Posted on 10/08/2017 3:19:30 PM PDT by Kaslin
We still don’t know what set off Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas. The 64-year-old checked into the Mandalay Bay hotel, went to the 32nd floor, took 23 firearms with him, and proceeded to fire upon the 22,000 concertgoers below at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. It was the last night of the festival. He killed 58 people and wounded nearly 500 more. He killed himself before police breached the door to his suite.
As Democratic members of Congress prepare to push gun control again, they’re faced with the same obstacles of this increasingly stale debate over whether or not we should chip away at Americans’ constitutional rights. Paddock was independently wealthy which allowed him to buy a lot of firearms. All were purchased legally. He was no criminal history or known mental illness. So, there really isn’t much to advocate for in the legislative front, besides pushing an outright gun ban, which is unconstitutional and politically unfeasible. Senior editor at The Atlantic David Frum had a different take. Play the long game and ingrain into the national psyche that it’s dangerous to own guns, and that it makes you a bad parent to own guns. He said this Tuesday on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. He was a guest on the show, along with Rep. Jackey Rosen (D-NV). Newsbusters clipped the exchange [emphasis mine]:
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: The polling shows that most Americans agree with the congresswoman on this.
DAVID FRUM: Well, I wish that were true, but I think when you face the reality, it just isn't. One of the things that we have seen over the past decade is a rising support among Americans for ever broader definitions of gun rights in exactly the way that Justice Burger warned us against. But that it where the country is.
And so it makes this -- and this is a really painful thing to say -- these technical fixes people look for, maybe if we had banned this implement or regulated that implement -- there is something very wrong with the American gun culture. Three percent of the people own 50 percent of the weapons in this country -- I mean, a tiny number of people and vast numbers of weapons.
Until you persuade people that it is just dangerous to themselves, to their children, you're not a good parent if you have a gun in the house, you're not protecting your family, you're a bad parent if you have a gun in the house, until you drill that idea into people's heads and persuade them to change the way we changed about cigarettes and seatbelts, these technical fixes aren't going to accomplish a lot. And pubic opinion -- you can make it look like it's on your side if you ask the poll question the right way, but operationally it's not.
Yeah, I’m sure that’s really going to go over well; telling Americans that they’re bad parents for exercising their constitutional right to own firearms. If anything, that will drive up sales. The firearm is an integral part of American culture and history. There is no escaping that, neither is the incessant push by liberals to blame the tens of millions (the overwhelming majority) of law-abiding American gun owners for the actions of criminals and insane people. Yet, the anti-gun Left keeps doing it, Americans still buy firearms in record numbers; Obama was a terrific salesman, and the Second Amendment stands strong.
Nice
... “ignorant dangerous hicks”... are always an inconvenient problem, shouldering it’s annoyance to the detriment of the carefree clicking of champagne glasses in ivory towers. Those unsavory barbarians are at the gate again. What pray tell is an overlord to do?
Where is the talking point coming from:
NPR article about a survey....Harvard and Northeastern University
I don’t regard myself as unsavory, and the term `barbarian’ is owned by Muslims. Maybe both apply to the beards & burkas crowd.
Guess I’ll have to settle for `impertinent upstart’ in the eyes of our ruling elites. But caution, Mesdames et Messieurs, these days the peasants can own weapons without fear of beheading.
And in the case of Mohammedans referenced above, weapons owned by `infidels’ can actually prevent beheadings.
;^)
3% own 50% of firearms... VERY MISLEADING TALKING POINT....
Better stat would be what percentage or number of the US population owns a firearm...I think the reporting is low because of the gungrabber in chief in the Whitehut from 2008-2016.
1 in 3 Americans owns a gun
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/one-three-americans-own-guns-culture-factor-study-finds-n384031
Gallop estimates % of households with firearm: 39%, Range: 36% to 42% lower than previous years...but again gungrabber at 1600 PA Ave.
66% of gunowners own more than one.
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/
B-but what about diversity ?
>>You’re a bad parent if you do not teach your kids gun safety, proper gun handling and instill respect for our rights and our Constitution. Smoke that, liberal morons.<<
Perfectly stated and perfectly true.
My husband tried to teach me to drive a car with a stick shift. He called me stupid when I couldn't do it, and that was in Germany. When he was transferred back to the states we bought a brand new 1966 Chevrolet Impala convertible with automatic transmission, and when he went to Vietnam on his first tour in 1967 I hired a driving teacher that taught me to drive.
Actually it’s widely acknowledged that the vast majority of troubled and anti-social youth in this country are the children of liberal Democrats and the welfare culture they created.
>>I automatically stop listening when I hear the words, “a Harvard study says...”<<
Funny. A Harvard study can be produced to “say” virtually ANYTHING. No credibility whatsoever.
Guns bad. Gays good.
Liberalism is a mental disease.
None of my friends or family!
I agree that you are a bad parent if you own ‘a’ gun. If you have forty, good parent. I am a good parent, plus I load ammo for my kids and grandkids.
This is part of the “long game” of the left...
1) Take over the education system, and teach an alternate version of American history.
2) Use media and entertainment to change and coarsen popular culture to something hostile to traditional values.
3) Import as many people as possible from 3rd world hell-holes, and/or countries with a long history of governmental corruption. Especially those devoid of rights protected by a Constitution.
Mark
Yet they never bother to help the situation by offering to off themselves. They only suggest other do it.
Mark
I seem to recall reading that about 50% of all homes have one or more guns in them.
It wouldn't surprise me if the number used is completely made up. It is after all, being promoted by the National Bull$#1t Corporation.
Mark
Idiot!
!20 million gun owners. ( legal) 3% ? Must be new math.
Ludicrous is a lifestyle choice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.