56 million dead people

From an email I received:

A LITTLE GUN CONTROL HISTORY

- In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

-China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated

-Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

-Total defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

You think it can't happen here?  That's what the Jews thought.  That's what the Turks thought.  That's what the Ugandans thought.  That's what the Cambodians thought.  That's what the Chinese thought.  That's what the Russians thought.

Switzerland has the lowest gun related crime rate of any civilized country in the world.  Switzerland is known as one of the most peaceful nations in the world.  Switzerland issues every household a gun!  Switzerland's government provides military firearms training  to every adult and issues them a rifle that they keep at home.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.
Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'. Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

Your Thoughts on Gun Control

 
The following quote were taken from a series of public comments on gun control borrowed from other online forums.

"The existence of guns is not, and never will be, a root cause of violence. The perpetual lack of reinforcement of proper values and social alignment toward individual activities that prevent the escalation of moral bankruptcy or mental sickness into these types of events, however, is. It is unfortunate for us all that our leadership ignores actual root causes, and blames violence on inanimate objects instead of people. We should all take a close look in the mirror here"
- Joseph W.


"Everybody jumps at the NRA. How many of these `mass killings' have been conducted by one of their members? Here we have an emotive knee-jerk reaction - get rid of the guns, completely ignoring other extenuating aspects, such as the fact that only the criminals and the government have guns afterward. Guns are not the problem, although America seems to have an ongoing love affair with them. Guns are inanimate objects. I could have one sitting on my kitchen table for decades and nobody would come to harm. It is how the individual employs that inanimate object that is the problem. The problem is within the social context that produces the individual and that needs to be changed. Deal with the real problem and lose the symptom. Nobody carries a gun or a knife unless they feel that they need one. In Switzerland, when a young man does his national service training, he keeps his rifle and takes it home in readiness for when Switzerland is threatened. Behind every front door in Switzerland, there is a gun. Switzerland also has one of the lowest homicide rates on the planet. But then, they have a healthy social context. Clean up your social problems, America, and your kill rate will disappear. A close look at one or two of your more horrific mass killings didn't even employ a gun. One employed a pick-up truck. Are you going to ban all them also?"
- David C.


"Guns do not kill people; no more than knives, cars, planes or even hands alone kill or harm others, mentally ill individuals do. Guns alone do not kill, and the presence of guns do not cause people to go insane and kill each other. The issue here is mental health, and the national conversation should be around finding and helping people who suffer from depravity of mind that would consider hurting or killing a single individual find alternatives. There are plenty of instances of legally armed citizens stopping crimes, and other studies that show a 15-25% reduction in crime in states allowing conceal carry. Stricter guns laws are not going to stop sick individuals from killing others, they may then make bombs, drive cars into crowds, and certainly you remember, planes into buildings - this happens without guns. And there are plenty of instances of these behaviors. We need to focus our efforts on mental health issues and helping people on the edge."
- Kimberly O.


"I believe we as a nation are missing the real story behind all those shootings and it is the state of the mental health system in this country that should be examined and discussed. The one common denominator in all these shootings is a person that needed and in some cases received mental health treatments. From Virginia Tech to Aurora Colorado we have a trail of young people that needed help and did not receive treatment that they needed. If we take guns away we just make them choose another weapon. Yes there needs to be a discussion on what to do about violence and intolerance in general and guns are part of this discussion but lets not forget that all these shooters were all mentally ill. The health system and their parents failed them. We need to do a better job not to hide from the stigma attached to mental illness and we need to do a better job to have counseling and resources available for those that need them. Check your local Health System and see what kind of resources are available.. You will find there is no money in mental health services and most large Health Care provider only offer limited services because the reimbursement is very poor. It is easy to blame guns for violence but guns are just the instrument"
-  Andi A.





The second amendment was written because Liberty is more important to our founding fathers than Life. Gun's defend all of our freedom's including the right to free speech. Every soul that died in Hitler's occupation of Europe is crying out, and every repressed citizen of North Korea cries at your opinion. Please value what you have and don't throw it away in fear. Liberty before life. Ask the democratic Chinese that were slaughtered for their belief. As the people of Libya, or Syria who are fighting for freedom this very moment. How far would they get without guns? They know many will die in their struggle, yet still they fight.
- Jason M.



From your article....

"Despite the carnage, some even claim that more guns are the answer -- they say, if we armed the 7 million teachers in America, we'd all somehow be safer. Mother Jones actually looked at 62 -- yes, 62 -- mass shootings in the last 30 years: "In not a single case was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun." "...

You failed to mention that 61 of the 62 shootings were in "gun free" zones and therefore the law abiding gun owners left their guns at home because they were obeying the restrictive laws laid out before them but ironically also causing them to be helpless victims. Somehow the criminals were still able to enter these so called "gun free" zones with their guns anyway so I guess it doesn't work like an invisible force field like the politicians who create these zones would like to believe. The only case out of the 62 shootings that was not in a "gun free" zone was when Congresswoman Giffords was shot outside of a store in Arizona and in that case there was already at least one man beginning to draw his concealed weapon when the shooter was taken down at which point he put it back in his holsters so as not to be mistaken for the shooter himself, and later explained to police he was going to dry to disable the shooter to stop this horrendous act as his only intention in being a gun owner was to protect himself and his family from criminals. How crazy this must seem to you that just because he owned a firearm he wasn’t somehow tempted to join in on the shooting but only wanted to protect himself and those around him from harm. Even if guns were illegal, the people who are committing crimes already aren’t paying attention to what is legal so all you would be doing is disarming the law abiding citizens and making them easier targets for those who don’t care about the laws to begin with. By the way, Connecticut has the 5th most stringent laws on firearms in the country…. We don’t need new laws, we need to actually enforce the ones that already exist. Are you going to tell me that because marijuana is illegal in most states in this country that millions of people aren’t still using it every day? The horrible events of 9/11 were burned into all of our memories without the use of a single gun…. Timothy McVeigh took down a building with a truckload of fertilizer…. Why don’t we talk about doing a better job of raising our children in this country and giving the ones that need extra help and attention, due to whatever they may have gone through, exactly that? 62 out of 62 of the shootings happened due to some type of mental illness, why don't we talk about that? Let’s start treating the illness and not the symptoms….
- Justin L.

Back door gun control

Obama hasn't been shy about using executive orders and other means to circumvent congress in achieving his agendas.  Given his record so far, this is not difficult to believe:

based on confidential information, “forces linked with the administration suggest the government classify semiautomatic firearms and multiple capacity ammunition feeding devices as Title 2 National Firearms Act items under the Gun Control Act of 1968.

http://www.independentsentinel.com/2012/12/obama-might-reclassify-semiautomatic-firearms-second-amendment-alert/

First TX, now VA - Professors Packing Pistols

We reported earlier about Texas, now it looks like Virginia is thinking along the same lines.

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.) said on Tuesday that it’s “time to have a discussion” about arming school officials, in wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

“If someone had been armed, there would have been a possibility to stop the person from coming into the school,” McDonnell said on Washington’s WTOP radio . “I know there is a knee-jerk reaction against that, but I think we should have a discussion about it.”

He continued: “If a person [like Sandy Hook’s principal Dawn Hochsprung] was armed and trained, could they have stopped the carnage? Perhaps.”

But McDonnell said that while lawmakers should discuss gun control policies and mental illness, it’s also important not to “over-react.”

“The key is don’t over-react. Don’t react when you’re emotional because your policies might not be right. The key is looking at what works,”

http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/bob-mcdonnell-consider-guns-for-school-officials-85243.html#ixzz2FQsZyRQW

Stop school shootings by letting teachers fire back, say Texas officials

Lawmakers and educators in Texas say the way to guard against school shootings like last Friday's at a Connecticut elementary school is to make sure teachers can shoot back.

While the rampage that left 20 young children and six adults dead in a small Northeastern community has sparked a national debate on gun control, assault weapons and a culture of violence, David Thweatt, superintendent of the 103-student Harrold Independent School District in Wilbarger County, said his teachers are armed and ready to protect their young charges.

“We give our ‘Guardians’ training in addition to the regular Texas conceal-and-carry training,” Thweatt, whose school is about three hours northwest of Dallas, told FoxNews.com.  “It mainly entails improving accuracy…You know, as educators, we don’t have to be police officers and learn about Miranda Rights and related procedures. We just have to be accurate.”

Thweatt is the architect of “The Guardian Plan,” a blueprint for arming school staff, including teachers, that may be catching on, at least in the Lone Star state. Teachers there are allowed to have weapons in the classroom, as Thweatt's faculty members do, but State Attorney General Greg Abbott suggested Monday that lawmakers may consider ways to encourage the practice statewide.

"Bearing arms whether by teachers and guards and things like that will be all a part of more comprehensive policy issues for the legislature to take up in the coming weeks," Abbott said. "And you can be assured in the aftermath of what happened in Connecticut that these legislators care dearly about the lives of students at their schools and they will evaluate all possible measures that are necessary to protect those lives," he said.


Each Guardian must obtain a Texas conceal-and-carry permit, and must lock-and-load their weapons with “frangible” bullets that break apart when colliding with a target. “They go through people,” assured Thweatt.
“They’re very similar to what the air marshals use. The bullets are glued together with polymers, and we insist upon them because we don’t want the bullet to ricochet off a wall after it’s fired and hit a child.”

There’s a simple thread, Thweatt says, that binds together many of the mass shootings that have recently rocked the U.S.:  They happened in places where the shooter knew there was going to be little resistance.
“These shooters, even though they are evil and have mental problems, they inevitably know where they are going,” explained Thweatt. “They are going where they won’t get any resistance. Let’s put it this way, would you put a sign in front of your house that says, ‘I am against guns. You will find no resistance here?’ That would be a stupid thing to do. You’re going to invite people who like to take advantage of helpless individuals.

“Would my policy have stopped this?” Thweatt asked. “Nobody knows for sure or for 100 percent, but what we do know is that active shooters go where there is no one there to resist. The Guardian Plan addresses that fact.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/stop-school-shootings-by-letting-teachers-fire-back-say-texas-officials/

Gun sales surge after Connecticut massacre

By William La Jeunesse

The prospect of a renewed assault weapons ban in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre has set of a round of buying, as thousands of Americans head to their local gun store to secure the popular AR-15 -- the model used by the school gunman -- before potential government prohibitions on their purchase.
They are also buying the .223 ammunition used by the AR-15 and the type of high-capacity magazines covered under the last federal assault weapons ban, which Congress let expire without renewing.

• The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says it set a new record for single-day background check submittals this past weekend.
• In San Diego, Northwest Armory gun store owner Karl Durkheimer said Saturday "was the biggest day we've seen in 20 years. Sunday will probably eclipse that."
• In southwest Ohio, from dawn to dusk a Cincinnati gun show had a line of 400 waiting to get in, said Joe Eaton of the Buckeye Firearms Association.

"Sales were through the roof on Saturday," said Eaton. "People were buying everything they could out of fear the president would try to ban certain guns and high-capacity magazines."
The deluge of buyers had officials working overtime. Background checks that normally took 15 minutes in California took more than four hours, Durkheimer said. In Colorado, background checks that normally take minutes turned into wait times of more than 12 hours, said CBI spokeswoman Susan Medina.
"We had to call in extra staff," Medina said. "The wait times were high."
The CBI says it processed more than 4,200 background checks on Saturday, the day after the Newtown, Conn., shooting. That surpassed the previous high of 4,028. Nationwide, FBI data shows 16.4 million background checks were run in 2011.

Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/18/gun-sales-surge-after-connecticut-massacre

The Truth about “Assault Weapons”

The Truth about “Assault Weapons”

There has been much talk lately about “Re-instating the assault weapons ban” and “taking AK-47s out of the public sector”.  There has apparently been some major confusion on the part of many people as to what this means, and what the ban really is.

First of all, you must understand that there is no such thing as an “assault weapon”.  That name is a purely political term.  There are three basic classes of firearms:  Single shot, semi-automatic, and fully automatic.  

·         A typical single shot firearms can be represented in several  ways. 

o   First by a “break open” style shotgun or rifle.  These models have no internal magazine and can only hold the one round that is chambered.  These types of firearms are a design holdover from early 1800’s [1] and are still commonly used in bird hunting today. 

Single shot firearms can also be represented by lever action or pump action rifles and shotguns – the type often portrayed in Wild West films. These types of firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon.  These are also design holdover from early 1800’s [1] and are still commonly used today. 

And lastly, they can be represented by bolt action rifles which firearms may have an internal magazine that can hold several rounds, but fire only once before requiring the shooter to manually chamber and cock the weapon.

 To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang once.

·         A semiautomatic firearm is a model that uses the action from the firing of one round to help the shooter by chambering  and cocking  the next round. 

o   A typical semiautomatic firearm can be represented by a “double action” revolver, similar to or eveolved from the S&W designs in the 1850’s.   

Likewise, a  semiautomatic firearm can be represented by a modern “semi” handgun, such as the popular Glock – commonly used for home defense, concealed carry, and police issue sidearms. 

And finally, (and most significantly) a  semiautomatic firearm can be represented by Represented by a typical moderns hunting or sport gun, such as the M14 ranch rifle, Benelli Nova duck hunters shotgun, or the popular and customizable AR platform sport rifle.  
The significant factor here is that these modern firearms are typically capable of adding on various conveniences, like flashlights or other accessories in a manner similar to mounting a scope.  This apparently makes the gun lobbyists nervous.

Despite the fact that the firearm now as a “scary flashlight” attached to it,  you pull the trigger once, it still just goes bang once.

·         A fully automatic weapon is one that uses the action from the firing of one round to both re-chamber and cock the weapon AND fire the next round automatically.

o     These are known as Machine guns and Submachine guns.
 
To put it more simply, you pull the trigger once, it goes bang MANY times.

Fully automatic weapons are typically used by the military for fire suppression and rapidly firing at targets from a (typically) close range.

The term “Assault weapon” is intended to conjure images of a shooter aggressively engaging targets with the capacity and speed of a fully automatic weapon (ie: in a military style assault).  This term is used to describe semi-automatic weapons, despite the fact that semi-automatic weapons would be ineffective at assault style fire suppression or at rapidly firing at multiple targets from close range.

The term was used by the anti-gun lobby and aimed at semiautomatic firearms that looked like fully automatic firearms.  If a semiautomatic firearm had any conventions or features that made it’s use more convenient to the gun owner, such as an adjustable length stock for taller shooters, or more comfortable pistol grip, or a replicable magazine, it was labeled  an “Assault weapon” and demonized. 

The purpose in using this terminology is to shift the discussion of gun control from a logical debate to an emotionally charged rhetoric.  In this way, they could confuse and panic more people into agreeing to further limit an individual’s gun rights.

Regardless of what side of the gun-control argument you are on, do not let yourself be fooled  into mischaracterization of the facts or irrational thinking.  

We chastise those who would judge a person by their skin color as illogical, irrational and biased.  Doing the same with a firearm - to create confusion and  fear - just because of the way it looks is just as illogical, irrational and biased.  

Should we outlaw a toy BB gun or NERF gun because it LOOKS like a military weapon?  No.  Why?  Because it does not function like a military weapon.  It is not fully automatic.

A so called “Assault weapon” is no more dangerous than any other modern hunting rifle.  It functions the same way, has the same rate of fire, and even uses the same common ammunition.

There is no such thing as an “Assault Weapon”.  Don’t fall for the rhetoric.  Don’t perpetuate the lie.

Another gun ban imminent?

We are on the verge of another gun ban attempt by Uncle Sam.

Will it be through congress?

"Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the author of an assault-weapons ban that lapsed in 2004, said she would introduce new legislation this week. Feinstein said her planned legislation would outlaw the high-capacity magazines and military-style assault rifles... People who own such weapons now would not be required to give them up, Feinstein said."

Or by Executive Order?

"It's time for the president, I think, to stand up and lead and tell this country what we should do - not go to Congress and say, 'What do you guys want to do?'"

And what factor will the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms play?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/16/us-usa-shooting-connecticut-guncontrol-idUSBRE8BF0DH20121216

Texas School District Will Let Teachers Carry Guns

By Michelle Maskaly

A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to pass a law specifically allowing teachers and staff to pack heat when classes begin later this month.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

Superintendent David Thweatt told FOXNews.com the policy was initiated because of safety concerns.
"We have had employees assaulted before by people in the last several years," Thweatt said. "I think that safety is big concern. We are seeing a lot of anger in society."

He wouldn't comment further on the nature of the assaults.

The Texas superintendent linked gun-free zones with the uprising of school shootings in recent years.
"When you make schools gun-free zones, it's like inviting people to come in and take advantage," Thweatt told FOXNews.com.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and must use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district's lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.


Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."

While the district's plan shot them into the national spotlight, carrying guns to school is nothing new some states. In Utah, the law allows anyone with a permit to carry a gun in public schools and state institutions of higher education.

It was unclear how many of the 50 or so teachers and staff members will be armed this fall because Thweatt did not disclose that information, to keep it from students or potential attackers.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404721,00.html#ixzz2F6LS7kFk