Does The 2nd Amendment Provide Absolute Protection To Gun Owners?

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Sacha Baron Cohen's Kinderguardian Program

Do you realize the first guy being interviewed  by Cohen - certified nut-job Philip van Cleave, who lives in Virginia - was in John Oliver's "Gun Control Whoop-de-Doo?" (Thanks for posting about the latter, btw - I had no idea it existed).

 

[Al Dente]

17 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Do you realize the first guy being interviewed  by Cohen - certified nut-job Philip van Cleave, who lives in Virginia - was in John Oliver's "Gun Control Whoop-de-Doo?" 

I thought that cretin looked familiar.

[Al Dente]

Reason #4,682 that the NRA is full of shit.

NRA/Russia Connection

[DonRocks]

I don't like how this is all going to end.

[DaveO]

On 7/16/2018 at 5:10 PM, Al Dente said:

Reason #4,682 that the NRA is full of shit.

NRA/Russia Connection

In an amazing coincidence the Trump administration/IRS JUST announced that non profits of the type that the NRA is ARE NOT REQUIRED to list financial donors in their tax returns:

Link

On so many levels this makes me sick.

[Al Dente]

2 hours ago, DaveO said:

In an amazing coincidence the Trump administration/IRS JUST announced that non profits of the type that the NRA is ARE NOT REQUIRED to list financial donors in their tax returns:

Link

On so many levels this makes me sick.

I saw that.

All the pieces are coming into place for an authoritarian regime, aren't they?

I'm genuinely afraid.

[DonRocks]

[FYI, it was my hope that this community would always be a reprieve, an escape, from the ugliness of reality, but both the mass shootings, and the totalitarian regime that is taking shape, have made me question the importance of everything I've ever done. If I wasn't in so much physical pain, I could come up with a solution, but for the time being, there isn't much I can do, except to watch our ship sink.

Don't ever forget this: Mockery probably makes people feel better at the moment, but it only serves to minimize the danger of our situation. Always remember that 60 million people voted for this person, and also that Genghis Khan, for example, was almost certainly neither intelligent, nor well-educated: It doesn't take brains to be a dictator; only guns, and a reckless disregard for humanity.

How many people have given up their lives for "our country," and why isn't one, single person doing it now? This traitor will only relinquish power at gunpoint - logic and reason no longer apply: Fight back, fight back hard, keep fighting back, and then fight some more.]

[Al Dente]

Cute couple.

[Al Dente]

On 7/18/2018 at 12:04 PM, DaveO said:

In an amazing coincidence the Trump administration/IRS JUST announced that non profits of the type that the NRA is ARE NOT REQUIRED to list financial donors in their tax returns:

Link

On so many levels this makes me sick.

Another nail in the coffin of American democracy. 

"Republicans Block Bid To Extend Election Security Grants" by Matthew Daly on apnews.com

[Al Dente]

There is no god.

Father of Parkland survivors shot to death in robbery by Justin Wise of The Hill

[DaveO]

15 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

There is no god.

Father of Parkland survivors shot to death in robbery by Justin Wise of The Hill

Oh Fuck!!!

[Ferris Bueller]

What's next? watch the video too.

Pro-gun activists are following the Parkland teens on a gun control tour around the country in a 'military-style armored vehicle' by Jacob Shamsian, The Insider

[DonRocks]

Have you all seen the show, "Hate Thy Neighbor" on Viceland? Watch the first episode - I did, and then ended up watching two entire seasons.

Definitely start with SE1 EP1, "America's Far White."

[DonRocks]

"Florida Cops Won't Charge Man in Shocking Parking Lot Shooting over State's 'Stand Your Ground' Law" on rt.com

There is *no way* this wasn't 2nd-degree murder. As soon as that aggressive vigilante flashed his gun, the murder victim clearly started backing off before being shot down in cold blood.

No, he shouldn't have been in a handicapped space, and no, he shouldn't have pushed the vigilante down, but I can *easily* see myself having done both of these things, given the situation (running in while someone waits in the car, and coming out to defend your girlfriend), and that vigilante had absolutely no right to get aggressive and start yelling at the two people in the car, who weren't even driving.

This is murder.

Ironically, if the victim had instead pulled out a gun and shot the vigilante, instead of merely pushing him to the ground, he could have hidden behind the "Stand Your Ground" law, saying he felt "threatened."

[Ferris Bueller]

I read about this as well - notice the truck driver interviewed, said this same individual threatened to shoot him previously, when the truck he was driving was in the same space.  Really hard to believe the guy felt threatened, when the guy pushed him and backed off, gun displayed, and everyone ran.  Gun ownership in Florida (statistically) about 1/3 of the population owns a firearm; safe to assume a guy giving someone a hard time about waiting in their car in a special parking space may be confident due to being armed.  Having lived in Florida for a decent period of time, there was no shortage of firearms, and this was a long time ago.

[Ferris Bueller]

On slightly separate notes:  

After Parkland, gun-control advocates see a turning point for new state laws By Amber Phillips, The FIx

Florida just did something extremely rare for a Republican-controlled state: Pass a bill limiting people’s access to guns By Amber Phillips, The Fix

[DonRocks]

On 7/21/2018 at 11:10 PM, DonRocks said:

"Florida Cops Won't Charge Man in Shocking Parking Lot Shooting over State's 'Stand Your Ground' Law" on rt.com

There is *no way* this wasn't 2nd-degree murder. As soon as that aggressive vigilante flashed his gun, the murder victim clearly started backing off before being shot down in cold blood.

No, he shouldn't have been in a handicapped space, and no, he shouldn't have pushed the vigilante down, but I can *easily* see myself having done both of these things, given the situation (running in while someone waits in the car, and coming out to defend your girlfriend), and that vigilante had absolutely no right to get aggressive and start yelling at the two people in the car, who weren't even driving.

This is murder.

Ironically, if the victim had instead pulled out a gun and shot the vigilante, instead of merely pushing him to the ground, he could have hidden behind the "Stand Your Ground" law, saying he felt "threatened."

On 7/22/2018 at 5:35 PM, Ferris Bueller said:

I read about this as well - notice the truck driver interviewed, said this same individual threatened to shoot him previously, when the truck he was driving was in the same space.  Really hard to believe the guy felt threatened, when the guy pushed him and backed off, gun displayed, and everyone ran.  Gun ownership in Florida (statistically) about 1/3 of the population owns a firearm; safe to assume a guy giving someone a hard time about waiting in their car in a special parking space may be confident due to being armed.  Having lived in Florida for a decent period of time, there was no shortage of firearms, and this was a long time ago.

"Sheriff Finds Himself at Center of Political Stand Your Ground Storm" by Kathryn Varn on tampabay.com

Here is Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, and his email, should anyone wish to write him, is rgualtieri@pcsonet.com. 

I really object to the charges being Manslaughter instead of 2nd-Degree Murder, but it's better than nothing, I suppose:

"Florida 'Stand Your Ground' Shooter Michael Drejka Charged with Manslaughter" by Bill Hutchinson on abcnews.go.com

[DaveO]

Easily accessible guns, hate filled people, more shootings, It never stops

[Ferris Bueller]

If you want to let your Representatives know you are pissed, concerned or whatever, here are links (email addresses, phone #'s etc) and stats for you and our surrounding areas:

Virginia

Maryland

District of Columbia

The stats are sobering - for anyone outside the area, you can easily look up your state and district here.

I am not saying they listen, but you have to let them know.  

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Ferris Bueller said:

If you want to let your Representatives know you are pissed, concerned or whatever, here are links (email addresses, phone #'s etc) and stats for you and our surrounding areas:

Virginia

Maryland

District of Columbia

The stats are sobering - for anyone outside the area, you can easily look up your state and district here.

I am not saying they listen, but you have to let them know.  

You know what? I was told (by someone who truly knows) that members of the House really do pay attention to this stuff - I was convinced enough, about fifteen-years ago, so that I went in and talked with one of my Representative's assistants. We talked for about twenty minutes, and she was completely engaged in the conversation, taking notes and everything. (It had nothing to do with today's general political climate; it was about a single issue extremely important to me at the time.)

I suggest not only writing, but calling to schedule a meeting, regardless of what your issue is - you'll probably get ten minutes with an intern, but I suspect that you'll feel those ten minutes were well-spent. 

[DaveO]

8 hours ago, DonRocks said:

You know what? I was told (by someone who truly knows) that members of the House really do pay attention to this stuff - I was convinced enough, about fifteen-years ago, so that I went in and talked with one of my Representative's assistants. We talked for about twenty minutes, and she was completely engaged in the conversation, taking notes and everything. (It had nothing to do with today's general political climate; it was about a single issue extremely important to me at the time.)

I suggest not only writing, but calling to schedule a meeting, regardless of what your issue is - you'll probably get ten minutes with an intern, but I suspect that you'll feel those ten minutes were well-spent. 

Maybe.  I doubt it though.  I strongly believe on the GOP side powerful monied interests rule.  The NRA is one of those groups but not the only one.  Money dominates.

If a member of Congress is not strongly in the NRA camp the NRA et al runs an opponent in the primaries that strongly supports their position.  The Koch brothers groups have been doing the exact same thing:  Both groups obviously and for a while.  The monied groups intimidate candidates at the primary level.

I suspect Dems have some of that also.  It’s not as obvious though with big money single interest players doing the same repetitive thing again and again across the country 

[Al Dente]

Check out this list of the top recipients of campaign financing from the NRA. Notice anything? R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R,...

[DaveO]

High school kid shoots/kills high school student in the school

[DonRocks]

I always think it's a useful (and sobering) exercise to read newspapers from other areas of the country. For example, this is the first article I clicked on just now.

[DaveO]

17 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I always think it's a useful (and sobering) exercise to read newspapers from other areas of the country. For example, this is the first article I clicked on just now.

Yes.  

If you choose topics of interest in news aggregators such as google or bing news or other aggregators you will find articles from around the nation and  the world.  Some years ago I was introduced to Kurdish news sources.  Fascinating news detail.  At another point great local national coverage from Kansas

[DaveO]

This is a superb article touching on many gun related topics

Link to article in The Atlantic

[DaveO]

A Kentucky gun show was openly selling KKK and Nazi items.  Meanwhile following the Pittsburgh shooting the NRA put out an attack on 3 wealthy Jews, one of whom, Mike Bloomberg is clearly for gun control.  But are the others: Steyer and Soros??  Crap I wouldn’t know.  Following the Pittsburgh shooting McCarthy, the GOP House 2nd in command retracted an attack on those three.

The pro gun world is connected to the racist world.  It is abundantly clear—and the NRA specifically is doubling down on that message

[Al Dente]

13 hours ago, DaveO said:

The pro gun world is connected to the racist world.  It is abundantly clear—and the NRA specifically is doubling down on that message

Absolutely correct.

That said, we better load up on guns & ammo with the coming horde from Central America. They're all rapist, drug-dealing, card carrying ISIS members bringing small pox and leprosy to our beloved country. MAGA!

[DonRocks]

14 hours ago, DaveO said:

The pro gun world is connected to the racist world.  It is abundantly clear—and the NRA specifically is doubling down on that message

1 hour ago, Al Dente said:

Absolutely correct.

This may be true, but it isn't logical. There is nothing inherent about the connection between these two - e.g., recall the glorification of guns in 1990's gangsta culture.

We've gone from Tupac Shakur to Six-Pack Goober - opportunistic power-grabbers have figured out how to appeal to America's basal-level disenfranchised; ironically, many of these power-grabbers are exactly the ones who have eaten these peoples' piece of the pie. 

People need someone to blame for their own shortfalls, so the Invisible Enemy has been shrewdly concocted and effectively marketed to them, and right now, the fish is rotting from the head-down.

[DaveO]

6 hours ago, DonRocks said:

This may be true, but it isn't logical.

The NRA campaigns are all about emotion.  I doubt logic plays into it.   Stoke the anger seems to be the M.O.

[DaveO]

Two weeks, 4 mass shootings, 27 dead plus injured, all in "soft targets".

Seriously I cannot understand how the writers of the constitution and the second amendment would have considered this a good outcome.

[DonRocks]

On 10/28/2018 at 1:26 PM, DaveO said:

Easily accessible guns, hate filled people, more shootings, It never stops

There have been 11 mass shootings since Pittsburgh.

[Al Dente]

Fuck you, NRA.

[DonRocks]

15 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

Didn't the auto industry say this about seat belts in 1967?

Does it seem a bit odd that the @NRA has only 700K Twitter followers?

[Al Dente]

Here's the article from their website

50 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Didn't the auto industry say this about seat belts in 1967?

Probably. And the tobacco industry.

Sickening.

[DaveO]

Overall there were some incremental advances against NRA candidates in the past election:  It is going to be a long haul

[Al Dente]

Some entertainment for the kids... from the NRA.

[DaveO]

This guy is a perfect example of someone who should be arrested, stripped of all his guns, and where there should be tight laws in place and that he can never get close to a gun or any kind of dangerous anything. 

Story

[Ferris Bueller]

There are laws in place, I would not call them strict nor are they tight.  Violence stats are out there and sobering to say the least.

We are a Country where guns are part of our lives (even if you do not own one or more) - and not for absolute need (I am sure people will disagree).   The daily and weekly headlines noting violence are not helping strengthen laws, perhaps just the opposite...are we becoming immune to them?

[Ferris Bueller]

Why we can’t agree on gun control by Jen Zamzoe

The problem isn’t a lack of information. It’s how we are predisposed to interpret it.

[DonRocks]

51 minutes ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Why we can’t agree on gun control by Jen Zamzoe

The problem isn’t a lack of information. It’s how we are predisposed to interpret it.

Without even opening the article, I know this to be true.

[Al Dente]

all-guns-recalled-after-one-found-covered-in-romaine-lettuce

Wouldn't it be nice?

[DonRocks]

"A Trauma Surgeon Who Survived Gun Violence Is Taking On the NRA" by Terry Gross on npr.org

[DonRocks]

Drones can not and should not be regulated, as they are legitimate delivery mechanisms for weapons, and are thus protected by the 2nd Amendment.

[DonRocks]

Curious about hardcore 2nd Amendment supporters and a potential "tyrannical government" in the USA ... 

[Ferris Bueller]

House sends guns background check bill to the Senate with bipartisan support by Elizabeth Landers, CNN

The universal background check bill, H.R. 8, requires background checks on all firearm sales in the country. Currently, only licensed gun dealers must perform background checks for anyone seeking to purchase a firearm. Most unlicensed sellers do not; H.R. 8 would make that illegal. 

It is not likely to pass the Senate, but something like this closes the loophole for gun show purchases - it also has a provision for 10-day background checks vs the 3-day currently.  

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Ferris Bueller said:

House sends guns background check bill to the Senate with bipartisan support by Elizabeth Landers, CNN

The universal background check bill, H.R. 8, requires background checks on all firearm sales in the country. Currently, only licensed gun dealers must perform background checks for anyone seeking to purchase a firearm. Most unlicensed sellers do not; H.R. 8 would make that illegal. 

It is not likely to pass the Senate, but something like this closes the loophole for gun show purchases - it also has a provision for 10-day background checks vs the 3-day currently.  

I would say "It's a start," but it's a start like my getting out of bed in the morning the day I'm supposed to fly to Nepal and begin my climb of Mount Everest is a start.

[DaveO]

2 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

House sends guns background check bill to the Senate with bipartisan support by Elizabeth Landers, CNN

The universal background check bill, H.R. 8, requires background checks on all firearm sales in the country. Currently, only licensed gun dealers must perform background checks for anyone seeking to purchase a firearm. Most unlicensed sellers do not; H.R. 8 would make that illegal. 

It is not likely to pass the Senate, but something like this closes the loophole for gun show purchases - it also has a provision for 10-day background checks vs the 3-day currently.  

With Dems controlling the House the type of legislation we will see will be different.  Now whether any of this gets passed or not is another story. 

[DaveO]

Following the vicious, hate driven, White Terrorist shootings/mass murdeers in New Zealand, the Prime Minister of the nation is driven to change the gun laws.   Possibly and hopefully New Zealand will react to this horrific event similarly to what Australia did before it.  With that change in Australia it dramatically cut out these types of tragedies. 

One could only hope folks in the US would be so similarly smart.

[DonRocks]