What’s the best cure for alcoholism? More martinis!
It sounds crazy, and it is. But it’s no crazier than the garbage being spewed by America’s gun cultists in the wake of last week’s horrific massacre in a Colorado movie theater.
A young man clad in SWAT-team black, his hair dyed a weird shade of orange, walked in when the theater was packed for a midnight premiere of the new Batman movie. He was carrying formidable weaponry: a semi-automatic assault rifle, a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun.After tossing a smoke grenade to create panic he opened fire, first with the shotgun, then with the rifle, and finally – after the rifle’s 100-round clip apparently jammed – with the handgun.
By the time the shooter – identified by police as Jason A. Holmes – had been stopped, a dozen people lay dead and 58 others were wounded, some critically.
The responses from the gun nuts were totally predictable – and totally disgusting. One of the common ones was that if more people had been packing firearms in that theater, they would have taken Holmes out and many lives would have been saved.
So instead of one person shooting bullets around in a crowded, dark, smoke-filled theater we would have had a bunch of people shooting bullets around in a crowded, dark, smoke-filled theater. Yeah, that would’ve worked out real well.
The fact that such an argument could be seriously advanced is a marker of how far into insanity the national attitude about guns has veered. And for that we largely have to thank an outfit known as the National Rifle Association.
The NRA started out in the 19th century as a rational and responsible organization dedicated to promoting shooting sports and firearm safety. But in more recent times it has become the political and propaganda tool of the firearms industry.
That industry has a simple agenda: to sell as many guns as possible. So it became the NRA’s mission to fight tooth and nail against any regulations, no matter how sensible, that might make it harder for anybody to buy and carry guns. To carry out that mission it marshals its 4.3-million-member army of followers, who it whips into hysteria by telling them that any attempt at gun regulation means the tyrannical gummint is a-comin’ to take their guns.
Gun regulation, obviously, is not the same as gun confiscation. Governments register and regulate many things – dogs and motor vehicles are two examples that come to mind – and nobody goes into a panic that they’re about to be taken away. But the NRA’s adherents aren’t big on nuance.
As always after one of these massacres, people are hoping that we might finally have a “rational dialogue” about guns in America. It’s a forlorn hope. The NRA is too powerful, its followers are too brainwashed and the politicians are too terrified of it.
So all we can do at this point is give THE BOOT to the NRA and the Cult of the Gun that it promotes. Gentlemen, you have blood on your hands.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2012.
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What is truly insane is a segment of the population that thinks the best way to handle a situation like this is to cower like scared sheep awaiting slaughter or the arrival of law enforcement, whichever comes first. The absurdity of thinking that the police can be expected to respond in time in a crisis such as this is laughable. This is through no fault of theirs; I wholeheartedly support the police and the job they perform but shooting episodes such as this unfold quickly and police response cannot cope with the time demands of the situation. It is therefore incumbent upon the individual to provide the means for his own survival in a survival situation. So while its never ideal to have firearms discharged in tight quarters, holding hands, hope and change, green energy, or any other of the nonsense that liberals cling to is a viable solution.
I’m sorry was Mr.Holmes a member of the NRA?
I think the point the NRA is trying to make is that you can not control what people do.. Even with gun control people will still find away to harm others.. You keep blaming it on the weapons that he had and not focusing on what would cause a person to go on a killing rampage.. The NRA has been trying to fight for our right to bare arms! Ask yourself if one of the individuals that night had been carrying a firearm when the shooting started and they were able to stop MR. Holmes before he was able to kill so many would you be blaming the NRA?
The point the NRA stands for is that its people that kill people.. Guns are just a tool that can easily be used in the wrong manner.. If you focus on gun control your only controlling the people that have no intention of using there guns to harm others.. Those that intend to use guns to harm others will always find away to harm others..
Something you have obviously have not considered in your uneducated one sided article is that members of the NRA want people to know they have have the right to carry a gun for protection and sporting such as hunting.. That is the only real way to be fare with having gun control.. Knowing who has guns and who doesn’t or shouldn’t be allowed.. People are still allowed to bare arms which is a constitutional.. Stopping a criminal from being a criminal is the only real issue here.. Not gun control..
Your idea of “rational dialogue” has been nothing but punish the law bidding citizens with gun control.. I have not heard one logical reason why would should have gun control.. The only logic is punishing those that don’t break the law and don’t cause harm to others in hopes of keeping those that intend to hurt others from doing it with a gun.. Sounds like a shot in the dark to me! a Criminal is a criminal no matter what the laws are they will break them and find away to do so..
“I think the point the NRA is trying to make is that you can not control what people do.”
So why have any laws at all then?
“The NRA has been trying to fight for our right to bare arms!”
Hey, look, man, you can wear short sleeves, or no sleeves, or no shirt as far as I’m concerned. Go ahead and bare those arms. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
While the government can’t “control what people do” it can and does influence our behavior (note how the vast majority of us drive on the right side of two-lane roads). This means that reasonable people understand that guns that were primarily designed as military assault weapons and not for hunting or self-defense could / should have governmental sway (laws) that influence us not to own or possess such guns or clips that have capacity greater than a dozen rounds or so. Large “banana” clips or those that can hold up to 100 rounds or more are not necessary for hunting or self-defense and should not be available to the general public. To think otherwise is to think that it’s OK to drive against traffic.
What a brainless article! To think that banning guns would eliminate gun violence is, well, just that. Look no further than a year ago in Norway. Know anything about gun laws in Scandinavia? ..guess not.
What was even more predictable was that the far left hypocrites would politicize the tragedy. Of course, it played right into their agenda. The left, including the current occupant of the White House, continually take shots at (no pun intended) our constitution.
TS Weekly: Is this really your point of view???
I am a gun owner, but I do not support the NRA. They seem to simply be repub stooges that will oppose Obama unconditionally, regardless of his record on gun control (which has been rather moderate). Also, while I absolutely and completely reject the notion that gun control will limit violent crime in the US, I have to take exception with Realist’s final point. The NRA and the right have also politicized this tragedy. They were just chomping at the bit to hear Obama move toward stricter gun-control policy. That hasn’t happened. I am also upset by the disregard this president has shown for our constitution at times, but don’t pretend that that’s an affliction that only affects the left. Have you forgotten the PATRIOT act? Can’t adherence to our constitution be something both the “left” and the “right” agree on?
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith’s store.
Just sayin’…
I absolutely think what happened is horrible..but some nut in a car or semi could have mowed down just as many on a crowded city street or parking lot and it would have his/her fault ..not the vehicle… so not the guns fault..it is HIS fault..just saying we have the right to bare arms..and i choose to do so..but i am not a nut…anything can be dangerous used unresponsibly
@idiots. jesse ventura recently also regurgitated that party line. a car is built for the purpose of transport. it could be ploughed into a front yard on occasion. do you know what primary purpose a gun is made for?