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This is what gun sanity looks like

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71 comments

This is what gun sanity looks like

POSTED: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 9:29 PM

Gun sanity looks like this:

Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill this afternoon that would have allowed gun owners with extra training to carry their concealed weapons in schools, day care centers, churches and stadiums.

Gun sanity looks like this:

The Dick's Sporting Goods chain said Tuesday that it is suspending sales of some rifles nationwide because of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Gun sanity looks like this:

Perhaps it is not a surprise that Cerberus quickly decided to sell the Freedom Group, its collection of gun companies, including Bushmaster, the firm that made one of the weapons used in the Newtown, Conn., massacre. Cerberus has been notoriously secretive about its finances, and the adverse press it has attracted in the aftermath of Newtown forced a hasty retreat. This should be very encouraging to those of us who wish to shift the debate about guns: A few critical articles, some whispers from major investors questioning their investment in Cerberus, and decisions were instantly made that could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

Four days ago, a horrible tragedy took place. Like any tragedy, iy was also a test of the national spirit. What is happening now is truly remarkable.

Will Bunch @ 9:29 PM Permalink | 71 comments

71 comments

Comments (74)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:19 PM, 12/19/2012

The only truly repugnant move towards tyranny the past 20 years was the Patriot Act, and most people on the right, with the exception of hardcore Libertarians, didn't hardly make a peep. The left, of course, opposed it vehemently.

Personally, I feel guns have been romanticized far beyond their true rational utility. The right-wing attachment to guns is not only creepy, it is irrational beyond any reasonable measure. The odds these millions of gun owners will ever need to use their weapons is greater than the chance they will die in a plane crash.

I think most goobers building huge personal arsenals out there are much like Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver," creepy sociopaths with delusional fantasy lives where they, gun in hand, will "save" everyone from the boogeymen they imagine are surrounding us and preparing to attack us at any moment. Their puerile and distorted worldview is only trumped by their sociopathic paranoia and misanthropy.

How exactly are we living free in a society where everyone is armed? How do we distinguish between tyrants and friends in such a society? Who do we trust? How do we feel about armed and unelected/unappointed vigilantes who, unlike cops and soldiers, do not swear and affirm oaths to defend the constitution and abide by a uniform code of conduct while armed?

They should be disarmed.

— Mr_Cool

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:24 PM, 12/19/2012

— carl and sons

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:48 PM, 12/19/2012

But, but..didn't you see Red Dawn?? We could be attacked at any moment, even by our own govt! It's so scary!

— one_eyed_jack

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:45 PM, 12/19/2012

The National Defense Authorization Act expands the overreach of the Patriot Act, and that was signed in the last year or so. I vehemently oppose it.

The characterization that all people building huge arsenals are goobers discounts and/or minimizes the people who have a catalog of firearms for recreational purposes and understand and abide by the law and by gun safety standards. While that recreation may not be 'the cup of tea' of many people, why should their rights be taken away? What are they doing wrong? Are they less worthy of the civil liberties the constitution grants them? Why advocate for managing to the exception?

Your last paragraph summarizes AMC's The Walking Dead.

— sadim

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:20 PM, 12/19/2012

96.356% of statistics by right wingers are never backed up with facts (even when specifically asked). Of course I may be off by .02% or so, I'm not sure.

— Hamlet

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:50 PM, 12/19/2012

Mr Cool - Speaking of romanticizing, could you ever have imagined that one day you'd be romanticizing the Grand Old Party from yesteryear? Ya know, the one which believed in coming together during economic catastrophies and senseless killings due to lax firearm laws? Me either. Seems like somewhere along the line the Republican Party became subsumed by the Tea Party - not the other way around. To think any sensible American could take seriously guys like Georgel, rysgar or a goon with the handle of "Hooray Diversity!"... *sigh*

But hey, the initials still work for this group of goobers: Greed. Obstruction. Paranoia. Those 3 words sum up the ideology of the party opposite.

GregS - Thank you for your rational comments on this issue. Believe me, you and I might disagree in the future, but I atleast know you're sane. Puts you in a rare category on this blog (General Turg comes to mind). Life is short. In the case of these children, far too short. Something must be done about this unneccasary weaponry. We aren't going to convince any of these goobers with rational debate. Time to leave them and their fantasies of becoming the next Rambo behind. Thanks again, Greg - you have been a breath of fresh air over the last few days.

— wokmaster

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:35 PM, 12/19/2012

One thing's for sure, the wall-to-wall 5 days straight hyper coverage of this shooting will pretty much guarantee more of the same. Congratulations to you & your profession Bunch. Oh, and President Phony Tears using the tragedy to raise campaign funds & push tax hikes is about as classless as it gets.

— teardownthisfishwrap

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:47 PM, 12/19/2012

Hamlet - I wish these people ONLY made up statistics.

To bolster his case that more armed people will prevent these tragdies, the creep who likes to call himself a "professor" keeps saying that the Oregon Mall shooter was stopped by an armed civilian. He also says in every related post that the "media is covering the story up".

This is a blatant lie on both counts. First of all, there is not one shred of evidence or witness testimony about an armed civilian engaging the shooter. None.

Secondly - the shooter's firearm jammed, which along with local police and mall security performing joint exercises in case of this type of situation, prevented the casualty count from being higher.

Lastly, the killer took his own life.

Nevertheless, "professor" copied and pasted his rant on multiple threads.

— wokmaster

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:03 PM, 12/19/2012

I know. I've seen the posts. I've called him on so many lies in the past that I just got tired of doing it so I ignored that one. Does a work of truth ever (accidentally) leak out from his keyboard?

— Hamlet

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:58 PM, 12/19/2012

If a group does not truly represent your beliefs, it may be time to rethink your association with that group.

You mean like a labor union, Carl?

— philly2flag

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:01 PM, 12/19/2012

Are you recieving salary and benefits negotiated by that union. If so, then they represent your interests, if not your political beliefs.

— carl and sons

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:53 PM, 12/19/2012

Funny thing is, other countries, namely Australia and Canada, have dealt with gun massacres by enacting laws that restrict access to guns. But then they are countries who ignore their lunatics unlike the good old USA which in some cases elects them to office. The funny part is that since these laws have been enacted, multiple mass shootings have not occurred in either country (Australia had 13 in the period prior to the 1996 law, 0 after). As far as I can tell neither country has devolved into tyranny as a direct correlation to reduced gun ownership. Instead of guns, the Red Dawn types should invest in brown camoflage underwear because they appear to be afraid of alot of things, the government, people with more melanin in their skin, Kenyans, Sharia Law, FEMA...

— abendteuer

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:21 PM, 12/20/2012

This is what companies who don't want to be on the wrong end of the Imperial President's executive orders look like.

— operagost

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:41 PM, 12/20/2012

Ah, when it's your first grader riddled with a bullet or two let us know how you feel then.

— Tkat

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Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

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