Obama’s move on guns may have only modest effect on violence
President Barack Obama spoke in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, during a meeting with law enforcement officials to discuss executive actions the president can take to curb gun violence. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama, joined by Vice President Joe Biden and gun violence victims, pauses as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, about steps his administration is taking to reduce gun violence. Also on stage are stakeholders, and individuals whose lives have been impacted by the gun violence.
WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama’s move to tighten controls on guns could curb the unregulated buying and selling of weapons over the Internet and at gun shows. But the overall effect on violence in the U.S. could prove to be modest.
“It’s not ever going to be difficult to get a firearm, just like it’s not ever going to be difficult to get illegal drugs,” said James Jacobs, a New York University law school professor. “What makes us think that we can now create a regime that will make guns hard to obtain for someone who wants to obtain them?”
The president used his executive authority Tuesday to clarify that anyone “in the business” of selling firearms must obtain a federal license and conduct background checks on prospective buyers, regardless of where the sales take place. Currently, many private sellers online and at gun shows do not bother to get licenses, and weapons sales over the Internet have become a booming business.
The White House and others can’t say how many transactions the step will block or how much bloodshed it may prevent.
But the new controls probably wouldn’t have prevented several of the grisly mass shootings around the country that have led to demands for tighter gun laws, and may affect only a fraction of the nation’s 30,000 annual gun deaths.
The president’s action “has potential impact — the degree or the type, it’s hard to predict,” said University of Pennsylvania professor Susan Sorenson, who studies violence prevention. “And it’s really important to acknowledge that we can’t just have one change and expect that to change things wildly.”
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For one thing, studies have shown that criminals are more likely to get guns directly from friends or other social connections than at gun shows or flea markets.
The president also called for the hiring of more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to process the millions of background checks received annually. But even with added manpower, there’s no way to completely eliminate human error like the clerical mistakes that allowed Dylann Roof, the young man charged in the Charleston, South Carolina, church massacre, to buy a weapon even though he should have been disqualified after an earlier drug arrest.
The White House did not set a threshold for the number of guns someone has to sell to be covered by the licensing and background check requirement. But it warned that people can be charged with a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison for selling as few as two firearms when there is evidence they are running a business, such as selling weapons in their original packaging and for a profit.
Theresa O’Rourke of Downers Grove, Illinois, said she hopes Obama’s action will deter illegal transactions that have deadly consequences. Her best friend, 36-year-old Jitka Vesel, was killed in 2011 by a stalker who had illegally purchased a gun from a seller he met through Armslist.com, an online gun site. The seller was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to an illegal sale.
“People do it now because it’s easy,” O’Rourke said. “But if we say upfront that if you break the law and you are going to go to prison, most people are going to take a step back and say, ‘You know what? It’s not worth it.’”
She and other gun control advocates said too many individuals make a living selling guns without obtaining the $150 license and following requirements to conduct background checks, keep detailed sales records and face federal inspections.
Private sales — often carried out in person after Internet advertisements connect sellers and buyers — can be exploited by convicted felons, domestic abusers and others who cannot pass a background check, critics say.
Private sales have increasingly gone online over the last decade, but precise data is hard to pin down. GunBroker.com, which calls itself the world’s largest online auction site for firearms and accessories, says it has grown every year since 1999. It now boasts 750,000 active listings on any given day. Armslist claims 7 million site visits per month.
One in 20 guns advertised through Armslist last year was linked to an unlicensed seller who had listed at least 25 guns, according to recent research published by Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. A 2013 investigation by that group’s predecessor, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found that more than 3 percent of potential buyers on Armslist had criminal records that would bar them from owning firearms.
Armslist, which was founded after Craigslist banned gun ads in 2007, says in a disclaimer on its website that it doesn’t get involved in transactions and that buyers and sellers must follow all state and federal gun laws. Still, guns sold through ads on the site have been linked to some fatal shootings.
A lawsuit filed in October alleges that an abusive husband purchased a handgun through an Armslist ad and used it to kill his wife and two other women at a salon in suburban Milwaukee in 2012. The man, Radcliffe Haughton, was able to buy the gun even though a judge had issued a restraining order days earlier that should have made him ineligible. He went online to say he was “looking to buy ASAP,” and made the purchase in the parking lot of a McDonald’s, the lawsuit says.
Armslist owner Jonathan Gibbon called Obama’s moves “well-meaning but ultimately ineffective.” He said many private sellers want to conduct background checks but are discouraged by a “costly and burdensome” system that requires them to go to licensed dealers and pay fees.
“Further scrutiny of law-abiding people will not stop criminals,” he said.
Everytown president John Feinblatt called the clarification a welcome if modest step.
“It puts them on notice and, if accompanied with aggressive enforcement, has the potential to narrow the number of unlicensed dealers who are selling without background checks,” he said. “But even so, millions of guns will be sold online without background checks unless Congress or states pass universal background checks, as 18 states have done on their own.”
The Obama administration appeared determined to tamp down expectations, with Obama saying he realizes his actions won’t stop all gun violence.
“Obviously the president is not able to take strong measures because that’s going to require Congress to act,” said Philip Cook, a Duke University professor. “But if he is able to disrupt a relative handful of sales and save a handful of lives, that may well be worthwhile.”
He added: “What we’re looking at here is a low-cost intervention with the possibility of some payoff.”
159 responses to “Obama’s move on guns may have only modest effect on violence”
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Every gun should be registered, whether from a sporting goods store, gun show, even amongst friends. No excuses. When a crime is committed, of course, arrest whoever was in possession of the gun, but also run a check on the weapon registration. If the name on the registration is different than the criminal who committed the crime, the registrant should be arrested also for not securing his weapon. UNLESS, the weapon was reported stolen within 24 hours prior to a crime being committed with it. No excuses.
So if I’m, say, on the Hokule’a for month, and you break into my house, steal my gun, stick up a bank with it, I will be arrested when I return, according to your idiotic suggestion. Remember, no excuses!
Such a dumb reply to a serious problem. Too many guns in the hands of too many idiots. Hope calentura doesn’t get shot sometime by a drive by punk, or maybe that would change his mind on these kind of statements. The gun lobby has the republicans and many democrats on their payroll to sell guns. That is their only mission, to sell guns. To anyone, anyplace, anyhow. Sell sell sell.
Thanks for hoping I don’t get shot. Appreciate that. But if I were to get shot in a drive-by, do you seriously think it would be with a registered gun..? And if by some miracle it WAS registered, would it not have been stolen..? Where do you think “punks” get their guns, Sports Authority? And I’m dumb?
Yes, too many guns in the hands of idiots who should be locked up in mental hospitals like they used to be, but that can’t be done today because liberal ACLU lawyers have convinced liberal judges and politicians that such lock ups violate the constitutional rights of idiots.
Safer to sail, sail, sail.
If you are a gun owner, you should be responsible enough to ensure that when you leave your house, no one has access to your weapon. A super secure safe, a unique hiding spot, a storage closet on the moon, I don’t care. If someone can get in your house and take your weapon, then you are not a responsible gun owner. Period. It’s not a toy, it is manufactured to kill. Can’t keep it out of other people’s hands, then you don’t deserve to own it. And if it is used in a crime besides stealing it from your house, then you are an accessory. No excuses. My opinion.
What a stupid comment!!! If you bought it legally wouldn’t you report it stolen???
yes!!! I would!!! If I knew it was stolen!!! Or as soon as I found out it was stolen!!!
Do you read comments before responding???
Did you read what I posted, or just knee-jerk with a response??
Aomohoa, some people don’t know if the gun is stolen, because they don’t physically look at it every 24 hrs. They think it’s still in its safe place.
“UNLESS, the weapon was reported stolen within 24 hours prior to a crime being committed with it.”
Right. Not like people’s homes don’t get broken into while they’re on vacation or anything, huh? Ridiculous.
That’s what I was also saying in my comment above. People like Joseph007 take that to think we don’t want stricter gun registration laws. No problem with that. But what would be more effective is harsher sentences for criminals using guns, registered or not.
Exactomundo! Ronin006 hit it too. Too much freaked out druggies, criminals, and those that need to be institutionalized running around free. Frivolous law suits that twist the intent of the law ties the hands of law enforcement. We have a million laws that cannot be effectively enforced and even so punishment comes after the evil deed has become fact. Come on Obama you can do better than that.
I’ll post it again. If you are a gun owner, you should be responsible enough to ensure that when you leave your house, no one has access to your weapon. A super secure safe, a unique hiding spot, a storage closet on the moon, I don’t care. If someone can get in your house and take your weapon, then you are not a responsible gun owner. Period. It’s not a toy, it is manufactured to kill. Can’t keep it out of other people’s hands, then you don’t deserve to own it. And if it is used in a crime besides stealing it from your house, then you are an accessory. No excuses. My opinion.
You expecting the Taliban to register their guns, too?
Of coarse, aren’t the all Honest? He He
The leader of the Taliban, that’s you, is the most honest of them all.
Gun will be registered in your name,stolen, and still be used in a crime. Now the registered owner will have the burden of proof.
Here is a question though, those who want to register their guns, are they going to produce a government issued identification? With so many stolen identity, how will the government ensure that no one is registering the gun under someone else’s name….
Fingerprints help.
Mike, a true responsible gun owner will ensure their’s no way of finding a weapon in the house while he is away. A gun is made for killing, not a toy. If someone can gain access to the gun while the owner is away, that is totally irresponsible of the owner, and he should be held accountable if the weapon is used in another crime.
Even stolen guns with owner’s finger prints for ID on the gun cannot be fired by the non-owner.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/13/colorado-high-schooler-invents-smart-gun-that-unlocks-with-your-fingerprint/
Well said!
I do believe in Hawaii every gun is supposed to be registered.
Its only a matter if time until Hawaii’s gun control laws are gone also.To many road blocks to our right to obtain and carry arms. Don’t like guns, amend the Constitution!
The Gun manufacturer’s association has developed a gun than can only be fired by the gun owner who has his thumb print ID on the gun.
This will eliminate all others from firing that gun, even if he stole it from the original owner. FACT.
Even stolen guns with owner’s finger prints for ID can cannot be fired by the non-owner.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/13/colorado-high-schooler-invents-smart-gun-that-unlocks-with-your-fingerprint/
Every time Obama tries his gun control it backfires and gun sales soar.
And hope those thousands of convicted felons Barry just Pardoned. Don’t end up getting a gun and hurting or killing someone.
Oh please… you just made that up. If you go to Wikipedia, you can access a page that shows every President’s executive pardons since George Washington.
Well what about the exchange of 5 hardcore terrorist for Bergdahl?
Please read the comment to which I replied.
Why didn’t Obama pass his gun law when the Democrats were in charge of the Senate and House? Because they also disagreed. Gun laws are the toughest in Chicago and Washington DC, yet they have the worst gun crimes. To increase Obamacare by half a billion dollars to prevent gun violence by psychological assessments is a non-starter. They don’t and won’t stop gun crimes.
Having laws against murder doesn’t stop murders from happening every day, either. Do you propose just getting rid of all laws because all laws get broken? We have to start somewhere.
Csd, “We have to start somewhere”? I don’t see any post proposing getting rid of all laws but just imposing new ones on top of old ones that cannot or are not being enforced.
Check the gun stats for NYC a city of 8 million plus…..
Even stolen guns with owner’s finger prints on the gun for ID cannot be fired by the non-owner.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/13/colorado-high-schooler-invents-smart-gun-that-unlocks-with-your-fingerprint/
Keeping my zipper up. It’s not for sale behind closed doors.
Great performance by Obama. Could be a future star in a K-drama. I believe there are still three branches of government.
Hard to believe this performance wasn’t well rehearsed the day before.
Had 2 weeks in Hawaii to rehearse, the teary part.
I’ve been rehearsing since my high school days. Glad I had a teacher to help me with it.
You mean like how William Hurt cried on cue in a news interview in the movie Broadcast News, also starring Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks? That was a deal breaker for Holly Hunter who broke up with Hurt in the movie because of his crocodile tears.
Agree, what a brilliant academy award performance. I,agree with cojef about Obama spending time rehearsing his performance. If he really cared, he should have done this earlier instead of golfing, swimming, eating shave ice while the rest of Americans go through gun violence, flooding in Missouri, etc. What a big disappointment these last 7 years.
Only an IDIOT thinks he can stop the sun from rising.
Its not the law abiding gun owners that are the problem.
But it does sound like nice politics.
Where was this idiot when he could have done something in Chicago, his real home town and not Hawaii.
1. He is from Hawai’i. I doubt you are.
2. He lectured on constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School- I doubt you’d even gain admission to the undergraduate program. So I’d be careful how you use words- they have a habit of bouncing back at you.
He “might” have lectured on Constitutional Law ??? but he sure doesn’t believe in abiding by it..just ignores it and proceeds to impose his OWN version of the Law. Traitor !
Plus his only other real work experience was as a community organizer in Chicago.
He should be an embarrassment to the University of Chicago Law School due to his flagrant disregard of the Constitution. Thankfully, his idiotic proposals and others done by executive orders on other issues have been successfully challenged and tossed out in Federal court.
WOW! O can act like he’s emotional..UNBELIEVABLE! Seriously tho he needs to get his priorities straightened out.
If the joker was sincere about family deaths he would also be lobbying to ban alcohol which is related to more automobile deaths than firearms.
Broken record, broken presidency. He’s enabled the Iranians to become a nuclear power, begat ISIS, destabilized the middle east, put Europe in danger of being overrun by terrorists and he thinks climate change is the big threat, and he also thinks that the opposition party should be exterminated. Epic fail.
“This is not a plot to take away everybody’s guns,” Obama said … “You pass a background check, you purchase a firearm.”
This is the 2016 version of, “If you like your plan you can keep your plan.”
Are there still any kool-aid drinkers out there who believe this man?
The key word was “everybody’s”….he may miss a few.
Crocodile tears.
The guy’s a better actor than president.
Republicans only act when they say that they care about Main Street. I would have more respect towards them if they just told the truth about the Republicans do not care one iota about Main Street.
The beginning of anarchy! What do you think Hitler did to control the German people?
Yeah right…..Japan, the UK, most of Western Europe all have decidely much tougher gun laws and as a result, much lower violent crime– read a book or the economist.
Sounds right to me. The trouble is, to make gun control work, you have to ban them all. To make it harder to get a gun will only hinder the good guys while the bad buys see no problem.
People are going to grumble if they do something, then grumble again when they don’t do anything… If they are going to wait for congress to pass a bill, then nothing is going to happen. Even if this saves just one life, it’s all worth it.
If they wait for congress? Isn’t that what separates our form of government from a dictatorship or monarchy? C’mon brah think before you post!
Which gets us back to the Executive Order… nothing the President suggested would have prevented any of the mass shootings. (But it does make the Liberals “Feel Good”, and that’s about all.
As usual, the anti-Obama whiners come out in droves. In he does nothing, he’s ineffectual. If he does something, it’s a liberal plot against ‘Murica. He’s the wrong color and on the wrong “team” so he can’t do anything right. . Rather than think about things objectively, they get all of their information from right-wing “news” sources, insulating themselves intellectually with like-minded individuals who reassure each other that they are right. The simplicity of the people who call themselves “conservatives” nowadays is really sad.
This notion of “just saving one life” to justify an executive action is laughable. You simply cannot operate a business, much less govern a country this way. I’m sure W. Edwards Deming is just rolling in his grave, maybe not while laughing though.
So you fancy yourself as objective – how so? Your comment paints all conservatives with the same brush. So much for objectivity your part!
Come on, trotting out racism every time someone disagrees with him is getting old. Sounds like you’ve insulated yourself with MSNBC. Face it, he’s not a lame duck, he’s just plain old lame.
“He’s the wrong color” you say – That comment is tired and old and for most Americans, it’s not an issue. It is he, yes Barry as a person who is the disappointment and not his Caucasian/African DNA (and I only place Caucasian first as him Mom did all the work).
obtw not anti-Obama, voted for him in 2008 and did NOT in 2012, nothing to do with his race mind you.
Another closet racist.
Calling an average Joe a “gun dealer” because he sells a few guns at a gun show won’t prevent criminals from getting their hands on firearms. Even mandatory 100% registration won’t prevent the thugs from having firearms. Places with the strictest gun control laws are often the worse places to be. Think outside of the box and educate the law abiding citizen. There are a lot more law abiding people in our communities than criminals. Educate the law abiding how to responsibly own and use firearms to defend themselves and others. As citizens, we need to take back our communities. Disarming law abiding citizens will only make it easier for criminals to operate.
Yes, that must make me a car dealer since I’ve sold a few vehicles in my lifetime.
Anybody else get the creeps about this extra funding for Obamacare to “diagnose” individuals deemed mentally deficient for gun ownership? This is how the old Soviet Union got rid of dissidents…declare them mentally ill and lock them up. If you oppose the regime you must be crazy!
You’ve hit a nerve. Allowing “government” the authority to determine who is fit and who is not will only silence dissident voices.
Aye, and he who becomes the authority to determine and judge others will become god.
this is his swan song but it will not work, like drugs, guns are everywhere………..
This would not impact Hawaii at all. Our firearms acquisition and ownership laws already require more than what he is proposing.
It’s all for show folks. Don’t believe this fool is looking out for us. Only his mad men/women Muslims he wants to allow into our country.
scooter is not for show?
Democrats are emotional because they care about people. Republicans are impassive when they think about how to make as much money as they can.
I suppose in your world there isn’t any billionaire Democrats.
mike must be a novice
My comment is dumb because you never think of it first. Just don’t let the chopsticks poke you in the eyes.
As are most of your comments. nuf said
This is like trying to stop someone from driving without a license, it just won’t happen. How’s the ban on illegal fireworks working in Hawaii? People will find a way to do what they want and you can’t stop it unless you make the penalty so extreme that they may think twice before doing it and they’ll probably do it anyway. People get killed by cars, planes, trains, bikes, skateboards and all sorts of other things and we don’t regulate those items. Sometimes you just can’t fix stupid or lack of common sense.
Planes, cars, skateboards etc. are designed modes of transportation. Guns are designed to kill. There’s a difference. Yes, “people will find a way,” but that doesn’t mean we stop trying. We’re not going to ban all laws because all laws are broken on a daily basis, right? That seems to be the mentality of people who make the argument that “gun laws aren’t working, so just don’t have them.”
Your argument is based on a red-herring as no one is saying that gun laws are not working so don’t have them. The pertinent question is at what point do gun laws become unnecessarily restrictive and overbearing. California has the strictest gun laws in the nation. Did that prevent San Bernadino?
You are incorrect, bull. Not only is it not true that “NO ONE is saying that gun laws are not working…” that is exactly the argument that MANY people make. Are you not reading the same comments I am here and elsewhere? And that argument is invalid, in my opinion.
the problem with your statement is that there are more than 300 million registered firearms in the u.s.
if your statement were true there would be more than 300 million firearm deaths in the u.s. each year.
std, you’re making quite a leap there with your assumption that every single gun must kill at least one person per year. They are designed to kill, and that’s what people buy them for.
@csd below. There would be a lot more gun deaths if that’s what people buy them for. You don’t have to fire a single shot to deter a criminal. Just knowing that you may have a gun opposed to knowing everyone does not own a gun is a deterrent. Peace of mind for many.
csdhawaii, dead is still dead however the means, and all lives are supposed to matter – true? Also, you’ve posted more than once elsewhere that you weren’t fundamentally antigun. However, stating “Guns are designed to kill” to bolster an argument puts you squarely in that camp. Are you as actually fair and open-minded as you profess yourself to be?
Well, guns ARE designed to kill. They have no other purpose.
And your automatic defense of every armed citizen places you in the lunatic “gun nut” camp right?
The gun laws we have now are doing fine. Adding more isn’t going to do anything unless you ban guns altogether and even if you do that people will still make their own firearms or chose another weapon of choice. Not all folks purchase guns to kill. Many like to use them only for target practice, unless you call taking out a paper target killing. Everything on this earth be it man made or natural can cause death regardless of what primary purpose we as a society assign to it. A coconut falls on someone’s head while walking on the beach, a tree branch falls on someone while playing golf. Death by any means is tragic yet the media is focused only on gun deaths? Why no outrage for coconuts and tree branches or any other type of death?
Landslides kill hundreds of people yet folks still build in areas that are prone to landslides. Homes get wiped out along the shoreline by hurricanes yet people still build along the coast and the government insures them with taxpayer money so they can rebuild. Why isn’t the government banning any residential areas within 3 miles of the coast?
Creating more laws that don’t tackle the root problem is the same as doing nothing at all. Why waste limited resources on something that isn’t going to work? People are the problem. Control their thinking and actions and we’ll have a picture perfect society but when that happens you might as well be dead because freedom will just be nothing more than a word.
So are you telling me that “many” are saying that we shouldn’t have gun laws at all? I find that assertion to be questionable just on the face of it. Exactly who are these people groups and how many are making such demands?
The ban on fireworks is working just fine. Just ask anyone with asthma how much better life is now than it was 5 years ago. Also, I wonder if anyone else has noticed that everything on your list of unregulated items is subject to regulation… You’ve got a lot of nerve posting that last sentence.
This is like trying to stop someone from driving without a license, it just won’t happen. How’s the ban on illegal fireworks working in Hawaii?
SO that makes all of it ok??
Until you invent a way to control everyone’s actions and thoughts there’s nothing you can do about it. It all comes down to being a responsible individual and having integrity. Even good people go bad so how do you plan on making sure that doesn’t happen and how do you fix the mentally broken individuals? More government regulation isn’t going to do anything. It’s all smoke and mirrors to play on your emotions. I’m more worried about other countries sending us mad cow tainted meat now that our government doesn’t require where the product originated from. At least you can hear a gunshot most of the time and maybe have a chance at avoiding the bullet. You can’t see or hear mad cow disease coming.
How’s the gun laws in Hawaii looks like it works.
” Even if this saves one life isn’t it worth it’s?” But that same logic doesn’t apply to keeping Syrian refugees out of the US? Can’t have it both way Barry…
Too much freaked out druggies, criminals, and those that need to be institutionalized running around free. Frivolous law suits that twist the intent of the law ties the hands of law enforcement. We have a million laws that cannot be effectively enforced and even so punishment comes after the evil deed has become fact. Come on Obama you can do better than that.
no-he can’t.
Having to be a Registered Gun Dealer to sell a gun… ( and preform a background check) is like having anyone who sells a used arr be a Registered Car Dealer… ( and conform to all the rules and regulations required of them ) When ask if the Presidents executive orders would have prevented any of the shootings? The answer was “Well… no they wouldn’t”.
Not all, just “some”.
Another ill-conceived, futile, misdirected act by our president. This is his hallmark, his legacy, the legacy of all liberals/progressives— futile, symbolic acts, producing nothing, aimed at perceptions of human nature that do not exists.
Meanwhile, there were 2,986 shootings in Obama’s home town last year, mainly by criminal gangs with stolen/smuggled/illegally obtained guns. What will his action do to stop this carnage? Virtually nothing.
What has he done instead? Turned a conveniently political blind eye to the carnage in Chicago, mainly among black young people, that produces the equivalent of 23 Newtown massacres a year.
Facts and Stats do not apply, you know that.
Yes Barry what about “Chiraq”? As nicknamed by it’s residents. Wha cha gonna do upon your return? If you’re moving there after this dismal Presidency.
Baffling to me that Black Lives in Chicago don’t seem to matter – at least in the media or with this President who hails from there.
Thank you President Obama. Gun sales have never been higher (help the economy). Violent crime is at a 20 year low. (we are safer)
And now, thanks to all your latest Executive Order, the Democrat candidates are in deep trouble with gun owners. (and there are a lot of gun owners.)… but “If you like your Doctor, you can keep your Doctor”. LOL LOL LOL
Is it just me or does the VP look a bit like the Jeff Dunham character Walter?
Ok, Joe Biden gets the award for the best fake frown, but they of course are all faking it including the master faker Obama.
Never been more disgusted with or contemptuous of my national leadership nor my fellow (“progressive”) citizens.
One act of sanctimonious, delusional, juvenile,counter productivity after another. This gun initiative is just one more in an endless list of feckless presidential miss steps. It will resolve virtually none of the circumstances which led to recent mass shootings. Applied in retrospect, to the past, if we could do such, it saves no lives. The innocents would still be dead. The only thing accomplished would be the application of a salve to the liberal/progressive mentality—“At least I did something”.
Well, thats all you people and your president are doing–doing something, in this case with zero regard to what will actually save lives.
Where is the interest in tightening mental health/involuntary commitment laws? Where is the interest in policing to curb urban crime such as that in Chicago (3,000 shootings last year)? Where is the interest in correcting our admittedly faulty immigration system which admitted the San Bernadino killer, or correcting PC policies which prevent full investigation of US Muslim extremists? Where, for G’s sake, is the control of our southern border?
When is it, progressives, are you going to acknowledge the aggressive, PC, bureaucratic stupidity which is the core of our national leadership?
“The Volokh Conspiracy’s Jonathan Adler says Obama’s new gun control measures are legally meaningless — just restatements of the current law. And if they were more than that, they’d be unconstitutional.”
Guns have been with us for a long time. If there has been a massive increase in violence (using guns) what has changed?
Perhaps our attitude towards life, that it is expendable if that suits our purpose.
I wonder if it would have made a bigger impact if the President had come out and announced that life is sacred, especially that of children, and to emphasize this his administration will work to reduce the 500,000 healthy babes that are being killed each year in the abortion clinics. Many of them to have their little organs cut out, their little hearts and livers, which are then sent off to those who will pay for them (even if only to cover the expenses of doing this).
To quote a famous young singer who was incredulous on first hearing more on the subject, “but that is murder” , “if you can kill a baby you can kill anyone”.
Some have argued that the current administration has not only been neutral on this subject, but has worked to block well-meaning attempts to reduce this figure inside the current law.
“not only NOT been neutral on this subject, but …..”
Did ANYBODY buy Smith & Wesson like I mentioned on Sunday??? The stock is soaring……I’ve made enough to fly from Hawaii to the mainland 10 times, 1st class. The more Obama talks the more it goes up…..Everyone of those guns used in the “mass” shootings were registered.
Your post rings loud and true which makes it even more humorous.
Wow! So much negative comments! You all got up on the wrong side of the bed? Poor thing eh? Whatever the President say and do will never satisfy anybody! Maybe we need to create a Superman with all the “smart guys and gals ” out there putting their inputs! That’ll solve all of our country’s problems and the world! A man perfect and super in all things created by all of you!
Wizard, My comment is a positive one, I hope he keeps talking about guns. I love Obama………..
I realize these changes will not stop all lunatics but hopefully it will reduce the number of tragedies. Can someone tell me what the GOP is doing to curb gun violence?
Republicans take brown envelopes from the NRA.
…tutu. Yes. And the Republicans need both hands to carry it, because it is so heavy. And it ain’t no Zippy’s gift certificates in there, neither.
Gun sales are up. NRA appreciates Obama’s help and has provided a few brown envelopes.
He’s doing this alone because the Congress finds his leadership inadequate.
I’ve been doing it all along since the school days of mine, too.
He’s missing his golfing buddies from Punahou. LOL
Thanks for trying, Mr President.
You’ve just awarded the president a “participation trophy”, like little Johnny gets today for siting on the bench of a losing little league team. The president emoted, therefore earns a reward. What he hasn’t done is more telling; moved against gang violence, sealed our border from terrorists,pushed for involuntary commitment of the mentally incompetent, ceased releasing terrorist from Gitmmo who are determined to continue KILLING us, or make and all court press to find and deport the tens of thousands of criminal illegals aliens in this country.
Oh, but he “tried” and wept a bit. That really makes up for all the crap he just can’t find time to do, doesn’t it.
Did you mean crying?
Republicans don’t like gun purchase checks period.
Baloney
Fuzzy Republican thinking.
Republicans don’t like empty headed, meaningless, progressive “gestures” which do nothing at all but decrease the freedom and constitutional rights of law abiding citizens while having ZERO EFFECT on gun violence.
What democrats like: Having an emotional press conference, while doing nothing more than finding someone else to blame for their own incompetence.
Unfair to paint with a broad brush. Otherwise I agree.
Right. I’m just pinging Wiliki, the perpuetual progressive polyanna.
I believe that people commit crimes, not guns. I also believe that criminals do not carry registered guns. I support the second amendment, mainly because I don’t totally trust our government. Having stated the above, I don’t see why all firearm transactions shouldn’t be subjected to background checks by registered dealers.
Maybe by excepting the liability of said background check you are open to guess what?? That’s right lawsuits. Ambulance chaser lawyers will absolutely love this. Voila, you are now responsible for the gun, the latent terrorist, and Byran Uesugi who you just sold it to.
great plan. A work in-progress.
The Republican congress liked being called Conservative Evangelical “White” Christians and they are supported by these Christians financially and other ways. They love the NRA who are pagans, white supra mist and KKK. They think they can manipulate and deceive God by calling themselves Christians. They like calling evil good and good evil. They are wolves in sheep clothing who are millionaires and have attained prestige.
Great posting
A racist comment and wili has a willy.
Well, truth be told, I think most senators and representatives are millionaires whatever their stripe. Not too many po’ folks able to run a statewide campaign. And by the way, “Supra Mist” sounds like a good product name. You should claim it.
You should get out more.
There was once a Democratic Party President who in no uncertain term stated if you can’t stand the heat get out! Or the buck stops here. And he did not shed a tear!
cojef. I wish that you made sense so I could rebut you.
He must be referring to Harry S. Truman.Read about him and Gen. MacArthur and decide for yourself
his rating in history!
Republicans get mad when the Democrats will not cut all taxpayer funded services from Main Street.
Republicans get mad when people such as your ignorant self insist on spending/wasting billions on programs that do not work and accomplish nothing, Head Start bing a good example. Oh, it’s for the children you well meaning know nothings say. Mean old republicans just hates the children, don’t they.
Meanwhile, here are the facts, proven over and over again, by the agency that oversee’s Head Start— It does not work. Any educational benefit for the kids is gone by third grade. A perfect progressive program, full of good intention, producing zero, while wasting billions which could be directed to actual things that work.
That’s who you and you’re democrat pals are all about, feel good programs that become perpetual leaches on the taxpaying public, with side benefit of producing a passel of reliable democrat welfare class voters.
Easy to criticize the President about gun control, until your family has a crisis with a gun accident. Think about the victims who have had a crime done with a gun to understand what this laws is for.
Yes it is easy, my son while visiting his grandfather on the mainland was stabbed to death along with his tutu kane when a druggie broke into the house in the middle of the night and used a kitchen knife – killing both. My son was 9 yrs. old and grandpa in his seventies.
Do we legislate and register knives? This is NOT about disliking or hating Obama, it’s about a highly ineffective not ready for prime time administration and unqualified President.
As for Hawaii – Rep. Gabbard seems to be the only one IMO worth keeping in Washington.
Yes, and I’ve lost good friends in car accidents involving drunk driving. So Mr. President, where’s the ban on alcohol? There seems to be a lack of sincerity if these issues are not addressed as well.
If we can get away from the political rhetoric, can we all agree that we need to do something about gun violence? And if it’s a resounding YES, can someone tell me why we shouldn’t do background checks? Can we use good old common sense for a change?
Rage Against The Machine band, sang to get mad and speak out for your rights.
And what rights do you support Mike?
The right to perpetual confusion.
Don’t care what libs think. I’m armed to the gill! Some idiot breaks in to my house and threatens my family, aloha. The end. Obama or not, it’s my way!
I would not convict you if I were the Prosecutor or on the jury. Case dismissed!
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Doesn’t he get it? Criminals get their firearm on the black market. How do you expect them to get it legally? Not going to happen.
Obama is the greatest gun salesman in the United States.
If we are not to judge Muslims by the actions of a few, why judge lawful gun owners on the actions of small percentage of criminals, mentally ill or extremists.
Great post!