As for Mitt Romney's flip-flopping on gun control while governor of Massachusetts
As governor of Massachusetts, he signed the first permanent state ban on assault weapons.
“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said at the bill-signing ceremony in 2004, according to a news release issued by the governor’s office at the time. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
above quote via : Colorado shooting renews focus on Romney's gun-control stance
By Seema Mehta at LA Times, July 22,2012
The fact is that the NRA and other gun lobbyists are not concerned about the deaths of innocent citizens what they care about is having gun manufacturers maximize their profits. Gun Control for them and their cowed politicians is a matter of cutting into their profit share and for the politicians votes and campaign contributions.
As we have seen in the past week President Obama is absolutely on the side of the Gun Manufacturers and pro-gun lobbyists and the NRA and he is not on the side of the citizenry of the USA.
No one expects Mitt Romney to be in favour of any sort real gun control because he is a republican and believes every citizen should be armed .
If Gun ownership is an absolute right for each and every American shouldn't the NRA and GOP be lobbying for a gunfare program that is to supply at least a small hand gun to those who can't afford to purchase a gun or at least make the purchase of a gun a tax write-off or have federal vouchers for people to buy guns???-
So is corporate interests in a 60 billion dollar arms industry crushing any chance of real gun control in America.
America is no.1 in the world in number of deaths /murders by guns.
Over 9,000 are murdered in USA per year.
While Canada which has tougher gun control has just over 200 gun related deaths. If corrected for population this would mean a death toll of over 2000 deaths.
That's a far cry from the deaths toll of 9,000 in the USA.
Inside Story Americas - Does the US need stricter gun control laws
Published on 21 Jul 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
Not again - that was the cry of many Americans when they turned on their morning news on Friday. At least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded when a man wearing a gas mask and body armour opened fire and tossed a tear gas cannister into a cinema auditorium in the town of Aurora in Colorado. People were watching a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Night Rises. A 24-year-old former student named James Holmes was arrested shortly after. Police officers recovered four guns including a rifle, a shotgun and two glock handguns.
This latest shooting took place just 30km away from Columbine High School where 13 people were shot dead by two students in 1999. For many Americans the right to bear arms is regarded as an essential freedom protected by the second amendment of the constitution. Politicians have been reluctant even to call for tougher gun control laws.
But in a country where nearly 9,000 were murdered with guns in 2010, could that be about to change? Does the US need tough gun control laws? Inside Story Americas, with presenter Anand Naidoo, is joined by guests: Colin Goddard, who survived the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and works for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; Hubert Williams, the president of the Police Foundation who also chairs the National Law Enforcement Partnership to prevent gun violence; and Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendent Foundation who argues for the rights of Americans to bear arms.
So after the Aurora Movie Massacre Americans are buying even more guns-What a country? But you would think there would be more discussion over gun control.
The thing of it is that the shooter in Aurora used a semi-automatic assault rifle not a six shooter hand gun.
So the discussion should begin by asking whether citizens need to own or be permitted to own assault rifles or even heavy duty body armour . Should they be permitted to own 6,000 rounds of bullets .
Having more regulations does not mean citizens would not be allowed to purchase guns but rather certain types of weapons and quantity of bullets.
And it seems the USA needs to have better laws on the books about back ground checks of those wishing to purchase guns.
And yet Mitt Romney and Obama are keeping mum over gun control.
Others argue that after such an horrendous shooting it should not be politicized especially it appears by those in favour of better gun control then when is a good time to discuss the issue .
Instead what we mainly hear is the Talking Points and propaganda of the NRA who claim the problem is not guns and that if more people had guns there would be fewer murders in the USA. This is a load of crap but still US politicians are afraid to go up against the NRA and other pro-gun groups. Obama fears for instance he might lose votes if he goes on a crusade for better regulations on guns in America. So the facts and the reality of gun violence in the USA is ignored by these spineless do nothing politicians who are cowed by the NRA .
So my prediction is that the USA will just continue to have these Mass Murders . And if so either call for better gun control and stop the hand wringing and the Media and public's faux disingenuous shock each time another Mass Murder takes place.
As for our country that is Canada we need better control at our border with the USA to stop these guns from entering our country from the USA.
"Aurora theater shooting: Gun sales up since tragedy Firearm interest spikes as some seek protection" by Sara Burnett, the Denver Post July 23/updated July 25 2012
Background checks for people wanting to buy guns in Colorado jumped more than 41 percent after Friday morning's shooting at an Aurora movie theater, and firearms instructors say they're also seeing increased interest in the training required for a concealed-carry permit.
"It's been insane," Jake Meyers, an employee at Rocky Mountain Guns and Ammo in Parker, said Monday. When he arrived at work Friday morning — just hours after a gunman killed 12 and injured 58 others at the Century Aurora 16 theater — there already were 15 to 20 people waiting outside the store, Meyers said. He called Monday "probably the busiest Monday all year" and said the basic firearms classes that he and the store's owner teach are booked solid for the next three weeks, something that hadn't happened all year. "A lot of it is people saying, 'I didn't think I needed a gun, but now I do,' " Meyers said. "When it happens in your backyard, people start reassessing — 'Hey, I go to the movies.' "
Between Friday and Sunday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation approved background checks for 2,887 people who wanted to purchase a firearm — a 43 percent increase over the previous Friday through Sunday and a 39 percent jump over those same days on the first weekend of July. The biggest spike was on Friday, when there were 1,216 checks, a 43 percent increase over the average number for the previous two Fridays.
also see :
Gun sales surge following Colorado shooting from AP via CTVnews.ca
And as Joy Strickland who lost her son to gun violence argues that for all the hand wringing going on after such tragedies the probability is that new regulations on gun control will not even be considered by politicians for fear of losing votes or campaign contributions.
When will the US get real gun control? Despite the US history of mass shootings, lobbies with deep pockets will continue to block sensible gun legislation. By
Joy Strickland via AlJazeera ,24 Jul 2012
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, there have been 60 mass shootings in the United States since the January 8, 2011, massacre in Tucson, Arizona.
No new legislation
Not one piece of legislation has passed in the wake of those shootings. In fact, earlier this year the National Rifle Association (NRA) attempted to weaken already permissive gun laws in Colorado, by backing a bill that would have eliminated the state's background check system. The bill passed the Republican-controlled House, but stalled in the Senate, controlled by Democrats.
Does the US need stricter gun control laws?
The NRA opposes sensible gun laws. Criminal background checks, waiting periods, and bans on assault weapons are an abomination in their eyes. In 2010, the NRA's clout was bolstered when the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the second amendment provides individuals with a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be abridged by federal or state governments.
The NRA reports annual revenues exceeding $250m. They are masters at cashing in on fear and intolerance under the guise of protecting the right to bear arms. And their influence over gun policy is peerless. During the 2010 election cycle, the NRA spent more than $7.2m to primarily support Republican candidates and oppose Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.
They say guns don't kill people; people kill people. But there can be no doubt that guns make killing throngs of people relatively easy.
The NRA also claims that the president wants to take away your guns. That couldn't be further from the truth. In January 2010, the Brady Campaign gave President Obama a failing grade on gun laws. According to the report card: "President Obama signed legislation letting people carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked luggage on Amtrak trains, adopted the gun lobby's empty rhetoric about just 'enforcing the laws on the books', muzzled Cabinet members who expressed any support for stronger gun laws and failed to appoint permanent leadership at the agency that polices the gun industry. This White House even voiced no objection to people carrying guns near presidential events."
Preventing gun violence
Of course, no amount of legislation can prevent gun violence. With cash and the right connections, guns, like drugs, are readily available in most communities. Personal responsibility has an important role to play. Gratuitous violence in the media should not be ignored. If mental health services were as accessible as firearms, then we could all breathe easier.
Despite these challenges, there is a strong case to be made for reasonable gun laws. It is unfortunate that the NRA's stranglehold on federal and state lawmakers prevents the conversation from taking place. Fear of being targeted by the NRA has silenced too many politicians who know in their hearts that gun control is a better way.
And Mitt Romney over the years has flip flopped over gun control as he courted the NRA and other pro-gun lobbyists to get their campaign funding contributions and to appeal to the Tea Party crowd and other gun nuts.
" Colorado shooting renews focus on Romney's gun-control stance " By Seema Mehta at LA Times, July 22,2012
And Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is sure to face scrutiny, given the varied positions he has taken about the legality of assault weapons, as well as gun control in general.
As governor of Massachusetts, he signed the first permanent state ban on assault weapons.
“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said at the bill-signing ceremony in 2004, according to a news release issued by the governor’s office at the time. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
The law mirrored a federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 and has not been renewed. When Romney ran for president in 2008, he offered conflicting statements, saying that as president he would have signed a law renewing the federal ban. But he also said he did not believe any new gun restriction laws were necessary.
“I do not support any new legislation of an assault weapon ban nature, including that against semiautomatic weapons,” Romney said during a Florida debate in 2008. “I instead believe that we have laws in place that, if they’re implemented and enforced, will provide the protection and the safety of the American people.”
That is the same stance he holds today.
“Gov. Romney believes that the best way to prevent gun violence is to vigorously enforce our laws,” spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Saturday.
The AR-15 police say was used in the theater shooting is a semiautomatic rifle that is modeled on the military M-16. Versions of it were banned in the Massachusetts and federal laws, though there were loopholes that allowed modified AR-15s to be legally sold under both laws. The manufacturer and details of the AR-15 recovered in Aurora, Colo., have yet to be revealed. The high-capacity magazine that police said Holmes purchased before the shooting remains illegal in Massachusetts under the law Romney signed and was prohibited under the federal ban that expired.
Specifics of the weapons aside, the tragedy renews focus on Romney’s broader shift on gun control.
When Romney ran against Sen. Edward Kennedy in Massachusetts in 1994, he backed gun-control measures strongly opposed by the gun-rights lobby, including the Brady Bill. He told reporters then that he didn’t “line up” with the National Rifle Assn., and he pledged not to chip away at gun control laws in Massachusetts.
“That’s not going to make me the hero of the NRA,” he said in an interview with the Boston Herald then.
He has changed his tone as he sought the highest office in the land, joining the group as a “lifetime member” in 2006.
“It’s great to be with so many friends from the National Rifle Association. This fine organization is sometimes called a single-issue group. That’s high praise when the single issue is freedom,” Romney said at an NRA convention last April. “All of you can be proud of your long and unwavering defense of our constitutional rights and liberties.”
For his part, President Obama has done little to press for gun control measures, bowing to the political opposition that has struck at any elected official who has pressed to limit access to guns.
No comments:
Post a Comment