Gun-rights activists, some carrying firearms, plan to be out in force at George Mason University on Thursday night as President Barack Obama pitches his controversial gun legislation during a televised invitation-only town hall meeting, an event panned by critics as a public relations spectacle. “I would hope that you would agree with that”. It would also allow the federal government to more effectively fight straw purchasers – a person who buys a gun for someone who is legally prohibited from owning one, said Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Florida.
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What’s more, there is far more consensus on gun rights than Obama says there is – and that’s because the consensus is often contrary to Obama’s stance. In 2010, then-President Felipe Calderón addressed a joint session of Congress on the issue. But, he added optimistically, “a lot of things don’t happen overnight”. He blamed that notion on the NRA and like-minded groups that convince its members that “somebody’s going to come grab your guns”. Joe Manchin, a Democrat and gunowner who co-wrote the bipartisan bill Obama supported in 2013, took issue with the president’s move.
Obama’s broadside against the NRA came two days after unveiling a package of executive actions aimed at keeping guns from people who shouldn’t have them. Hatalsky says there are some licensed gun dealers on the site who are required to perform background checks for any guns they sell. No one knows exactly how many, but gun-control advocates say this is the big way that guns change hands without background checks. And while no one on any side of the contentious gun debate wishes for such tragedy, we’ve been (wrongly) told time and again that our country is too hopelessly divided and polarized to take action. Tightening this definition will lead to more prosecutions and more convictions, and will stop shady gun sellers from selling guns without background checks. However, the rulemaking will include an appeal process for people prohibited from buying a gun because of mental health issues, according to a White House fact-sheet on the new executive orders.
Del. Kathleen Dumais said she plans to take measures further in Maryland.
Bloomberg reports that, “A study by the Department of Justice found that just 0.7 percent of state prison inmates in 1997 had purchased their weapons at a gun show”. “We maybe can’t save everybody, but we could save some”.
Gun violence has a devastating impact on our communities and there is a severe need for common sense gun safety laws. “And the president is letting insurance companies off the hook”, Kennedy claimed.
Obama readily conceded the executive steps will be challenged in court, a prediction quickly echoed by Republicans.
When CNN played the clip of Obama shedding tears during a White House speech this week over the deaths of elementary-school children in Newtown, Connecticut, five years ago, Obama admitted he surprised himself with the show of emotion. But thanks to CNN’s commitment to unashamedly driving right at the heart of America’s paranoid political style, the gun manufacturers’ lobby was there in spirit, courtesy of moderator Anderson Cooper – who seized on a moment of relative calm to get wacky and wild-eyed.
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz won faster than a trigger pull by disseminating an image of a determined-looking Obama in a storm-trooper outfit with the headline, “Obama wants your guns”. Instead, it appeared aimed at Democratic congressional candidates from competitive districts who might want Obama’s support on the campaign trail this year. Those numbers must force the conversation beyond Second Amendment ideology and into practical – and reasonable – ways to reduce gun violence.
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“Rather than focus on criminals and terrorists, he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens”, said House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican.
