June 14, 2013

CHART: Fear Of Terrorism Makes People Irrational – Terrorism Fatalities vs. Firearm Homicides

Due to Homeland Security - photo by Thomas HawkAmerica is a country that prides itself on bravery and strength, but we have an irrational fear of terrorism in the post-9/11 years. You are more likely to die in a car accident, a fall, or even drown, than die in a terrorist incident. In some cases, many thousands of times more likely. But while we made no rash or illogical decisions regarding automobile deaths, we have done exactly that in response to terrorism. In addition to car accidents, falls and drownings, you are also more likely to be murdered by firearm than murdered by terrorist attack. And while car accidents, falls and drownings are accidents, murder by gun is no accident, and that makes it a good statistic to compare to terrorism.

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May 9, 2013

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre Says ‘We Are In The Midst Of A Once-In-A-Generation Fight’

During the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual celebration of gun violence (and rights), otherwise known as their national convention, executive vice president Wayne LaPierre made it clear that he believes the NRA and gun owners are in a war. “We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about,” said LaPierre. Many of us on the left label the gun crazies as one-issue voters, and with that single statement, LaPierre has confirmed it.

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April 28, 2013

Left, Right False Equivalence: Newtown vs. Boston

A false equivalence narrative has crept into the conversation after the Boston Marathon bombing. It goes something like this: The Left reacted to the mass-shooting in Newtown, Connecticut by saying “we have to do something,” and the Right reacted to the bombing at the Boston Marathon by saying exactly the same thing. On Newtown, liberals want a ban on assault weapons and expanded background checks. On Boston, conservatives want the surviving suspect classified an enemy combatant, suspending his rights as an American citizen, among other similar police state responses.

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April 26, 2013

Poll: Majority Of Pennsylvania Voters Are ‘Angry’ Or ‘Dissatisfied’ Over Background Check Vote

A Quinnipiac University poll finds a large majority of Pennsylvania voters supported the Manchin-Toomey background check bill that was “defeated” in the Senate last week. Sixty-nine percent of PA voters said they “strongly support” expanded background checks. The background check bill did not make it to the artificial 60-vote threshold needed to pass. In the Senate, barring political nonsense, it only requires a simply majority to pass a bill. But those days are long gone. The failure of expanded background checks to pass the Senate has 34 percent of PA voters “angry,” and 36 percent “dissatisfied.”

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April 21, 2013

Has Society Moved Beyond The Second Amendment?

On Friday’s Real Time on HBO, Bill Maher quoted conservative columnist George Will from an article he wrote in 1991 titled, “How Embarrassing: The Constitution Protects the Guns that Kill.” Yes folks, this is actually a George Will article. “The Bill of Rights should be modified only with extreme reluctance, but America has an extreme crisis of gunfire,” wrote Will. “And impatience to deal with it can cause less than scrupulous readings of the Constitution.” Because anyone who thinks the language of the Second Amendment guarantees their right to own an assault weapon is hiding behind that Amendment, not comprehending it. “Whatever right the Second Amendment protects is not as important as it was 200 years ago, when the requirements of self-defense and food-gathering made gun ownership almost universal,” said Will.

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April 20, 2013

John Oliver Exposes Australia’s Gun Control ‘Failure’

In 1996 Australia suffered it’s worst mass shooting event with 35 innocent people killed. Newly elected conservative Prime Minister John Howard faced a choice, he could enact strong gun control laws that might also penalize law-abiding gun owners, or do nothing. He chose the former, and with 17 years of data, the evidence is pretty clear. In the 18 years preceding the 1996 massacre, Australia saw 13 mass shootings. There have been none since tough new gun control measures passed.

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