Washington Post syndicated columnist E. J. Dionne has a marvelous and important column that appears in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Jan. 10, 2013): “Calling All Republicans: Only with GOP Help Can Gun Safety Prevail.”
It is obvious that imposing even the most modest and reasonable restrictions and regulations designed to keep high-powered weapons and ammunition out of the hands of the homicidal will be a challenge, given the historic power of the gun manufacturers’ best friend, the National Rifle Association.
Mr. Dionne is quite correct, that initiatives will go nowhere without a fair amount of Republican support, as gerrymandering enables the GOP to maintain a considerable plurality in the U.S. House.
Mr. Dionne states, “Suburban Republicans especially need to declare their independence from viewpoints antithetical to those held by the vast majority of their constituents.” Are you listening, Representative Tim Murphy? No, I am quite certain that he is not listening, at least, not yet. Representative Murphy recently had the audacity to state that he sees gun control measures as a “distraction,” not at all a part of the discussion or the solution to horrors such as that which occurred in Newtown, Connecticut.
I wonder if Representative Murphy will slam his office door in the face of his former colleague Gabrielle Giffords when she seeks to address the members of Congress in a plea for reasonable regulations on firearms.
People of goodwill should say, and continue to say to Representative Murphy, the following, “No one measure is an instant solution to the multi-faceted problem of the United States being the gun murder capital of the world, but why must we make it easy for those inclined toward slaughter to inflict misery, pain, and grief upon so many”?
I do not consider myself a one-issue voter, but this issue is critical to me. Senator Robert Casey has had the courage and decency to renounce his former position of being pro-gun with virtually no limitation. I will be closely watching the actions of Representative Murphy and Senator Pat Toomey. I will expect nothing from them and will be pleasantly surprised if they choose to act.
I believe that those that seek regulations on guns which would infringe on no one’s Second Amendment rights are on the side of the angels, including the 20 angels whose bodies were riddled with fatal bullet wounds in beloved Newtown.
However, the meetings and calling various groups to DC makes for good political theater. The public language of "stopping all such acts in the future" is ludicrous. The "all" is inclusive, and nobody can argue that measures in 2013 will stop the use of the existing 300M guns already in circulation. What is important in these meetings is the process of DC politicians. Every day this story remains in the headlines is one more day the real important issues that need addressing are shuffled off to the side of the road. The debt ceiling, the necessary reforms of entitlements, and similar, are looming large. They have deadlines. Meanwhile, the DC politicians are spending their time and focus on these gun control meetings. History is our teacher: Blue-ribbon panels, study commissions, and the like are sure signs of nothing useful will emerge.
We already had "sustantive" and onerous gun control measures under the Brady Law. This was in effect for 10 years and did absolutely NOTHING to stop killings. Columnists like the radical liberal EJ Dionne survive on feelgoodism and not reality. Fools such as the Hollywood liberals who shoot up the movie sceens in the most graphic and violent manner and then come out against gun violence are nothing more than hypocritical idiots. Video game makers who flood the shelves [and our children's brains] with graphic violence should be heavily scrutinzied [regulated and banned?] as they desensitize our children to violence and rob them of normal innocent childhood.
Before one attacks the Second Amendment, which is an INDIVDUAL right and is in place to allow us to protect ourselves from a TYRRANICAL GOVERNMENT [not hunting deer as the fool Andrew Cuomo spewed], we need to have a root cause analysis and act logically. Of the 300 million guns in America, none has killed anyone on its own. The horrible murders in Connecticut [where most American guns are made and which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in America already] seem to have came about because of irresponsible gun ownership and a failure to address severe mental issues in the murderer. Let's put responsibility and trust in people, not Governments which act more irresponsibly each year, crsuhing our liberties and providing no solutions.