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USA Gun Control Timeline, a social experiment...Post Sandy Hook to Present | |
milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344  United States04/18/2013 05:49 PM  Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "A Look at Joe Biden’s Seriously Sketchy Gun Claim" [link to news.yahoo.com] "Vice President Joe Biden during a Google+ Hangout on Wednesday made a rather interesting claim: 80,000 plus people a year who go through the background system are convicted felons or adjudicated incompetent to be able to own a weapon. That 40 percent means there's gotta be, statistically, somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 who get a gun who are not qualified. Probably higher. "How does that make any sense?" he asked:.... Perhaps the vice president finds these statistics so confusing because they're not exactly accurate. Well, not according to the FBI at least. "The FBI states that between November 30, 1998 and March 31st 2013 they denied clearance on a gun sale after a background check revealed the person in question was 'convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year or a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years' exactly 590,070 times," writes Stephen Gutowski for CNSNews.com...." Video @ link and an interesting Federal chart too... "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 States04/18/2013 07:57 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | the messiah is NOT *happy*.....  "NRA chief: Obama 'bit off more than he could chew'" [link to washingtonexaminer.com] "The head of the National Rifle Association mocked President Obama's Rose Garden "tantrum" after losing the gun control fight in the Senate, charging Thursday that Obama suffered the worst defeat of his presidency because "he bit off more than he could chew." David Keene told Secrets that the president and his team misplayed their hand because they don't have a sense of the public's attitude toward gun control. "They just can't gauge the public reaction to what they do because they don't have any sense that the public has feelings different than they do," said Keene. "He thought and his folks thought that Newtown changed everything. Newtown was a tragedy but that doesn't change people's basic values and feelings," added the NRA president. "What he learned is that he bit off a lot more than he can chew and that you can't just talk your way to a victory. You have to have something that makes some sense and he what he was proposing just didn't make much sense." "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 States04/18/2013 08:01 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Pelosi: Tougher gun controls 'inevitable'" [link to thehill.com] "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said passage of tougher gun controls is "inevitable," projecting optimism less than 24 hours after the Senate voted down legislation central to President Obama's strategy to reduce gun violence. "It's a matter of time," Pelosi said Thursday during a press briefing in the Capitol. "It might be inconceivable to the NRA that this might happen; it's inevitable to us." Pelosi did not put a timeline on her prediction but suggested public outrage over the failed Senate effort will eventually force the opponents of tougher gun laws to reconsider. "Something must be done, because that's what the American people expect and what they deserve," she said. "We're just not taking no for an answer." Pelosi has a tough road ahead..." "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 States04/18/2013 08:04 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | MS-DNC is at it again...NOTHING more humorous than a pissed off lefty!!! "MSNBC Host Blames NRA for ‘Slow’ Boston Investigation: ‘In the Business of Helping Bombers Get Away With Their Crimes’" [link to news.yahoo.com] "President Barack Obama after the Toomey-Manchin background check amendment failed on Wednesday to clear the U.S. Senate accused the National Rifle Association of "spreading untruths" and putting the lives of Americans at risk. "A few minutes ago, a minority in the U.S. Senate ... blocked common sense gun reform," an angry Obama lectured. "All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that allows dangerous criminals to buy guns without a background check." But no one was more adamant about their hatred for the NRA than MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell who last night accused the civil rights group of aiding and abetting the terrorist(s) responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings. "There are new developments tonight in the bombing investigation here in Boston," O'Donnell said. "But that investigation could be moving faster were it not for the successful lobbying efforts of the National Rifle Association...." "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 States04/18/2013 08:09 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | D-U-H....Does a shark have a watertight ass??? "Is the liberal anti-gun push backfiring?" [link to news.yahoo.com] "After the Senate voted down increased gun restrictions this week, anti-gun advocates -- including President Obama -- insisted that the legislative process had been corrupted and that the vast majority of American people actually sided with them in favor of the measures. But how accurate is this claim? It's worth noting that Americans' attitudes toward guns seem to be moving against the liberal grain these days. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that more Americans say a gun in the house makes it more safe rather than more dangerous -- a significant reversal of opinion in just the last 10 years:..." "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 States04/19/2013 08:46 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Obama taking action on gun background check system" [link to news.yahoo.com] WASHINGTON (AP) — Blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions within his own power to keep people from buying a gun who are prohibited for mental health reasons. Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but not all states are providing data to stop the prohibited sales to the FBI's background check system. A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database, meaning many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could have access to guns. The Obama administration was starting a process Friday aimed at removing barriers in health privacy laws that prevent some states from reporting information to the background check system. The action comes two days after the Senate rejected a measure that would have required buyers of firearms online and at gun shows to pass a background check. That's already required for shoppers at licensed gun dealers. Stung by the defeat, Obama vowed to keep up the fight for the background check expansion but also to do what he could through executive action. "Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities," Obama said from the Rose Garden shortly after the Senate voted. "We're going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system." Obama also mentioned giving law enforcement more information about lost and stolen guns and establishing emergency plans for schools. Those measures were among the 23 executive actions the president signed in January when he announced his broader push for tighter gun laws in response to a mass shooting of first-graders and staff at Newtown, Conn.'s Sandy Hook Elementary School...." "Behind the Curtain: Obama, boxed in" [link to www.politico.com] "There are two very different President Obamas. There’s the confident, uncompromising Obama who sought to shame and bully Republicans into submitting to his agenda of tax increases and sweeping gun reform. This version of Obama was dominant until one month ago. Then there’s the calmer, more compromising Obama — the one who has courted Republicans and taken on his own party with a call for (modest) reductions in entitlement spending. This version of Obama took command last month. Both are flailing. Obama, regardless of the personality and political approach he displays on any given day, keeps running into the same wall of insurmountable opposition. The cold, hard reality is that the president is trapped in a very frustrating box: He realizes that the vast majority of Congress is as impervious to his pressure as it is his charm. He is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t — and he knows it, several of his friends tell us. He will most likely get nothing on guns despite his vow after Wednesday’s Senate defeat that “this effort is not over.” He will most likely get nothing more on a grand bargain to lift the economy. He stands a decent chance of getting an immigration deal. But as one influential Democratic adviser told us, that’s only because the president has largely stayed on the sidelines. “POTUS really doesn’t have any sway with red-state Dems,” said a top Democratic official close to the White House. Democratic senators, the official added, “won in states that POTUS lost — some by huge margins. Also, even in blue states, many Democrats ran ahead of POTUS.” Obama has privately resigned himself to this bleak reality — in fact, he anticipated it more than a year ago. In private conversations during the campaign, Obama made plain that the job of being president was a drag under divided government — and that he had deep reservations about grinding out another two or four years of minimal progress through a gridlocked Congress. Now, the combination of Republican resistance and the high number of Senate Democrats running in red states in 2014 virtually assures little change for at least 18 months. David Axelrod, sounding shell-shocked by the decisiveness of the Senate defeat on gun reform, said Obama is indeed frustrated by the constraints that bind him and knows that’s what he signed up for. “On this one, he tried everything,” Axelrod said. “It’s easy after a stinging defeat like this to say: ‘There’s no formula.’ But what you can’t do is take your bat and ball and go home....” Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/19/2013 09:07 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 States04/19/2013 08:50 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I wonder if there are any job openings in the White House to write this never ending bullshit??? "Soft on Crime: Protecting the 'Second Amendment Rights' of Thugs and Terrorists" [link to news.yahoo.com] "What can Americans learn from the bitter debate over the gun reform bill? Perhaps the most obvious lesson is that the leadership of the National Rifle Association, the Gun Owners of America and their tame Republican politicians have all earned an epithet of derision they used to hurl regularly at liberals. Yes, the gun lobby and its legislative servants are "soft on crime" — although they routinely pretend to be tough on criminals. During the Clinton presidency, NRA president-for-life Wayne LaPierre raised vast amounts of money with direct-mail campaigns against both Bill and Hillary Clinton for supposedly coddling criminals. Dubbed "Crimestrike," the NRA crusade pushed prison construction, mandatory minimum sentencing and sundry other panaceas designed to position the NRA as the bane of muggers, rapists and murderers. Those themes echoed traditional Republican propaganda messages dating back to the Nixon era, when the presidential crook himself often derided judicial concerns about civil liberties and promised to restore "law and order." (When Nixon henchmen like the late Chuck Colson went to prison themselves, they often emerged as prison reformers and civil libertarians, of course.) But in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, with the NRA angrily opposing any measure designed to hinder criminals from acquiring firearms, the public is learning who is really soft on crime. Police officials across the country want universal background checks, magazine limits, and stronger enforcement against illegal weapons sales, but the NRA and its Republican allies insist that such changes will penalize legitimate gun owners. Or they complain that criminals mainly obtain weapons by stealing them, so restrictions on sales won't make any difference...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/19/2013 11:40 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 States04/19/2013 11:39 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | For those keeping score at home... "Del. lawmakers approve expanded gun buy checks" - Del. lawmakers approve expanding gun purchase background checks to most private sales [link to news.yahoo.com] "DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Delaware's Senate has given final legislative approval to a bill expanding criminal background checks on gun purchases in the state, including most transactions between private sellers and buyers. The state's Democrat-led Senate voted 13-8 Thursday to approve the measure. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Jack Markell for his signature...." "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 States04/19/2013 11:48 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I'm SURE he is... "Clinton says he's disappointed gun measure failed" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton says he's disappointed the Senate fell short of the votes needed to expand background checks for gun purchases. Clinton tells The Associated Press that passing the measure, in his words, "would save a lot of kids' lives in a lot of places." The former president made the comments Thursday in Washington after an appearance to promote a partnership with the AFL-CIO and the Clinton Global Initiative on energy efficiency...." "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 States04/19/2013 11:55 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Hunters' group tries to chart new course on guns" [link to news.yahoo.com] "DENVER (AP) — Gaspar Perricone got a child-size .22-caliber rifle for his first birthday. In high school, he went duck hunting before class and stowed his shotgun in his pickup. Then he went to work for a Democratic U.S. senator and formed a group to promote hunting and fishing issues. Now he has landed in the wide-open space between the two poles in the national gun debate. The group Perricone co-founded with another former aide to Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, The Bull Moose Sportsmen's Alliance, took the unusual step this month of releasing a poll that showed wide support among hunters for universal background checks. Most public polls have shown about 90 percent of all voters support such a measure. Perricone followed up with a piece in the Washington-based publication Politico arguing for such a plan. And he met with President Barack Obama during the Democrat's trip to Denver this month to promote Colorado's state-level gun-control initiatives. "We are pro-gun, there's no two ways about that," Perricone, 29, said recently in an interview, stressing that his group opposes bans on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. "But we're also mothers and fathers. ... We don't want to see another Newtown." As is often the case in politics, the loudest voices in the gun-control debate that resurfaced after the massacre in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., have come from the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. The National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups have strongly objected to the White House's gun-control package, and pressure from them led to the defeat of a series of Senate measures this week. Gun-control groups have countered with the body counts from Sandy Hook, the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed after the gunman killed his own mother, and Aurora, Colo., where 12 people died in a movie theater shooting in July...." "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 States04/19/2013 03:19 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "From the Cheap Seats: Udall and Bennet Blink on Gun Control" [link to thecoloradoobserver.com] "Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall’s votes against a federal assault weapons ban Wednesday should send a cold chill down the spine of every Democratic state legislator. When it comes to firearms, neither Bennet nor Udall will ever be confused with Chuck Norris. Both are liberal Democrats who said earlier this year that they would support federal gun-control legislation. Their about-face shows that they were paying attention to the popular uprising now rocking Colorado in reaction to the Democratic Party’s decision to ram a package of sweeping gun-control bills through the state legislature despite intense public opposition. That Bennet and Udall were willing to buck their party, including the White House, on President Obama’s top 2013 legislative priority is the strongest sign yet that state Democrats just made a huge mistake. Bennet and Udall sit atop of the Colorado Democratic Party’s food chain. Neither is seen as particularly vulnerable: Bennet won a tough election fight in 2010, but he doesn’t face the voters again until 2016. He’s also fabulously wealthy, meaning he can afford to offend gun-control and gun-rights backers alike. Udall comes up for reelection in 2014, but he’s also the party’s golden boy, coasting to reelection during his House years without breaking a sweat. Republicans, who still don’t know who they’re going to run against him, have yet to really lay a glove on him...." "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 States04/20/2013 09:55 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | A pointy-headed, emoting academic weighing in on this subject... "GUN LOBBY'S FANATICISM PREVAILS OVER COMMON SENSE" [link to news.yahoo.com] "You might have thought that the mangled bodies of 20 dead children would have been enough to overcome the crazed obsessions of the gun lobby. You might have believed that the courage and exhortations of a former congresswoman -- her career cut short and her life forever changed by a would-be assassin's bullet -- would have pushed Congress to do the right thing. You might have reasoned that polls showing overwhelming public support for a sensible gun control measure would have persuaded politicians to take a modest step toward preventing more massacres. You would have been wrong. Last week, the U.S. Senate sent a stark message to the citizens it is elected to represent: We couldn't care less about what you want. Fifteen years of highly publicized mass murders carried out by madmen with firearms -- Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson and Aurora, to name just a few -- have changed nothing. Newtown, where 26 people, including 20 young children, were mowed down by a man armed with an assault-type weapon and high-capacity magazines for his ammo, provoked little more than a ripple in the corridors of Washington, where the National Rifle Association and its like-minded lobbies carried the day. The grip that the gun lobby maintains on Congress is hard to explain. The National Rifle Association has persuaded spineless politicians that it is an omnipotent election god, able to strike down those who don't cower before it. That's simply not true, but even if it were, aren't some principles worth losing elections over?..." "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 States04/20/2013 10:39 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "NRA ardor, clout overwhelm gun-control groups, for now" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON - As lawmakers gathered in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to vote on a plan to expand background checks for gun buyers, staffers in the office of Alaska Democratic Senator Mark Begich fielded a steady stream of calls urging him to break with his party and vote against the measure. Those callers got what they wanted: Begich voted no - one of four Democrats from gun-friendly states to do so - and the most ambitious gun-control push in two decades went down to defeat. It was an impressive show of force by the National Rifle Association, which reaffirmed its reputation as one of Washington's most powerful interest groups by turning back one of President Barack Obama's top second-term priorities. The NRA mobilized a disciplined, grassroots army that flooded Republican and conservative Democratic lawmakers' offices with phone calls and e-mails. The NRA and its supporters also followed a tightly woven script that accused Obama of not following up on thousands of gun buyers each year who fail background checks under existing laws. The association's talking points, often repeated word for word by lawmakers and NRA supporters, cast the new background checks plan as an infringement on the constitutional right to bear arms of law-abiding citizens. After the measure fell six votes short of the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate, Obama acknowledged that gun-control supporters have a way to go before they can match the sustained passion that has allowed the gun lobby to steadily loosen firearms laws over the past 18 years. Now, with the push for gun control in a holding pattern on Capitol Hill, gun-control groups are vowing to meet Obama's challenge to beat the NRA at its own game. Gun control has a deep-pocketed sponsor in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $12 million on ads in March targeting key lawmakers. Organizing for America, an advocacy group spawned from Obama's re-election campaign, plans to mount rallies to pressure lawmakers who voted against the bill. Separately, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an independent liberal group, plans to run newspaper ads criticizing Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus for voting against the bill, the first of what the group says could be many targeted pressure campaigns aimed at lawmakers who will face re-election next year. That effort could backfire, analysts say. The Democratic Party - which controls 55 seats in the Senate - needs conservative Democrats such as Begich and Baucus to win re-election next year in order to retain control of the chamber. Efforts to punish them for their vote could hand those seats to Republicans. Going after Begich or Baucus would "blow up in their face," said Jim Manley, a former spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "They have to decide whether they want an issue or whether they want to win...." "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 States04/20/2013 10:41 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Gun votes carry big risks for Dems in rural states" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) — There is little mystery, from a campaign viewpoint, at least, about the eight senators who crossed party lines in Wednesday's showdown vote on background checks for gun buyers. The four Democrats who voted against broader background checks are from largely rural states that voted heavily against President Barack Obama last fall. Three of the four Republicans who voted in favor of the measure are from states Obama carried easily. The exception is John McCain of Arizona, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee. The four Democrats — Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Mark Pryor of Arkansas — could cite a stack of pragmatic reasons for opposing the gun measure. The four Democrats' states have deep traditions of hunting and gun ownership. They lack large cities, where persistent shootings can build momentum for gun control. None of that saved the four Democrats from Obama's wrath after the measure fell five votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster, a crushing defeat for Obama and others who want stronger measures to detect ineligible gun buyers. In an emotional speech soon after the vote, the president — without naming names — said of the measure's opponents: "Most of these senators could not offer any good reason why we wouldn't want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illnesses to buy a gun." "It came down to politics," Obama said. "Obviously, a lot of Republicans had that fear, but Democrats had that fear, too. And so they caved to the pressure." Besides McCain, the four Republicans who voted for the bill are Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Obama's home state, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The four Democrats played down the unusual rebuke from their party's president. "In politics, you don't take anything personal," Begich told reporters Thursday. His constituents, he said, "are Alaskans." "They care about their guns. They're passionate about them," he said. Baucus brushed off Obama's comments, telling reporters, "He can say what he wants to say." Baucus said he is comfortable with his vote, adding: "That's my state." But Jon Tester, the other Democratic senator from Montana, where Obama lost by 13 percentage points last fall, drew a different conclusion and voted for the expanded background checks. Lawmakers typically say they base their votes on principle, not pure politics. Yet one big difference between Tester and Baucus is hard to ignore: While Tester won't face Montana voters again until 2018, Baucus is seeking a seventh term next year. Likewise, Pryor is up for re-election next year in a state that Obama lost to Mitt Romney in a landslide, 61 percent to 37 percent. And Begich is seeking a second term next year in Alaska, a solidly Republican state that Obama lost by 14 points. Heitkamp, just elected in a contest many expected her to lose, won't run again until 2018. But her vote against the gun background-check proposal was in keeping with her widely praised campaign against Republican Rick Berg. Heitkamp inoculated herself on the gun issue by touting her "A'' rating from the National Rifle Association. When New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg funded pro-gun control TV ads aimed at Heitkamp after the December elementary school massacre in Connecticut, the new senator wore them like an honor. "I wouldn't expect Mayor Bloomberg to follow my advice on how to run a major East Coast city," she said, "and I don't plan to follow his advice on what is best for North Dakotans." Some political strategists say elected Democrats in strongly pro-gun states face a no-win situation. That might apply to Pryor, a 10-year Senate veteran whose father, David, also was a senator from Arkansas. The younger Pryor proved so popular that Republicans didn't field a candidate against him in 2008. But Arkansas politics are shifting dramatically to the right. Republican presidential nominees have carried the state by ever-larger margins over the past four elections. Two-term Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln was obliterated in 2010, losing her seat to Republican John Boozman by 21 percentage points. Pryor waited until almost the last minute to announce his decision on the background-check measure. "It's too broad, unworkable, and unreasonable for hunters and gun owners in our state," he 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 States04/22/2013 04:07 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Another emoting call for "Gun Control"... "Parents Need to Demand that Congress Enact Gun Reform" [link to shine.yahoo.com] "The news has sucked this week. From the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, to poison ricin discovered in the President's mail, and the explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, has any stretch of five days better epitomized life in post 9/11 America? Fear, violence, explosions, and chemicals. As I write this, my Twitter feed buzzes in the background; the city of Boston remains on lockdown as police engage the surviving suspect of the bombing. Yet as Dennis Lehane wrote in an Op-Ed in The New York Times on Tuesday, we'll recover from acts of terror like the marathon bombing, our spirits intact. To me, the worst news in this week of bad news was the seemingly soulless failure of U.S. Congress to act on what could have been a preventive measure against acts of domestic terrorism, by failing to pass legislation controlling and limiting the sale of firearms. On Wednesday, a bill sponsored by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (of West Virginia) and Republican Senator Pat Toomey (of Pennsylvania) which would have required background checks for gun purchases online and through private sales failed to pass the Senate with the required 60 votes. The bill would also have banned military-style assault rifles. While critics have said these measures would do little to impact the threat of violence in schools, the bill saw overwhelming support by the American public, and would have at least been a step toward more comprehensive gun reform. Why did this happen? How can we, as a society, allow inspectors to scan and rummage through our bags when we board plans, mount surveillance cameras through our cities to monitor criminal activity, and demand that the professionals who work in our children's schools go through a screening process, yet find discomfort in restricting gun sales and availability?..." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/22/2013 04:10 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 States04/22/2013 08:48 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Report: Suspects had no gun licenses" [link to thehill.com] "The two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were not licensed to have the firearms they used in several shootouts with police on Friday, Reuters reported Sunday night. The news that the suspects were not authorized to own firearms will likely add fuel to calls for tougher gun laws – an issue that was put on the back-burner last week after the Senate blocked the central elements of a gun-control package backed by President Obama. Because Massachusetts state law bars handgun ownership for those younger than 21, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, age 26, was the only brother who could have obtained a license from the town of Cambridge, Mass., where he lived. But he didn't take that step, Dan Riviello, spokesman for the Cambridge Police Department, told Reuters...." "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 |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 31972305 United States04/22/2013 09:40 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Just in case you think that our government would never do this. [link to en.wikipedia.org] Video explanation [link to youtu.be] Let's get this posted around to keep everyone up to date on history. |
| milehighmike (OP) User ID: 339344 United States04/23/2013 09:50 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Full.Court.Press. Piling On WELCOMED (And obviously encouraged), Proving once again, NO stretch is too great for the cause... "The Gun Score: A Credit Score for the NRA" [link to finance.yahoo.com] "A sufficiently large minority of the U.S. Senate demonstrated their Orwellian allegiance to the gun lobby last week — or their fear of it — by blocking several commonsense measures that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers while imposing a ban on both assault-style rifles and high-capacity gun magazines. The knee-jerk “no” votes were so pervasive that a law imposing stricter penalties on gun traffickers (supported by the National Rifle Association) even got the ax. Everybody who cares about this issue knows the gun lobby spends a lot of money supporting its friends and targeting its enemies. We know the real cost of easy gun ownership is measured by the innocent lives snuffed out every year by gun violence. Ask the parents of the 20 children who were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School or the parents of the 565 kids who were killed by guns in 2011. Ask the survivors of those who died at the Century Cinemas 16 in Aurora, Colo. They will tell you the real cost of the gun lobby. According to a CBS News/New York Times Poll, 92% of Americans support universal background checks for gun buyers. So what can we do now? Well, there’s that old standby solution: vote. The NRA happily provides a guide to the “Friends and Foes of Second Amendment Rights” to any like-minded voter who wants to support or defeat their elected representatives. They rate gun-friendly lawmakers in Washington. If you are one of the 92% of voters in favor of broader restrictions on guns and gun ownership, you can use those ratings to vote for new representation. As the New York Times editorial board wrote: “It’s now up to voters to exact a political price from those who defied the public’s demand.” I’m not that patient. In fact, I generally find instant gratification isn’t fast enough, so as I reflected recently on the topic of rating politicians, I had an epiphany (some might call it a “revenge fantasy”) that took its cues from a business risk assessment tool that I know a lot about: the credit score. The credit score is a three-digit number produced by an algorithm that distills information from credit reports. Many in the financial services sector consider it to be a pretty accurate risk assessment tool, permitting tens of thousands of credit extenders and service providers to analyze millions of applications and reach quick decisions about the credit-worthiness of individuals. My thought or flight of fancy: Maybe we should create a risk assessment tool for gun worthiness. In all seriousness, shouldn’t all Americans — especially those who manufacture and sell guns — welcome the prospect of better predictability given the news of late?..." "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 States04/24/2013 01:32 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Stephen King gives to Maine gun control coalition" [link to news.yahoo.com] "PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Stephen King and his wife have made a donation to a Maine group advocating for stricter gun control laws. King says the gift was "five figures" but doesn't want to say more about it because "charity's supposed to be a private thing." The Coalition for a Safer Maine says King is a gun owner and a defender of the Second Amendment who supports expanded background checks on gun sales and a ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition 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 States04/24/2013 01:34 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Gun control fight spills over to federal research"-- As government plans research on firearms violence, NRA, gun control group differ on approach [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington's fight over firearms restrictions isn't limited to Congress. It's also taking place in the halls of science — literally — where gun control advocates and the National Rifle Association differ over the direction federal research on gun violence should take. John Frazer, research director of the NRA's legislative arm, told a committee of experts on guns and public health Tuesday that better data is needed on the benefits of gun ownership, such as peoples' use of firearms to defend themselves. Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, focused on obtaining more information on how people get guns and the deaths and injuries the weapons cause. The experts were meeting in a building used by the National Academies, a private organization that provides science advice to the government. The committee is deciding what recommendations to make about federal research of gun violence, which President Barack Obama ordered resumed after nearly two decades in which the work has been blocked by Congress. "This is not about developing a policy agenda for guns. This is about developing a research agenda," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who is head the research committee. "We are the science folks." This year's debate over gun control, sparked by December's killing of 20 first-graders and six educators at a Connecticut elementary school, was hampered by old, at times unreliable data on guns. The Senate last week rejected a series of gun control proposals, and Democratic leaders put aside their effort to restrict firearms after realizing they lacked the votes needed for approval. Now, the battle is carrying over to the type of research each side thinks is needed. Gross told the panel about the estimated 30,000 gun deaths and 70,000 gun injuries that occur annually but spoke of the need for better information, including precise breakdowns of how many of the weapons involved were obtained illegally. The Brady group leader estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 of the deaths were caused by firearms obtained illegally, but said, "It would be a lot easier to make that leap if we had the data around it." The NRA's Frazer also recommended conducting surveys of inmates to determine how they choose victims, and figuring out how many guns are obtained from private transactions...." Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/24/2013 01:34 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 States04/24/2013 01:37 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Senator might bar people on terror list from guns" -- Author of defeated background check bill might bar guns from people on terror list [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate sponsor of a defeated compromise on expanding gun sale background checks says he'll consider changing the measure to add people on the government's terror list to those forbidden from owning firearms. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia says he's trying to find enough votes to push an altered background check measure through the Senate. Senators rejected it last week...." "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 States04/24/2013 04:28 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Better get ready to see a LOT more incidences like this! "Guns and Gear- "Boston: An armed terrorist in a gun free neighborhood" [link to dailycaller.com] "By Mike Sweeney, Gun Owners Action League – Massachusetts Now that we have a fraction of distance from the terror bombings and subsequent manhunt of last week we would like to point out a few things that jumped out at us which clearly illustrate the many failures of the laws of Massachusetts which pertain to firearms ownership. An unconfirmed report by the New York Times stated that the terrorists were in possession of 2 handguns and an “M4 carbine.” Let’s remember, MA has some of the most restrictive laws in the country and MA legislators who wish to justify these laws are always falling back on the “we need to keep guns off the streets” catch phrase so that they can keep perpetuating the myth of the laws effectiveness. Looking at the laws on the books and how hard it is for law abiding citizens to legally obtain firearms one would think that Massachusetts must be among the safest places in the country, right? One major flaw in the rhetoric of the “keeping guns off the streets” crowd; criminals don’t care what laws they write, pass, or enforce. As a matter of fact, criminals appreciate and look for areas which have laws similar to Massachusetts for one reason. The laws make it easy for them to enact their mayhem. Let’s look at what just happened, right here in the Commonwealth and the facts surrounding. Fact 1. Neither of the Tsarnaev brothers was legally able to be in possession of the firearms used during the shootouts and following attempted escape. Dzhokhar at 19 years old is ineligible to apply for the license required to legally possess any of the firearms listed by the NYT. His older brother Tamerlan at 26 years of age met that qualification but would also have been disqualified because of his 2009 assault arrest. To reiterate, neither of the brothers were legally in possession of the firearms nor were they eligible to apply to be. Fact 2. The “M4 carbine” that they were allegedly in possession of is illegal to possess in Massachusetts. IF, and this is a big IF this was a newly manufactured Colt M4 carbine as the NYT reports, and it wasn’t modified after leaving the factory, it would be classified an “Assault Weapon” by the state of MA C. 140: S. 121 applies to the definition and C. 140: S. 131M applies to the possession. Without going into great detail, the only way a MA resident can legally possess an AR style semi automatic rifle is to have an LTC in good standing and for the rifle to meet strict standards as to which cosmetic features it has; otherwise it is considered an “assault rifle” by the state, possession of which is a felony. Fact 3. Just as it was illegal for them to be in possession of the M4 carbine, it was illegal for them to be in possession of any type of handgun. Possession of a handgun in MA requires the same LTC license in good standing as issued by the state. Once again neither of the Tsarnaev brothers was eligible nor met the state’s requirements to be issued an LTC. Fact 4: The MGL’s of the state of MA were completely disregarded by the Tsarnaev brothers. On every level and at every step the laws on our books did nothing to deter their criminal actions. Let’s look at the other side of the coin here. During Friday’s manhunt there were tens of thousands of law abiding citizens living in fear inside their homes, on lockdown, waiting for one of 3 things to happen: A knock on the door from the police, who were searching for Dzhokhar. (This is the one people most feared) a knock on the door (or not) from Dzhokhar who would do who knows what while seeking shelter from the manhunt. An “all clear” signal from law enforcement..." "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 States04/24/2013 04:34 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "GE Capital Cuts Off Lending to Gun Shops" From the business section of today's WSJ.... Thread: GE Won't Lend to Legal Gun Dealers Last Edited by milehighmike on 04/24/2013 11:44 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 States04/24/2013 04:59 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Giffords Group Targets McConnell, Ayotte in Gun Vote Ads" [link to abcnews.go.com] "Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, released its first ads today attacking senators who voted against the bill last week that would have expanded background checks for people buying guns. The radio ads target Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and will run in their home states. The Kentucky ads will air in Lexington and Louisville while the New Hampshire ads will run in Concord, Manchester, Keene, and the seacoast. “It was a common sense plan that protected Second Amendment Rights. But Senator McConnell ignored the will of the people,” a voice says in the ad airing in Kentucky...." "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 States04/24/2013 08:13 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Maybe it's because the chocolate messiah has NO credibility & we're NOT buying what he's attempting to sell to us??? "To Obama's dismay, America not outraged by gun control fail, poll suggests" [link to news.yahoo.com] "The paradox of American gun control got deeper Wednesday. Or, at least it appeared to. On the surface, the poll released by The Washington Post and Pew Research Center made no sense. Only 47 percent of respondents said they were "disappointed" or "angry" that the Senate last week failed to advance a bill to expand background checks to gun shows and online sales. Yet in February, a Pew poll found that 83 percent of respondents supported an expansion of background checks to cover gun shows and all private sales – measures that would actually be stricter than what the Senate rejected. So what gives? If Americans overwhelmingly support strict background checks, why aren't they angrier that the Senate failed to pass even moderate background checks? How could 39 percent be "happy" or "relieved" by the result? Where is the outrage to which President Obama was appealing when he called the Senate vote "a pretty shameful day for Washington"? There are, perhaps, clues in the poll itself, which suggests that the forces against the bill were more motivated than those supporting the bill. Americans might also have come to the conclusion that the bill wouldn't do much. But the real takeaway, some say, is that the gun control debate played into the broader narrative of America's enduring libertarian streak. As with the legalization of marijuana, the spread of same-sex marriage, and the fresh possibility of comprehensive immigration reform, the common thread is that, in many cases, Americans are loath to tell their neighbors what to do...." "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 States04/24/2013 11:44 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Thread: The Second Amendment Explained, Concise and Complete The BEST 4 minutes you can spend!!! "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 States04/25/2013 04:22 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | CO: "More Gun Bills Headed to Hickenlooper" [link to thecoloradoobserver.com] "DENVER–Another round of gun bills is moving toward Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk, but with little of the public outcry that accompanied the first wave in March. That doesn’t mean gun-rights advocates are happy with the legislation. It’s more like they’ve resigned themselves to the inevitable in the face of a staunchly liberal legislature, at least for the moment, said Joe Neville, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners political director. “You might not see the dog-and-pony show like we had before, but people are still out there,” said Neville. “We’re still hearing from them. They’re just more involved now at the local level.” The legislature has already passed two bills: Senate Bill 195, which would ban concealed-carry applicants from receiving their permits via online courses; and Senate Bill 197, which would require domestic-violence offenders to surrender their firearms in the aftermath of a conviction or protective order. The domestic-violence measure won final House and Senate approval earlier this week after Democrats said that the bill was needed to protect victims from gun-wielding abusers. “The objective is to get the guns out of the home,” said state Rep. Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora). “When you combine domestic violence and guns, that is a lethal combo. Those two things do not mix.” The victory came over the objections of Republicans, who argue the bill is ripe for abuse by requiring court-ordered gun confiscation. Federal law prohibits offenders from possessing firearms, but provides no mechanism for the courts to remove their guns. “That’s really what this bill is about: It’s gun confiscation. That’s the difference between this and what we have in current law,” said state Rep. Lori Saine (R-Dacono) during Friday’s floor debate. A third proposal, House Bill 1306, would establish a task force to advise the legislature on preventing the potentially violent mentally ill from obtaining firearms. The House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee approved the measure Tuesday on a 6-5 party-line vote. The measure has split mental-health advocates, who say they support increasing public safety but worry that the task force could wind up discouraging the mentally ill from seeking treatment...." "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 States04/25/2013 09:29 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | "Senate foe of Obama's gun-control bid may face voter backlash" [link to news.yahoo.com] "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire faces a possible voter backlash along with critical ads from gun control advocates following her vote against President Barack Obama's bid to curb gun violence. According to a survey by Public Policy Polling released Wednesday, Ayotte's approval rating stands at 44 percent, down 15 points since October when the organization last conducted a poll on her. The poll of 933 New Hampshire voters, from April 19 to April 21, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent. Fifty percent of those polled said Ayotte's vote against background checks legislation would make them less likely to support her for re-election. Seventy-five percent said they supported background checks. The survey did not make clear how much, if any, of the decline in her approval rating over six months was attributable to her April 17 vote that helped defeat the bill expanding background checks for gun purchasers. Still, gun control proponents seized on the poll as a sign of the dangers awaiting members of Congress who vote with the gun lobby against popular legislation like the defeated bill. "I think we are at a turning point," Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said on Thursday at a breakfast roundtable with reporters hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. "Lots of senators who thought it was safe to vote against it (gun control) ... aren't so sure anymore," Schumer said. A gun-control group founded by former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who was wounded in a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona, began airing radio ads this week in New Hampshire criticizing Ayotte. The group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, is also sponsoring ads aimed at Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for helping defeat the bipartisan measure to expand background checks, which failed to advance in the U.S. Senate by a six vote margin. "As Gabby said last week, if we can't keep our communities safe with the Congress we have, we will work to change Congress," said Pia Carusone, executive director of Giffords' group. Ayotte, elected to the Senate with 60 percent of the vote in 2010, is not up for re-election until 2016. McConnell faces re-election next year, and a Republican aide brushed off the ads against him. "It is tough to be too pro-gun in Kentucky," the aide 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 States04/26/2013 06:34 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | As I've maintained ALL along, this is far from "over"!!! "Is gun control primed for a huge comeback?" [link to news.yahoo.com] "The NRA won round one, but proponents of tougher gun laws haven't lost hope yet Despite months of intense lobbying and significant public support, lawmakers failed to advance any gun control legislation through the Senate earlier this month. One by one, amendments came up for a vote in rapid succession, and one by one, they all failed. The hope that any gun bill would emerge from Washington seemed to go down with them. Yet now, some lawmakers are quietly looking to revive the issue. According to the New York Times, at least two groups of senators are working independently on gun bills that would address separate issues: Background checks and gun trafficking. Given that gun legislation uniformly lost last time around, what do gun control proponents hope to achieve by circling back to the issue? Here's the Times' Jeremy W. Peters: Drawing on the lessons from battles in the 1980s and '90s over the Brady Bill, which failed in Congress several times before ultimately passing, gun control supporters believe they can prevail by working on a two-pronged strategy. First, they are identifying senators who might be willing to change their votes and support a background check system with fewer loopholes. Second, they are looking to build a national campaign that would better harness overwhelming public support for universal background checks — which many national polls put at near 90 percent approval — to pressure lawmakers. [New York Times] Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are trying to breathe new life into their bipartisan background-check bill, searching for ways to attract the measly handful of votes by which it fell short the last time around. The Senate voted, 54-46, against that proposal earlier this month, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) joining the opposition solely so, through procedural rules, he could bring it back for another vote at a later date. Manchin told the Times he was considering tweaking the bill's language in a way that would give it the 60 necessary to override a filibuster from some of the GOP's more conservative members...." "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 States04/26/2013 06:36 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | FULL.COURT.PRESS. I worked for GE for 9 years early in my career & I TRULY hope this bites them in the ass, HARD!!! "Gun Control Advocates Have Scored A Major Victory That Nobody Is Talking About" [link to finance.yahoo.com] "This week G.E. Capital Finance announced that it would no longer finance gun purchases, becoming the latest in a string of companies that have decided to leave a large amount of money on the table rather than risk their reputations on the gun business. It's one of the few places where the high-profile publicity campaign in support of increased gun control has led to a real world result. Last week advocates for gun control were dealt a humbling blow when legislation to require background checks at gun shows publicly flopped on the floor of the Senate after weeks of work. Despite the political defeat, however, something very interesting has happened in the private sector. GE is based in Fairfield, Conn., and several employees have children in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the site of the December mass shooting, according to the WSJ. Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE, had a meeting with employees after the shooting. This, among other reasons, led to the lender ending financing for guns. GE is the fifth-largest lender in the country. While t heir decision to stop lending to gun buyers will only impact a very small portion of the market, the optics of it are not good for the business of guns..." "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 |
