If we as a civil society outlaw hand grenades and propelled explosives because their design is to harm a lot of people quickly, then why can’t we do the same for automatic weapons and large clips of bullets? They too are weapons designed only for the killing of people quickly and efficiently and like hand grenades they have nothing to do with hunting. Yet, somehow it’s different and the National Rifle Association (NRA) is holding firm in not putting gun controls of any kind on the table of options to avoid another Newtown, Connecticut massacre. The NRA claims in its defense that it’s a slippery slope from a society banning military weapons to wanting to take away hunting rifles and second amendment rights. This is the central myth that fuels NRA membership.
To any and all NRA members that may be reading this, I would like to ask if they know of any hunting group that experienced a political attack on their rights when the Federal Assualt Weapons Ban was in effect from 1994 to September 2004. Do you know of any Alaskan that was unable to protect family and property because of not having an assault weapon during this 10 year time period? The answer is no. And why? Because there was no slippery slope then and nor is there one now. Civil societies are capable of drawing the line at military weaponry.
The next NRA myth that needs busting is that the NRA leadership fairly represents the desires of its membership. A poll conducted by the coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, showed that 69 percent of self-identified NRA members favor closing the gun show loophole which allows persons to purchase assault weapons without a background check. The release of this poll by Republican pollster Frank Luntz has the NRA leadership fuming. Not only is the NRA out of step with its membership but also with gun owners in general. A recent survey by the Washington Post showed that only 24 percent of gun owners are NRA members and when you ask gun owners in general about banning the sale of magazines with more than 10 bullets or requiring a 5 day waiting period, a significant majority say ‘yes, please do so’.
By blaming gun violence in our society on everything except guns (media, school administrators posting ‘gun-free’ zones, video games, mental health screening) not only is the NRA out of step with gun owners but they appear to be taking themselves out of the current national debate. Several pro-gun lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Sen. Joe signaled they would support measures like an assault weapons ban. Even prominent Republican Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) favor a re-evaluation of the nation’s gun policies. Additionally President Obama has appointed Vice-President Joe Biden to lead an interagency effort for developing a multifaceted approach to preventing mass shootings like the one in Newtown. All these developments suggest that the Sandy Hook massacre is serving as that all important tipping point where the NRA is no longer the sole determinant of gun control policy.
The other type of tipping point action that is merited in light of the horrific shootings at Sandy Hook is to ask, “What are we, as a community, doing to promote safe and reasonable use of guns?” Is permitting an indoor gun range aimed at seeking commercial benefit from the shooting of machine guns the best direction for Juneau? Will there be mental health screenings of customers? Do we risk planting the thrill of automatic weapons into the wrong hands?
In explaining the commercial attraction of the indoor gun range, Sloane Swendsen, part-owner, notes, “Shooting machine guns is a pastime spreading across the U.S.”
Why is promoting more attraction to machine guns not a threat to public safety, particularly when you consider that Alaska has one of the lowest record among the 50 states for mental health screenings in association with gun purchase background checks. Why not make permit approval contingent upon machine gun restrictions?
These types of questions emerge when we look to apply the Sandy Hook tipping point locally. For those inclined to raise such questions, the permit was approved by the Planning Commission and will only be heard by the Assembly if an appeal is submitted by Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2013.
• Troll, a writer, resides in a hunting household with 10 guns in her home.
Comments (53)
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that these shootings occure where guns are baned, thus assuring theres no defence?
A different look,
Take the case of Seattle Wa. where carry is legal, something less than 30 killings in 2012, Chicago, where handguns are banned, just hit 500 and NY City, ditto on no guns, just hit 400. The difference? In Seattle one can defend ones self. As for what is on the horizen? Do a search of Senator Feinstien's plans for a senate bill to FORCE confiscation. The NRA is the best group to be a part of, in the defence of the second amendment!
Good questions, Kate
Here are some thoughts that align with your questions:
1. There needs to be a new organization focused on gun safety and responsible gun ownership. You know, like the NRA used to be when I was a kid. Now, while they may provide safety training, they're primarily a far-right wing lobbying group for the gun industry and republican party. They need some competition.
2. Mental health. You raised a great point. The NRA and gun promoters keep bringing up mental health screening and treatment as the primary problem at Sandy Hook. Fine then. Require every patron of the new machine gun range to first undergo comprehensive mental health screening, including an analysis of all medications they're taking, including their alcohol use. Once their psychiatrist approves them, they can blast away to their hearts' content.
3. The problem with banning 'assault weapons' and magazines is that they're only responsible for a small number of gun homicides. A ban won't have much effect on the larger gun violence problem. Forget about bans. Focus on gun registering and gun owner licensing. Start to get a handle on who has guns...and who shouldn't have guns. It starts with registration. We have to register our cars and get a license to operate them. No reason we shouldn't do the same with guns. That's well within the allowances of the 2nd Amendment.
The NRA and politicians are hoping this issue will just fade away once the shock of Sandy Hook fades away. We owe it to those small kids, and the thousands of other victims of gun violence, to not allow that to happen.
How come?
Nothing is written in the National media, let alone the Empire, of the one and a half to two million times firearms are used to prevent crime and harm in the US? A very LOUD silence, does that not matter? What if those times,ignored by the media, the weapon was not there? Can you imagine the loss that would happen in property and lives? Just signed my Son up as a life member of the NRA!
Witch hunt.
Typical liberal dribble. Push for a paper moratorium on the only thing they can confiscate from these tragedies because they can't get their hands on the real culprit. Because, the real culprit is dead. Instead, they'll litigate and legislate until they get a ban on the books in the name of owing it to the victims only to find they have done NOTHING to stop another deranged person from going berserk on a crowd. Meanwhile, the rights and freedom of Americans are whittled away. It's for the kids.
The tipping point will come
The tipping point will come when Obama's socialist agenda becomes clear for all to see.No one is going to have their guns taken with-out a fight.You want this violence to stop?Then let's have public hangings.If a murderer is caught we could have a quick trial and save the years of spending on these vermin hang them in 24 hrs.There are no consequences anymore.Criminals are not afraid of room and board and 3 squares a day!Try to take our guns and you get civil war!Take the lives of these perverts and sociopaths and you get peace!
Kate: how about you tell Rep. Don Young?
Go ahead and push for the ban. You're thinking about band-aid solution.
Rampage killings are unpredictable
Right now, it is plausible that there is a small asteroid beyond Mars that will one day enter our atmosphere at a high speed and strike the ground. And in that process, it may demolish a religious camp killing twenty children.
Will Americans blame NASA or the European Space Agency for not spotting this space rock? Will citizens demand that the President and other leaders use 100% of the powers of their offices to make sure small asteroids never again hit earth?
I think all this talk about the NRA, as goofy as they are sometimes, is a red herring. Statistically speaking, the day before Newtown there were 45 killings in America and there were 45 killings the day after and the day after that. There will be, in fact, about 16,000 homicides in the US this year.
I think that the attempt to bend the entire nation's collective consciousness via partisan politics in order to solve one of the most unpredictable types of tragedies (rampage killings) is a massive waste of resources in the effort to reduce more controllable types of violence (such as gang violence in Chicago).
If that's the logic we are going to employ (the squeaky wheel gets grease that doesn't even lubricate), then we may as well also have the Vice President convene a committee to find earth-bound asteroids smaller than AK-47s that may hit the Earth in 2090.
The fact is, violent crime has decreased in the USA for the fifth consecutive year (in 2011). Meanwhile, another 45 people were murdered today essentially without media coverage. Do we run the risk of reversing the decreasing violent crime trend by focusing on "preventing" more Newtowns? I don't know, but it sure seems like special interest groups and politicians are too afraid to ask that question.
Mike
This is still America? Right?
The truth be known obama, Sen. Feinstein and Bloomberg have been salivating for this opportunity for years. obama when he was on the board of the Joyce Foundation, and when he voted to make it a crime to protect oneself in ones own home, a criminal offence. Sen. Feinstien stated “if she could she would pass a law and tell Mr. And Mrs. America “Turn them in” Bloomberg wants nothing less than a disarmed America! It comes to mind, the reaction of “Pavlov’s Dogs” The bell is ringing and the three of them are beginning to salivate, as they anticipate their reward, well lets not give it to them!!
No Guns No Profit
Wayne LaPierre’s, Energizer bunny shill for the weapons and ammunition industry. Wayne now tells us that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.”
Wayne’s creative solution to the Sandy Hook killings is to put armed guards in all our schools. Wayne. Wayne, the guy who says he worries about the government taking our guns. Wayne now wants government agents in our schools searching our kids for weapons.
Surely Wayne knows that his industry benefactors are the first to benefit from Sandy Hook, and Columbine, and all the other mass murder shootings. Each one creates a new outpouring of weapons sales. Why would his dear industry benefactors want to do anything to reduce their profits? Why would Wayne?
Wayne has yet to think of a bad guy without a gun. You just can’t make a profit on that.
Is this better?
OK, so little Zeke walks into a grade school with 2, 6-shot .357 Magnum revolvers and a pocket full of ammo. He immediately kills the adults he encounters. Then he walks into a room and methodically shoots all the kids in the head with the .357 Magnum.
Since he didn't use an "assault weapon" or "hi capacity clips," is this scenario acceptable?
Or, will the gun controllers then crow about banning .357 Magnums too?
Mike
You raise an interesting analogy about an asteroid killing the 20 children at the religious camp. The obvious answer on who to blame, clearly, is God. Wouldn't you agree?.... ;-)
Actually, the more accurate analogy would be if thousands of people a year are getting whacked by meteorites, but it just happened to take this incident for the nation to sit up and say "enough is enough."
Let's use a more relevant comparison - the 9/11 hijackers. That was a relatively random, unprecedented event that was impossible to predict. The response to that event, besides plunging us into two disastrously expensive and unnecessary wars, was to significantly upgrade airport security. Thousands of flights occur every day without being hijacked, so why put people through the burden of having to be screened?
Would you feel more comfortable if you arrived at the airport for your flight tomorrow and discovered that TSA had been eliminated, all of the airport security had been dismantled, the cockpit doors had been replaced with the old, unsecure doors, and everybody could just stroll onboard? I guess you could feel secure if you were on a flight with skirtz or akmscott, because you know they'd be armed and ready to open fire at the first sign of funny business... That would sure make me feel more secure.
Lat 58,
Are you OK with the media totally ignoring the one and a half to two million times a year a firearm stops a crime and/or saves a life? I'm not, I believe the media to be an arm of the liberals, otherwise those incidents would have a voice. In all fairness should not the entire story be told? If not, why not??
Trevon Martin needed a gun per NRA credo
I noticed the NRA did not push for teenage carry laws after Travon was shot. All black teens need a gun to be safe is what Wayne should have said to be in line that we need more not fewer guns.
All someone has to do is go
All someone has to do is go to http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform
and see your platform.
"—like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole—so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few."
Democrats... hating your rights since 1790.
bobc
How would registering guns or licensing gun owners change the statistics you're alleging?
Lat
Guess you could find out who those bad guns were stolen from. Or which ones came from Holder. Too bad it will be it will be too late.
Comment
The eponymous Mr. Kate Troll strikes again. Why are liberals so hateful and destructive? In this case the picture is truly worth 1,000 words.
In any event, the NRA is looking for solutions that would have actually prevented some of these mass murders. The liberals are looking to hurt law-abiding gun owners by using this hysteria.
The NRA has the most successful gun-safety program the world has ever known, and the NRA does more training of firearms safety instructors than all other outfits in the world, including the US Armed Forces. But if not for the NRA the liberals would have taken our guns long ago.
It's not true that the NRA backs only Republicans by the way. The NRA supported Eric Croft in his various runs for statewide office, and as another example, in the November, Alaska elections the NRA gave the highest ratings to many Democrats including Senator Wielecowski (sp?).
Gunowners, we can get through this. The facts are on our side. Make sure everyone you know, you shoot with, and all your relatives are NRA members. Send $ to the NRA. And write to Begich, Murkowski and Young to tell them how you feel.
Liberals, please take your public, tax-payer funded monthly checks and leave Alaska. We don't care how they do it down there!
Lat,
It might well discourage one if "public" records showed where the weapons were. There, I answered your question, now back to mine, are you OK with the media only presenting HALF the story? I'm not, and I would like an answer.
geedog
Don't you have some wiring to attend to?
bobc
So you're trying to claim that without those firearms there'd be an additional 2 million homicides in this country? Really? I trust the NRA is providing that data, right?
And we're not talking about the cops with their guns?
You throw out some totally unsubstantiated number then complain that the media isn't 'reporting on it'. What do you expect?
Lat,
Your twisting words, I didn’t say
”homicides” The word is crime, and yes some of them may well have turned violent had a firearm not been used for protection. One could document them forever, here are just a few. Indianapolis Star, 10/11/12, The Oklahoman, Durant, OK 10/20/12, The Morning Journal, Elyria, OH 10/20/12 go read them. You cannot rationalize or twist words well enough to avoid the truth; I just want the truth pointed out in the media with the same zeal that they use for tragedies! Period.
all staged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wake up you idiots! un treaty ready to be signed! this is the take over of your country!!
Liberals, pay attention
The Empire today has articles that document why Americans cannot give up their guns. The article on how the two sides of the gun issue are addressed in PA talks about an anti-gun inner city woman who lost a son to a murderer that reportedly used an illegal .357 magnum revolver. So that gun was already illegal, likely from any number of laws perhaps including that the murderer was already a felon. How would laws that would have badly hurt and endangered gun owners (possibly made many of us into felons) have saved that woman's son?
By the way, revolvers fire every time the trigger is pulled exactly like a semi-automatic, and anyone can see on Youtube that reloading can be done just as fast as with a magazine. Revolvers hold up to 12 rounds but that .357 probably held from 6 to 8 rounds.
The second article liberals should read and heed today is the one on Honduras. Only the crooks have guns there and therefore the crooks are in charge. It reminds me of NYC where only crooks and the powerful have guns. It also reminds me of Obama conveniently forgetting to mention that his children attend a school that has armed guards.
things to ponder
I do not believe there is ever going to be an effective way to prevent these incidents 100% of the time. Eliminating the 2nd amendment is not going to solve the problem nor is any one item such as armed guards at schools.
I do however have a fundamental issue with the gun lobby. Why is it we should not know who is purchasing, owning or carrying firearms? For I find is absurd that the conservatives are first to demand voter ID for every one to use their right to vote while any mention of an ID for firearms is considers unreasonable. These are the same conservatives who have no problem expecting everyone to carry proof of citizenship least they be an illegal immigrant.
That's a funny one BobC!
You complain that "the media" isn't covering these cases, then for proof you refer me to... the media coverage of those cases. Do you see the irony there? No, probably not.
You're claiming some giant numbers. Based on what evidence?
And besides, so what? I don't see Kate or anyone else here trying to take away your guns for protection. You're not going to use a Bushmaster with a 40-round clip for 'personal protection'. Settle down.
As far as "public records", I get the sense that you're one of those guys who has an 'Insured by Smith & Wesson' sign in his window.
If you think the full story isn't being told, submit a My Turn to the Empire, just like Kate did. Quit your whining about the media, you little victim you.
where are you guys getting your statistics??
According to Bloomberg, gun deaths are not on the decline...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-t...
Also, bobc- "Are you OK with the media totally ignoring the one and a half to two million times a year a firearm stops a crime and/or saves a life?" What a fairy tale! Do you have any more entertaining stories??
ID
If folks from the NRA camp are fine with voter ID required and proof of citizenship ID required, why not guns? Seems like some want to pick and choose what kind of papers they need.
Either IDs should be required for rights like voting or driving or residing in Arizona, or buying guns...or they shouldn't. Which is it?
I'm a hunter but I do NOT give my money to the NRA.
One more time!
To those of you who cannot, for some reason, get it through your thick skulls! Visit the "official" FBI site for the figures on crime trending down, THEN next time you come to an intellectual discussion, kindly don’t come unarmed! A little research would show that I am correct, do that before you put your foot in your mouth again, please!
alaskabobc
I'll go ahead and check the FBI website for this alleged "one and a half to two million times a year a firearm stops a crime and/or saves a life"
what was that part about doing research before your foot goes in your mouth again?