Normally all I want to talk about is dating (me finding a man), my getting in shape, my career aspirations, geek life, having fun and well all that consumes me in my self centered life.  But I’m going to be serious tonight and talk a little about how/why someone is able to go to a movie with weapons that should only be in the hands of our military and police.  Nothing anyone can say to me will ever make ‘in my mind’ a good reason to have a automatic or even semi-automatic weapon who’s sole purpose is to kill multiple people for sale to anyone who has the money to buy them.  The tragedy at the Aurora, Colorado movie theater hasn’t been the first time that someone is able to have weapons and used to kill many people.  Have we forgotten Former Congress Gabby Gifford who’s attack at a campaign stop ended with death and mayhem at the hands of mentally ill young man?  What about the Columbine attacks over ten years ago?  The perforation of the ‘stand your ground’ laws that has crossed our nation giving everyone the ‘right’ to shoot first and ask questions later?? Every time one of these attacks happen politicians say how awful it is and send condolences to the families but do NOTHING.  Why is the NRA allowed to hold the rest of us hostage to their obsession to loosening gun laws?  When will WE as Americans stand up to this and say we want COMMON SENSE laws enacted to stop new guns being purchases and distributed?  When will we start to make politician obligated to us??? We have a right to go to the movies, go to school and live our lives without the threat of death at the hands of someone with automatic weapons.  The NRA always says that ‘Guns don’t kill people’ and they are right.  PEOPLE with guns kill people!!  That’s why we need to start a conversation about the reality of how weapons have changed since our country was founded.  Until we give that response to the NRA they’ll keep spouting that refrain to justify their pursuit of putting a gun in the hands of anyone who wants one.  Like many people I awoke and turned on the news.  When the broadcasters first started talking about the new Batman movie Dark Knight rises well I tuned out since I’m not a fan and don’t plan on seeing the movie at the theater.  Than I started to pay attention and realized they were talking about a shooting at the midnight screening in Aurora, CO and not some sort of review of the death count in the movie.  I had to stop what I was doing and just feel sad for the victims who died and the people recovering at the hospitals.  My mind is still unable to really understand why someone would decided to shoot a bunch of strangers at the movies and could dismiss it as someone who’s mentally ill but as I had written before that doesn’t matter what matters is the access that someone has to these types of weapons. Â
As I watched President Obama and Former Governor Romney ask for us to step back from politics and instead to mourn the loss to our nation … well I got a little mad!  When will it EVER be time to about the politics of gun control??  I disagree with President Obama and Former Governor Romney because NOW is the time!  We need to mobilize right now to have a real conversation on Gun Control while it’s still fresh in our minds, while we are mourning and scared that this might happen again (let’s be honest it WILL happen again)!  I don’t want to be quiet.  I want to shout from the rooftops that I’m ‘Angry and I won’t take it anymore!!!  How many people have to die before we stand up to the NRA??? A mass killing with 100 people?  Will 276 be the number to finally make Congress and Senate to enact a bill to protect us??? What will it take for politician to run scared of US the voters and not the NRA??? We have an election coming up in November I hope that people will call their Congress members and Senators that they will vote against them if they don’t get off their asses and start enacting laws to protect us!
So let’s MAKE politicians on both sides of the aisle to be real leaders and MAN up! Â The NRA always threaten elected officials with being being put on their ‘list’ well you know what WE need to have a list of politicians who refuse to lead in this fight. Â We want our elected officials to be more concerned about doing what’s right and not what will get them reelected. Â The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is at the forefront of this fight so we don’t even have to reinvent the wheel. Â We can sign their petition as well as personally contact our elected officials at all levels of government. Â PLEASE stand up for what’s right and FIGHT for the safety of fellow citizens.
 
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the LAST thing we need is gun control after obama signed ndaa at the top of the year
no offense but gun control isn’t the answer.. the right to bare arms is like freedom of speech.. yes people will say some things we don’t like but we have to be able to speak as a basic right and freedom.. if someone comes to your house to rape you, you need to be able to defend yourself.. and beyond burglars and rapists, use your imagination and think about what the government could/would do to a completely unarmed nation..
the government controls police.. do you really want the lawmakers who are already rich to have literally NO fear of any retribution whatsoever from the American people? Do you really trust the government THAT MUCH? you have to think deeper than just “gun control is the answer” .. the guy was nuts and had no prior criminal record so he slipped through the cracks but the guns didn’t kill people HE did.. be glad he is being brought to justice but don’t fight against guns because in doing that you are tossing important rights out the window..
if he killed someone with a bat should we ban bats? also you have to remember guns protect many people from bad situations and help to ward off threats..
i just don’t think its wise to ask for the government to take more power and protection away from people.. we already are at a low point since we are losing the middle class entirely, people are being put out of their homes, elections are won through falsehood and deception, and the government does what it wants despite people lobbying for fair treatment… i just feel like you are only seeing this for surface value.. by taking away guns you would wipe away 1 problem only to bring on 100 more.. you have to understand how governments, power, and inequality work and where you stand in all of it
You can walk or run away from someone with a bat and at least have some hope of fighting off an attacker. As I said in my blog. I support the right to bear arms but in what way is it right for people to order online automatic weapons whose sole purpose is to kill large numbers of people. The point of laws is to protect the populace and to keep us safe. The young man (who may be mentally ill or just a hateful person with murder in his heart) never could have wounded and killed as large as a group of people if he didn’t have the weapon he had that had a large cartridge of bullets so that he could a number of times without reloaded.
I would also like to point out that I have a degree in Political Science, have worked on local and state wide campaigns for over twenty years, am very aware of the reasons that I supported the Brady Bill and want for uniform gun laws to protect our citizens. Since some states have much laxer laws as far as purchasing people are able to buy guns to resell them to people with criminal records or mental illness for nefarious purposes. Laws (for example) in New York state are much tighter than in Virginia so we have a nationwide issue of guns being funneled from various states to cities/regions. Because of the NRA and politicians who are so concerned about getting elected/reelected and for donations we have elected officials who do not pass/support laws for the common good.
Just the same I always address the current President of the United States as President Obama it’s a term of respect for our nation and for the people who exercise their right to vote (rather they voted for the President or not since so many across the world are still being killed protesting for that precious right).
I’m afraid you were misinformed, the shooter did not use an automatic weapon, nor was it an assault weapon, the standard definition of “assault rifle” would mean that the firearm has what we call select fire capability, this means that the user can switch the firing mode between semi-automatic, to fully automatic. The whack job murderer in Aurora was using a semi automatic rifle that does not meet the characteristics of an assault rifle. While he did use a high capacity magazine I would also point out that authorities have stated that his rifle jammed on him, this was very likely to have been from using a higher capacity magazine which tend to be less reliable than smaller capacity magazines due to the stresses placed on the magazine’s springs. So we could theorize that had the shooter had smaller capacity magazines with which to reload the death count could have been much worse.
congratulations on your poly-sci degree
I encourage you to visit a local firing range, and try out shooting under the guidance of a trained professional, you just might get over this fear of guns. At the very least you might leave with an education.
I agree that you can run away from a person with a bat or a knife or something without the range of a gun. But you can never out run the madness of evil. That evil man who sought only to kill at random, can only be stopped if everyone takes action to put him down. Guns, knifes and bats are just objects, When put in the hands of a certain man or woman they become something entirely different. So instead of going after objects (guns) or whatever else you might deem dangerous to society, Go after the root of the cause. Otherwise your just putting a bandaid over a gaping wound.
Oh I do have one quote that a very old and wise man once said “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.” Thomas Jefferson
Why is it always All or Nothing versus controlling what sort of weapons/firepower being available to the general populace. What do you use a Semi or Fully Automatic weapon for? Do you go hunting with it? What animal do you hunt with that type of weapon other than fellow humans? I agree you can’t outrun evil but it’s a heck of a lot easier when they don’t have a gun that can fire a hundred bullets a minute (for example).
I prefer my semi-automatic weapons for hunting deer. I have used semi-automatic weapons to hunt geese, ducks, pheasants, and quail as well. I also possess semi-automatic weapons for self defense. Please go educate yourself, fully automatic weapons are already restricted by our current gun laws and the permitting process and federal hoops to jump through make possession of these nearly impossible for all but only the most wealthy, morally upstanding and determined of firearm collectors.
Why is it always the Government’s job to make you feel safe? (keep in mind this is just the illusion of safety and not real safety) Why can’t you take responsibility to fulfill your own craving for safety?
I’m confused since it sounds like some of the comments seem to be supporting the rights of the murder vs the rights of innocent victims. I can’t imagine having so little sympathy to innocent people who have been shot or murdered by someone who SHOULD not have access to weapons which is why I believe we need to have a rational discussion about gun control.
I have not seen, heard from, or had any contact with any living member of my family for over 16 years. I don’t even know if anyone’s alive. I’m from the Eastern Bloc. The only members of that society allowed to use and carry weapons were the police, and the military. What did that result in? My uncles and cousins forced to fight in Afghanistan, against their will. My mother and father, half their lives spent worried about secret police raiding their homes, and having no effective means of defense. If one of them was mugged or raped, and they used a gun to defend themselves, they could go to jail, too, for trying to defend their lives and bodies with a weapon that well-protected, corrupt officials deemed they couldn’t have. For decades, my family and countrymen had no voice, the Party spoke for them.
Yes, you fail to understand, so let me explain, the comments made here that support the right of individuals to arm and defend themselves are made out of well placed concern that the tragedy of the aurora shooting will be used to strip law abiding citizens of the ability to defend themselves.
If you want a rational discussion about gun control please try the following:
1. educate yourself about firearms
2. don’t throw out a trash comment pretending that other people support the shooters actions.
3. pretending that those who support the right to own weapons even those weapons that you find scary are somehow unsympathetic to the victims of Aurora.
Do those three things and then maybe you’ll be worthy of a rational discussion about gun control.
i am a pro gun supporter, i my self own a fire arm. What happen in Colorado was very tragic. But I believe i got the right to defend my self and my family. Can you imagine taking away the fire arms to those law abiding citizens. It will be open season on all of us, criminals don’t care, they don’t obey the laws once they know our rights to carry are taken away there will be more crime. I live in the state of NY. But in NYC because Bloomberg does not want the citizens to carry a fire arm. Crime has risen, rapes, muggings and homicide. This sort of thing does not happen where I live because we have the right to carry a fire arm. A friend of mine who is a NYC detective said; If the citizens of NYC were given the rights to carry like in upstate NY crime will be lower. And I believe that, I patrolling in a residential complex where I live, was approached by a young man and ask me if was carrying a fire-arm. I replied yes he said and I quote “this is why we can’t rob no one up here but in the city is easy cause no one carries a gun”.
Once again the belief that some people have about Gun Control is false since nothing is wrong with having a RATIONAL discussion. The responses I’ve read all seem to fall along the lines of Gun Control equals taking away ALL guns and that’s not what I said in my blog or have even read from others who want our elected officials to have a reasonable discussion about the ease gun availability to people shouldn’t have access to weapons. Sorry but I’m trying to ‘pry your guns out of your cold dead hands’ just believe that some people because of mental and criminal backgrounds should not have access to guns NOR do I believe that every weapon invited should be available to the general public.
Murray Rothbard once said “It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, but it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance”
We could take Mr. Rothbard’s statement, and replace “economics” with “firearms” and “Gun Control” and apply it to you. A person of your level of ignorance expecting a “Rational discussion” is just never really going to happen.