“The (Baltimore) Sun believes that lives can be saved and violence reduced if those most at risk are prevented from having firearms. Those at risk include those under 21, alcoholics, drug abusers and those convicted of violent crimes. This goal can be achieved through federal laws requiring background checks before gun transactions occur. The path to saner gun laws is therefore clear. The obstacle is also clear. Politicians fear challenging the gun lobby, and therefore choose not to bring up the issue. The gun lobby indeed remains a powerful force in electoral politics, and politicians are right to fear it.” – Pat Perriello

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35 COMMENTS

  1. The path forward is being laid out. Obama promised to enact new gun control in the debates and now he will do so and claim a mandate to do it.

    • I was going to comment on absurdity of Perriello’s column inthat those groups are already pretty much prohibited but once again I am confronted with an equally stupid Obama is going ban guns on his own post. There will no gun legislation passed until at least 2015. Currently all such legislation is DOA in the House.

      • 2015? Oh good. I feel better then.

        He said ‘being laid out’, not ‘will confiscate your guns by next Tuesday’. Why do you think the Presidents hands are so tied because of a few extra R’s in the House? Has that stopped him before? No cap and trade? EPA will enact on their own. No DREAM act? I’ll give the executive order. DOMA the law? We aren’t going to enforce that one.
        I just hope he’s so busy screwing up the economy he doesn’t have time to mess with a way to go around congress to suppress our gun rights.

        • He won’t have the votes in 2015 either. But if you really think he’s coming for your guns soon I will sell you some good ones now so you will meekly surrender them when the time comes.

          If I thought a gun ban was coming I would sell off a few high value pieces to the brave ones, hide a rifle and pistol and give the rest to the cops and get my good citizen award. Then after the tough guys like you are dead or in prison I will still have a hidden source of protection for that rainy day.

        • tdiinva

          You’re not following. I don’t think he’ll have the votes anytime either, but *that doesn’t matter*. Ever heard of a book called ‘Nudge’? Of course the secret service isn’t going to be searching houses door to door carrying Obama around like the Queen of Egypt. If he doesn’t want you using gas, he doesn’t ban gas, he makes it harder to procure oil, bring it to market and sell, creating higher prices. He doesn’t ban SUV’s, he creates new CAFE standards. He doesn’t ban coal, he taxes and regulates it out of business.

          I’m not an alarmist, but I’m not an idiot either. (or a tough guy?) I can see what’s right in front of me and believe what I hear when actions follow words. When our freedoms are lost it’s rarely due to an outright ban, they just make if very inconvenient, expensive, and socially demonized to participate in those freedoms.

      • All I’m saying is that they are being emboldened to drum up the anti gun propaganda again. It nearly succeeded last time.

        • I think what Merits is saying is correct.Make it expensive,inconvenient.Socially it will be always be demonized by the media and esp in the blue state liberal crowd that rely on law enforcement to magically appear.

      • It’s no more (or less) stupid to say that there is (for sure) going to be expanded gun control than it is to say that there isn’t (for sure) going to be expanded gun control. It’s known that that Obama would like to pass an AWB ban (and possibly other gun control). I think everyone agrees the desire is there. And while it’s highly unlikely that House will cave on any gun legislation, there are other ways that gun control can be expanded. 1) Senate approved treaty. Would require a yea vote from 2/3 of the Senate body that’s present as well as ratification by the President. Just like probability of legislation passing the House, it’s unlikely that there would be enough votes to pass the Senate. 2) Supreme Court ruling. The current make up of SCOTUS is mostly 2A friendly, so this too is currently an unlikely avenue. However, most of the conservative justices are nearing retirement and it’s likely that Obama will get to appoint 1 or 2 more liberal justices. So while it’s unlikely that gun control will be expanded by SCOTUS in the short term, it’s somewhat more likely that gun control would be expanded long term. 3) Executive Order. This obviously doesn’t require Congressional approval and TTAG has written about the possibilities ad nauseum. Because of the limitations of the other methods, this represents the most likely method of expanding gun control for the current administration if (and only if) they decide to pursue this agenda.

        That doesn’t necessarily mean I think it’s for sure going to happen or even likely going to happen, I’m just pointing out that it doesn’t require legislation to go through the House. So while it’s prudent not to go running around crying wolf, it’s also prudent to realize that there is a will and a way for Obama to make it happen if he really wants to. It would be messy (politically), but it wouldn’t exactly be the first time that a President used the power of Executive Order to bypass Congress.

    • Agreed. No new laws needed. Prosecute the criminal rather than demonizing a device. If those under 21 are too irresponsible to own firearms…. why the hell are they allowed to vote?

  2. That’s easy – because, as a group, they almost always vote for the Dems !

    I live in the Baltimore area, and despite the high violent crime rate, all we hear is the same tired gun control drumbeat, from the papers to Johns Hopkins University to the politicians.
    Can’t wait to leave.

  3. Lives can be saved and violence reduced if those most at risk are prevented from driving cars. Those at risk include teenagers, the elderly, alcoholics, drug abusers and cell phone users. This goal can be achieved through federal laws requiring background checks before car sales occur and forcing people to turn in their cell phone in order to get a drivers license. The path to saner traffic laws is therefore clear. The obstacle is also clear. Politicians fear challenging the automotive lobby and the UAW, and therefore choose not to bring up the issue. The automotive lobby and UAW indeed remain a powerful force in electoral politics, and politicians are right to fear it.

  4. I think a lot of these guys just like to hear themselves talk. The only thing that concerns me is the frequency of things said like “It needs to be illegal for teenagers or felons to own guns!”- I think maybe instead of throwing money at candidates who didn’t stand a chance in hell of getting elected, maybe the NRA should put that toward a p/r campaign explaining to your average joe moron how most the things these gun control advocates are looking to outlaw are, in fact, already illegal. Hell, misinformation is far more dangerous (and effective) than any first term senator is ever going to be.

    • Great idea, though I think the message would have more legitimacy coming from the Second Amendment Foundation. For better or worse, the NRA is strongly associated with a confrontational, some might even say extremist approach to discussing the issues.

  5. Hitler did the same thing in the 30’s until hi had enough power to do as he pleased. Is Obama the Hitler of our time? Well, you’ll have to decide that for yourselves. Christmas is coming. I love the lights at Christmas. They remind of the sheeple who voted for Obama. They all hang together, half of them don’t work, and the half that do aren’t all that bright.

    • Wow, an Obama = Hitler allusion, “sheeple” and (paraphrasing) “53% of the US is welfare queens and retards” all in one post. If you had included a UN conspiracy theory I could’ve won at Wackjob Bingo on your comment alone.

  6. I wish we could try people for treason for asking to violate our constitutional rights. Then we would never hear the words gun control again.

    • Ah, so you’re in favor of making thought crimes into prosecutable felonies, then. Interesting.

      Safe to assume that if someone makes a statement that they would shoot someone unlawfully (in the back while fleeing, for example) you also favor convicting them of felony thought crime, with penalties the same as if they had committed the act described?

      If that seems like a bad idea, I’d like to introduce you to the First Amendment, which protects us from the tyranny you propose.

      The cure for bad speech isn’t suppression; the cure is more free speech in opposition to the bad ideas.

    • The Athenians used to make it a mandatory death penalty to even suggest changing certain laws. I’m sure they found ways to get around that.

      • You’d have to be a pretty committed legislator, but it could be done. All you’d need would be enough of a delay between the offense and sentence being carried out to debate and change the law. 🙂

  8. To answer your questions:
    Obama IS the next Hitler, Hitler with a huge intel and State Police network, armed drones and EMP generators, NV, Billions of illicit dollars, a searhing hatred of America and those who support her, an unfathomable Love Of Marxism and an unquenchable thirst for power.
    I hope you voted in the last election because it was the Last Election.
    Any follow-up questions?

  9. I hate to try to sum up all the points in a single quote or post, but here it is from Sara Brady herself (See Bottom). People call Obama a socialist or marxist, I tend to agree. I know many well educated and dear friends who have embraced the whole idea, and that IS what they are striving for. You can slice it and dice it anyway you want, but based off of other people’s words, this is where we are headed, like it or not. I have family who work within the DNC and they will outright tell me that is what they want. This isn’t being hidden under the covers anymore, and they only try to hide it by calling it the progressive movement.

    I think the real question is how far will this go until one of two things happen. The government runs out of money to redistribute to others, or those of a conservative mindset revolt in some manner. The first part was a paraphrase from Margarette Thacher. Once the government has no more revenue to give to it’s people they will revolt. The later is not about a civil war like we saw early on in our history, but rather the states pulling away from the federal government out of necessity to survive. This of course is done through legislation to protect the states right and sovereignty. If it ever came to some sort of armed conflict that would be a huge step to right the wrongs of the current government establishment.

    This is not about race, or gender, or sexual orientation. It has nothing to do with a woman’s right to choose or whether or not you have healthcare coverage. It has everything to do with the amount of legislation being placed upon private business, and states. It has to do the the consolidation of a single federal government who will run roughshod over the states to implement it’s will on the people. It has to do with free market capitalism, and taxation. It has to do with maintaining sovereignty over other world governing bodies like the UN. It has to do with the mandates which either have, or are being passed by the current administration with out putting it before the checks and balances of our government. As we move forward into the new year, we will begin to see a host of new mandates being pushed forward by various government entities. These will have drastic and in many cases negative affects on businesses and individuals across this nation. They will spin the numbers, and affects of this to make it look like everything is going just fine.

    We must remain vigilant. We are the hawks watching to make sure our freedoms and liberties are not infringed. Some may call us paranoid, other radicals, but in the end it is up to us to educate others on what is happening. If you bury your head in the sand and feel all is well with the world, you will wake up one day and see that what once was is no longer. You will be faced with the nagging question of how did this happen. For us we will know the truth.

    Tyranny: a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler.
    From Factcheck.org:
    “It’s true that President Obama is increasingly using his executive powers in the face of staunch Republican opposition in Congress. He’s changed federal policies on immigration and welfare and appointed officials without congressional approval.”
    “Obama has been sidestepping Congress through his “We Can’t Wait” initiative, a series of executive actions that he claims benefit the middle class through infrastructure projects and economic policy changes.”

    “Our main agenda is to have all guns banned. We must use whatever means possible. It doesn’t matter if you have to distort the facts or even lie. Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed.”
    Sara Brady
    Chairman, Handgun Control Inc, to Senator Howard Metzenbaum
    The National Educator, January 1994, Page 3.

    • Sara Brady is not the President, and in fact no evidence exists that President Obama gives a shit about what the Brady Bunch thinks. I can count on zero hands the number of joint press releases or supporting statements President Obama has put out to help the Bradys.

      • Ok how about “I don’t believe anyone should be able to own a gun” – Obama to Professor John Lott
        Or
        “America needs a “strong civilian national security force, just as strong, powerful and as well funded as our military force” – Obama

        Please tell me this is someone who cares about your liberties, or freedoms……
        If we compare this to other historical figures, I can think of a few, it scares the heck out of me.

  11. “The path to saner gun laws is therefore clear.”

    Please remember the well-worn definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. If having “sane gun laws” is the standard you’re striving for, it’s obviously time to start repealing a bunch of existing laws or tweaking them such that they only apply for the criminal use of weapons.

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