President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Dianne Feinstein have now rolled out their plan of salvation regarding gun violence.
With the ceremonial proceedings of the 23 executive orders and the ceremonial introduction of the new "assault weapons ban", the whirlwind tour is set to begin, and yet, once again the real issues are not addressed, nor are any problems solved. Much like the antics of the famed Three Stooges, they are poking each other in the eyes and beating each other on the head.
Not one thing proposed does anything to prevent the violence and tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, but from their grand announcements, you would think that these three have saved the world. The truth is,not one thing proposed would have done anything to prevent such a tragedy.
But even beyond the rampage style killings, there is a whole section of gun violence that none of these proposals addresses, that kill far more people, including children, than all of the rampage murder victims combined since 1982, in one year , in one city. Since 1992, there have been 396 rampage murder victims. The FBI defines a mass murderer or rampage murder as someone who kills four or more people in a single incident, usually in one location. By comparison, in the same time period, Chicago has had 13,231 murder victims. Already year-to-date, Chicago recorded it's 40th homicide and January isn't even over. Seven this past weekend. According to the UK Guardian, there are 32 gun murders per day in the United States.
Why do I choose Chicago? Number one, it is Obama's hometown. Number two, it has the largest murder rate. Number three, and I know the three stooges don't like to hear this; they have the strictest gun laws in the country. Not to mention, many of the same bans called for in Feinstein's laughable gun ban proposal. Gangs, according to most law enforcement officials, account for the majority of homicides. Our inner cities are war zones akin to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Nothing is there to address this problem. Nothing. Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and even here in Racine, these murderers get minimal sentences and are on the streets again to kill. Not even mentioned by the stooges.
So while the 99.97% of us gun owners who never commit a crime, according to the FBI, are being stripped of our rights because of a hand-full of truly evil lunatics, the inevitable will happen. Some evil lunatic will try to out-do the last one and another tragedy will occur. And this pattern will continue. Always has, and always will, and nothing proposed will do anything to prevent it, nor will it reduce the number of deaths. It is just another feelgood legislation that should never pass, should never be considered, and should just fade away. That won't happen unless "We the People" let it happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKlmZQVcXHU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKlmZQVcXHU
What is evil? Society has chosen to accept many things that have/could be considered bad. In the last 50 years the one cultural change our country has seen that transcends all social issues is the loss of restraint. The belief that 'want' and 'need' can be perceived as equal. We are a wealthy country and with wealth comes the ability to purchase more then you need. That is not always bad. However, for decades it has slowly morphed into the beast we are just coming to terms with. What was one of the factors behind the housing crash? The idea that personal 'want' for property size should not impact personal debt. What has created the possible student loan bubble? The idea that personal 'want' for a profession should outweigh 1) the job prospects and 2) the impact of the debt. What is driving the national debt? The idea that the 'wants' of some citizens are permissible over the countries ability to provide. So as personal restraint has been eliminated, with a large group of people living off 'wants' and the governments leaders pointing the path to decadence; then yes it is leading to social decline. As for the specific hoarding of guns and ammunition. From a societal stand point it is no more dangerous then collecting shoes. My guess is that more people have been killed for their sneakers then in mass shootings in the US. Those hoarding weapons are not the ones committing the crimes.
How long has the stockpiling/hoarding been going on? Could it have been inspired by the Brady Bill or any of the number of attempts to ban certain weapons that have been proposed since then? I tend to agree with Brian that people tend to hoard the things they fear will not be available at some point in the near future.
the last time gun sales exceeded 5,000,000 per year was 1993 and 1994, just before the 1994 ban. Also of note, a sharp upswing began in 2008 and at leat in this chart from the ATF, continues to 2010. This seems to support that sales dramatically increase when gunowners feel threatened that the ywill lose their rights.
I disagree about the killing for shoes scenario, although it has happened, but not to the extent that you indicate. I think, that stockpiling firearms and ammunition goes beyond just consumptive behavior; people are stockpiling based on a specific world view perception and fear. They are preparing for the worst case scenario, which may become self fulfilling, if left unabated. The control, flow and spin of information can be the trigger that would escalate from just planning to actuality. The more stockpiles, the higher the probability of becoming a reality of horror.
Any sane individual can see the government is arming against the citizens, and they aren't banning themselves of 30 round magazines. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/why_does_homeland_security_need_14_billion_rounds_of_ammunition.html
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/01/obama-administration-repositioning-homeland-security-ammunition-containers/?wpmp_switcher=desktop
Where is 'ole paint brushes Carlson?
Your post comes across a little scary. At least to me. How did you as an 11 year old be able to buy a shotgun? My father handed down my first shotgun to me when I turned 12, with the caveat that I could only use it if he was present until I turned 16 and after passing Hunter Safety. That shotgun was locked up otherwise. Please explain.
You are the perfect example of the uninformed and uneducated when it comes to firearms.