Tom Toles for January 17, 2013

There was a reason Obama spoke harshly about congressmen voting their conscience, appealing to them to ignore the 20 million dollars the NRA spent lobbying both sides of the aisle. Those gun control people only stimulated their conscience with 4 thousand dollars. His legislation is getting a lukewarm reception amongst many in his own party. Money talks, plus for those many liberal congressmen (in both chambers) who are facing reelection in 2014, their record on gun control will be widely publicized when they are campaigning. Elections have a tendency to carry more weight than appeals to conscience. Aren’t politics wonderful?

Common sense would dictate that we look around and see what others are doing and then emulate those with low gun death rates. Let’s see now… What are they doing? Oh yeah! Very strong gun regulation coupled with very good public mental health services, public education and public health care. Those are things they ALL have in common. And yes, though Switzerland had lots of guns, they are rigidly regulated.

An efficient and loophole-free system of background checks will not infringe on anyone’s right to self defense. Stronger rules on armor-piercing bullets will not prevent you from protecting your family. A more robust system for identifying people with mental disorders will not subvert the constitution. Banning “assault weapons” is more problematical. It is rather like banning pornography or sports cars. A gun is a collection of components. Gun owners can modify their own weapons. Gun makers can skirt around whatever rules are made. It’s just not that simple.

Canada has more thorough restrictions on weapons ownership. Compare the homicde rates in the capital city of Ottawa: population 812,135, 7 homicides (1 for 116,019). Washington D.C.: population 5,582,170, 88 homicides (1 for 63,434). In other words, you are twice as likely to get murdered in Washington D.C. Now either the restrictions are effective, or Americans are more violent. Which is it?

Actually, pornography was never banned, it was obscenity that was (and is) banned, though of course the ban is purely theoretical these days.

Obama’s proposals are hugely popular among the American people. Not that that ever mattered to the GOP.

In 1996, Congress barred research by the CDC that might “advocate or promote gun control.” In 2003, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was banned from providing researchers with data on gun injuries and deaths. And in 2012, the National Institutes of Health was barred from funding gun research.

These are all diabolical measures enshrined in law by the likes of NRA Representatives and Congressmen who prefer ignorance over knowledge, emotion over science, and darkness over light.

We are literally battling the forces of evil and darkness in this nation and its gun psychosis.

Presidents Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama were theoretically at the rudder, but these items came about when Republicans inserted budget amendments into much broader budget packages approved by the Presidents.

America’s gun violence epidemic and gun murder rate are a direct result of right-wing ideology to promote guns, ignorance and gun psychosis.

Obama has all the right ideas while the right wing just wants more guns.

I frankly don’t want the big-city libs forcing their ideas of gun control on us rural citiizens.

It seems that Congress has a ‘lock’ on all of its functions. Who knows where the keys are?

There’s no give to the right, that’s for sure.

Agreed.

An NBC poll revealed that the NRA has a 41% approval rating. Hollywood was only 23%.