does not apply to gun exchanges between family members.) "I grew up in Northern Maine where responsible gun ownership is part of the heritage of virtually every family,” Sen. Collins explained in a statement. “I strongly support our Second Amendment rights, and two recent Supreme Court decisions … make clear that those constitutional rights pertain to the individual.” “The Manchin-Toomey compromise takes a much more common sense approach [than tougher proposals] by requiring background checks only for commercial transactions and exempts family gifts and transfers,” she wrote. As have other senators, Collins said she was very moved by her meeting last week with the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., which killed 20 first graders and six educators Dec. 14, 2012...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 10:19 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "High Court Weighs Entering New York’s Gun-Carrying Fight" [link to www.bloomberg.com] "The gun-control debate might be about to enter a new arena. The U.S. Supreme Court will announce as early as today whether it will hear a constitutional challenge to a century-old New York state law that requires people seeking to carry a handgun in public to show a special need for self-protection. The case would thrust the justices into the middle of the gun-policy debate raging in Washington and statehouses around the nation in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting. The issue of public possession has divided lower courts and would almost certainly do the same at the Supreme Court, which backed gun rights in 5-4 decisions in 2008 and 2010. “It is only a matter of time before the justices hear a case about public possession of guns,” said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law and the author of a book on the history of the gun-rights battle. In upholding New York’s law, which requires applicants to show “proper cause” to get a permit to carry a weapon, a federal appeals court pointed to what it called “a longstanding tradition of states regulating firearm possession and use in public because of the dangers posed to public safety.” The measure is being challenged by five residents of New York’s Westchester County in an appeal supported by 20 states and the National Rifle Association. The state “treats the carrying of handguns for self- defense not as a right but as an administrative privilege lying beyond the reach of most people,” the residents, led by Alan Kachalsky, argued in court papers. Laws Changing New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman countered that the state’s law “is similar to the types of longstanding laws that courts have repeatedly upheld.” In 1981, just three states -- Maine, Washington and Vermont -- let typical residents carry weapons in public without giving a reason. Today, about 40 states do. “This has been a major legal change at the state level,” said Robert Spitzer, a political scientist at the State University of New York in Cortland. Federal appeals courts are divided on the remaining laws that restrict public possession. A different court struck down an Illinois law that barred most people from carrying a loaded weapon in public, saying it violated the Constitution’s Second Amendment...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/14/2013 11:16 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "‘God Help Us If We Don’t Do It’: Senators Defend Background Check Amendment" [link to news.yahoo.com] "With the bipartisan Toomey-Manchin-Schumer Senate amendment permitting expanded background checks on gun purchases rapidly encountering opposition, Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) decided to fight back. Both appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning to offer a fierce defense of the amendment, as well as reassurances that their background in "gun culture" allows them to understand the concerns of gun owners. "First of all, let me be very clear, Senator Manchin and I are not willing to support infringing the rights of law-abiding citizens," Toomey said. "I know there are some people that do want to infringe on Second Amendment rights. I won't be part of that." "Pat and I both come from gun culture, both NRA, both gun people ourselves," Manchin said. "If you're a law-abiding gun owner yourself, you'll like this bill...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 09:44 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "House Republicans aim to weaken gun bill, focus on mental health" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Senate prepares to debate a gun-control bill for the first time in two decades on Monday, Republicans in the House of Representatives are devising ways to delay and weaken gun legislation they see as limiting Americans' right to bear arms, congressional sources say. Some Republican lawmakers and strategists are urging House Speaker John Boehner to kill any gun-control bill passed by the Senate by refusing to take action on it. But the Republican speaker is planning what could be a months-long review of the bill that likely would involve chipping away at gun-related measures in the plan while pushing for proposals to identify and treat the mentally ill as the best hope for a compromise plan to reduce gun violence. House Republicans' focus on mentally ill criminals has become sharper in recent days, as a bipartisan plan to expand background checks on prospective gun buyers gained momentum in the Democrat-led Senate - thanks in part to emotional calls for action in Washington by family members of victims of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting. The Senate is expected to vote on Tuesday on that plan, which would expand background checks to include those who try to buy guns online and at gun shows. Other Senate amendments would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines and military-style "assault" weapons - measures generally seen as having little chance of going anywhere. The background checks proposal - probably Democratic President Barack Obama's best chance at getting a significant gun-control bill through Congress - is expected to wind up in the final Senate bill, along with plans to boost funding for school security and tighten restrictions on gun trafficking. Boehner has pledged that the House will act on any gun bill that emerges from the Senate. He has indicated that the House's review would allow a lengthy debate without many of the deadlines and restrictions that usually guide the chamber's work. Many House Republicans saw that as a signal that conservatives who are staunch defenders of gun rights will have several weeks, or months, to come up with amendments that could make the gun bill unpalatable even to Senate Democrats who now support it. For House Republicans, gun-control legislation is a political tightrope. Like most Republicans in the Senate and a few Democrats from conservative, gun-friendly states, many House Republicans oppose the Senate plan to expand background checks and are under intense pressure from constituents and the gun lobby to resist such measures. That level of opposition in one chamber of Congress typically would be enough to quash a bill without action. But some House Republicans say they are wary of refusing to act on any gun bill passed by the Senate. At a time when public opinion polls suggest that at least 80 percent of Americans favor expanded background checks - and as family members of the Newtown victims help Obama keep up the pressure on lawmakers - these Republicans worry about their party looking like an obstructionist if it does not allow at least an airing of the Senate bill...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 10:00 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "The best 7 minutes of gun control speech" - from our virtual President... Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/15/2013 10:04 AM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 01:06 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Why some gun-rights activists support the Senate's gun-control bill" [link to news.yahoo.com] "The second-biggest gun-rights group in the country comes out in favor of extended background checks The National Rifle Association has made it clear that it doesn't like the Manchin-Toomey bill, which would extend background checks to gun shows and online sales. And the NRA has reason to be afraid: Republican senators, including Mark Kirk (Ill.), Susan Collins (Maine), and John McCain (Ariz.), have all joined its Republican co-author Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in supporting the bill. An even bigger shock came when the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) publicly backed the bill, according to Politico. At 650,000 members, the CCRKBA claims to be the second biggest gun-rights group in the country. True, that's only a fraction of the NRA's 5 million members, but the fact that a gun-rights group that has opposed background checks in the past is now on board with Manchin-Toomey could be crucial in getting the necessary 60 votes in the Senate. Why would a major gun-rights group support a gun-control bill? Partly because they helped write it, as a video posted by No More Mister Nice Blog explains: That's the group's chair, Alan Gottlieb, telling attendees at a dinner in Portland, Ore., that "we're taking the background check bill and making it a pro-gun bill." He went on to explain that, despite opposing more background checks, he thought much of the bill would actually increase access to guns: To be perfectly candid about it, [the bill] states in it that no guns can be registered. It also carries a section in it that any federal or any state or any gun dealer with access to the NICS Check Records who misuses those records for registration purposes commits a felony with... up to a 15 year prison term. That's really great protection for us...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 01:23 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Gun debate revives questions about self-defense" [link to news.yahoo.com] "The beam from the intruder's flashlight pierced the blackness of the bedroom at 4:45 a.m., sweeping across the down comforter and into Eric Martin's eyes. Outside, the streets of his Utah subdivision lay still and silent. But as Martin rolled to the floor, reached into the nightstand drawer and drew out his 9 mm pistol, the 46-year-old executive's mind raced with calculation: Would this man harm Martin's fiancee or her son? Was an accomplice outside waiting? What if he pulled the trigger and hit the sleeping 8-year-old across the hall? In the weeks since the Connecticut school massacre, some of the most intense debate has swirled around how to keep guns from criminals without infringing on the ability of lawful gun owners, like Martin, to protect themselves and their families. Indeed, protection is now the top reason gun owners cite for having a firearm, a new survey shows, a figure that has nearly doubled since 1999. But even after years of study, there is little clarity on how, exactly, Americans use guns to protect themselves in moments of jeopardy — or how often. Researchers known for sharp disagreement on the self-defense riddle say the answers may be shifting dramatically because of a steep drop in crime, an increase in guns and state laws giving owners more leeway to wield them. Determining the absolute value of guns for self-defense is clouded by that complex dynamic of policy, judgment and circumstance. Still, both advocates of gun rights and of gun control understand the issue's importance in shaping the debate. "When there's a threat outside your door, the police aren't going to be there ... the guys trained to save lives aren't going to be there," said Dom Raso, a commentator for the National Rifle Association's online news channel, in a video posted recently by the gun rights group. And even while calling for new gun laws, President Barack Obama, too, acknowledged the legitimacy of self-defense in an April 8 speech in Hartford, Conn., when he recounted a conversation with his wife, Michelle, after campaigning in rural Iowa. "Sometimes it would be miles between farms, let alone towns," Obama said. "And she said, 'You know, coming back, I can understand why somebody would want a gun for protection. If somebody drove up into the driveway and, Barack, you weren't home, the sheriff lived miles away, I might want that security.'" With Americans split over whether guns more often save lives or jeopardize them, researchers have long parsed surveys of crime victims done in the 1990s, arguing over what the numbers mean. But since then, crime has plummeted in the U.S. The rate of violent crimes including murder and assault fell by nearly half from 1992 to 2011, while the rate of reported property crime dropped 41 percent, data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show. That drop has researchers considering the possibility, even the likelihood, that many fewer Americans are drawing firearms to protect themselves. "I'm pretty confident that whatever the number is, it did go down ... because overall crime went down," said Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist whose 1990s research, widely cited by gun rights activists, concluded that Americans drew their firearms in self-defense up to 2.5 million times a year. That translates to about 3 percent of all gun owners during the course of a single year. But the drop in crime means there are far fewer occasions now for Americans to use guns for self-protection, Kleck said, making it likely that the number of annual self-defense usages of guns "should be about half as big now as they were back then, 20 years ago." Even if such a drop were documented, it would still leave a scenario of relatively widespread use of guns for self-defense suggested by Kleck far at odds with research done by his critics...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/15/2013 01:24 PM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 01:41 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Why do I have a sharp pain in my lower back? Has the "fix been in" all along??? "Background checks for gun buyers win more backing" With Senate set to debate gun control, 2 Republicans express support for background checks [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the Senate set to begin debate on gun control legislation this week, a proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers picked up some key Republican support over the weekend. But it may not be enough to ensure the measure is adopted. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine issued a statement Sunday saying that she would vote for the compromise crafted by Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The proposal requires background checks for people buying guns at gun shows and online, but exempts private gun sales. The plan would "strengthen the background check system without in any way infringing on Second Amendment rights," Collins said. But Collins took a wait-and-see approach on the entire package, saying "it is impossible to predict at this point the final composition of the overall legislation." Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has a B+ rating from the National Rifle Association, said he was "very favorably disposed" to the Manchin-Toomey compromise. It was in McCain's home state that a gunman with schizophrenia shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head during a 2011 rampage in Tucson that left six people killed. Even with their support, the vote on the measure — expected as early as Wednesday — will be close. "It's an open question as to whether or not we have the votes," Toomey said. Asked how many votes he thought he had now, Manchin said, "Well, we're close. We need more." Collins and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois are the only two Republicans besides Toomey who are expected to vote for the compromise as of now...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/15/2013 01:41 PM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 01:47 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Supreme Court declines to hear gun rights case" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON - Staying out of the raging national debate over guns, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to weigh in on whether gun owners have a constitutional right to carry handguns outside the home. The court decided not to hear a challenge to a New York state law that requires those who want to carry a concealed handgun to show they have a special reason before they can get a license. The gun owners challenging the law said that the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not limited to the right to keep a handgun at home. In recent years, the Supreme Court has expanded gun rights, first by finding in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to bear arms and then ruling two years later in McDonald v. City of Chicago, that the earlier ruling applied to the states...." "New York Gun Limits Intact as High Court Rejects Appeal" [link to www.bloomberg.com] "The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a rebuff to gun-rights advocates including the National Rifle Association, leaving intact New York’s requirement that people wishing to carry a handgun in public show a special need for protection. Refusing for now to be drawn into the fractious nationwide debate over firearms, the justices today let stand a federal appeals court decision that said the century-old New York law didn’t infringe the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The court made no comment, turning away an appeal by five New York residents and a gun-rights group as part of a list of orders released in Washington. High court review of the New York case would have threatened public-possession restrictions in as many as 10 states. Lower courts are divided on the measures, making it likely the Supreme Court will consider the issue at a later point. “It is only a matter of time before the justices hear a case about public possession of guns,” said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law and the author of a book on the history of the gun-rights battle. In upholding New York’s law, which requires applicants to show “proper cause” to get a permit to carry a weapon, a federal appeals court pointed to what it called “a longstanding tradition of states regulating firearm possession and use in public because of the dangers posed to public safety.” Westchester County The measure was challenged by five residents of New York’s Westchester County and the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun- rights group based in Bellevue, Washington. The National Rifle Association and 20 states backed the appeal. The state “treats the carrying of handguns for self- defense not as a right but as an administrative privilege lying beyond the reach of most people,” the residents, led by Alan Kachalsky, argued in court papers. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman countered that the state’s law “is similar to the types of longstanding laws that courts have repeatedly upheld.” The high court rebuff “is a victory for families across New York who are rightly concerned about the scourge of gun violence that all too often plagues our communities,” Schneiderman said in a statement after the court acted...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/15/2013 01:49 PM "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
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| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/15/2013 02:53 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "New York's assault weapon registration begins" [link to news.yahoo.com] "ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Key measures of New York's tough new gun law kicked in Monday, with owners of firearms now reclassified as assault weapons required to start registering the firearms and new limits on the number of bullets allowed in magazines. As the new provisions took effect, New York's affiliate of the National Rifle Association planned to file a court request for a federal injunction to immediate halt to the magazine limit. Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls those and other provisions in the state's new gun law common sense while dismissing criticisms he says come from "extreme fringe conservatives" who claim the government has no right to regulate guns. "Yes, they are against it, but they are the extremists and the extremists shouldn't win, especially on this issue when it is so important to the majority," Cuomo said in a radio interview last week. "In politics, we have to be willing to take on the extremists, otherwise you will see paralysis." New York's new gun restrictions, the first in the nation passed following December's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, limit state gun owners to no more than seven bullets in magazines, except at competitions or firing ranges. The new regulations in New York commence as the U.S. Senate prepares to debate expanded gun legislation and weeks after Connecticut joined Colorado in signing into law tougher new gun restrictions. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, the state's NRA affiliate, has a pending federal lawsuit against the new provisions. Attorney Brian Stapleton said the request for an immediate halt to the magazine limit would be filed electronically, probably late Monday or possibly early Tuesday. The law violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens "to keep commonly possessed firearms" at home for self-defense and for other lawful purposes, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association said in court papers. It is advising members to obey the law in the meantime. "We are lawful and legal citizens of New York state and we always obey the law," association President Tom King said. "It's as simple as that." The new registrations, required over the next year, will be the group's focus later, King said...." "Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" — Brian Tracy: Personal and business training author, speaker, and consultant "We are all, right now, living the life we choose." -- Peter McWilliams, Author "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -- Michael Altshuler |
