I am a veteran and was an avid target shooter. I grew disgusted with the gun-porn and thinly veiled racism of the NRA and did not renew my membership (which effectively banned me from competitive shooting). I was kept on the NRA’s membership roll for years. Also, whose family thinks to tell the NRA of a life member’s death? My point is that the NRA membership is almost certainly a fraction of what they claim.
What’s left is being a lobbyist for the gun manufacturers.
The right wing media loves to use Chicago as its boogeyman. Let’s think about it. The criminals in Chicago aren’t using pistols they found in grandpa’s old Army footlocker, they have the latest gear available in endless supply. How?
Straw sales.
In most red states, you can buy a box of Glocks with nothing more than your drivers license. You can then sell them without a background check in a private transaction. To a gangster gun wholesaler.
It’s more than $1bbn/year in sales to criminals with zero repercussions. This is the NRA’s real business interest.
There’s a simple answer. Make manufacturers criminally responsible for the sale channels. This and universal background checks for all used gun sales would dry up straw sales overnight.
While I did not always agree with President Bush, I always thought he was a man of integrity who put his country ahead of politics and party. That letter is just one example of the quality of his character. He would be drummed out of the Republican Party today.
As a country, it was decided a long time ago (Sandy Hook) that sacrificing young lives to the NRA was the price of freedom. Ask EVERY FUCKING REPUBLICAN member of congress to prove that wrong.
Was it not yesterday that some representative of the law enforcement community tried to defend the officers not going in with the statement "Somebody might get shot."
Good guys with guns..right. Even our courageous manly men know when to consider a career in fast foods.
I don't really have anything much to say about the whole gun thing that hasn't been said already. It was turned into an issue of identity and like pretty much all issues of identity, there is no longer even the ghost of rationality left in it on the side of the people who see possession as a core aspect of their identity.
Unless or until you break minority control of government, little to nothing will happen--but that is true of most things these days--gun control, voting rights, health care, abortion.
The problem is the large mass of Americans is essentially apathetic. They are in favor of a lot of things, but won't put in the time or effort or money to either get what they say they want or to defend it once they get it... and good lord, don't raise their taxes to pay for it, that's a sure policy killer.
The apathy of the actual majority and their willingness to vote for whoever has the right letter beside their name rather than vote for people with character and with ideas is why these problems cannot be dealt with.
When you are told you have no power long enough and when you combine that with an unwillingness to pay the price (be it time or money or limits on something you like) and the out of being able to blame the carnage (in this case) on somebody else, it is highly unlikely that things will change.
I am an avid hunter and have been a gun owner for over 50 years. Guns and hunting have been an important part of my life. I also believe in wildlife conservation and have volunteered years of service to preserve and enhance wildlife and the habitat they need to thrive. For many years I was a member and supporter of NRA due to their work on gun safety and training. I watched them move from this gun safety platform to a strictly gun advocacy platform. Their shameless focus on guns for guns sake and their failure to press for more and better safety, training and public safety programs to protect the public from gun violence moved me to resign which I did. Over the years NRA moved on a more and more radical platform to where we are now, which is too many irresponsible and lawless people owning guns and we as society are left with gun violence and carnage. No rights are absolute and that includes gun rights. We live in a society where there are many rights such as the right to life. Free speech is a right but its not absolute. We have no right to yell "Fire" in a crowded theatre when there is no fire. I do not know any hunters who object to a requirement to have a hunting license in their state. All of the states, to my knowledge, require hunters to take a hunter safety course. These courses focus on gun safety and make one aware of the all-important basic gun safety rules like always treat a gun as if it is loaded. The hunting license process involves a background check and when you renew your license, your name is searched on a data base of violent gun users to make sure you are not one of them. The system is not perfect but it helps, and gun deaths from hunting is minuscule since we (hunters) believe and have been taught the basic principles of gun safety. That NRA continues to resist mandatory safety training and background checks to buy a gun is simply disgraceful and damaging to our society of free people. All states need a law that requires all gun owners to be licensed, to enroll in an approved gun safety class, and to submit to a background search. The purpose of such restrictions are prevention of gun tragedies such as the latest murders of the children in Texas. Such restrictions will not stop all tragedies but they will help.
I've said this before - and I will say it again - repeating it everywhere until the refrain is a meme: GOP stands for "Guns Over People". And they prove it to be true every day.
MAGAts lament the end of the American way while failing to realize that it's them who've herded this country, her institutions, and her citizens to the abyss.
Regardless of how NRA supporters feel about guns, the fact is the NRA actively fleeced them so their executives, especially NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre, could live lavish life styles. The organization has no internal controls and engaged in what looks like fraud in soliciting money. The organization needs to go away.
So this morning I was at a red light and ahead of me was a vehicle with the following on it:
- A sticker with the iconic silhouette outline of Bigfoot carrying an AR-15 in each hand.
- A large sticker with an outline of a gun and the brand name "RUGER" in large letters and the words "think twice because I won't."
- A large sticker reading "Live, Laugh, and Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim, and Fire."
Google these lines and you stumble into an entire economy selling eager buyers the means to proudly display themselves as despicable inhuman monsters. Try "winnie the pooh guns". Yes, America is the land of the free where Winnie the Pooh enjoys performative assholery with semiautomatic firearms.
The problem isn't guns. Take away the guns and the person in that car is still an evil asshole who glorifies performative cruelty. And who is, whether he knows it or not, a mindless slave and powerless cannon fodder for nihilists to use to get and keep absolute power.
and now we know that those "Good Guys" know they've been outgunned by a single shooter. If a weapon is so dangerous that law enforcement won't attempt to go up against it, then it has no place anywhere. "A mental health issue" indeed. Vote them all out.
Republicans simply have no interest in the voters. That was made clear when Ted Cruz took off for Cancun in last years Texas deep freeze. Now? Now speaks for itself but between freezing, forced pregnancy and this yet again makes it clear they they have a far right 11 percent master they serve.
Pro-life, because being in favor forcing women to give birth checks off one of the criteria that allows you get your condo in the sky with Jesus one day.
Has anyone heard how an 18 year old from a broken home could afford to purchase two assault rifles shortly after his birthday? I just read from Forbes that the one he used at Robb Elementary retails for almost $1900.
Why is it that schools will not teach Critical Race Theory lest some students feel offended, yet they teach Active Shooter Drills where children learn that someone might shoot them simply because they exist?
Why should schools "fix" themselves so that they are not a soft target? Isn't that like blaming the victim? Shouldn't the onus of protecting students from shootings be on those who manufacture and regulate guns?
"The pioneers of citizen armies were also pioneers of withdrawing weapons from the places of civilized life. The ancient Greek armies were manned exclusively by citizens who brought their own weapons into battle. Getting to serve in an élite combat unit required being wealthy enough to afford to buy one’s own armor. It was this vision of citizen militias, further developed by the Romans, that went on to inspire the English revolutionaries of the seventeenth century and the American revolutionaries of the eighteenth—so shaping the values expressed in the Second Amendment.
Nevertheless, when one early-nineteenth-century American reflected on what the new American Republic could learn from the ancient Greeks, he drew attention to another feature that was widespread in their politics: refraining from carrying weapons in public spaces. In some cities, this was a matter of custom, in others it was a matter of law. Citizens carried their weapons abroad when serving in the military for public defense. But, even in these cities, it was believed that carrying weapons at home would be tantamount to letting weapons, not laws, rule."
I am a veteran and was an avid target shooter. I grew disgusted with the gun-porn and thinly veiled racism of the NRA and did not renew my membership (which effectively banned me from competitive shooting). I was kept on the NRA’s membership roll for years. Also, whose family thinks to tell the NRA of a life member’s death? My point is that the NRA membership is almost certainly a fraction of what they claim.
What’s left is being a lobbyist for the gun manufacturers.
The right wing media loves to use Chicago as its boogeyman. Let’s think about it. The criminals in Chicago aren’t using pistols they found in grandpa’s old Army footlocker, they have the latest gear available in endless supply. How?
Straw sales.
In most red states, you can buy a box of Glocks with nothing more than your drivers license. You can then sell them without a background check in a private transaction. To a gangster gun wholesaler.
It’s more than $1bbn/year in sales to criminals with zero repercussions. This is the NRA’s real business interest.
There’s a simple answer. Make manufacturers criminally responsible for the sale channels. This and universal background checks for all used gun sales would dry up straw sales overnight.
While I did not always agree with President Bush, I always thought he was a man of integrity who put his country ahead of politics and party. That letter is just one example of the quality of his character. He would be drummed out of the Republican Party today.
As a country, it was decided a long time ago (Sandy Hook) that sacrificing young lives to the NRA was the price of freedom. Ask EVERY FUCKING REPUBLICAN member of congress to prove that wrong.
"Good guys with Guns?"
Was it not yesterday that some representative of the law enforcement community tried to defend the officers not going in with the statement "Somebody might get shot."
Good guys with guns..right. Even our courageous manly men know when to consider a career in fast foods.
Ban assault weapons. Do it now.
I don't really have anything much to say about the whole gun thing that hasn't been said already. It was turned into an issue of identity and like pretty much all issues of identity, there is no longer even the ghost of rationality left in it on the side of the people who see possession as a core aspect of their identity.
Unless or until you break minority control of government, little to nothing will happen--but that is true of most things these days--gun control, voting rights, health care, abortion.
The problem is the large mass of Americans is essentially apathetic. They are in favor of a lot of things, but won't put in the time or effort or money to either get what they say they want or to defend it once they get it... and good lord, don't raise their taxes to pay for it, that's a sure policy killer.
The apathy of the actual majority and their willingness to vote for whoever has the right letter beside their name rather than vote for people with character and with ideas is why these problems cannot be dealt with.
When you are told you have no power long enough and when you combine that with an unwillingness to pay the price (be it time or money or limits on something you like) and the out of being able to blame the carnage (in this case) on somebody else, it is highly unlikely that things will change.
I am an avid hunter and have been a gun owner for over 50 years. Guns and hunting have been an important part of my life. I also believe in wildlife conservation and have volunteered years of service to preserve and enhance wildlife and the habitat they need to thrive. For many years I was a member and supporter of NRA due to their work on gun safety and training. I watched them move from this gun safety platform to a strictly gun advocacy platform. Their shameless focus on guns for guns sake and their failure to press for more and better safety, training and public safety programs to protect the public from gun violence moved me to resign which I did. Over the years NRA moved on a more and more radical platform to where we are now, which is too many irresponsible and lawless people owning guns and we as society are left with gun violence and carnage. No rights are absolute and that includes gun rights. We live in a society where there are many rights such as the right to life. Free speech is a right but its not absolute. We have no right to yell "Fire" in a crowded theatre when there is no fire. I do not know any hunters who object to a requirement to have a hunting license in their state. All of the states, to my knowledge, require hunters to take a hunter safety course. These courses focus on gun safety and make one aware of the all-important basic gun safety rules like always treat a gun as if it is loaded. The hunting license process involves a background check and when you renew your license, your name is searched on a data base of violent gun users to make sure you are not one of them. The system is not perfect but it helps, and gun deaths from hunting is minuscule since we (hunters) believe and have been taught the basic principles of gun safety. That NRA continues to resist mandatory safety training and background checks to buy a gun is simply disgraceful and damaging to our society of free people. All states need a law that requires all gun owners to be licensed, to enroll in an approved gun safety class, and to submit to a background search. The purpose of such restrictions are prevention of gun tragedies such as the latest murders of the children in Texas. Such restrictions will not stop all tragedies but they will help.
I've said this before - and I will say it again - repeating it everywhere until the refrain is a meme: GOP stands for "Guns Over People". And they prove it to be true every day.
MAGAts lament the end of the American way while failing to realize that it's them who've herded this country, her institutions, and her citizens to the abyss.
Regardless of how NRA supporters feel about guns, the fact is the NRA actively fleeced them so their executives, especially NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre, could live lavish life styles. The organization has no internal controls and engaged in what looks like fraud in soliciting money. The organization needs to go away.
So this morning I was at a red light and ahead of me was a vehicle with the following on it:
- A sticker with the iconic silhouette outline of Bigfoot carrying an AR-15 in each hand.
- A large sticker with an outline of a gun and the brand name "RUGER" in large letters and the words "think twice because I won't."
- A large sticker reading "Live, Laugh, and Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim, and Fire."
Google these lines and you stumble into an entire economy selling eager buyers the means to proudly display themselves as despicable inhuman monsters. Try "winnie the pooh guns". Yes, America is the land of the free where Winnie the Pooh enjoys performative assholery with semiautomatic firearms.
The problem isn't guns. Take away the guns and the person in that car is still an evil asshole who glorifies performative cruelty. And who is, whether he knows it or not, a mindless slave and powerless cannon fodder for nihilists to use to get and keep absolute power.
and now we know that those "Good Guys" know they've been outgunned by a single shooter. If a weapon is so dangerous that law enforcement won't attempt to go up against it, then it has no place anywhere. "A mental health issue" indeed. Vote them all out.
Republicans simply have no interest in the voters. That was made clear when Ted Cruz took off for Cancun in last years Texas deep freeze. Now? Now speaks for itself but between freezing, forced pregnancy and this yet again makes it clear they they have a far right 11 percent master they serve.
This is NOT Democracy in action.
Pro-life, because being in favor forcing women to give birth checks off one of the criteria that allows you get your condo in the sky with Jesus one day.
Pro-gun, because owning the libs is awesome.
Has anyone heard how an 18 year old from a broken home could afford to purchase two assault rifles shortly after his birthday? I just read from Forbes that the one he used at Robb Elementary retails for almost $1900.
Come to Texas! Your guns will be perfectly safe. Your children, not so much.😠
Why is it that schools will not teach Critical Race Theory lest some students feel offended, yet they teach Active Shooter Drills where children learn that someone might shoot them simply because they exist?
Why should schools "fix" themselves so that they are not a soft target? Isn't that like blaming the victim? Shouldn't the onus of protecting students from shootings be on those who manufacture and regulate guns?
"The pioneers of citizen armies were also pioneers of withdrawing weapons from the places of civilized life. The ancient Greek armies were manned exclusively by citizens who brought their own weapons into battle. Getting to serve in an élite combat unit required being wealthy enough to afford to buy one’s own armor. It was this vision of citizen militias, further developed by the Romans, that went on to inspire the English revolutionaries of the seventeenth century and the American revolutionaries of the eighteenth—so shaping the values expressed in the Second Amendment.
Nevertheless, when one early-nineteenth-century American reflected on what the new American Republic could learn from the ancient Greeks, he drew attention to another feature that was widespread in their politics: refraining from carrying weapons in public spaces. In some cities, this was a matter of custom, in others it was a matter of law. Citizens carried their weapons abroad when serving in the military for public defense. But, even in these cities, it was believed that carrying weapons at home would be tantamount to letting weapons, not laws, rule."
Read the whole thing:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-the-greeks-viewed-weapons