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The Gun Control Lobby, Thinking Small (Grieving loss of brother alert)
The Washington Post ^
| December 25, 2005
| Jenny Price
Posted on 12/25/2005 3:49:06 PM PST by neverdem
Five years ago an elderly Los Angeles woman who had agreed to move out of her daughter's apartment bought a handgun. She cleared the background check, passed the safety test and practiced on targets at the local shooting range. Then she shot and killed her daughter and her daughter's fiance -- my brother David.
As someone who has lost a member of my family to gun violence, I see the new federal legislation to limit gun manufacturers' liability as unconscionable beyond my ken. But what troubles me most is that the gun control lobby is pouring its resources into battles that probably won't save many lives -- and we're losing even those.
In the past decade, states have passed law after law to require safety locks, force gun-purchase waiting periods, trace bullets back to their sources and allow victims to sue manufacturers for negligence. That such measures have produced at best slight decreases in the rate of gun deaths is hardly surprising, because only 3 percent of gun deaths are accidents, and most murderers own their handguns legally and know how to use them safely. California has passed a raft of such laws in the past five years and
is widely praised as one of the most progressive states on gun control. In that same period, the number of handgun-related homicides has fallen and then risen again, with no correlation whatever.
The real problem is not that handguns aren't safe or well-regulated enough, or that you can't sue and try to bankrupt a corrupt manufacturer after someone you love has been killed. The problem is that 60 million people in the United States own handguns. The gun used to kill my brother was a Glock 19, a light and portable semiautomatic. These guns are designed to kill people: That's their...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; US: California; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: banglist; jennyprice
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To: Donald Meaker
If anyone has any firearms that have a tendency to kill people, I volunteer to take control of them and keep them safe!
41
posted on
12/25/2005 5:12:48 PM PST
by
Donald Meaker
(You don't drive a car looking through the rear view mirror, but you do practice politics that way.)
To: GladesGuru
Only Abortionists can prevent Liberals. Or; Abortionists - Preventing Liberals Every Day.
LOL!!! Very true! How about: Prevent a Liberal - Have an Abortion
42
posted on
12/25/2005 5:17:47 PM PST
by
69ConvertibleFirebird
(Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.)
To: neverdem
"The problem is that 60 million people in the United States own handguns" Yes, that is a problem, that number should be at least 300 million.
43
posted on
12/25/2005 5:23:37 PM PST
by
editor-surveyor
(Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
To: Teacher317
Why do they assume that laws forbidding guns will work Based on discussions with liberals I've think it's this: Liberals (as do most people, I guess) believe that others, in general, are similar to themselves in the way they act and think. Since a liberal with a gun would kill anyone who looked at them wrong way, or in John Kerry/Bill & Hillary Clinton's case - disagrees with them, they assume that the entire population will act the same. Little do they know that most people do not have the mental illness known as liberalism and, therefore, will behave rationally, not shooting people who annoy, or disagree with, them.
44
posted on
12/25/2005 5:23:58 PM PST
by
69ConvertibleFirebird
(Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.)
To: neverdem
Okay, help me out here. Handguns are the essence of pure evil. But Tookie Williams uses a shotgun to blow off an innocent woman's face and he rates a Nobel Peace Prize.
Mmmmmmmnnnnnnn . . . liberal logic.
45
posted on
12/25/2005 5:26:34 PM PST
by
noblejones
(Ben Stein for President, 2008.)
To: Prime Choice
>>
They don't want the criminal "lifestyle" to be threatened by law-abiding citizens with guns.
<<
Have a heart, man. The rap music industry would be devastated.
46
posted on
12/25/2005 5:33:24 PM PST
by
noblejones
(Ben Stein for President, 2008.)
To: neverdem
Private ownership of guns made the Japanese decide not to attach the US. 120,000 concealed carry permits stopped carjacking in Florida. Most people that kill someone are criminals and a few become criminals when they pull the trigger. I have been shot at by RPG and have set off a land mine by running over it. I WILL keep my guns thank you but be warned do not try to take them away from me! The Constitution gave me the right!!
47
posted on
12/25/2005 5:42:14 PM PST
by
mountainlyons
(Merry CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!)
To: neverdem
and most murderers own their handguns legally As FBI ststistics say most (c. 75%) of murderers have mulitiple felony convictions, I'd say they don't.
48
posted on
12/25/2005 5:48:17 PM PST
by
Oztrich Boy
(so natural to mankind is intolerance in whatever they really care about - J S Mill)
To: neverdem
But let's stop arming the populace in the meantime, which pro- and anti-gun advocates alike know for certain will create a mountainous death toll. Typical know-it-all lib. Making a purported statement of "fact" - that pro-gun advocates know for certain that arming us will create a death toll that is mountainous. Mountainous! That is CERTAIN! We all know it!
49
posted on
12/25/2005 5:54:05 PM PST
by
NJRighty
(Liberals interpreting the Constitution? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!)
To: neverdem
Nearly 12,000 Americans annually use guns to do just that, and the majority use handguns. Twelve thousand: that's comparable to the number of AIDS deaths each year in the United States.
Should we sue homosexuals for spreading AIDS? Can we do a class action suit against them for tainting the blood supply? Of course not, they don't have deep pockets. Should we sue auto manufacturers for all the deaths caused by careless/reckless drivers? How about suing those states that give them drivers licenses? How about alcohol makers? Gotta be some deep pockets there. What is the story on this mother? Having some experience with the mentally/chemically ill and their so-called rights, I'm appalled that some are allowed to own firearms.
50
posted on
12/25/2005 6:10:52 PM PST
by
DejaJude
(Life, liberty and the pursuit of those that threaten it.)
To: winner3000
(Wouldn't it make more sense to define the ultimate battle as one for a national ban on handguns -- the sole gun-control measure that promises to save tens of thousands of lives?) Well no. It would cost tens of thousands of American lives.
If the govt, Fed or State, passed a law tomorrow to turn in all handguns "or else", well, I will take the "or else". But not peacefully. I bought a Colt .45 in 1977, two wives, and lots of cars later, I still have the .45.
As one who has taken the pledge to support and defend the Constitution, I will not surrender my right to bear arms to enemies domestic or foreign.
Semper Fi, USMC 1971-1981
51
posted on
12/25/2005 6:13:50 PM PST
by
Tahoe3002
(Death to Terrorists!!)
To: neverdem
I feel pity for this woman over the death of her brother. Having said that, she's an idiot and I hope she passes on without breeding.
52
posted on
12/25/2005 6:21:21 PM PST
by
WorkingClassFilth
(The problem with being a 'big tent' Party is that the clowns are seated with the paying customers.)
To: Prime Choice
As with all liberals, they ae too shallow to think more than a single step. To them if you ban handguns, then that is the end of the problem! When crime starts to rise after they created a society of victims, they are completely lost for the cause and instead insist that the problem is toy guns or kitchen knives or some other such nonsense.
53
posted on
12/25/2005 6:26:57 PM PST
by
Blood of Tyrants
(G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: neverdem
So it was the GUN, not the future mother-in-law, that killed her brother?
Here's a little experiment even SHE can do: Take a loaded GUN, place it on a table in the middle of a room, fill the room with 100 people. The GUN is to be left alone and untouched. Wait a few hours to see how many people the GUN kills....
(My bet would be....0)
54
posted on
12/25/2005 6:27:46 PM PST
by
dirtbiker
(I've tried to see the liberal point of view, but I couldn't get my head that far up my a$$....)
To: editor-surveyor
Wait'll she figures out how many of us own assault rifles!
55
posted on
12/25/2005 6:27:57 PM PST
by
PLMerite
("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
To: PLMerite
We probably should go out and buy more, just to make her happy.
56
posted on
12/25/2005 6:49:17 PM PST
by
editor-surveyor
(Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
To: GladesGuru
I've always wanted:
Abortion : Killing liberals while still in the larvae stage.
57
posted on
12/25/2005 6:58:54 PM PST
by
MarkeyD
(Cowards cut and run. Marines finish the job. I really, really loathe liberals.)
To: DejaJude
You can sue the bath houses and gay bar which provide a meeting place for one to engage in sodomy and spread AIDS. The owners HAVE DEEP POCKETS.
58
posted on
12/25/2005 6:59:00 PM PST
by
Fee
(`+Great powers never let minor allies dictate who, where and when they must fight.)
To: KarinG1
59
posted on
12/25/2005 7:01:15 PM PST
by
MarkeyD
(Cowards cut and run. Marines finish the job. I really, really loathe liberals.)
To: neverdem
"The problem is that 60 million people in the United States own handguns." Only well-trained and qualified members of the police and the military need handguns.
60
posted on
12/25/2005 7:25:57 PM PST
by
Travis McGee
(--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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