It's ON!

So, the fallen have been mourned, and now the anti-gun-owners are pouring it on. Between getting more co-sponsors for HB1022, to the media PR blitz, we are facing a pretty significant attack. Someone said that VT was the flashpoint the anti-gun-owners have been waiting for. It seems they were right. Here is a sample of what we must counter:

Huffington Post

WHEN,AND HOW, THE SHOOTING STOPS

(I cut out a bunch of stuff about not publicizing murderers' info)


THE NRA HAS MADE FIVE GROUPS RICH: ITSELF. GUN MANUFACTURERS. SLEAZY POLITICIANS. MAKERS OF TEDDY BEARS. AND THE FLOWER INDUSTRY.


Last weeks murderer should not have been allowed to have a gun under Virginia law (found to be a danger to himself) but the information never made it into a database because "there isn't enough money to put all of the already known names of people who should never be allowed to own a gun into a national database". Sorry, your child was killed due to clerical backlog. The NRA, with its hundred million dollars, has the money to buy politicians and sway elections. While they claim to champion the public, they don't care enough about your children, or you, to use some of that money to insure the safe distribution of their product. And why should they? Their members are immune from prosecution, thanks to President Earp.


NRA TALKING POINT: CARS KILL MORE PEOPLE THAN GUNS!


You want to see cars REALLY start killing people? Let's start selling cars EXACTLY the way we sell guns. No license, no registration, no engine numbers, no license plates, no database of sales, no background checks, no waiting period, NO NEED TO PROVE YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE, no engine off switches, no childproof door locks, no seatbelts, no BRAKES. How high do you think the car murder rate will go when you lose the right to sue any car manufacturer or car salesman for any reason thanks to President Dillinger? Newsflash: we make cars SAFER every day. The auto industry doesn't take it as a personal affront to every American's right to fly face first through the windshield with a naked man in her lap holding a martini and chatting on a cell phone, even though that right is guaranteed in the Constitution under "pursuit of happiness".


NRA TALKING POINT: MY RIGHT TO HAVE A GUN IS THE SAME AS A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE.


Great! Let's put the same restrictions on gun sales that we have on a woman's right to choose. Finally - a waiting period in most states! You'll have to get signed permission from your partner to buy the gun, you'll be informed that buying a gun may lead to breast cancer even though there's never been a correlation. In 38 states, you'll have to travel to another state to buy the gun, and abide by that states waiting period, even if it causes financial hardship to your family. If you're under a certain age, your father or stepfather will be informed that you are buying a gun, and you'll need his permission, even if you need the gun because he raped you. Finally, the Supreme Court can place limits on when you can buy the gun, even if you didn't know you needed it until now. Even if you are going to DIE without it. Enjoy being a girl!


NRA TALKING POINT: IF YOU OUTLAW GUNS, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE GUNS.

Every 7-11 and every supermarket you walk into has a sign on the counter: "We Check I.D. For Alcohol" (right next to "Please Don't Shoot Me, Register Has Only Ten Dollars"). Do minors get beer? Sure, about a zillion times less than they would without strictly enforced laws. By NRA logic, we should have NO laws, because locks are only made to keep honest men out.


NRA TALKING POINT: WE NEED OUR GUNS IN CASE WE HAVE TO DEFEND AGAINST THIS GOVERNMENT. LOOK AT IRAQ, LEBANON, THE PALESTINIANS, THEY'RE FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRIES AND HOLDING THEIR OWN.


Does the word "topography" mean anything to you? So you're going to empty your Beretta at an Abrams tank and then.. what? Slip across the border? Run into the hills.. er.. the unmapped caves.. I mean, malls? Yeah, I guess that could work. All malls have the same ten stores. Maybe they would look for you in the wrong Pottery Barn. There hasn't been a census in Iraq, Palestine or Lebanon since the locusts. Your government knows your address, which bedroom you sleep in (from your MySpace page), your office fax number, and they're watching you through your computer right now. While they distracted you by letting you have your quaint little guns at home, which give you a false sense of ability to fight the United States Armed Forces, and protect yourself from ass - removing nuclear/Blackhawk/grenade/scud/smart bomb/oak-panelled-finished-basement-busters, and they kept you busy by letting you buy houses you couldn't afford which are now going into foreclosure because they are worth less than you re-financed them for so you could buy a Corvette and a flat screen, they've taken away all your pertinent rights. After you're done playing "Cowboys and Crooks" and they throw your ass in a dungeon in Albertoville, you might have time to think about the rights you should have been fighting for.


HUFF POST COMMENTERS SAY IT BEST

"I do not understand why giving money to the NRA is legal, while funding Al Qaeda is not. The end result of either group's work is the same: scores of dead and maimed Americans."
By seasalt

"Maybe we're supposed to be grateful that if we get whacked, at least it will be by some homegrown American psycho, and not some "freedom hating" terrorist. I feel better already."
By libdude

"We have a "no fly" list, but not a "no buy" list?"
By lisakaz

"Gun control isn't about making guns illegal or taking them away from "responsible" citizens. Will it always work? Probably not. Yet the TSA makes everyone go through the security version of Twister because one guy couldn't light a match."
By: TakeSake

"Sell all the guns you want, but sell each bullet for $1000 apiece."
By: jmj680


"WE are tired of prying bodies our of your "Gun Free Zones". They are usually kids, in case you haven't noticed."
By: mike101

Thanks for making my point for me mike.

And hey, if you need 100 rounds to kill a deer... maybe hunting isn't your sport.

See what I mean? And there's a lot more out there, especially in the press.

Here are two letter-to-the-editor examples from Maryland alone:

Baltimore Sun

Saturating society with guns isn't safe

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, some reactionaries have expressed the belief that if we were all armed with concealed weapons, lethal events such as the mass murder at Virginia Tech could be prevented and would subside ("Calls for armed citizenry rely on belief in superhero fantasies," Opinion • Commentary, April 23).
But does anyone except some National Rifle Association officials and some hard-core vigilantes really believe this?

Logic and sanity would argue that saturating our society with ever more concealed lethal weapons would not likely tamp down our national horrors - any more than supplying all nations of the world with nuclear weapons would make our globe a safer place.

John Kloetzel
Catonsville

and

some Annapolis Paper

Updated April 30, 2007
Gun control

I am a teacher in Anne Arundel County. Hearing about the Virginia Tech massacre provoked many feelings: sadness, anger, but most of all frustration. How is it possible that a young man can buy semi automatic guns and plenty of ammunition without a mental health check or questions regarding their use? I find it appalling how easy it is for people to purchase guns in the United States.

In December I moved back to the United States after teaching in the United Kingdom for 3-1/2 years. One of the schools was extremely rough. Many students came from broken homes and unsupportive families. Bullying was a large problem. Even though there were incidents involving knifes, gangs, and vandalism, I never felt any students were going to walk into the school and shoot innocent children and teachers. I felt safer than I did teaching in America. Why? It is extremely hard in the UK to obtain a gun.

I do realize that guns will never be illegal to own in the U.S. — it is a constitutional right. But should they be sold so easily? When a person would like to buy a gun an extensive interview should take place. Questions should be asked regarding usage of the gun. If background checks (including mental health checks) are cleared, then that person should be allowed one gun with a small amount of ammunition. Why would a man who wants to protect his family need 5 guns and 10 boxes of ammunition?

I hope Congress can realize through this event how easy it is to buy a gun and make some changes to gun laws. It is upsetting that teaching is now a fearful job. It would be nice for teachers to concentrate on helping their students rather than protecting themselves from them.

LAUREN MINCHER
Annapolis

I'm doing what I can with the limited time I've got to reply. Pour it on! Do NOT let them get away with unanswered BS rhetoric.