The NRA's "Open Carry" Movement Doesn't Work in Civilization

President Obama has been in office for six years and in all that time he has never implemented the dreaded "Gun Grab" that rightwing nutjobs obsess about. In spite of all the school shootings and mass public shootings, people have more guns than ever, and Congress is owned by the Gun Lobby so they do NOTHING about it. And the school shootings continue.

Last Week President Obama once again spoke out on the issue in an interview with Tumblr, trying to get through to Congress that something must be done:

If Congress refuses to act, then we need a new Congress. #RHShooting pic.twitter.com/rNyaDSpwKh
— Everytown (@Everytown) June 10, 2014

Full Transcript on WhiteHouse.Gov

I have to say that people often ask me how has it been being President, and what am I proudest of and what are my biggest disappointments. And I’ve got two and a half years left. My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage.

We’re the only developed country on Earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week. And it’s a one-day story. There’s no place else like this. A couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting similar to Columbine or Newtown. And Australia just said, well, that's it -- we’re not seeing that again. And basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws. And they haven’t had a mass shooting since.

.@NRA .@nranews .@EndNRA .@WhiteHouse .@WHLive RT pic.twitter.com/OF6CkDkvHf
— ab terra, ad terram (@revjoe3) June 14, 2014

Our levels of gun violence are off the charts. There’s no advanced, developed country on Earth that would put up with this. Now, we have a different tradition. We have a Second Amendment. We have historically respected gun rights. I respect gun rights. But the idea that, for example, we couldn’t even get a background check bill in to make sure that if you’re going to buy a weapon you have to actually go through a fairly rigorous process so that we know who you are, so you can't just walk up to a store and buy a semiautomatic weapon -- it makes no sense.

And I don't know if anybody saw the brief press conference from the father of the young man who had been killed at Santa Barbara. And as a father myself, I just could not understand the pain he must be going through and just the primal scream that he gave out -- why aren’t we doing something about this?

And I will tell you, I have been in Washington for a while now and most things don’t surprise me. The fact that 20 six-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible and this town couldn’t do anything about it was stunning to me. And so the question then becomes what can we do about it. The only thing that is going to change is public opinion. If public opinion does not demand change in Congress, it will not change.

I’ve initiated over 20 executive actions to try to tighten up some of the rules in the laws, but the bottom line is, is that we don’t have enough tools right now to really make as big of a dent as we need to.

And most members of Congress -- and I have to say, to some degree, this is bipartisan -- are terrified of the NRA.
. . . The last thing I’ll say: A lot of people will say that, well, this is a mental health problem, it’s not a gun problem. The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. (Laughter.) It’s not the only country that has psychosis. And yet, we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than anyplace else. Well, what’s the difference? The difference is, is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses and that’s sort of par for the course.

So the country has to do some soul searching about this. This is becoming the norm, and we take it for granted in ways that, as a parent, are terrifying to me. And I am prepared to work with anybody, including responsible sportsmen and gun owners, to craft some solutions. But right now, it’s not even possible to get even the mildest restrictions through Congress, and we should be ashamed of that.

The President is telling the truth. If he wanted to confiscate weapons he would do that, but the reality is that anyone can buy a gun any day of the week. It is easy in America. You can buy guns at Gun Shows and Swap Meets. You can buy them at sporting goods stores. You can buy them online. You can buy guns at Walmart. You can buy guns at Target down the aisle from the diapers and baby food.

And now gun nuts want to parade around with loaded guns in the restaurants and stores! And far-right conservative state legislatures have helped them with their Old West Fantasy by passing "Guns Everywhere" laws.

But what about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for those who don't want to see guns, especially while they are eating or shopping? Why do we have to live in a world where everyone is armed to the teeth?

Well, the NRA says "good guys" should be armed to stop the "bad guys" with guns. But as we often see, even trained policemen are shot, as they were recently in Las Vegas - shot in the head while eating lunch at a Cici's Pizza. And a person with a concealed weapon who tried to stop the shooters was shot dead by the the same two sociopaths.


Fallen Las Vegas Officers
Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo

The man who shot the cops, Jerad Miller, was a convicted felon who wasn't supposed to have guns, but he asked his friends and family for guns on Facebook. Then he bragged about going to Bundy Ranch where he paraded around with an assault rifle. In fact, he was told to leave Bundy ranch BECAUSE he was a felon! His wife legally bought the guns they used in the attack, but she gave them to her husband, which is a crime. These two thugs weren't patriots, but criminals who wanted to "Start the Revolution." They bragged to all the neighbors what they were going to do, but either no one believed them, or were too intimidated to call 911.


More About Jerad and Amanda Miller:
Snark Amendment: Vegas Shooting
Inspired by Alex Jones and Bundy Ranch
A small faction of our populace has an obsession with guns and perceived glory as they fight against the very government that has held this country together for 250 years. Why do they want another Civil War? Why are they so hell-bent on everyone being just as bloodthirsty as they are? How can we possibly know when a person with a gun walks towards us in a store or restaurant whether they are a "good guy" just proud of the 2nd Amendment or a horrible monster who want's to mow us down to make a point?

A friend of one of the dead policemen wrote this essay:

Killing Cops Doesn't Make You a Revolutionary

Two wackos walked into a fast food restaurant, ambushed my friend Alyn and his partner, Igor Soldo, shooting them point blank as they ate their lunch. They then turned and yelled something about it being the “start of the revolution”, killed one other person and then themselves.

These two idiots didn’t start a revolution. They just ripped the life from two heroes as they ate. They took fathers from their children. They brought darkness into the lives of those who loved these two men. They traumatized people who witnessed the tragedy, probably for the rest of their lives. They left a horrific scene for dozens of police workers to have to process emotionally and mentally. And the greatest irony of this infuriating act of horrific stupidity and delusion is that if they were truly acting out of some kind of perverse revolutionary intent, they only hurt their own cause — whatever that is.

LIVE: Remembering Officer Alyn Beck: http://t.co/ikF7hdUP4S #RIPBeck pic.twitter.com/onYls6HIjl
— 8 News NOW (@8NewsNow) June 14, 2014

. . . These weren’t policy makers. They weren’t “Obama’s henchmen.” They weren’t hired drones of the “evil Koch Brothers.” These were two of the good guys.

. . . If you’re frustrated with government, if you’re worried about the republic, if you’re convinced black helicopters are watching you in the night, if you think Obama is a reptile alien sent to destroy the human race, or whatever is under your skin, do us all a favor: start a blog, write a book, go to a protest, join a cause, call a senator, call a talk show, run for office, do what people in a free society do, not what people in the Lord of the Flies would. And if you just can’t restrain yourself from going on a murderous rampage followed by your own cowardly suicide, do the rest of us a favor and do it in reverse order.
Shooting a cop doesn’t make you a revolutionary. It just makes things worse…for everyone.

Please RT #StandWithLasVegas #NotOneMore pic.twitter.com/9qmdFEUj1w
— Newtown Action (@NewtownAction) June 9, 2014

Well said! pic.twitter.com/ssYASNfrnx
— Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) June 14, 2014

The 74 school shootings since Newtown. Map via @voxdotcom: http://t.co/fct9svsNEP #RHShooting pic.twitter.com/qiwENwIqJP
— Everytown (@Everytown) June 10, 2014

The end of America - @NRA terrorists forcing kids to cower under bulletproof blankets #gunsense #notonemore #p2 pic.twitter.com/lRo57b69Ss
— US Gun Violence (@usgunviolence6) June 13, 2014

Dear NRA: Can you please answer this question for us? #NotOneMore pic.twitter.com/R5M1fxt7PB
— Kennett Area Dems (@KennettDems) June 13, 2014

Dear @Target My child wants an icee, so they have to wait in line behind this? I think not! #MomsDemand #OffTarget pic.twitter.com/z1KIAvjXxw
— Kim Valverde (@klvalverde) June 4, 2014

What are these guys doing in @Target's baby aisles? Tell their CEO this is #OffTarget → http://t.co/wSogPNgxXD pic.twitter.com/PNHwNDGsS0
— Everytown (@Everytown) June 4, 2014

#Tennessee Moms deliver petitions @Target ... open carry in stores is #OffTarget http://t.co/6Mlz8GiXeN #momsdemand pic.twitter.com/uhwMnQ8FTf
— Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) June 13, 2014

.@HomeDepot I will not do my Father's Day shopping at a store that allows this. #FathersNotFirearms #GrillsNotGuns pic.twitter.com/kfW9sX4OiY
— Shannon (@shannonrwatts) June 3, 2014

First Anniversary of Newtown Massacre

From Reuters

On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, 20, shot his way into the school he had once attended and murdered 20 first-graders, all aged 6 and 7, and six adults. Before heading to the school, Lanza killed his mother, who had legally purchased the guns he used that day.

Newtown officials said the town wanted to be left alone on the anniversary. Some of the victims' families have encouraged those moved by the shooting to mark the day by performing an act of kindness in their own communities.

At the White House, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observed a moment of silence after lighting 26 candles to honor those lost at the school.

One year ago God received 26 angels, never forget #SandyHook pic.twitter.com/wyGLO08o2p

— Miguel Gutierrez (@miguel_gtz95) December 14, 2013

We are all Sandy Hook: pic.twitter.com/2M4sDq3tQd

— Reisa Miller (@ReisaMiller) December 14, 2013

And just yesterday, a reminder that nothing has really changed ... yet. Another school shooting in Arapahoe County, Colorado.

From Yahoo News

A schoolboy armed with a shotgun opened fire and wounded two fellow students on Friday before killing himself, the latest US mass shooting on the eve of the Newtown school massacre anniversary.

. . . Hundreds students locked themselves into classrooms as the shooter -- identified by authorities as Karl Pierson, 18 -- stormed into the school brandishing a shotgun, shouting that he was looking for a particular teacher in what police said was apparently a planned "revenge" attack.

America's perennial gun control debate is back in the headlines on the anniversary Saturday of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 young children.

In Friday's incident, students locked themselves in classrooms after shots rang out shortly after 12:30 pm (1930 GMT), triggering an all-too-familiar police operation.

This is a picture of the children of AHS with their hands in the air, traumatized. @MomsDemand pic.twitter.com/NhkM6tVQKO

— Rebecca Morgan (@Rebecca_221B) December 13, 2013

Proud to be a Warrior #prayforClaire #ArapahoeHigh @ahswarriors #ArapahoeHighSchool AHS! #PrayForArapahoe pic.twitter.com/e28ydkHztm

— Bill WØSUN ☢ (@w0sun) December 14, 2013

Hero Without a Gun ~ Antoinette Tuff

Decatur, Georgia, School Bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff is the personification of "courage under fire," only she didn't have to shoot back when an armed gunman ran into the school where she worked last week. Instead, this heroic lady used a combination of psychology, compassion and gentle persuasion to convince a mentally ill young man armed with 500 rounds of ammo to lay down his weapons and give himself up. Not a single child or teacher was injured. If only every scenario could end this way ~ Newtown ~ the Zimmerman Case. People like Anoinette Tuff are all too rare in this world! We need leaders like this to refute the NRA and show us a better approach.

Sign the MoveOn.Org Petition: Antoinette Tuff for The Presidential Medal of Freedom



Excerpts from the 911 Tapes, via NBC News

Tuff even mustered up the courage to talk Hill into surrendering — a one-on-one negotiation captured on the tape.

"Don't feel bad, baby," she can be heard telling the young man. "My husband just left me after 33 years. ... I've got a son that's multiple disabled."

Later, she can be heard reassuring him that "it's all going to be well."

After about 20 minutes, she won him over.

Tuff: "OK, he said that they can come in now. He needs to go to the hospital."

Operator: "OK, and he doesn't have any weapons on him or anything like that?"

Tuff: "He's laying on the floor. He's got everything out of his pockets. There isn't anything. The only thing he has is his belt. Everything is out of his pockets. Everything is sitting here on the counter, so all we need to do is they can just come in, and I'll buzz them in."

Only after the ordeal was over did Tuff reveal just how scared she'd been the whole time:

"I'm going to tell you something baby — I've never been so scared in all the days in my life," she told the unidentified operator. Then, she started crying and exclaimed, "Oh, Jesus! Oh, God!"

To which the operator told the courageous bookkeeper: "You did great. Hold on. Hold on"

Stunning New Ad Against Stand Your Ground Laws

Previous Posts:
Marching for Trayvon to Change Stand Your Ground Laws
Snark in Pictures - George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty
Florida Gun Owners are NOT Freelance Cops

This is a shocking new public service announcement from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence based on the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Florida. One reason it is so chilling is that it accurately recreates the night of the shooting through the use of witness testimony and actual 911 recordings.

My heart nearly stopped when the gun went off.

President Obama Speaks 100 Days After Sandy Hook

Story from CNN

"We need everybody to remember how we felt 100 days ago and make sure that what we said at that time wasn't just a bunch of platitudes, that we meant it," Obama said at a White House event on a national day of action by supporters of tougher gun laws.
His voice both somber and angry, Obama told the audience, which included family members of Newtown victims, that "we've cried enough" and it is time now for Americans to pressure their elected leaders to pass a package of laws proposed by Senate Democrats.

. . . Obama noted the political challenge as well as the poll numbers.

"There are some powerful voices on the other side who are interested in running out the clock, or changing the subject," the president said, adding that "their assumption is that people will just forget about it."

If that happens, Obama said, then "shame on us if we've forgotten."

In trying to rally further public outcry, he declared that "nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change."

. . . "What we're proposing is not radical. It's not taking away anyone's guns rights," the president said in warning legislators against getting "squishy because time has passed and maybe it's not on the news every day."

Adam Lanza Warrants for Newtown Killings Released

Today shocking details were released about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, including specifics about the warrants for the Lanza home.


From Gawker

Adam Lanza spent only five minutes at Sandy Hook Elementary School on the morning of December 14—from the moment he "shot his way into the school" to the minute he took his own life. But police found 154 spent casings from his Bushmaster rifle—and over a thousand rounds more at his home, authorities announced today.

According to search warrants newly made public, Lanza, who killed 20 children and seven adults before turning the gun on himself, had over 1,000 rounds of ammunition at his home, in addition to an arsenal of firearms and other weapons, including knives and a samurai sword. Also at the home and confiscated by police were journals, video games and computers, photographs of an unknown dead person "covered in plastic and blood"—and a holiday card made out to Lanza from his mother, including a check for "the purchase of a C183 (firearm)."

Chris Dorner Stand-Off in Big Bear Causes More Than One Death

I watched hours of live video streaming from a local CBS station in California yesterday as police engaged in a firefight and stand-off with Chris Dorner, a revenge cop-killer who has been on a rampage threatening to shoot anyone who ever wronged him.

Dorner's Complete Manifesto PDF via LA Times

From USA Today

Investigators were picking through the rubble of a burned-out cabin in California's San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, trying to piece together details of the violent last stand for a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer whose life apparently ended hours earlier in a barrage of bullets and blazing fire.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said charred human remains were found in the rubble where Christopher Dorner is said to have been cornered Tuesday. "We have reason to believe that it is him," sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

A wallet with a California driver's license bearing the name Christopher Dorner also was found . . .

. . . Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andrew Smith said it was "highly likely" that Dorner had been inside when authorities heard a single gunshot and saw the cabin burning in Seven Oaks, a small community in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

But Smith said that until Dorner's body is positively identified "or he's in shackles," the LAPD is continuing under "tactical alert ... as if he's still out there." Police will continue to protect dozens of officers and others threatened in Dorner's online manifesto.

SWAT teams had fired tear gas inside of the cabin as part of a "tactical operation" and were tearing down its walls to flush out Dorner, who had reportedly been driven back inside by police when he tried to flee out the back.

Police have not explained what started the fire in the cabin. Officers had thrown tear gas canisters into the cabin and shouted to Dorner to surrender.

Prior to the fire, Dorner's vehicle had been found burned out over the mountain from the cabin. He then took two women in another cabin hostage and stole their car, wrecked that and stole a truck from a man. When wildlife and game officials stopped Dorner, he fled into the woods, ending up at the cabin where the firefight occurred.







Reporters got dangerously close to the violence yesterday while bullets were flying and two wildlfe and game officers were shot. One later died, while the other is in critical condition. Before dark smoke began to rise from the cabin, and as of today, the body has been identified as Chris Dorner. But I'm sure the story isn't over. There will always been those who think Dorner got away, or at the best think it was wrong to burn up the cabin if he was in there alive.





More background on Dorner:

Joe Biden ~ 19 Executive Proposals About Guns

Vice President Joe Biden has given his gun committee recommendations to President Obama.

Reports say there are suggestions for at least 19 Executive Actions Obama could take as early as tomorrow.

From Politico

The executive actions could include giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authority to conduct national research on guns, more aggressive enforcement of existing gun laws and pushing for wider sharing of existing gun databases among federal and state agencies, members of Congress in the meeting said.

. . . Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, said the magazine ban and universal background checks would be far more effective than an assault weapons ban without the political cost.

“Probably the most recognizable thing you can say in this debate is ban assault weapons,” Thompson said. “But the other two issues” — forbidding high-capacity ammunition magazines and requiring universal background checks for gun purchases — “those two things have more impact on making our neighborhoods safe than everything else combined. Anytime you try and prohibit what kind of gun people has it generates some concern.”

Biden has gotten input from many groups including the National Rifle Association (who is "disappointed" and sees no point in restricting anything), Hunters and Sportsment, Mental Health Officials, representatives of the Film and Video Gaming Industries, and Multi-Faith Groups.

Biden also spoke to the parents of children killed in the Newtown tragedy.

From CNN

Beau Biden, attorney general of Delaware, said on CNN's "The Situation Room." "He was on the phone with many of the survivors of the tragedy in Connecticut."
"I was in and out of the room when he was on some of these calls," he continued. "I would, you know, go to the door and go away when I knew he was on the phone with these moms and dads," Biden said. "So he's listened to everyone that has a stake in this and is doing his best to come up with a comprehensive strategy."

Make the Sandy Hook Promise

A new pledge movement is happening to honor the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. Please take time to join and spread the word.

I Promise to honor the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I Promise to do everything I can to encourage and support common sense solutions that make my community and our country safer from similar acts of violence.

This Time There Will Be Change.

Website Here ~ Make the Promise

On Twitter @sandyhook

"Turn Conversations Into Actions"



SANDY HOOK PROMISE

Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a non-profit corporation* created by members of the community of Newtown, Connecticut in response to the shooting on December 14, 2012, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which killed 20 children, four teachers and two administrators.

A PROMISE IS BORN

There was a gathering of people in Newtown. It was in someone’s kitchen, and it was filled with friends and neighbors who knew they needed to be together. Gradually, as they spoke, they also realized something else. They understood that they had a responsibility. To honor the kids and teachers they’d lost, as well as the survivors. They promised to do whatever they could to not let this tragedy stand as just another in our country’s history.

WITH EVERY HUG, A PROMISE

The first mission of SHP is to support the families of the victims, the survivors, first responders and teachers and staff of the school as well as the community of Newtown, (“our community”) by providing financial and service support and assistance whenever possible and for as long as it takes for each individual to heal.

THE PROMISE OF COMMON SENSE

Moving forward, the SHP mission is to work to identify and implement holistic, common sense solutions that will make our community and our country safer from similar acts of violence through education, outreach and grass-roots discussion. SHP believes the time has come to enter into these discussions with equal parts of Love, Compassion, and Common Sense.

THE PROMISE, THIS TIME, OF REAL CHANGE

This is the time. The time to stand up and say that our society should not live under the threat of this kind of violence. Sandy Hook Promise is committed to making Newtown be remembered as the place where we came together both as a community…and as a nation, and decided that we must do everything we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. Let Newtown go down in history as the place where real change began.

Joe Biden Says Obama Will Use Executive Action on Gun Control

 Gun industry–aka The #NRA–declares war on civilization. ~ @BillMoyers

Joe Biden gave many victims of mass shootings hope today when he said that the President is willing to use Executive Privilege to change gun regulations in light of the Newtown Massacre. In other words, they aren't going to "drop it" or "forget it" as many Washington Insiders believe, and that's what many of us want to hear. But to the gun-totin' NRA members, them's fightin' words.

I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion (that) unless we can do everything we're going to do nothing. It's critically important (that) we act.
. . . The President is going to act, there are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet. But we're compiling it all with the help of the Attorney General and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action, we believe is required.

This has been a crazy week for the pro-NRA, anti-Gun Control folks. And when I say crazy, I mean literally.

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, survivor of the Tuscon shooting, visited Newtown, Connecticut with her husband. That's symbolic and meaningful, unless you are an NRA gun nut.

Connecticut House Member Tells Giffords to Stay Out

Connecticut State Rep. DebraLee Hovey had a rather insensitive message for former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who visited Newtown after the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings: “Stay out of my towns!!”

The six-term Republican took to Facebook to make the rant, arguing the visit “was political.”

“The Lt. Gov was there, [Sen. Richard] Blumenthall was there and ALL political types KNOW it is courteous to let sitting Reps known when another political is in their District. So……There was pure political motives,” she wrote Friday.

Giffords and her husband are not going to let nonsense like that stop them. They are gun owners but are starting a PAC called Americans for Responsible Solutions.


Then there was scary tinfoil-hat enthusiast Alex Jones threatening CNN's Piers Morgan with another American Revolution.
Snark Amendment: Gun Nut Alex Jones Goes Bonkers on Piers Morgan
Snark Amendment: Alex Jones Day Two: Paranoia in the Big City





Then today when Joe Biden said that Obama might use his Executive Powers to strengthen Gun Controls, the far side when completely Godwin, comparing Obama to Hitler, Stalin, and George III. And not just the bloggers, but Fox News Nation.
Snark Amendment: Right Wing Goes Godwin on Guns



I think it's all good because from these extreme reactions on the Right, every sane person in America can see what the problem is - the rabble rousers who crave power on the right are determined to paint Obama as a tyrant or a dictator, and it plays right into the paranoia of guys like Alex Jones who have thousands if not millions of followers. They have hated Obama before they even knew anything about him just based on the color of his skin, and his second election has left them drooling and confused. They were just sure he would be a one-term President - Karl Rove promised them. So where can they go now? When all you have left is a bunch of guns, every situation seems like High Noon at the OK Corral, so the rhetoric gets ramped up higher and higher.

To me it is exactly like cuckoo Cling Eastwood arguing with an empty chair - they are projecting themselves onto Obama and creating him in their own image, which is batsh*t crazy and always aching for a fight.

That's why gun nuts believe Obama wants to be an oppressive dictator. Recall that President George W. Bush said wistfully several times that being a dictator would be so much easier, and we all know that Dick Cheney believed that - he basically declared war on several countries all by himself.

And the Tea Party seems to want a new Civil War over their right be dictate humiliation on anyone who is not a rich white man. They want to oppress the poor, the elderly, the immigrants, minorities, and women. They want the uppity folk back in their places, circa 1776 or 1862 or 1950 or whatever historical fantasy is popular at the moment.


People who ask "Why do you need guns with 300 rounds of ammunition?" get no answer because it's a power trip, pure and simple. Guns are like porn to these people, and websites like Breitbart, Drudge, and Fox News feed the addiction. Happiness is a warm gun with lots of ammo. It's not about hunting or even protection. They want chaos and anarchy so they can go around blasting the creeping marauders like Ralphy in the Christmas Story.

People like Donald Trump and John Sununu made it clear during the election that Obama was the "Other" - their Moriarty, their Nemesis, what John Stewart called their "Invisible Hitler." We've got a nation of George Zimmermans assuming that everyone who isn't them is up to no good, and that they have a right to swagger around like Marshall Dillon on the wild streets of Dodge City, aiming their weapons at any imaginary threat.

Aurora, Colorado ~ The "Legal" Arsenal of Killer James Holmes

The Preliminary Hearing for the Aurora "Batman Movie" shooting last year is going on in Centennial, Colorado, and disturbing details are emerging.

According to the Denver Post, here's the list of incredibly dangerous items that James Holmes, the mentally ill shooter, bought in the months before the massacre:

• four guns;
• 6,295 rounds of rifle, shotgun, and handgun ammo
• dozens of gun magazines
• ballistic gear
• weapon slings
• two laser sights
• two tear-gas canisters
• hundreds of practice targets
• explosive chemicals
• fireworks supplies
• handcuffs
• a military first-aid dressing

ATF agent Steven Beggs said the purchases — all from online retailers or the Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shops sporting goods stores in the metro area — began May 10 and ended July 14. There were five purchases in the first week of July alone.

Did you catch that ~ almost 7,000 rounds of ammunition, and no one even blinked when he bought it. Tear Gas? No problem. Explosive Chemicals? Just some good clean fun for a young white man in Colorado.

Defense attorneys made it clear that all of that stuff was acquired legally under Colorado Law, and that there is no screening process for mental illness no matter how dangerous the purchase:

After prosecutors finished questioning Beggs, defense attorney Tamara Brady asked him whether it was illegal, for instance, to buy body armor or tear gas.
Beggs said it wasn't in Colorado.
"Is there any process in place in Colorado," Brady persisted, "to screen out whether a severely mentally ill person is purchasing these items?"
Beggs said no.

Also, police didn't test Holmes for drugs or alcohol, even though he was acting strangely and his pupils were dilated:

In afternoon testimony, Aurora homicide Detective Craig Appel testified that police did not request a blood sample from Holmes after he was arrested. He said Holmes' pupils were wide, but that "I saw no indication that he was under the influence of anything."
But under defense questioning, he said Holmes' behavior was at times odd while he was under observation. Paper bags had been placed over his hands to preserve evidence and Holmes played with them as though they were puppets, Appel said. He also tried to place a staple into an electrical socket, he said.

Obviously by then the police were as in shock as everyone else from the horrific shooting, and maybe they figured he was crazy so why bother with a drug test? The Defense is trying to protect their client from as many charges as possible, and the age old way to do that is to prove that the police and the state laws are somehow lacking or negligent. All well and good for Holmes, but what the testimony really does is damn him for playing the flawed system so well.

He knew that no matter how many weapons or scary substances he bought, alarm bells wouldn't go off in the stores where he bought supplies. No one could legally ask about his mental history even if his eyes were rolling around in his head and he showed schizophrenic tendencies. He knew the state laws allowed him to buy as much ammunition as his heart desired in order to carry out his vicious plot.

And on top of that, Holmes booby-trapped his apartment in a diabolical way that he hoped would cause a fire at the same time as the shooting, drawing away police resources so he could shoot up the movie theater. This is really over the top. If police hadn't realized the apartment was rigged, how many more lives would have been lost?



From NBC News:

There was a trip-wire leading from the door to a thermos filled with glycerine that was perched over a frying pan filled with potassium permanganate, Gumbinner said.
. . . On top of the fridge was a remote-controlled “pyrotechnic” box filled with 6-inch fireworks shells. Holmes left the remote for it outside, in a trash bag with a toy car and a boom box on a timer, the agent said.
His fantasy was that someone on the street would hear the music, open the bag, decide to play with the car, fiddle with the remote and detonate the explosives, Gumbinner said.
. . . "He said he rigged his apartment to explode or catch fire in order to divert police resources to his apartment,” Gumbinner said, recounting an interview with Holmes.
No one played with the toy car or banged on the door, though. And when Holmes was arrested outside the Century 16 multiplex – after allegedly killing a dozen people and wounding 58 – he quickly told police about his traps.

We may never know why Holmes wanted to hurt so many people in such a flamboyent and destructive way, and maybe there just is no answer. But something good can come of this if states like Colorado will begin to stand up to the NRA and create more hurdles. If government can't do it, then gun shops and sporting goods stores should realize they may be held accountable in the future if they don't support a screening process. Hey, if bartenders can be arrested for serving drinks that lead to deaths, then gun runners certainly can.

Snark in Pictures

Wisdom of Youth: Teens React to Newtown

Out of the mouths of babes. These teenagers make so much sense, which begs the question of why grown-ups are so stupid sometimes?

LaPierre on the Crazy Train

source: Matt Bors
OK, Mr. LaPierre - I call you Crazy!

From Meet the Press, Sunday December 23, 2012

DAVID GREGORY: This is a matter of logic, Mr. LaPierre, because anybody watching this is going to say ‘hey wait a minute. I just heard Mr. LaPierre say that the standard is we should try anything that might reduce the violence. And you’re telling me that it’s not a matter of common sense that if you don’t have an ability to shoot off 30 rounds without reloading, that just possibly you could reduce the loss of life? Would Adam Lanza have been able to shoot as many kids if he didn’t have as much ammunition?’

WAYNE LAPIERRE: I don’t buy your argument for a minute.

From NBC News

“If it’s crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” LaPierre told NBC’s David Gregory. “I think the American people think it’s crazy not to do it. It’s the one thing that would keep people safe and the NRA is going try to do that.”

. . . President Barack Obama has tasked Vice President Joe Biden with the job of consulting with members of the Cabinet and outside organizations to come up with legislative proposals by next month.

When asked about this initiative, LaPierre said, “if it’s a panel that’s just going to be made up of a bunch of people that for the past 20 years has been trying to destroy the Second Amendment, I’m not interested in sitting on that panel…. The NRA is not going to let people lose the Second Amendment in this country.”

Following LaPierre on Meet the Press, Sen. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y., said that the NRA leader is “so extreme and so tone deaf that he actually helps the cause of us passing sensible gun legislation in the Congress…. He is so doctrinaire and so adamant that I believe gun owners turn against him as well.”

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bill Moyers: "The Bells Rang for the Lost" in Newtown

First-graders. Six and seven years old. Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Lock and Load. Our new Head Start.


BILL MOYERS: Welcome. The bells rang for the lost: Charlotte Bacon, Olivia Engel, Ana Marquez-Greene, Dylan Hockley, Madeline Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt. All were six years old.

Daniel Barden, Josephine Gay, Chase Kowalski, and Grace McDonnell were 7.

Six adults died with them: Mary Sherlach, Anne Marie Murphy, Dawn Hochsprung, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D’Avino, Victoria Soto.

It helps to say their names, to rescue them from the statistical anonymity that always settles over these awful events. It helps those of us distanced from the loss to imagine, even grieve, the emptiness in the homes and hearts of those who loved them. They will never forget. We mourn, move on, and too soon forget. And then it will happen again one day, and we will scratch our heads and ask ourselves, “Was the last time Newtown? Or Columbine? Was it Aurora? Or that college in Virginia?” And once again we will mourn, move on, and too soon forget.

There is an old Hassidic saying that, “In remembrance is the secret of redemption.” But America forgets quickly, and gives no lasting indication it seeks redemption from its fetish with guns, its romance with the free market of violence. With the sport of it all. The show must go on. It’s our right. At any price. What were their names again? Oh, yes, Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Dylan, Allison, Dawn. Poor things, such a tragedy. Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.

And so we make our peace with violence. And make ourselves over in its image. A state senator in Missouri, a life-time member of the National Rifle Association, is pushing a bill to require that all first graders be enrolled in the NRA’s gun safety course. First-graders. Six and seven years old. Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Lock and Load. Our new Head Start.

A state senator in Tennessee’s Republican legislature says he will introduce a bill that would allow the state to pay for secretly armed teachers in classrooms. Saintly Miss Simpson, packing heat. Hey, Mr. Russell, it’s show and tell, can we see your Glock 9? After the Newtown killings, a sixth-grader at an elementary school near Salt Lake City brought a gun to school, saying he wanted to protect himself and his friends. Instead, allegedly, he used it to threaten some classmates. As The Good Book says, get with it, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Ready. Aim. Fire.

And for the child who has everything this season, how about body armor? A Utah company named Amendment II offers a new line of it for kids. Mother Jones Magazine reports sales have tripled in one week. A Massachusetts company is promoting The Bullet Blocker, a “rugged computer backpack designed for work or play.” Made of the same materials used in bullet-proof police vests, currently on sale for the holidays for $199.99. And on Facebook, an outfit called Black Dragon Tactical that sells vests and other combat gear sent this message: “Arm the teachers, in the meantime, bulletproof the kids.”

This market never closes. America’s turned violence into a profit center. And if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, no need to wait for Santa; his sleigh couldn’t even hold the heavy weapons. Step this way. Black Friday is every day. And we have something for everyone, from cradle to grave. From cradle to grave.

Surely this can’t go on. This spilling of innocent blood, this bleeding of democracy’s soul. We’re losing faith in ourselves, acting as subjects, not citizens, no longer believing that it is in our power to do the right thing. We Americans are not smarter than other people, and certainly no more virtuous. Our exceptionalism is our capacity for self-correction. To reach the bridge of the ship, point to the iceberg dead ahead, and demand of the captain a change of course before it’s too late. “They,” the gun industry, its profiteers, zealots and apologists, its political stooges, fabulists, and constitutional originalists, who would have us think the “well-regulated militia” of a sparsely-populated frontier nation in the 18th century really means tolerating a perpetual wild west here in the 21st century. “They” say, “don’t tread on us, get off our well-armed backs, there’s nothing you can do.”

Of course there is. Register all guns. License all gun owners. Require stringent background checks. Get tough on assault weapons of any kind. Crack down on high-capacity ammunition as the President has now proposed. And then, enforce the laws. Yes, I know, determined killers will always find a way. But we can minimize the opportunities, and scale back the scope of destruction. Why do we accept the need for driver’s licenses? Or submit to the sometimes humiliating body scans at airports? Because it’s the law, and deep down we know we’re safer for the inconvenience of the law.

Good laws are hard to come by. Civilization, just as hard. The rough and tumble of politics makes them so. But democracy aims for a moral order as just as humanly possible, which means laws that protect the weak and not just the strong. Lest we forget.

Enough! Demand a Plan

Fantastic Public Service Announcements for Demand a Plan against Gun Violence. These gave me chills - I just pray it doesn't happen again before something can be done.

Many more Videos Here on YouTube

Discovery Channel Cancels Two Gun Shows ~ Including Ted Nugent!!!

Discovery Channel has cancelled "Ted Nugent's Gun Country," as well as a show called "American Guns." This is good news at least. I think it's poetic justice (or merely dang good justice) that Ted Nugent is one of the first gun nuts to be affected by the shooting at Sandy Hook, especially after some of the things he said about Obama during the election (see Here, Here, as well as what he said about Bob Costas just a few weeks ago ).

Here is Nugent's latest tweet about the Newtown Massacre and gun control - seriously, being cancelled couldn't happen to a nicer guy. With any luck he'll start threatening people again and this time perhaps the FBI or CIA will take him to jail.

300million American guns were not misused again this week-leave us the hell alone
— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) December 18, 2012

Breitbart touted Nugent's show in October with some colorful language - you could call it "gun porn" - that seems even more crass and inappropriate now. They aren't ashamed, of course, but they should be.

Breitbart: All Guns All the Time

Ted Nugent's Gun Country premieres on October 10 on Discovery Channel. Coupled with the recent release of a full line of Ted Nugent Ammunition, it puts Uncle Ted right where he likes to be -- with guns in his hands and targets down range.

His Discovery Channel show is literally going to be a celebration of life with guns. His wife and children will all be featured with various firearms, reflecting what Nugent says is a "very serious, very sincere relationship all of them share with firearms." His show will cover hunting and shooting for recreation, and will also shine the spotlight on new firearms and firearm products.

The message Nugent wants to get out is that these aren't things he and his family are doing just because the cameras are rolling. Rather, these represent "the natural, every day activities the Nugent family undertakes with guns."

But that's all over now. Buh-Bye, Crazy Uncle Ted....



Fox News Reports:

“American Guns," came under intense scrutiny in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut grade school, with people flooding the show’s Facebook page calling for its cancelation.
“I know you all have to make money but would Discovery Channel PLEASE consider ceasing to broadcast the show in the U.K.? Sadly your program makes buying/owning guns seem fun, glamorous, even normal,” wrote one. Another tweeted, “Dear Discovery Channel: it’s not appropriate showing the program American Guns now!” Another weighed in: “With Discovery shows like 'Sons of Guns', 'American Guns', 'Ted Nugent's Gun Country' etc it's not surprising how guns r seen as acceptable.”
It seems the critics may have been heard.

From E-Online

American Guns is no more.
Discovery Channel confirmed today that the reality show about a Colorado family in the gun business will not be back for a third season. The show's second-season finale had aired Sept. 5.
"American Guns concluded earlier this year," the network said in a statement. "Discovery Channel chose not to renew the series and has no plans to air repeats of the show."

From Media Matters:

. . .While Discovery has described Ted Nugent's Gun Country as a "one-hour special," Nugent claimed that Discovery "want[s] to do it as a regular feature." Nugent has also said the show would help him advance his view in the "culture war."
The episode of Ted Nugent's Gun Country that aired in October showed Nugent shooting a scimitar-horned oryx, an animal extinct in the wild, and using a .50-caliber Browning armor-piercing machine gun to blow holes in a steel door used by a team of "preppers" to protect their armory.

From Raw Story

The Discovery Channel confirmed to Raw Story on Tuesday that firearms enthusiast Ted Nugent will also not be returning to the channel in any form or fashion.
Speaking to Raw Story in remarks specified as “not for attribution,” a spokesperson admitted that “Ted Nugent’s Gun Country” didn’t do very well when it aired in October, even with fellow firearms fashionistas. Nielsen Ratings placed the viewership at about 864,000 people in all. But the network’s decision is not just about the numbers.
After Friday’s devastating massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the spokesperson said that Nugent would definitely not be returning to the Discovery Channel.

Video Responses to Newtown Massacre

Saturday Night Live opened with a sweet Children's Choir singing "Silent Night."


Tribute with Names of the Victims from ABC News:



From Political Carnival - a video montage of news and comments about the tragedy entitled: "Another Day, Another Shooting."



This is one asks "Is There Christmas in Heaven." Get tissues.

President Obama Speaks at Newtown Vigil

Slideshow of the Victims

The First Funerals are Tomorrow

Teachers and Students Prepare to Return to School

Shooter's Mother Hoarded Guns, Believed World Was Ending (and I guess she was right about that)

Senator Feinstein will Introduce Assault Weapons Ban on First Day of New Congress

From President Obama Sunday Night at Newtown Prayer Vigil:

In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

. . . We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.

We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this.

Complete Transcript:

OBAMA: Thank you.

Thank you, Governor. To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us, “Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.

“For light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.”

We gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America.

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.

I can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief, that our world, too, has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We’ve pulled our children tight.

And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown, you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you’ve also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school’s staff did not flinch. They did not hesitate.

Dawn Hocksprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Russeau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy, they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying, “Wait for the good guys, they are coming. Show me your smile.”

And we know that good guys came, the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm’s way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma, because they had a job to do and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do, one child even trying to encourage a grownup by saying, “I know karate, so it’s OK; I’ll lead the way out.”

But we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. You know, someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around.

With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child’s very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won’t -- that we can’t always be there for them.

They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.

It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation.

And in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.

This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?

Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?

Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?

Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims.

And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose -- much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.

We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this.

If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that’s visited Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

You know, all the world’s religions, so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question.

Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose?

We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it’s wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that, no matter how good our intentions, we’ll all stumble sometimes in some way.

We’ll make mistakes, we’ll experience hardships and even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.

The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger, we know that’s what matters.

We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that.

That’s what we can be sure of, and that’s what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That’s how you’ve inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that’s what should drive us forward in everything we do for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth.

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeline, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle, Allison, God has called them all home.

For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in His heavenly place. May He grace those we still have with His holy comfort, and may He bless and watch over this community and the United States of America.

Update on Newtown, Connecticut Shooting

White House Petition seeking Gun Legislation now has over 109,000 signatures:
Sign the Petition Here

Statement by the Medical Examiner: Victims ranged from 3 - 11 wounds apiece - everybody hit more than once - no sign of a struggle - It was one rifle used - lots of bullets - "the bullets are designed in a fashion that the energy is deposited in the tissue, so the bullet stays in" - "devastating injuries" - question from reporter: random or precision shooting? answer: "Both? Very difficult question to answer." Adult wounds similar to those of the children. Shooter and mother will be examined in the morning (Sunday, Dec. 16)


Piers Morgan on CNN refuting some NRA NUT who thinks we need "more guns in schools." OMG
Source

Joining the program remotely from Ann Arbor, MI, the Attorney for the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners made his case:

"If we could suddenly make all guns disappear, I'd have a different position," he stated. "The simple facts are, guns exist. They are essentially 1800's technology...they're easy to make, they're not going anywhere, they last several human lifetimes with minimal maintenance. So since guns exist, and we know for a fact that the only way to stop an evil person, like the person you were discussing earlier in the show, is to shoot him..."

At this point, Morgan jumped back in, presenting a different angle:

"This is exactly the argument that I have been hearing ever since I joined CNN," he noted. "The argument I keep hearing is well if everybody else was armed, it wouldn't happen. It's a load of total hogwash!"

Siding with the host, Jerrold Nadler added some statistics to the argument:

"The proof of the pudding, is that in every other industrialized country in the world, other than the United States, they have reasonable gun control laws," said the New York Congressman. "They have 100 people a year, not 9,000 or 10,000 a year, killed by guns."

Upon engaging in heated discourse with John Lott, who was attempting to make a case for less legislation, Morgan remained insistent with his stance:

"There are nearly 12,000 murders a year from guns in this country. When are you guys going to focus on that, and stop telling me the answer is more guns. It is not the answer!" he exclaimed to his guest. "How many more kids have to die, before you guys say, 'we want less guns, not more.'"

"I'm upset, because I worry that the gun control laws that you're pushing, have killed people," said Lott, the author of "More Guns, Less Crime."

The man behind "Piers Morgan Tonight" saw things differently:

"Oh what a load of nonsense," he grumbled. "I'm so frustrated, I'm so furious, that these kids, have been blown away again, with legally acquired weapons. Some boy, who's got problems, takes his mother's three weapons – including this ridiculous assault rifle – and goes in a school and kills these kids, and you guys on the gun lobby still want to tell me the answer is more guns. It is madness!"