After Binghamton, Questions Linger About Easy Access to Guns (20/20 hit piece on guns)

20/20 ^ | April 6, 2009 | CHRIS STRATHMANN and SARAH NETTER

[flintsilver7]

As the nation gets a clearer picture of two killers who have made headlines in recent days -- one near Pittsburgh, one in Binghamton, N.Y. -- some are wondering whether Americans have too much access to guns. ...

"They were all legal," his friend Edward Perkovic said of the weapons. "He had about four guns. I've been in houses where they have gun cases with 20 guns. He had a small, small amount of guns."

"We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country," said Michael Wolkowitz, a board member of the Brady Center, which lobbies for tighter gun restrictions. "If peanut butter or pistachio nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they'd be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration]."

[TXnMA]

"Not that it should be a surprise, but everybody who said liberals would turn these murders into an opportunity to destroy the Constitution have been proven right. "

Yep. Once again:

[capt. norm]

The Brady bunch descend like vultures, trying to capitalize on every shooting even though their solutions would only make it worse.

[Gilbo_3]

Anybody with half a brain ...

and thats the point of this exercise isnt it ???

these people are NOT stupit...they are willfully EVIL...

[yazoo]

“If peanut butter or pistachio nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they’d be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration].”

Cars kill that many people in one day, so does alcohol, and on a per capita basis swimming pools and steps. Drugs kill more people even though they are illegal. Stupid arguments by stupid people.

[Rappini]

This is why those who believe in the Constitution can never slack off.

[chatham]

Don’t blame easy access to guns as the problem.

Do Blame easy access to entrance to this Country for all
Levels of LUNATICS,MISFITS AND MISCREANTS.

Please bring your concerns to the Immigration people and the Morons in our Government administration who are directing them.

[eggman]

If the government could enforce laws well enough that they didn't need to have heavily armed police officers then stricter gun laws wouldn't be needed to control the law abiding citizens. We have a government that has failed to protect our rights because they are too concerned about the rights of criminals who are committing the crimes.

The government doesn't trust us and wants to force everyone into having no choice but to trust them. It wouldn't be possible for them to protect us from every threat but too many of the killings are committed by criminals who shouldn't be on the streets. The current high level of gun and ammunition sales are an strong no confidence vote of the people that the government can't be trusted to keep the streets safe.

[mbynack]

"We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country,"

We need to lock those evil guns up or we lynch em by the trigger guards. Maybe the guns can get some psychiatric counseling from some toasters and go on to lead productive lives.

[CPOSharky]

"If peanut butter or pistachio nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they'd be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration]."

And which one of your God given constitutinally protected rights would the seizing of peanut butter violate?

[OCCASparky]

"They were all legal," his friend Edward Perkovic said of the weapons.

Uh, wrong answer, Stormfront boy. He had been dishonorably discharged from the Corps as well as having a protection order taken out on him. The DD alone prevents you from owning a firearm, and if the protection order was active, that would as well.

[hunter112]

My other thought is how many of those 32 dead, were criminals that met up with the wrong law abiding citizen?

Not enough of them.

It's just like liberals to worry about the legality of guns, and not worry about the legality of unstable foreigners.

[Niteranger68]

For the victims, guns were apparently too hard to get.

[Altura Ct.]

Of course no questions about immigration.

[wbill]

Truly, in a lib's mind it would have been better had the people been drowned, or hacked to death with a knife.

There was a poster yesterday that was talking about the largest mass murders in NY history....

9/11/2001. 3000 people killed by a group of 19 men, armed with no more than boxcutters.

Prior to that, 87 people murdered in the Dreamland fire, killer used nothing more than matches and a gallon of gas.

Mass murderers will figure out a way to accomplish their "mission". You can't change crazy.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***We need to lock those evil guns up or we lynch em by the trigger guards.***

Bill Mauldin, of Willie and Joe fame, did a cartoon in 1968 (when Bobby Kennedy was shot)that was reproduced in 1981 when reagan was shot.

It showed a mob lynching a handgun. In the foreground is a criminal who says....”they let me go and lynched my gun!”

[WOBBLY BOB]

Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.

[Condor51]

"We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country," said Michael Wolkowitz, a board member of the Brady Center, which lobbies for tighter gun restrictions. "If peanut butter or pistachio nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they'd be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration]."

(head shaking) Michael, Michael, Michael.
Last I checked the Right to eat peanut butter, pistachio nuts and spinach isn't in the Constitution. And your twist on comparing unsafe food products and the FDA's action in comparison to firearms is nonsense. One has nothing to do with the other.

But since you like statistics here's some more for you....

By your (cough) stats; 32 x 365 = 11,680 people.

Well sparky, in 1999 there were 6,289,000 auto accidents in the US. Of those, 3.4 million were injured, and 41,611 were killed, and in 2001, 42,116 were killed in car accidents, an average of 114 people each day That's 360% MORE deaths in cars than by guns. And as we know, driving is a privilege, not a 'Right' and do you see the Dept of Transportation pulling all automobiles off the roads? Huh? Well do ya, ya jackass! NO. Why hasn't DoT acted on THESE horrific stats??? (c'mon Mikey I know you can answer this(/s)).

Here's another stat, from the CDC -- more than 20,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year. That's 171% MORE than by guns.

Now understand, my stats are all OLD, from 2000 and 2001. Ergo if I found stats from 2008, all my stats and percentages would be LARGER and make the disparity with your 'current' number even greater.

In English (sarc) that makes your 'guns are the most dangerous object in the world' argument even more absurd.

Mikey, aren't you even slightly embarrassed when you outright lie, compare apples to pomegranates, and twist facts?

ps numbnutz: You may want to look at how many children accidentally die each year in buckets and swimming pools. Then get back to me why no gubmint agency is trying to ban them because of the danger they present to the public.

[WOBBLY BOB]

If Guns Were Treated Like Cars

http://www.mcsm.org/guncars.html

[Thunder90]

Here is what liberals want to see in an omnibus gun control bill:

1. An expanded HR 45, gun owner licensing. All gun owners will have to have these licenses, even owners of facilimie weapons (AKA Airsoft and BB). Licenses will only be granted if the records of the applicant are clean (This includes misdemeanors from decades ago). Licenses will have high renewal fees ($100-300/yr). Licensees will be required to hold $1 million in liability insurance. Possession of otherwise permitted weapons (See #3) without license is a felony.

2. Ammunition accountability... All ammo will be required to be microstamped and will be taxed $1/round. All non stamped ammo will be required to be turned in or thrown away. Possession of non-marked ammo is a felony. This part of the act also bans “Cop Killer” bullets. Furthermore, this will require the gun to leave a microstamp of its own on the ammo. (BTW, this will also affect law enforcement and military ammunition stocks, as they will be required to have stamps of their own)

3. Expanded “Assault Weapons” ban— This includes most all semiauto rifles, anything that can be “Bump Fired”, Semiauto handguns, and Semi-auto shotguns. It also includes pump-action shotguns and “Sniper Rifles” AKA your deer rifle. The AWB will also require people with “Prebans” to register their guns as Machine Guns, and that the tax stamp will go up to $10,000 per weapon. If you can’t afford this, you have to turn the weapon in without compensation...

4. Expansion of the Lautenbach amendment: Removes “Domestic Violence” as disqualifier to gun ownership, inserts any misdemeanor as disqualifer... Anyone with a misdemeanor on their record will be prohibited from owning a firearm. This includes DUI and traffic offenses, and offenses decades ago.

Finally, all CCW permits will be voided. Also, all gun and ammo imports will be banned.

[gundog]

Wasn’t the Long Island Railroad shooter an immigrant too?

You're partially correct. Colin Ferguson was Jamaican. But he didn't kill anyone. Someone else did. Maybe that guy over there. (That was his defense, in a nutshell. There's something to the saying that anyone who would defend themselves in court has a fool for a lawyer.)