Assault Weapons

Time For All Good People To React To Religious Extremists, NRA Fanatics, And Grover Norquist Blackmail!

America has many problems, but has allowed itself to be taken hostage by extremist, fanatical groups that have no purpose but the promotion of hate, greed, and selfishness, and it is time for all good Americans to speak up and make it clear that they will not allow the hostage situation to continue to exist!

Who are the villains?

Christian extremists who keep on promoting that only a theocracy with their brand of religion will send a person to Heaven, and in the process promote narrow mindedness and hate, need to be confronted without fear.

National Rifle Association leadership, including Wayne LaPierre, who enrich themselves and promote extremism in defense of the Second Amendment., and against reasonable gun regulations, particularly assault weapons, are a threat to public safety.

And Grover Norquist, the anti tax radical, and head of Americans For Tax Reform, has gained so much power and influence that Republicans are afraid to challenge him, and have allowed themselves to be blackmailed into refusing to consider ANY tax increases, no matter what, and willingness, therefore, to create financial chaos and the destruction of government’s ability to do its job of being in charge of the federal budget.

Until these three extremist groups are under control, America has little chance to move forward and deal with the promotion of tolerance, of public safety, and of responsible budgetary reform!

Those Against “Reasonable” Gun Control Laws Are Promoting Anarchy And Lawlessness, Undermining Police And Law Enforcement Agencies!

With the horrific events in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday, the Movie Multiplex Massacre conducted by James Holmes, we are seeing conservatives, Republicans, and the National Rifle Association ready to fight to prevent even “reasonable” gun control laws.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, elected with the help of the Tea Party in 2010 over the great progressive Russ Feingold, came out swinging against any gun control legislation, using the same crazy viewpoint of Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert that if others in the audience had possessed guns, they could have stopped the gunman, fully misunderstanding that several people using guns would have likely led to far greater casualties, as no one would know who was the perpetrator, and who was trying to stop him!

Johnson, on Fox News Channel, saying this ridiculous comment, was contradicted by Senator Diane Feinstein of California, who knows the horrors of guns, witnessing the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.

As Feinstein asserted, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason for ANYONE other than the military and police forces to have access to assault rifles, and magazines of large numbers of ammunition. Handguns and hunting rifles for specific purposes, after a total background check are reasonable, but not AK 47s or other types of rapidly firing machine guns that can kill large numbers of people, as this massacre was conducted two days ago.

This is a struggle that needs to be fought against the unreasonableness of the National Rifle Association, and those Republicans, and even Democrats, who seem to have the belief that we are fighting the Indians on the frontier, or are fighting the Crusades in the Middle East in the medieval period.

A civilized society MUST put controls on guns that are unnecessary, and that only crazy people would wish to possess, as what is the purpose of having assault weapons, except to kill large numbers of people? It is not like a handgun to protect oneself, or a hunting rifle to go hunting for deer, or whatever!

Sanity must be demonstrated, and requires courage by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and those who understand that if nothing is done, the massacre in Colorado will be repeated with much higher numbers of casualties, far surpassing the all time record of 70 victims which occurred two days ago!

Also ask law enforcement agencies, and one will find that the police see themselves as the front line of possible victims, as even with their own defenses, the widespread ownership of assault weapons endangers their lives, even more than the average civilian!

Gun Rights, Mass Murder, Chief Justice Warren Burger, And The Second Amendment

The National Rifle Association is riding high, having succeeded in promotion of “Stand Your Ground” laws which has led to the deaths of hundreds of victims in the past ten years, including Trayvon Martin in Florida in February.

The NRA was the host of the rant of Ted Nugent last week, threatening the life of President Barack Obama, and calling for harm on Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Attorney General Eric Holder.

The NRA sat back and had no reaction to the assassination attempt against Arizona Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords in Tucson in January 2011.

The NRA had no reaction to the mass murder of 32 people at Virginia Tech five years ago this week.

The NRA had no reaction to the mass murder at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, also occurring this week.

The NRA continues to say that guns do not kill people, and that instead, people kill people, but fight against any sensible background checks, or the banning of assault weapons.

They continue to state that the Second Amendment allows uninhibited ownership of guns by anyone who wishes to collect them.

A Supreme Court case in June 2010 in McDonald V. Chicago further cemented their 2008 decision in District of Columbia V. Heller, with the five Supreme Court conservatives deciding both cases, in favor of gun owner rights.

The thought that such an important decision came about by a bare 5-4 vote on ideological grounds is very disturbing, and belies the statement of former Chief Justice Warren Burger, appointed by Richard Nixon in 1969 and serving to 1986.

In 1991, the former Chief Justice stated that the Second Amendment was subject to fraud by special interest groups, does not guarantee the right to have firearms at all, and was designed to provide state militia to promote defense of the state.

But then, as conservative as Burger was thought to be in his tenure on the Court, it is clear that the conservative majority on the Court today is far more right wing than any since the 1920s, a foreboding of the damage they may do in many key cases to be decided and announced between now and the end of June, including the Obama Health Care legislation!