GOP Senators Put NRA Dollars over 91% of American People on Gun Control

What happened to the Constitution when a Senate rule requires 60 votes to pass normal legislation so the minority can keep anything from being approved including nominees with 41 votes.

NRA bought and paid for Senators struck again when it comes to gun control.  How could they even look at those Newtown parents who were watching as the GOP was celebrating their victory shows such a lack of empathy that it makes me ill that I have been a Republican for years.  These elected Senators I thought I knew, I don't.  The Republican Party is dead to me tonight after this disgusting vote this afternoon against closing the loopholes at gun shows.  That means if you are a felon, go to your nearest gun show, buy a gun from a private person for cash, and walk out the door.  If are under care of a psychiatrist no problem - go buy a gun.

President Obama this afternoon blasted the Senate after 45 voted against a bi-partisan background bill that closed loopholes was defeated because it didn't get a Super Majority:

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Like many Americans I stand with President Obama tonight on gun control - anyone standing with Republicans tonight are people I don't want to know.  I very seldom use Facebook but I cleaned it out tonight of most people I knew from my time being an activist Republican.  Who I have left on Facebook are friends not political types.

Harry Reid voted with the 45 ONLY so this can be brought back up at a later date.  Many people forget that the leaders do that quite often if something doesn't past.  Still doesn't let Reid off the hook for making a deal with Minority Leader McConnell on filibuster rules which was DOA with McConnell pulling a fast one on Reid.  Cannot believe that Reid wasn't smart enough to know that McConnell and GOP cannot be trusted.

Once again we are witnessing the minority of Senators hold all the cards and a majority vote doesn't exist.  Time to go back to the Constitution and nuke the filibuster because the GOP has abused the process over the last 4+ years.  Bills cannot even come up for a vote and sometimes even get to the floor without the minority filibustering.  The Republican Party minority are still obstructionists and don't listen to the American people as the Party of  'my way or no way' doesn't believe anyone but them knows what is best for us.  When in reality all they do is vote how their wealthy puppet masters tell them to vote.

This email from Think Progress sums up what 91% of Americans are thinking tonight:

Shameful
Apr 17, 2013 | By ThinkProgress War Room 

45 Senators Side with Gun Lobby As Newtown Families Look On 

You’d think that more than 90 percent of the American people and 55 senators — a majority — in favor of something would be enough to get it done. You would be wrong. Late this afternoon, a minority of senators “chose instead to obey the leaders of the powerful corporate gun lobby, instead of their constituents,” as former Rep. Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly said following the vote.

These 45 senators, most but not all of whom were Republicans, voted against a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks in order to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other dangerous people. 90 percent of Democrats voted for expanding background checks, but 90 percent of Republicans voted no. As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, today’s vote “handed criminals a huge victory, by preserving their ability to buy guns illegally at gun shows and online and keeping the illegal trafficking market well-fed.” 

That wasn’t the end of it. A bipartisan plan to crack down on gun trafficking — a plan even the NRA agreed to — also failed to attract the necessary 60 votes. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, something backed by a majority of Americans, was also voted down.
Worse yet, all of this happened as Newtown families and other victims of gun violence looked on from the Senate gallery. One woman, a survivor of the Tucson shooting, shouted “shame on you!” after they watched senators vote down background checks.

Despite today’s setback, President Obama, Newtown parents, and other gun violence prevention advocates vowed to continue the fight to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. In fact, it’s time for all of us to redouble our commitment to action and let our elected leaders know that there’s a price for ignoring 90 percent of us. 

BOTTOM LINE: Every day that we fail to pass comprehensive background checks is a day we put at risk the safety of our children, our law enforcement, our neighbors—indeed, the safety of all Americans. The price of the Senate’s inaction will be paid by the Americans whose names will be added to the list of gun-violence victims every day as a result.

We need to stand with The President and families who have gone through gun tragedies - now is the time to close these gun show loopholes and pass other legislation to start to get a handle on gun violence.  Eight Republicans in the past who voted for gun control voted against simple background checks today.

Senator McCain once again has earned back his Maverick title along with Senators Toomey (PA), Collins (ME), and Kirk (IL) as they voted for the gun control bill.  Five Democrats in red states voted NO on background checks - would bet since there were not enough votes to pass that Reid told them to vote with GOP to try and hold their seats.

Will have more on this as the dust settles in the next few days.

GOP Senators Paul, Lee, Cruz, and Rubio Want to Filibuster Any Gun Bills Before Any Debate

No debate necessary on gun control - the four member governing body of GOP Senators have spoken.

Republicans in the Senate are at it again - now want to filibuster Gun Reforms before bill is even debated on the floor of the Senate.  Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are part of what is wrong in the Senate as they have the attitude as the minority they can just filibuster what they do not want as it makes no difference as long as debate and vote is stopped.  The problem is that it is not one or two issues but almost everything a few hard right Senators decide doesn't need to come to the floor.

Majority Leader Reid should NOT have made a deal with Minority Leader McConnell on filibusters because within days the GOP started abusing filibusters again and McConnell set back and did nothing.  You cannot trust today's Republican males in the Senate not to make utter fools of themselves as they seek to stop bills.  Over 90% of the American people want tightened background checks and the four stooges don't even want a vote.  Must be getting heavy donations to their campaigns from the NRA.  Am sick and tired of Republican Senator and House members  putting big donors over the Country.  This bunch of Republicans in Congress for the most part cannot be trusted as evidenced by what we are seeing on Gun Reform.  There are some Dems in the same category in the Senate who want nothing to do with gun control - afraid of reelection?  How about if both sides work for the American people not the NRA?

Reid’s Office Denounces ‘Outrageous’ GOP Filibuster Threat On Gun Reforms

Sahil Kapur 4:14 PM EDT, Thursday March 28, 2013 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) office on Thursday lambasted a threat by a handful of Republican senators to filibuster gun legislation, after President Obama urged Congress to act in a televised speech. 

"While this threat is entirely unsurprising, it's outrageous that these senators are unwilling to even engage in a debate over gun violence in America," Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson said in a statement to TPM. "No matter your opinion on this issue, we should all be able to agree with President Obama when he said that the children and teachers of Newtown, along with all other Americans who have been victims of gun violence, at least deserve a vote." 

The threat to vote against a motion to begin debating the bill was made in a letter by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), which was cosigned by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Thursday.

With parents who lost children to gun violence along with some of their teachers standing behind the President Obama, he is once again pushing Congress for action on gun control measures -- are they listening?

President Obama: We Have Not Forgotten What Happened in Newtown

Today, President Obama promised the American people that he had not forgotten the 20 innocent chidlren and six brave educators who lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary more than 100 days ago. Standing with parents and teachers of gun violence victims, he urged Congress to take action that will protect other children and families from the pain and grief these families have experienced. 

“As I said when I visited Newtown just over three months ago, if there is a step we can take that will save just one child, just one parent, just another town from experiencing the same grief that some of the moms and dads who are here have endured, then we should be doing it,” President Obama said. “We have an obligation to try.” 

In January, the President put forward a series of common-sense proposals to reduce the epidemic of gun violence and keep our kids safe, and in his State of the Union address, the President called on Congress to give these proposals a vote.  “And in just a couple of weeks, they will,” he said.

Excerpt:  Read More at White House website

No one is coming to take anyone's legitimate guns away from them but you would never know it from the hysterics from the NRA and those on the right.  Have never understood why increasing background checks to include all guns sold at gun shows is wrong.  Don't get the mentality of today's gun crowd which is nothing like my Dad when he owned guns to hunt animals not people.  IMHO I still think parents who leave a loaded gun around their house that a child gets access and kills themselves or someone else should be charged with child endangerment.  Put that on a website and see attacks start.  If your child is not in the proper car seat and dies in a wreck, you are held responsible so why not with guns.

Please contact your members of Congress and tell them to support reasonable gun control laws and to stop any idea of a filibuster in the Senate.  Tired of grand standers and this is what these Senators are doing with two of them Paul and Rubio hoping to run for President.  Not getting my vote but then my votes for the GOP are not happening with the crazy GOP of today.

President of NRA David Keene Shows NRA Arrogance on Gun Control Measures

"Wayne and I had both warned that if the president were to win a second term," Keene said, "it would be but a matter of time before he launched an assault on private firearms ownership. And that is what has happened." (Interview with Howard Fineman, Huffington Post)

Talk about delusional in order to sell more firearms, this is it.  Guess they missed Newtown and the impact it had across America which started individuals demanding gun/ammo control along with much tougher background checks.  People on the left were mad at President Obama for not doing anything on gun control in his first four years.  NRA doesn't think twice about lying and stirring up people in order to sell more guns/ammo to gun enthusiast.  Charlton Heston most likely wouldn't recognize today's NRA.

What we are seeing today from the NRA is an organization formed for gun owners to tout gun safety morphing into a lobbying group for gun and ammo manufacturers.  Find Wayne LaPierre creepy and David Keene, former head of American Conservative Union, someone who will do and say anything to make money.  Didn't realize his former wife embezzled from the ACU which explains why he left.  Found this from the Huffington Post interesting as the President of the NRA in the past has been a regular guy and now they named a political type?

In the years before Columbine, Aurora and Newtown became synonymous with gun violence, the National Rifle Association chose hunters and sportsmen to hold what was regarded as a ceremonial post. "They had Charlton Heston, of course, but the presidents tended to be guys from Montana or Wyoming who knew very little about politics or Washington or the media," said Craig Shirley, a political consultant and leading historian of the conservative movement.

"He's the NRA's first political president," said Shirley. 

(Keene's career also has been marked by trouble and controversy. In a sad irony given his current role, his son David was sentenced to 10 years in prison for firing a gun during a road rage incident a decade ago. More recently, Keene's former wife, Diana Hubbard Carr, pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from the American Conservative Union.)

No wonder the NRA is out of touch with most Americans including some current and former NRA members   who they refuse to acknowledge are former so their numbers stay high.  Naming Keene who was out of touch with most of America with CPAC shows that the NRA doesn't care about most Americans only the gun and ammo manufacturers as their rhetoric has shown since Newtown.  The use of scare tactics to get people to buy more guns is reprehensible.  The rhetoric is a scam so they can make more money as the NRA gun lobbyists for gun/ammo manufacturers.  What got to me out of his interview with Howard Feinman's were Keene's comments about Wayne LaPierra and the NRA after the Newtown Shooting.  Obvious that Keene refuses to face reality.

For I had asked him whether he or the NRA regretted its first responses to the mass murder of children by a killer with an assault weapon at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. 

The answer was "no." 

Not long after the December 2012 shooting, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, had said that the only way to prevent more Sandy Hooks was to place armed guards in every school. The NRA had posted a web ad calling President Barack Obama an "elitist hypocrite" because Secret Service agents are posted outside his daughters' school. More recently, the NRA has pushed its case via robocalls throughout Connecticut, including Newtown, ostensibly to fight a tide of new gun control measures pending in the state Legislature. 

Keene told me that the NRA had no regrets or second thoughts and that gun control advocates had seized on the Newtown tragedy to pursue their own unconstitutional political agenda.
"We had to try to get some balance into the conversation," he said. "And we are in better shape now than our critics and even some within our ranks believed possible when this battle started."  

Keene is delusional if he thinks the NRA is in better shape then when this battle started as the American people are turning against the NRA in much bigger numbers and demanding gun control/tightened background checks now not years away.  NRA has bought so many members of Congress that they are pretty convinced no gun control laws will pass even tightened background checks as their puppets in Congress vote the NRA line.  The very idea you can go to a gun show and buy a semi-automatic rifle with no ID from a private seller tells most people with common sense that the NRA is out of control or they would be on board with tightened background checks.

Guess the NRA leaders figure that the voters will just go along and vote their puppets back into office.  They may be in for a rude awakening in 2014 and then in 2016 because people are getting madder at the NRA and their puppets in Congress.  They can brag about gun sales going through the roof but guns/ammo are being sold mostly to the same people not to new gun owners.  With the amount of deaths of young children in homes with loaded guns, you would think the NRA would go back to pushing safety not more guns.

I want to know why when a person leaves a loaded gun in their home and a child shoots himself or someone else charges are not filed against the gun owner for child endangerment.  It makes no sense.  The number of people killed by guns today leaves you wondering when this is going to end with common sense laws passed.  No one is taking guns away but I object to anyone walking into a gun show with no ID to buy a gun from a private owner.

Watch this video from VoteVets.org and ask yourself why these type semi-automatic weapons are needed by individuals.  This ad is for Senator Flake of AZ but there are more on their website for other Senators:


More from the Interview with Howard Fineman at the Huffington Post:

Keene, LaPierre and others worked to put gun rights front and center during the 2012 GOP primaries (Mitt Romney lamely bragged about hunting "varmints") and in congressional and local races. 

The NRA and the GOP have lost ground, of course. After Newtown, surveys show that nine in 10 voters favor "universal" background checks. But the NRA remains a fearsomely focused force on the Hill, and in late March GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas -- two stars of the conservative movement -- vowed to block even a background check measure from coming to a vote. 

"Wayne and I had both warned that if the president were to win a second term," Keene said, "it would be but a matter of time before he launched an assault on private firearms ownership. And that is what has happened." 

"Gun control advocates were ready," Keene argued. "Newtown gave them the chance to do just that. They launched their current anti-gun campaign even before the kids and teachers who died in that tragedy had been buried. [Democratic] Senator [Dianne] Feinstein [of California], who had her new assault weapons bill in a drawer, pulled it out. The president and vice president went after guns. Their question was not 'What can we do to prevent gun crime or mass murders?' but 'What can we do about guns?'" 

Keene has helped plan and carry out the response to those efforts since December. The idea is to amp up gun rights support by stoking populist resentment of the supposedly "elitist" gun control advocates, to threaten members of Congress with campaign-year retaliation if they stray from the NRA-approved line, and to push for school security and mental health measures to show the organization's concern. 

Keene's roots are libertarian, but his arguments tend to be more political and legal than philosophical. 

"Gallup and other pollsters began to find that most Americans blamed not guns, but the lack of school security, a dysfunctional mental health care system and a culture of violence more than guns," he said. 

"Still, to most people, the idea of something like a universal background check sounds logical, and it therefore has public support," he conceded. "The problems lie in interpretation and execution. Should it apply to relatives, neighbors, friends or just to people who buy guns at a gun show? Should it be legal for a firearms owner to lend a shotgun to his neighbor when they go out to the duck blind or allow his nephew to use a .22 to shoot at tin cans?"
Inside the NRA and on its web page, the rhetoric is heated and apocalyptic, and almost any proposed gun regulation is treated as the first step toward a government that will "take up the guns" from law-abiding citizens. 

Keene shrewdly focuses on mechanics. 

"If it were possible to provide an essentially instantaneous background check not just for purchases from licensed dealers or private parties at gun shows but for others, that didn't impose an unreasonable burden on their right to exercise their Second Amendment rights, that would be one thing," he said. "But many of the current restrictions and proposals for universal background checks would impose just such unreasonable burdens on that fundamental right." 

At lunch and in later follow-ups by email, I asked Keene about assault weapons and other matters: 

I get guns and handguns. I get that the Constitution says the right to bear arms shall not be "infringed." But it is not the right to bear ANY kind of arms, is it? 

No, the Second Amendment does not extend to a private right to own bazookas, rocket launchers or RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]. When the Constitution was written, the authors were concerned with making sure citizens would always have the right to own personal arms (long arms and sidearms). 

It didn't extend to cannons then, or to ballistic missiles today. The Supreme Court recognized this distinction in the [District of Columbia v.] Heller case (in 2008), which is why severe restrictions on the private ownership of fully automatic firearms imposed in the thirties are seen as legitimate. The Court said the test was whether arms in the hands of the civilian population are widely owned and commonly used for legitimate purposes.

It is the explicit language of the Court in its Heller decision that forces me to the conclusion that a ban on semi-automatic long arms such as Senator Feinstein supports will not meet constitutional muster if enacted. There are today more than 4.5 million AR-15s in private hands. They are the most used firearm in training and competitive shooting. They are widely used by hunters (particularly for varmint hunting) and are often the firearm of choice for women seeking a long arm for home protection because of their ease of handling and light recoil. 

So the NRA's educational and PR initiatives in effect make banning such weapons all the more difficult because they are becoming more "widely owned and commonly used for legitimate purposes."

We are developing several programs designed to reach beyond our base support because firearms are so much more popular today than they were a decade ago, that far more women, minorities and young people are getting involved in the shooting sports. We're trying to reach them not simply to talk about gun rights, but to let them know of the many enjoyable activities in which they might want to engage. 

Where do you see all of this headed? 

I have said consistently that gun owners and the NRA are going to lose a battle or two as we have in the past. But we aren't going to lose the war. Moreover, we aren't going away. We have sometimes taken a decade or more to roll back obnoxious restrictions or pass legislation we believe enhances gun rights, but we have never rolled over or given up.

The arrogance of Keene, LaPierre, and some more outspoken NRA members is an affront to my intelligence and ability to reason - know I am not alone.  How Keene can even think that owning a semi-automatic weapon with huge magazines is allowed by the 2nd Amendment is ludicrous.  If you want to protect your property, get a shotgun.

Many of us will be remembering the votes of House and Senate NRA members when we go to the polls in 2014/2016 and vote out the members who put the NRA over the safety of the American people.

Republicans Oppose 'Common Sense' Gun Control Laws in Senate Hearing

Republicans want no changes to gun control laws. WHY?

Yesterday I watched the hearing on Gun Violence before the Senate Judiciary Committee and almost wore out my mute button.  I have discovered that I don't get as irritated with closed caption as I do listening live.  Republicans should be ashamed for doing the bidding of the NRA in yesterday's hearings - they looked like fools who could care less about the shootings in the country.  Their heads are buried in the sand with NRA money when they are not willing to even discuss any changes to gun laws including background checks.  Thought Senator Durbin (D-IL) was outstanding in his questions in not allowing NRA's LaPierre to steer the conversation.

Until today, I didn't realize how dangerous hand guns were to our police with their upgrades:

Furthermore, changes in design have increased the lethality of assault weapons, even in the last decade. A recent report on assault pistols issued by the Violence Policy Center documented the recent surge in popularity of these weapons. According to VPC, because assault pistols can accept ammunition designed for assault rifles that can more easily penetrate police body armor, these weapons, "have the penetrating power of an assault rifle in the concealable format of a pistol." As such, it is no surprise that a VPC analysis of drug cartel firearms trafficking cases uncovered numerous instances of assault pistol trafficking.

When I saw that, I have to wonder what is the matter with today's Republicans on Senate Judiciary who came off very arrogant and unwilling to change.  Looks like you can put Governor McDonnell of VA in that same category after an undercover investigative reporter went with a Virginia Tech victim to a gun show in Roanoke, VA, to show how easy it is to obtain guns from private sellers without even providing your name.  The guns from VA have been traced to crime in New York City yet some GOP Senators and Governors see no need for the background checks or to even close the loophole for gun shows.  Easier to walk in and buy any gun you want with not even giving your name then it is to register to vote or even vote where an ID is required.

Something is inherently wrong with the Republican way of thinking on guns if they think this is what the 2nd amendment is all about.  IMHO, I do not have the right to own a military style weapon - it is that simple.  Those guns do not belong on the street or in houses when a handgun that can be easily hidden can take a 50 round clip.  That is not for hunting.


I also call Bravo Sierra on Lindsey Graham's comments yesterday about the budget forcing police off the street by cutting their jobs so inferring individuals need the right to protect themselves.

GRAHAM: The point is, we have different perspectives on this. The reason I will oppose the legislation, Chief Johnston, is because i respect what your do as a lot — what you do as a law-enforcement officer. Has your budget been cut? 

JOHNSON: Yes. 

GRAHAM: Do you think it be cut in the future? 

JOHNSON: I am optimistic that it is not. 

GRAHAM: Well I hope your right, but I can tell people throughout this land, because of the fiscal state of affairs we have, there will be less [SIC] police officers, not more, over the next decade. Response time are gonna be less, not more. So, Captain Kelly, I really do want to get guns out of the hands of the wrong people. I honest to god believe that if we arbitrarily “say nobody in this country can own a 10-round magazine in the future, the people who own them are the kind of people we’re trying to combat to begin with.” There can be a situation where a mother runs out of bullets because of something we do here. 

Is he saying he going to vote for a budget that takes away money from law enforcement.  Republicans already have neutered ATF with their budget cuts, refusing to name a new head of ATF, and gutting  enforcement capability at ATF for their friends at the NRA who are gun/ammo lobbyist for manufacturers.  Are federal law enforcement budget cut next for the FBI and Customs after Graham's statement?   This lends credibility to the GOP being in the hip pocket of the NRA:

President Obama has proposed expanding the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which helps local governments hire police officers, but Republicans have opposed the effort.

Joe Scarbough (R-FL) who was part of the conservative group with Lindsey Graham and Tom Coburn in the House after the 1994 takeover by Republicans had this to say on Morning Joe:

Scarborough jumped back in to praise the president’s gun announcement speech:

One of the president’s strongest moments is when he said if you have a congressman or congresswoman that supports assault weapons, ask them why. See, that’s where the extremists, that’s where the survivalists lose this argument. Why do you need an assault weapon? Why do you need a high-capacity magazine? You start talking to them, and it always goes back to the same thing. Always. It’s either one, ‘I like target practice. It’s fun.’ That’s certainly not a reason to protect that right. Or number two, they say, after much prodding, ‘Because I’m afraid one day the government may come after me, and I will need to use my assault weapon on U.S. soldiers that are coming to my house.’ They don’t say it exactly that way, but that’s what it always boils down to. And Republicans need to understand that at the end of the day, that’s just a losing argument.

While searching for an article I could use on Republicans neutering the ATF, I discovered this little gem which should make every stop and think:

Consider, for example, this irony: Toy guns are among the 15,000 or so products whose manufacture and sale is regulated by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, but real firearms are not. The 1972 law creating the commission did not cover guns, but just to be sure the agency wouldn’t wander there, in 1976, pro-gun lawmakers amended its enabling legislation to prohibit any action regarding guns or ammunition. 

Let me get this straight -- toy guns are regulated but semi-automatic guns that can kill are not?  Yet, the GOP wonders why Americans are disgusted with their stance on gun control.  In that article about toy guns, it gives the background of what some in the Republican Party have been doing for the NRA to loosen the laws:

We might have a better sense of how to reduce gun deaths and injuries, except that the pro-gun absolutists have successfully put an end to federally funded gun research. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once regularly sponsored such research. But when one careful study concluded that people in gun-owning households faced a far greater risk of homicide and suicide, the NRA swung into action. 

First the gun lobby and its allies tried to cut the CDC’s budget by $2.6 million — the same amount CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention had spent on gun-related research the previous year. That money was ultimately restored. But the pro-gun forces succeeded in inserting this line into the CDC’s appropriation: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” Worries about running afoul of that restriction — and fear of further retribution — took CDC out of the gun-research arena. One of Obama’s executive orders is aimed at restarting such research. 

Then there are the so-called Tiahrt Amendments, named after former Republican Representative Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, long the gun lobby’s go-to guy in its attempt to neuter the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. ATF regularly traces crime guns back to their point of sale. But after the agency issued a report saying that a tiny percentage of licensed gun dealers had sold a majority of guns used in crimes, Tiahrt launched a multi-year effort to keep that kind of edifying information under a tight lid. 

Over the next few years, he attached budget riders to prevent ATF from complying with Freedom of Information Act requests or otherwise releasing gun-trace data to the public. He and other gun-lobby allies next managed to forbid ATF from sharing gun-trace data with prosecutors or law-enforcement agencies for any purpose other than investigating or prosecuting specific crimes. That meant ATF data could not be used to identify, and crack down on, gun-trafficking. 

Under intense counter-pressure from law enforcement, the Tiahrt restrictions have been loosened significantly in the last few years. Yet Tiahrt or Tiahrt-like restrictions still require the FBI to destroy background-check information and firearms-sales data within 24 hours after such a purchase is okayed. That renders it more difficult to investigate possible “straw” purchasers, who buy guns for others. Further, gun-trace data still can’t be used in civil proceedings against gun dealers.

I am not naive enough to think the GOP is doing this just for campaign contributions because there has to be more involved.  Most of the funding for the NRA comes from the manufacturers of guns and ammo so it cannot be there is a huge war chest from members who pay $35 in dues each year.  How much money is given to NRA members of Congress that are never accounted for is what I want to know?  Do we have another Enron and Abramhoff scandal this time from the NRA?  It would hit both sides of the aisle just not Republicans.  It is the only thing that makes sense.  Is that why Issa was so intent on Fast and Furious to damage the administration so they would not look into the NRA's relationship with their puppets in Congress?  Why did Fast and Furious investigation all of a sudden go silent?  What did Issa actually find?  Good questions with no answers.

You are supposed to get a perjury charge if you lie during your testimony to a committee of Congress because you are sworn in before you testify.  Obviously that was not enforced from yesterday's hearing.  Misleading testimony is an understatement:

What The Media Should Know About The NRA's Misleading Testimony At The Senate's Gun Violence Hearing 

Blog ››› January 29, 2013 5:00 PM EST ››› TIMOTHY JOHNSON

Ahead of tomorrow's hearing on gun violence before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the National Rifle Association released the testimony of its representative, executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. When reporting on LaPierre's remarks, the media have a responsibility to provide context for his frequently inaccurate statements. 

In his remarks, LaPierre dismissed the idea of requiring a criminal background check on every gun sale while unwittingly demonstrating how these checks keep guns out of the hands of criminals, falsely suggested that assault weapons are no more dangerous than firearms available to civilians 100 years ago, and exaggerated the effectiveness of armed guards in schools.
Background Checks Have Prevented Hundreds Of Thousands Of Firearms Sales To Prohibited Purchasers 

In his testimony, LaPierre attacked the proposal to require criminal background checks on nearly all gun sales "because criminals will never submit to them." According to LaPierre's rigid reasoning, because background checks will not stop every dangerous person from acquiring a gun, there is no point in strengthening the system. 

But even under our current set of laws that allow a significant proportion of firearms transactions occur without a background check, evidence has shown that over 1.5 million individuals have been prevented from acquiring a firearm after failing a background check.
LaPierre even acknowledged earlier in his testimony that over 76,000 firearms purchases in 2011 were denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It should be noted that LaPierre is either referring to FBI denials only or understating the figure, as over 150,000 purchases a year are typically denied through the background check system, with about half of denials being processed by the FBI. 

According to the FBI, less than five percent of denials are reversed upon appeal. The primary reasons for denial were a felony conviction or indictment (47.4 percent) or status as a fugitive (19.1 percent). 

Crimes Committed With Assault Weapons Usually Result In More Victims

In his remarks, LaPierre lumped in assault weapons with all semi-automatic firearms to claim that they "have been around for over 100 years" and that "[t]hey are the most popular guns made for hunting, target shooting and self-defense." In doing so, LaPierre invoked a common argument that assault weapons are no more dangerous than other firearms. 

In fact, an examination of mass shootings between January 2009 and January 2013 by Mayors Against Illegal Guns determined that shootings where the perpetrator used an assault weapon resulted in 54 percent more deaths than other incidents and 123 percent more combined wounded and killed. A previous study by the Urban Institute comparing shootings involving assault weapons to other firearms reached the same conclusion.    

Read More at Media Matters

What's the bottom line?  Republicans are fighting against any change in gun laws.  They don't event want to close the gun show loophole that allows felons or even terrorist to walk in and buy a gun with no information required which should frighten everyone.  Probably why over 80% of Americans want background checks tightened up including at gun shows.  For Republicans to say that the Government is going to come take their guns is beyond ludicrous.  They know it or are in a bigger conservative media bubble then I think.

NRA used to be about gun safety but now it is a lobbying arm for gun/ammo manufacturers as they get paid huge bucks to lobby and curtail any hint of gun control so manufacturers of automatic weapons/ammo can continue to make big bucks.  They don't care if a person buying a gun is a felon, a terrorist, or mentally ill.  They are more than happy to see private gun owners sell huge amounts of guns to one person as it helps their bottom line.  It is greed of the wealthy to get even wealthier if more guns/ammo are sold.

The gun/ammo manufacturers don't seem to care what happened at Sandy Hook to those 20 first graders, to the people in a movie theater in Aurora, CO, to a US Congressman in Tuscon, AZ, where if the shooter had to reload a clip because he had smaller clips a little girl would still be alive, or in Columbine, CO.  The list goes on and on with shootings that kill people daily like one in Phoenix during the Congressional hearing that killed someone in an office.

How many more children have to die before we get sensible gun control legislation that regulates the size of clips and stops the selling of handguns that can take the same clips as the military style assault rifles.  Military style weapons don't belong on our streets period.  Military members don't keep their assault weapons in their homes but in armories on base so why should individuals have military style weapons in their homes. Have an intruder?  Use a shotgun! This is not playing toy soldier but playing with people's inherit Right to Life as guaranteed by our Constitution.

The second amendment is now more important to some gun owners then any other amendment which should scare all of us if any of our neighbors believe that and have military style weapons.  Call/write your Congressman and Senators to tell them to at least get behind stronger Background Checks and closing the gun show loophole.  At least it would be a start.

Why did Texans vote for Tea Party Republican Senator Ted Cruz?

Have a hard time remembering a first time US Senator being a bigger media hog and arrogant then Senator Cruz of TX who took office less than a one ago.  Even the hard right Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) took awhile to get started.  Let me say that I donated to Cruz's opponent Texas Governor Lt Governor Dewhurst who seemed to have more common sense -- didn't realize how much more until the last month.  Cruz has no common sense -- zero, zip, nada.

Thought this open letter to Americans about Texas send Cruz to the Senate spoke volumes: 

Ted Cruz’s craziness is the unfunny, dangerous kindJason Stanford, @JasStanford4:33 PM on 01/30/2013 

Dear America, 

I think we might have messed up again in Texas. We thought Ted Cruz would be an educated, articulate senator with a positive vision of constitutional conservatism. But it turns out he might also be crazy, and not the Charlie Wilson “Let’s see how many Playboy bunnies fit into this hot tub!” kind of crazy. Ted Cruz’s crazy is the unfunny, dangerous kind, and we just gave him a six-year term. Sorry. 

It struck me that Texas might have let a charming sociopath loose in Washington when I read this morning about his efforts to bring assault weapons into a Senate hearing on gun safety. His aim, as it were, was to wave unloaded guns around to demonstrate how safe they are in the hands of “millions of law-abiding Americans for self-defense, hunting, and sporting purposes,” he explained. Maybe using them as political props falls under “sporting.” Unfortunately for him, DC has banned assault weapons, which cancels out the “law-abiding” bit. 

Trying to bring a gun to a knife fight is one thing. Picking a fight with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel might be burning a bridge too far. Emanuel pushed the Chicago Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund to divest $1 million in investments in three gun manufacturers and asked two locally headquartered banks to stop lending money to firearms makers who oppose gun safety laws. This drove Cruz to invite the banks and gun manufacturers to do business in Texas. “Both of your companies do considerable business in the City of Chicago, and you may be understandably concerned that there are risks to refusing to comply with the demands of a politician who has earned the nickname, ‘the Godfather,’” wrote Cruz. 

And then there was his explanation for being one of three votes against confirming John Kerry as Secretary of State: “I was compelled to vote no on Senator Kerry’s nomination because of his longstanding less-than-vigorous defense of U.S. national security issues, and, in particular, his long record supporting treaties and international tribunals that have undermined U.S. sovereignty,” said Cruz in a statement. 

It’s hard not to focus on Cruz’s cheerful venality in sliming Kerry’s commitment to national security. Cruz wasn’t even born when Kerry left the U.S. Navy as a full lieutenant after having earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. And when Cruz was still in diapers, Kerry raised the stakes on patriotism by becoming the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress about the war, famously asking the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” 

Voters don’t require military service anymore in their politicians, but if Cruz’s statement is any indication, voters don’t require basic decency either. Cruz had a chance to serve when we were kicking Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, but he was busy excelling at debate at Princeton.
That bit about Kerry “supporting treaties and international tribunals that have undermined U.S. sovereignty” raises a different alarm. Cruz’s campaign website had a page devoted to stopping Agenda 21, a black-helicopter conspiracy theory about the United Nations abolishing “‘unsustainable’ environments, including golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads.” We should have known better. 

So why didn’t the media raise the alarm when a possible demagogue was sailing toward a U.S. Senate seat? If there’s a media bias in Texas, it’s to ignore the ridiculous as unserious and unworthy of attention. Not spotlighting the absurdity deprives Texans of the unintentional high comedy of their elected officials who remain bathed in the flattering light of undeserved dignity. (Case in point: Rick Perry. In Texas, the media portrayed him as a serious, ideologically conservative leader, but once he crossed the state line… Oops.) 

Cruz rode a Tea Party wave from 4% in the polls into the U.S. Senate. It’s possible that this was not a marriage of convenience but of common interests. We’re not all crazy in Texas—a poll out today shows that a plurality of Texans support banning assault weapons—but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Cruz could be.

A little background on Senator Cruz:

Cruz the newest Latino GOP Senator was elected in November by tea party activists and notably gathered only a smattering of Latino votes.  Tea Party activists in Texas have been prone to attempt any and all political maneuvers to thwart President Obama including their recent call for their state to secede from the Union. Cruz finds himself tied to the most extreme elements of his party and seems unwilling at this point to differ from them.

Some of Cruz's comments made me go WHAT?  

Delaware state Attorney General Beau Biden chided Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday over Cruz’s statements on gun safety legislation. 

“Senator Cruz is new to the job here,” said Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden. “Over the course of this debate he’ll get the facts. The facts are that 40 percent of weapons transfers in America are done outside of federal licensees. Forty percent. So nearly half of weapons that are sold or transferred are done, not through Dick’s Sporting Goods or your local gun shop, where I have my shotgun from.”

Cruz, a freshman senator, said on “Meet The Press” Sunday that there is no gun show loophole for weapons sales.

“Any licensed firearms dealer, who sells at a gun show, has to have a background check,” Cruz said. “What it doesn’t apply to is personal sales, one on one, and that’s true, whether it’s at a gun show or not.” In that same interview, Cruz also accused President Barack Obama of exploiting last month’s mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut “within minutes” for the sake of pandering to his political base.

Raw Story (excerpt)

Then there is this one:

WASHINGTON, DC -- 

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued the following statement regarding Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) Assault Weapons Ban of 2013: 

Washington politicians shouldn’t be taking advantage of recent tragedy to try to push an aggressive gun control agenda. Real assault weapons—machine guns—are already functionally illegal, and they have been since 1934. This proposal would have done nothing to prevent the terrible murders in Newtown, but it would limit the constitutional liberties of law-abiding citizens. And gun control doesn’t work – the empirical data overwhelmingly demonstrate that strict gun-control laws consistently produce more crime and more murders.

The Second Amendment exists to ensure that law-abiding Americans can protect their homes and families, and I look forward to helping lead the fight to defeat this bill and to protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. 

Cruz also would have voted against the financial cliff agreement if he had been in the Senate:

During Senator Cruz’s appearance on CNN on January 3^rd he retreated to Tea Party talking points on issues surrounding the now resolved fiscal cliff debate. Additionally Cruz indicated that he would be willing to use the upcoming approval on the debt ceiling to gain political leverage.  “part of the reason we got a lousy deal is that when you have divided government, whoever owns the defaults, whoever wins if there is inaction, has the advantage. With the fiscal cliff, if there was inaction, there would be a massive tax increase. That gave President Obama an advantage. Moving forward to the debt ceiling, I think it is the mirror image” said Cruz to an openly astonished Wolf Blitzer.

Cruz, a Latino of Cuban descent (his Dad was Cuban and his Mom a US Citizen) elected with Tea Party support, opposes citizenship proposals as amnesty, but supports increased visas for high-tech and temporary workers.

Cruz's comments on immigration reform regarding bipartisan immigration reform proposal:

I appreciate the good work that senators in both parties have put into trying to fix our broken immigration system. There are some good elements in this proposal, especially increasing the resources and manpower to secure our border and also improving and streamlining legal immigration. However, I have deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship. To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally.

Senator Cruz doesn't think twice of running out with his comments unlike most Freshman Senators in their first month.  I want to know why Republicans put first term Senatosr Cruz and Flake (R-AZ) on Judiciary. Those assignments used to be reserved for more senior members who understand how things work but after both Cruz and Senator Graham (R-SC) tried to bring guns to the Senate hearings on gun control which Graham knew would never be approved, grandstanding seems to be the new norm for Republicans in the Senate. 

Senator McConnell is Dishonest on Gun Control with his Constituents

McConnell needs to retire from the Senate and leadership after this email and robocalling on gun control

In an 'urgent' email to his constituents in Kentucky, McConnell lied about President Obama and his plans for gun control.  As Minority Leader he want way past the line as the loyal opposition and needs called on his actions by fellow Republican Senators.  He talks about shredding our Constitution with gun control even though it was also passed under President Reagan.  Mr. McConnell, is the one shredding our Constitution with lies and distortions putting his zeal to raise money for his campaign over honesty, integrity, and adherence to the oath of office he took.  That email makes sure you know where you can donate to his campaign.  Is he afraid of Ashley Judd running against him?

First of all, the 23 executive orders signed by President Obama are not against the Constitution which McConnell very well knows and if he doesn't, he is too dumb to be in the Senate.  He is bought and paid for by Wayne LaPierre and the NRA which is very evident.  He puts winning elections over the good of the Country and has been doing that for years.  Donors first, GOP second, and American taxpayers a distant third.

Anyone in leadership who sends out such garbage and makes a voice recording to go to phones in their state needs out of office today.  He has lost all credibility with this stunt and time for the GOP in the Senate to grow spines and take action.  This is reprehensible out of the Minority Leader:

In an urgent email from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, he warned fellow Kentuckians that “You and I are literally surrounded. The gun-grabbers in the Senate are about to launch an all-out-assault on your rights, on your freedom from those who want to shred our Constitution – they’re coming for your guns.” McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said “It is almost hard to believe the sheer breadth and brazenness of this attempt to gut our Constitution,” referring to gun control measures to reduce the proliferation of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines on American streets. 

McConnell’s use of battleground siege terminology such as “surrounded” and “about to launch an all-out assault” cannot be misconstrued as anything other than government declaring war on gun owners and the U.S. Constitution. McConnell even made a pre-recorded phone message telling Kentucky hunters and gun owners “Their efforts to restrict your rights, invading your personal privacy and overstepping their bounds with executive orders, is just plain wrong,” and he vowed to fight them “tooth and nail.” The only thing missing from McConnell’s clarion call to arms was the time and staging area to make a stand against tyrannical government reminiscent of colonial Americans facing British troops at Concord where the “shot heard round the world” signaled the beginning of America’s war of independence. An NRA spokesman and board member did make a direct reference to Concord in a warning to the Obama Administration.

Then there is Ted Nugent who was aligned with the Romney campaign and is a friend of George W Bush so you can see his rhetoric has permeated the highest levels of the GOP who remain silent.  No one in leadership seems inclined to call McConnell or Nugent out for their rash and potentially harmful statements.  Do they not realize there are gun owners out there on the very edge like Tim McVeigh, the people at Ruby Ridge, Waco, abortion doctor killers, etc. that listen to what they say and take it to heart.  Those people could take their guns and start shooting at law enforcement believing the Government is coming for their guns?  Some are unstable to being with and this could push them over like the guy in NY who set fire to a house and started shooting firemen.  How many of the shootings have been set off by the harsh gun rhetoric over the last six months that has escalated since Sandy Hook.  It way pretty nasty during the campaign that was filled with a lot of lies and hate filled statements toward the President from the right.

People with common sense will just say they (McConnell and Nugent) are nuts or loons but we have people in this Country that hang on to words by people like McConnell and Nugent thinking they are telling the truth and it is a call to arms.  Fox News also comes to mind with their scare tactics.  When you state that Ronald Reagan signed an Assault Weapons Ban, the hard right calls you a liar and will trash or threaten you on line.  The hard right doesn't think twice of putting Malware or accusing your blog of spam if you dare go after the NRA or one of their heroes.  Know because I have had it happen several times.  Does it silence me?  Not even close as it makes me more determined than ever to get out the truth.

You see in today's America, many of the hard right only believe that they have the right of Free Speech not anyone else.  They have the only correct agenda and anyone else's needs trashed.  Small minded people who are easily led around by the likes of Mitch McConnell, the NRA, Ted Nugent, Glenn Beck, Rush, Hannity, Levin, Fox News and others who don't mind lying to fit their narrative.  This group is trying to tear this Nation apart and finally Common Sense Republicans from all over the Country have had it -- no one listens to us who are justly lowly activists and voters but when the 2014 elections roll around a lot of Republicans like myself will be voting for Democrats to oust this bunch of neanderthals from the House and Senate.  We are tired of their rhetoric, lies, and refusal to stand up and be counted by putting Country first over the hard right GOP.  This group prefers to put hard right GOP Tea Party, John Birchers, libertarian GOP, and their major donors over Country.

Today's GOP elected officials are always working the angle which you can see right through.  Perfect example was the VA redistricting which is against their Constitution but it didn't stop the GOP from passing it  on Inauguration Day since a longtime member of the Senate and Civil Rights advocate was at the Inauguration and so they had the majority to pass.  Today's GOP doesn't want you to know a lot of things as they play on emotions of the hard right to get what they want.  Lying has become an art form for the GOP today.  The fact they have not disavowed Ted Nugent speaks volumes about the lack of integrity and honesty in today's GOP who would rather go after Beyonce for lip singing then a maniac like Nugent for wanting to start a revolution:

The NRA board member, draft dodger Ted Nugent, made his comments during the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) in Las Vegas over last weekend. 

Nugent said the “Barack Obama gang is actually attempting to re-implement the tyranny of King George that we escaped from in 1776, and if you want another Concord Bridge, I got some buddies.” Nugent summoned the Revolutionary milestone that pitted a group of colonists against British soldiers assembled at the North Bridge in Concord, Mass. in 1775, and broke a standoff when a soldier opened fire. Nugent went on a tirade claiming “The president of the United States goes to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and pretends to honor 58,000 American heroes who died fighting communism and he pretends to pay honor to men who died fighting communism, and then he hangs out with, hires and appoints communists. He is an evil, dangerous man who hates America and hates freedom. And we need to fix this as soon as possible.”

Nugent has an inordinate amount of gall citing the 58,000 American heroes who died fighting communism in Viet Nam, because to avoid serving his country, he defecated and urinated in his own pants and feigned insanity when he went before the draft board because as he said, “I did not want to get my ass blown off in Vietnam.” Apparently the NRA board member who was too much of a coward to fight for his country has no  compunction fighting against his own country, or inciting his gun-fanatic buddies to “fix” the fact the American people re-elected President Obama; “as soon as possible.” 

Since the Sandy Hook massacre took place prompting outrage and calls for stricter gun controls and safety measures to protect Americans from gun-crazed “law abiding citizens” and their assault weapons, so-called patriots who equate sane gun laws with “shredding the Constitution” have made overtures of revolution to protect their precious AR15s and high-capacity magazines. 

However, McConnell and Nugent represent the first official institutional forays into inciting gun advocates to fight tooth and nail against President Obama’s attempt to blunt the daily reports of gun atrocities McConnell and Nugent claim are “shredding the Constitution” that drives hate-filled gun-zealots into revolutionary war mode. 

It is noteworthy that neither the NRA, or the Republican Party, have distanced themselves from Nugent or McConnell’s fear mongering and blatant lies that serve one purpose and one purpose only; incite violence against the United States government and its Commander in Chief that regardless how one defines it, is sedition.

RMuse at Politicususa had it right -- please visit the site for the full article as it is well worth reading.

It is a sad state of affairs for this long time Republican when I have had to start visiting progressive sites to get the truth because conservative sites are giving spin or outright lying about what I can see right before my eyes.  Where are the conservative sites in highlighting what McConnell or Nugent said?  Silent because it goes against their narrative.  These are quotes of these two men not some 3rd hand remark that was repeated.  Conservatives don't seem to care what is the right thing to say or do as their egos have gotten so large that they think they can say or do anything they want and no one is going to challenge them.

Unfortunately, their only challenge comes from the left and the GOP just swats that away that those people just hate conservatives.  Pretty good deal they have as so many people believe just that -- it is liberal talk because our guys are honest in what they are saying.  Many on the right refuse to look down below the surface because I think many suspect they are being fed garbage but don't want to admit that the liberals just might be right or even some more moderate conservatives are right.  When you finally take off those blinders, the anger at being duped sets in, then you get mad at yourself for falling for the nonsense all these years, and then in the 3rd stage you want the Republicans/pundits who duped gone from the stage especially candidates who you helped win your hard work.  After that you agree to join others on the center and left in working to oust these hard right GOP from the House in 2014.

How much lower can the Republicans in Congress and RNC go?  Throw a dart!

Hard Right Stance on Gun Control is Fueled by Fear

NRA, GOA, gun lobby, conservative talk radio/sites, Fox News pundits, and some members of Congress are pushing Fear of the Federal Government as the reason to oppose any reasonable gun control

This morning my other blog, Democrats for Sale, is back up only for me now to get the content which is new because for days I could not even get to the content.  It was back on-line for about four hours before it was taken down after a complaint on Terms of Service which made no sense.  When you consider the subjects I have been covering with being anti-NRA, anti-RNC, and anti-GOP Congress, it makes sense.  I have started posting here on Voices from the Heartland during this time DfS has been down.  BTW,  I am contemplating taking Voices to a paid website in the near future so I don't have to bothered by those who object to my free speech.

We have a class in this Country of hard right who only believe Freedom of Speech belongs to them starting with the conservative talk radio pundits led by Rush Limbaugh and Hannity, most of the hosts on Fox News Channel (not counting Shepherd Smith or Greta), conservative websites/bloggers and paid harassers who go from site to site posting their hard right conservative talking points.  Truth doesn't matter to these people, it is the hard right conservative narrative.  

When it came out that Reagan had pushed for the Assault Weapons Ban, he became a RINO.  The same thing happened to Justice Scalia when he said that the 2nd amendment didn't give you the right to own military style weapons and that the militia of the Constitution is the National Guard/Reserves of today so now he is a RINO.  In 2004 when the Assault Weapons Ban was going to be allowed to expire by Republicans, President Bush couldn't fathom why they were allowing it to expire so he became a RINO and most likely why he had so much trouble with the Republican Congress when he was re-elected as he made the NRA mad.  

This graphic was linked on Twitter to show exactly what they are talking about when they say Assault Weapon according to the NY Times:

CSGV CSGV 18 Jan

Outstanding new graphic from the @nytimes: "What Makes An Assault Weapon." RT this widely. #p2 #tcot #guncontrol pic.twitter.com/ZjbHRECX

The NY Times posted this picture with their article which I have excerpted the last few paragraphs below to show the term Assault Weapons originated:

“Assault rifle” was first used to describe a military weapon, the Sturmgewehr, produced by the Germans in World War II. The Sturmgewehr — literally “storm rifle,” a name chosen by Adolf Hitler — was capable of both semiautomatic and full-automatic fire. It was the progenitor for many modern military rifles. 

But the term “assault rifle” was expanded and broadened when gun manufacturers began to sell firearms modeled after the new military rifles to civilians. In 1984, Guns & Ammo advertised a book called “Assault Firearms,” which it said was “full of the hottest hardware available today.”         

“The popularly held idea that the term ‘assault weapon’ originated with antigun activists, media or politicians is wrong,” Mr. Peterson wrote. “The term was first adopted by the manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and dealers in the American firearms industry to stimulate sales of certain firearms that did not have an appearance that was familiar to many firearm owners. The manufacturers and gun writers of the day needed a catchy name to identify this new type of gun.” 

Yesterday's "Gun Appreciation Day" originally co-sponsored by a white supremacist group turned out to be comedy with five people shot at gun shows due to 'accidents' when people shot a loaded gun and five people got hurt.  You couldn't take this stuff up that a gun dealer pointed a gun he had purchased, shot, and it hit someone as there was a bullet left in the gun after the clip had been removed.  Abject stupidity and yet these are the people who want to own military style guns with large clips.  Don't get the large clips except the talk show circuit and websites have convinced some people who are not the brightest bulb in the pack that the Federal Government is going to send the military to attack them.

Why are the hard right conservatives led by Senator Rand Paul trying to stir up these people who believe what they say and could be a threat to our military and police officers around the Country if they perceive they are doing something that bothers them.  We are not dealing with common sense, we are dealing with people who do cling to their guns and try to be all macho like they are some kind of a gunslinger.  Do they have the temperament that if someone made fun of them open carrying a gun, they might take it out and shoot.  Common sense people don't carry guns to go shopping.

Then there is the NRA an organization who has lost touch with being an organization that supports hunting, gun safety, and reasonable laws.  They are now hard right money makers as the lobbying arm of the gun/ammo manufacturers.  Today someone will pay $4,000 for a gun that is worth about $600 because of the increased demand for guns since this Country elected its first black president, the gun manufacturers have increased the price for guns knowing those who scare easily into thinking this Country is going socialist or communist because of President Obama are going to pay the price.  Some of these people would live on beans to buy a gun.  When you see someone post that their guns are before family because it is the only way to protect them, you realize you most likely are not dealing with someone with a full deck.

What is the scary part is that these people consider themselves patriots and the federal government is the enemy which brings us back to Ruby Ridge, David Koresh and Waco, and then their shining triumph according to Timothy McVeigh when he planned to kill as many federal workers as he could with bombing the federal Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  He and his partner(s) not only killed federal workers but also young children who were in the day care center.  Yet even today there are some loons in the militia who consider what McVeigh did as the right thing to do.

The worst part is that members of Congress just not conservative talk shows and websites are touting the President is not legitimate, the Federal Government is coming to take your guns, new laws are Unconstitutional as the President has no right to sign Executive Orders on gun control and the list goes on and on all in order to stir up the hard right so they can line their pockets with money from the NRA, GOA, and gun/ammo manufacturers who support their campaigns/sites.  After all, both sides have to do four hours of fundraising every afternoon and don't want to shut down the NRA/Gun Lobby dollars and that includes Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) who is balking at tougher filibuster requirements who is in the hip pocket of the gun lobby so it cuts both ways.

Now we will see how long this stays up!