Posted on 12/21/2012 6:47:10 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
The husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords ripped the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday for a press conference that defied “common sense” and defended “extreme pro-gun positions.”
“Gabby and I are extremely disappointed by the NRA's defiant and delayed response to the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Mark Kelly said in a statement.
“The NRA could have chosen to be a voice for the vast majority of its own members who want common-sense, reasonable safeguards on deadly firearms, but instead it chose to defend extreme pro-gun positions that aren't even popular among the law-abiding gun owners it represents.”
Giffords nearly died in January 2011 after a lone gunman opened fire on an event the congresswoman was holding to meet with constituents. Six people were killed in the shooting, including a federal judge.
The assassination attempt by Jared Loughner is one of a string of mass shootings over the last few years. The latest occurred last week in Newtown, Conn., where 26 people — including 20 6- and 7-year-olds — were killed by another lone gunman.
Kelly spoke out after a press conference by NRA President Wayne LaPierre, which broke a weeklong silence by the group.
LaPierre called for a national program to put armed guards in every school around the country, arguing “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
LaPierre also criticized gun-free school zones, saying that they indicated to “every insane killer in America” that they could safely inflict “maximum mayhem with minimum risk.”
The presser, which Kelly described as a “defiant and delayed response,” received immediate heat from Democrats on Twitter, and reaction from liberals like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) has been overwhelmingly negative.
Kelly was in Beijing on the day of the Sandy Hook shooting, but posted that the victims of mass shootings “deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws — and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America.”
Ahem. **CAPTAIN** Kelly, USN. You are in violation of your oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and are, in fact, a domestic enemy thereof.
I fully expect an IMMEDIATE resignation of your commission, and no retirement. . . .
“I wonder what the official spokesperson for the astronaut community has to say on this issue?”
That depends.
The elephant in the room that nobody seems to want to look at is that many of these young male murderers were on anti-depressants whose manufacturers even admit that suicidal or violent thoughts are one of the side effects.
Mark Kelly may have an opinion on the NRA press release, but I doubt his wife Gabby does. Since she was shot in the head, her thinking on matters is mainly on liking vanilla pudding over chocolate or whether she is feeling chilly.
This guy Kelly is a LIB moonbat. Also...”Gabby” is so irrelevent.
You need to know that Loughner was stopped by a CCW holder..which makes their statements even more ridiculous...she wouldn’t be breathing today if it wasn’t for private gun ownership.
Saw an interview with this moron where he said that he and Giffords were still waiting for an apology from Sarah Palin.
Don’t be surprised if he runs for his wife’s seat.
All activist democrats are pretending to be the voice of “smart” in regards to banning self defense.
These are the smart ones who make gun free zones where people who have obtained guns illegaly can safely walk in and mass murder children in school.
I think we have heard enough from them and given them enough American blood to try out their well intentioned, but demented Utopian ideology.
Guns are banned in Mexico and our government ran guns into Mexico to cartels. There are piles of bodies - people who could not defend themselves - all the time.
Enough of the Stupids who think they are sooooo Smart.
“...how stupid to wait for the authorities to do a thorough investigation before invoking politics...”
*Some* didn’t even wait for the bodies to be removed from the school before beginning their political screeds. I thought it was shameful. Let these families bury their children/wives/mothers in peace.
Horse manure!
I joined the NRA many years ago to help defend the Second Amendment, along with other pro-RKBA organizations, not to have them knuckle under the first time something happened.
If I had wanted to lose my Right, I could have donated to the Brady Bunch, or simply done nothing.
What part of "...shall not be infringed" does Mr. Giffords NOT get? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that more laws won't make anyone safer, they will just give the prosecutors more paperwork and plea options if the shooter isn't already dead.
This idiot wanted the NRA to come out the next day and say “we were wrong about guns and we are disbanding”.
That is all a Liberal wants, their opponents to surrender, just like Obama is doing with the Republicans in Congress.
In other words, their definition of Bipartisanship.
Maybe you know this, but she has only a few days left of her term. Then she will be FORMER Rep. Giffords. Unfortunately another dumb Dem won her seat but that’s a different story...
Why is armed security the right answer to protect congress and federal workers but wrong for protecting little kids in public schools?
Defiance of what, exactly?
The coordinated political-media campaign for "gun control" is amazing to watch. Amazing.
Us “little people” out here have to live in REALVILLE. We don’t have the hired bodyguards like the politicians do. - My great grandfather worked as a lightkeeper on the river a hundred years ago. The river was infested with a rough crowd. He carried a S&W pistol so as not to be a sitting duck. The criminals knew he carried; and he wasn’t bothered.- REALVILLE is a good place to live. FANTASYLAND, where the socialists and metrosexuals live; not so good.
Hilarious - the House should call their bill ‘ the William Jefferson Clinton act to protect children’
“The NRA had absolutely no obligation to respond to Sandyhook, in fact, they shouldn’t have because this is the kind of crap we get from liberals. “
The left is in full attack mode sensing they can finally knockout the NRA. This is purely a political vendetta and not about kid’s safety. They NRA was going to be bashed no matter what they said or did. So we need to get our people out there with the truth; “This attack was commited by a homicidal maniac who did not legally possess the weapons used. Blaming the victim in this case would be like blaming the owner of a car who is murdered by a car thief who then purposely uses it to kill a class full of little kids.
Thanks for the correction. I thought he was still active.
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