Posted on 12/21/2012 9:40:04 AM PST by pabianice
A Message from President Obama about Your Petition on Reducing Gun Violence
In the days since the tragedy in Newtown, Americans from all over the country have called for action to deter mass shootings and reduce gun violence. Hundreds of thousands of you have signed petitions on We the People.
I'm writing you today to thank you for speaking up, to update you on an important development, and to encourage you to continue engaging with the White House on this critical issue.
First, you should know that President Obama is paying close to attention to the public response to this tragedy. In fact, he sat down to record a message specifically for those of you who have joined the conversation using We the People. Watch it now:
On Wednesday, the President outlined a series of first steps we can take to begin the work of ending this cycle of violence. This is what he said:
"We know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held passions and political divides. And as I said on Sunday night, there's no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. We're going to need to work on making access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun. We're going to need to look more closely at a culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence. And any actions we must take must begin inside the home and inside our hearts.
But the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. The fact that we can't prevent every act of violence doesn't mean we can't steadily reduce the violence, and prevent the very worst violence."
Vice President Biden has been asked to work with members of the Administration, Congress, and the general public to come up with a set of concrete policy proposals by next month -- proposals the President intends to push swiftly. The President asked the Vice President to lead this effort in part because he wrote and passed the 1994 Crime Bill that helped law enforcement bring down the rate of violent crime in America. That bill included the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004.
As the Vice President's Chief of Staff, I'm going to do everything I can to ensure we run a process that includes perspectives from all sides of the issue, which is why I wanted to respond to your petition myself. Two decades ago, as domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House, I first worked with Joe Biden as he fought to enact the Crime Bill, the assault weapons ban, and the Brady Bill. I will never forget what a key role the voices of concerned citizens like you played in that vital process.
The President called on Congress to pass important legislation "banning the sale of military-style assault weapons," "banning the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips," and "requiring background checks before all gun purchases, so that criminals cant take advantage of legal loopholes to buy a gun from somebody who wont take the responsibility of doing a background check at all."
An issue this serious and complex isn't going to be resolved with a single legislative proposal or policy prescription. And let's be clear, any action we take will respect the Second Amendment. As the President said:
"Look, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. This country has a strong tradition of gun ownership that's been handed down from generation to generation. Obviously across the country there are regional differences. There are differences between how people feel in urban areas and rural areas. And the fact is the vast majority of gun owners in America are responsible -- they buy their guns legally and they use them safely, whether for hunting or sport shooting, collection or protection.
But you know what, I am also betting that the majority -- the vast majority -- of responsible, law-abiding gun owners would be some of the first to say that we should be able to keep an irresponsible, law-breaking few from buying a weapon of war. I'm willing to bet that they don't think that using a gun and using common sense are incompatible ideas -- that an unbalanced man shouldn't be able to get his hands on a military-style assault rifle so easily; that in this age of technology, we should be able to check someone's criminal records before he or she can check out at a gun show; that if we work harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one in Newtown -- or any of the lesser-known tragedies that visit small towns and big cities all across America every day."
The President said it best: "Ultimately if this effort is to succeed it's going to require the help of the American people -- it's going to require all of you. If we're going to change things, it's going to take a wave of Americans -- mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, pastors, law enforcement, mental health professionals -- and, yes, gun owners -- standing up and saying 'enough' on behalf of our kids."
So let's continue this conversation and get something meaningful done. If you have additional ideas and are interested in further engagement with the White House on this issue, please let us know and share your thoughts here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/share-your-thoughts-reducing-gun-violence
Thank you for speaking out and staying involved. Stay Connected
Tell us what you think about this response and We the People.
Stay connected to the White House by signing up for periodic email updates from President Obama and other senior administration officials.
Any gun control measures will stop at the House of Representatives for sure and probably in the Senate. In Calirado, gun control will stop at a large and convincing enough call (and determination) for voting out certain incumbents.
Now that it appears that the Mayan calender thing didn’t work out...HELP OBAMA! SAVE US FROM OURSELVES! WE HAVE TOO MUCH FREEDOM! CHAIN US UP AND PROTECT US FROM EACH OTHER!
Questions that I wonder about
Are Americans too lazy and fat to have another civil war?
What exactly would it take for citizens to stand up and say no?
I what point have enough civil rights be removed for the majority of people to notice?
Are Americans too stupid to even understand what is happening?
PERSONALLY I think that Americans are too lazy and too far gone to do anything about this or any other subject. I think a lot of Americans would enjoy socialism.
Some say there could never be another civil war in America. I wonder.
There are some threads on Free Republic that say it can never happen again.
To quote Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Is there really anyone stupid enough to believe it will end with a ban on “assault” weapons?
[Assault weapons] menacing looks, coupled with the publics confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi- automatic assault weapons anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. Josh Sugarmann, executive director of New Right Watch, spokesman for the National Coalition to Ban Handguns, Assault Weapons and Accessories in America, policy report of New Right Watch and the Education Fund to End Handgun Violence, September 1988
Our main agenda is to have all guns banned. We must use whatever means possible. It does not matter if you have to distort facts or even lie.
-Sarah Brady, Handgun Control, Inc., The National Educator, January, 1994
If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an out right ban, picking up every one of them... Mr. and Mrs. America, turn em all in, I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes werent here.-Dianne Feinstein, Senator, CBS-TVs 60 Minutes, February 5, 1995
Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of the citizen to bear arms is just one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible. - Hubert Humphrey(bitter clinger), 1960
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.- William Pitt, 1783
Gun bans dont disarm criminals, gun bans attract them.- Walter Mondale, U.S. Ambassador to Japan(bitter clinger), April 20, 1994
And so it begins...
“Maybe someone needs to send him a copy of Unintended Consequences.”
Somebody ought to get that book back into print, QUICKLY.
Even used copies run about $150 at used book outlets...
It can be found on the net in pdf format, if you dig for it...
Refuse. Resist.
The rats an media need to be reminded that they had the house, the senate and the president from 08 to 10. They could have passed this back then .... Ban, confiscation etc ... Was theirs for the taking.
They played politics to win a second term.... Allegedly per their own descriptive agenda ....the reason these kids were murdered....
They had the capabilities, resources and votes to play this the way they want now ..... Then
Posers....
Like they stopped Obamacare? They will just strip out a bill from the house and fill it with gun control language and deem it passed.
I’d love to give my opinion, but I’m sure I’ll get a special visit not long afterwards.
The house has to pass any bill, before it can become law. No revised bill can be made law without passing in the House. So no, a president can’t simply revise a bill that has passed the House and decree it as law. But on the planet Niburu, maybe such things are possible...or maybe in an episode of the X Files.
The Government has nothing to fear but .....small arms with clips
I'm not aware of a time that Congress has stopped "Obama" from doing whatever he wants to do, unconstitutional or not. He makes his own "bills" and "laws" with his autopen.
Political Correctness already killed the 1st Amendment.
My 2 cents.
Removing the 2nd would seem to be an extremely difficult task for the uh, “lawmakers”. But if it did happen — actually confiscating all the weapons will be nigh impossible! The loons on the left will learn to their dismay what the Constitution means by “Militia”
Half the general public anyway.
The other half can go sh1t in their hat.
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