Posted on 03/22/2018 3:40:32 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
Sen. Doug Jones (D.), Alabama's new addition to the halls of Congress, used his maiden speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate to call for unity in the gun control debate, even while he attacked the National Rifle Association's "extreme positions" and called for sweeping gun control measures.
Jones, who won a special election in December to fill the seat vacated when Jeff Sessions accepted his post as attorney general, began the speech on Wednesday by denouncing the partisan atmosphere of Washington, D.C. Jones, having denounced how partisanship and gridlock have replaced compromise and consensus, then segued into addressing a topic that has dominated Congress since the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Citing the dialogue being forged by the survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the senator said he was compelled to devote his first address in the Senate Chamber to the topic of gun violence.
"In the wake of yet another mass shooting, and the rising voices of young people across the country, it is our responsibility, our duty to have a serious discussion about guns and gun safety," Jones said.
Jones expressed that any solution being proposed would need to balance the interests of both public safety and the constitutional rights accorded by the Second Amendment.
"We must acknowledge the deadly consequences that can follow when a gun is in the wrong hands but also recognize and respect the freedom to own and enjoy guns by law-abiding citizens as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution," Jones said. "Those two concepts … are not mutually exclusive."
The senator then proceeded to reverse course by implying that the discussion surrounding the Second Amendment only served to divide the country while "more lives" perished.
"We can spend days in this chamber debating the meaning of the Second Amendment," Jones said. "We can let our nation further divide itself while more lives are lost … or we can take another path."
Jones expressed his support for Trump administration initiatives to ban the sale of bump stocks. He also urged Congress to pass bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (Texas), to incentive local and state government to streamline information sharing process in hopes of strengthening the background check process. The senator also called on Congress to pass legislation instituting universal background checks for gun sales.
"We have to require background checks on all gun sales," Jones said, "Whether it is at a gun show or over the internet or between individuals."
The senator warned his supporters and gun control advocates to refrain from demonizing Second Amendment groups, like the NRA, before proceeding to chastise those very groups for holding views he considered "extreme."
"You can't simply demonize the NRA and pro-gun groups," Jones said. "I know these groups sometimes take what many, including me, consider extreme positions."
Jones also implored Second Amendment groups to "stop using" what he saw as "scare tactics" that only served to convince law-abiding citizens the federal government intends to confiscate their guns.
"To those who would seek to maintain the status quo, like the NRA, or anyone else," Jones said. "Please stop using scare tactics to try and convince law-abiding gun owners that the federal government is hell-bent on taking their guns away."
Jones further proceeded to denounce the solutions being offered by the very "law-abiding gun owners" he wants to protect from the NRA.
"We also need to get past the idea that more guns in society will make us all safer," he said. "We don't need guns in the hands of school teachers. Simply having more good guys with guns is not the solution."
The senator even suggested that such solutions would only serve to push the nation backward.
"Americans just simply do not want to return to the days of the wild west," Jones said.
Jones, somewhat ironically, finished his speech by proclaiming there would always be forces seeking to sow the seeds of disunity between Americans.
"There will always be forces that seek to sow division and discord. Our challenge and our mission is to prevent them from succeeding," he said. "We can seize this moment by changing the conversation and our country."
Wake up Alabama!
Good point. It’s easier to fund raise on promises in the minority then having to actually deliver something in the majority
Did Doug Jones (D) mention anything about Obama’s school to prison pipeline orders which would bring riches to the school administration and the sheriffs department? Did Doug Jones mention the 4 officers who waited outside until the shooter murdered all 17 students before doing something? What a shame that we have representatives that are shameless
It is also a foolproof long-term strategy to advance the plan of reducing the USA to a plantation-style government.
If elected to power, fail to deliver and be returned to the minority. The GOP is fake opposition, like pro-wrestling. The people are told that as long as they have the right to vote, they are free.
And if a lot of us hadn’t bucked Trump and put Moore in the final leg of the race, we’d have a 75% Trump supporter instead of a left wing Dem....Alabama got slammed coming and going by outside interests - as I recall a certain Steve Bannon was in the van when it came to bucking Trump’s assertion we needed to stick with “Big Luther” and a bunch of us poured lots of money to shut Luther down and put the “Look at me, I’m a solid Christian, love guns, and only have a small ego problem” loser (as I now consider Moore now that the smoke has cleared) on the ticket. We screwed Trump and ended up screwing ourselves in the process - I was one who took the “it’s the principled thing to do” bait so I’m as much at fault as anyone.
Hey, it cost the DNC 100 million to buy that seat so they want their money’s worth.
This goes back to Trump appointing Sessions as AG. He should have picked someone who was not already in an elected position.
“Doug Jones Calls for Gun Control, Attacks NRA in First Senate Floor Speech”
I never saw it coming!
Knowing their unpopular positions would never get them elected, liberals allow Democrats to run a moderates until they get to DC, then it's expected they swing wildly to the left.
Conservatives, on the other hand, expect Republicans to kiss the rings of various special interest groups lest they get tarred with the "RINO" label and the candidates are then forced to defend these positions on the campaign trail.
He never imagined Alabama would elect anyone other than a Republican to fill Session's seat. Nobody did. And then Roy Moore entered the picture.
Yes, the federal government in Washington needs to be involved every time someone lets their spouse, or their nephew on leave from the army, borrow their revolver for some target practice.
It was, of course, to get this result that the DNC paid women to claim that Moore was some kind of sexual predator.
The purpose of such claims is not to warn people, but to make enough conservative voters sit out the election that the liberal wins. Since democrats do not care about morality, any conservative observing a campaign of attacks on a candidate’s character should be suspicious. Unfortunately, enough still fall for the character assassination tactics that the Dems will continue to use them for the foreseeable future.
It would be nice to see voters reject the attempts to defame candidates and instead challenge democrats to run strictly on issues.
I did not say that New York City is the safest city in the world; rather, I stated it is one of the safest cities in the world, and apparently, I am not the only person with this opinion:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-safest-cities-in-the-world-2015-1 (NYC No. 10)
http://www.earthporm.com/safest-cities/ (NYC No. 3)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/the-30-safest-cities-in-the-world/ss-BBG1v3E#image=11 (NYV No. 21)
What could we expect?
Jones just proved why he’s going to be nothing more than a placeholder. I doubt Alabama will repeat this mistake.
Democrats just cannot hide the fact they are a product of rectal sex
Jeff Sessions, and Trump choosing him as AG, has been a monumental disaster of historical proportions. The US Senate is a den of vipers.
The next time Trump tells that "snake" story he should look in the mirror.
An idiotic and unenforceable proposal that would not stop even one crime, but would make millions of people criminals.
It didn’t take him to go full Bolshie.
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