Once again, some asshole got the order wrong on the murder-suicide maneuver.
I'm really fucking sick of this. I've had it with the dumb-shits who inevitably respond to massacres by arguing that any form of gun control is tyranny. Unless and until every citizen is allowed to own nukes, then owning a gun, even an assault weapon, does not protect you from the government. To think that they do is preposterous. Since the current administration has embraced the Cheney administration's position that the president has the right to murder you with a cruise missile or a drone, all the guns you can buy won't keep you free or alive if you are determined by the president to be a terrorist.
Speaking of which, in every year since 9/11, American individuals with guns have killed more of their fellow citizens than have the terrorists. Every year, nearly five time the body count of 9/11 drop dead after being killed by another American, mostly with guns. About 1% of these occur in mass murders like the one that happened today. I'm not some liberal blogger making this up; the data are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics.
In the coming days, expect the usual Tea Party and GOP spokesmen to assail liberals who would respond to disgusting violence with gun control. As I write this, I am hearing the moderate Conservative that speaks on NPR saying that the response is not gun control. It's fucking infuriating. I do not think that it is an accident that my home state, Virginia, which stil holds the record for deadliest mass shooting, is also a state that has made it a primary policy goal to make purchase of weapons easy and unlimited.
As with the perpetrators of murder-suicides, these people have the order screwed up. Yes, the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution exists. I won't even argue that the ambiguous wording of the mighty mighty 2nd does not mean what the gun lobby says it does. What I will argue is that we as Americans should start with the start. The preamble to the US Constitution says this:
Did you get that? The first and foremost on the minds of the Founders were things like maintaining a just union, insuring tranquility and common defense, and promoting the general welfare. All of these things would be served by outlawing hollow point and cop-killer ammunition, assault weapons, handguns, and for that matter possession of guns by anyone who is not defending the nation from invasion or feeding their family by hunting. Why we would enshrine the "right" to own guns ahead of domestic tranquility. 15,000+ murders a year, I think, detracts from tranquility and general welfare.
If any so-called conservatives read this, they are likely to object. They'll drag out the usual arguments that having a gun reduces threat and provides self-defense, but the fact is that this country is awash in guns (even after sending to many to Mexico), which make crimes like this easier to commit.
It's time to get things straight.
I'm really fucking sick of this. I've had it with the dumb-shits who inevitably respond to massacres by arguing that any form of gun control is tyranny. Unless and until every citizen is allowed to own nukes, then owning a gun, even an assault weapon, does not protect you from the government. To think that they do is preposterous. Since the current administration has embraced the Cheney administration's position that the president has the right to murder you with a cruise missile or a drone, all the guns you can buy won't keep you free or alive if you are determined by the president to be a terrorist.
Speaking of which, in every year since 9/11, American individuals with guns have killed more of their fellow citizens than have the terrorists. Every year, nearly five time the body count of 9/11 drop dead after being killed by another American, mostly with guns. About 1% of these occur in mass murders like the one that happened today. I'm not some liberal blogger making this up; the data are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics.
In the coming days, expect the usual Tea Party and GOP spokesmen to assail liberals who would respond to disgusting violence with gun control. As I write this, I am hearing the moderate Conservative that speaks on NPR saying that the response is not gun control. It's fucking infuriating. I do not think that it is an accident that my home state, Virginia, which stil holds the record for deadliest mass shooting, is also a state that has made it a primary policy goal to make purchase of weapons easy and unlimited.
As with the perpetrators of murder-suicides, these people have the order screwed up. Yes, the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution exists. I won't even argue that the ambiguous wording of the mighty mighty 2nd does not mean what the gun lobby says it does. What I will argue is that we as Americans should start with the start. The preamble to the US Constitution says this:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Did you get that? The first and foremost on the minds of the Founders were things like maintaining a just union, insuring tranquility and common defense, and promoting the general welfare. All of these things would be served by outlawing hollow point and cop-killer ammunition, assault weapons, handguns, and for that matter possession of guns by anyone who is not defending the nation from invasion or feeding their family by hunting. Why we would enshrine the "right" to own guns ahead of domestic tranquility. 15,000+ murders a year, I think, detracts from tranquility and general welfare.
If any so-called conservatives read this, they are likely to object. They'll drag out the usual arguments that having a gun reduces threat and provides self-defense, but the fact is that this country is awash in guns (even after sending to many to Mexico), which make crimes like this easier to commit.
It's time to get things straight.
People don't want guns to protect themselves from the gubmint. They want to "protect themselves" from Trayvon Martin and people who don't look like they do, think like they do, believe like they do. The people who feel the need for gun ownership are people who have limited understanding of the means to manage the difficulties in their lives.
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