Bill Moyers: Why Have We Stopped Talking about Guns?

[marmar]

via CommonDreams:



Published on Saturday, June 13, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Why Have We Stopped Talking about Guns?
by Bill Moyers & Michael Winship


You know by now that in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, an elderly white supremacist and anti-Semite named James W. von Brunn allegedly walked into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with a .22-caliber rifle and killed security guard Stephen T. Johns before being brought down himself. He's 88 years old, with a long record of hatred and paranoid fantasies about the Illuminati and a Global Zionist state. How bitter the bile that has curdled for so many decades.

You will know, too, of the recent killing, while ushering at his local church, of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country still performing late term abortions. Sadly, this case was proof that fatal violence works. His family has announced that his Wichita, Kansas, clinic will not be reopened.

You may be less familiar with the June 1st shootings in an army recruiting office in Little Rock that killed one soldier and wounded another. The suspect in question is an African-American Muslim convert who says he acted in retaliation for US military activity in the Middle East.

Soon, however, these terrible deeds will be forgotten, as are already the three policemen killed by an assault weapon in Pittsburgh; the four policemen killed in Oakland, California; the 13 people gunned down in Binghamton, New York; the 10 in an Alabama shooting spree; five in Santa Clara, California; the eight dead in a North Carolina, nursing home. All during this year alone.

There is much talk about hate talk; hate crimes against blacks, whites, immigrants, Muslims, Jews; about violence committed in the name of bigotry or religion. But why don't we talk about guns?

....(snip)....

The fact is, neither party will stand up to the National Rifle Association, the best known front group for the arms merchants. In Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the Holocaust Museum, this week's Democratic primary for governor was won by state legislator R. Creigh Deeds, a man who supports allowing concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol and opposes limiting handgun purchases to one a month. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/13

[pocoloco]

1. Short answer......

don't like repug presidents!

Surely a million deaths in Iraq mean something?

[gratuitous]

2. Neither party will stand up to the NRA

That's part of it, and the NRA has a very effective cadre of people to crawl out and feast on minutiae. Bodies are hitting the ground, families are torn apart, whole towns are grieving, and the NRA ties further knots in the discussion by arguing about whether the lethal weapon was an "automatic," "semi-automatic" or "assault." Oh so concerned they are to get the facts ju-u-u-u-ust right before any substantive discussion can be had. There may be indisputably dead and maimed victims, but we have to stop and determine precisely what the caliber of the instrument of lethality was, the sort of ammunition, and a dazzling array of questions about how many rounds the weapon will fire in a minute, "stopping power" and so many other tidbits the NRA considers far more fascinating than freshly aerated human bodies.

[virginia mountainman]

5. Because they are too busy standing up to the Repuke ..

Ran and lead Brady Campain... Not too mention those assholes at the VPC

[marmar]

6. Yeah, it's not like the NRA had Repug asshole leadership like Charleton Heston.....

...... or tried to smear our eventual Democratic president as a totalitarian gun-grabber during the 2008 campaign or anything.

:eyes:

[virginia mountainman]

9. If the ACLU would get off their asses,(re the 2nd) we would not need the NRA

The way it looks from my chair here, the NRA has the 2nd, and the ACLU has the rest of the Bill of Rights, you want to see the NRA loose much power, get the ACLU to step up to the plate, and stop being hypocrites.

And you must admit, Obama record on Gun Rights, is not very impressive, and that is being kind..

I must say, I did not support him during the primaries, but I have been impressed with him since!

[marmar]

10. "And you must admit, Obama record on Gun Rights, is not very impressive"

To whom? ...... To you perhaps, but please don't apply that mindset to everyone.

[virginia mountainman]

15. I can read his voting record;

He has a long history of supporting gun control in Il, not to mention statements he has made over the years.

[marmar]

18. And again, that's fine with some of us, if not with you.....

..... n'est-ce pas?

[virginia mountainman]

22. oui...

But don't act like the NRA is misleading on this, they are being bombastic, but the basic facts are true.

That being said, I am very happy with Obama...So far.

(You made me remember some french I took in high school, many many years ago, wow, I thought I had forgot!)

[aikoaiko]

14. Its not theNRA that is causing Congress & the President to steer away from reducing access to arms

Its voters. I'm sure they (Obama's admin & legislators) noticed that if people have been willing to spend hard earned money on a surge of gun and ammo buying during a crushing recession, then they had better be worried about retaliation at the voting booth should they ban or restrict access to those guns and ammo.

[Redneck Socialist]

11. Gun legislation is based on that very "minutiae."

Given that, it's rather important that picky little details such as if a gun is automatic or semi-automatic be gotten correct.

[X_Digger]

16. Not 'fascinating', but germane to proposed legislation

Rep Carolyn McCarthy's husband was killed by Colin Ferguson with a 9mm handgun. She used that incident to help push through the assault weapon ban- a ban primarily targeted at rifles with scary looks. There's no indication that her signature legislation would have had any application toward her tragedy.

Some people's unfamiliarity with guns made this possible; let me change the terms to see if it still makes sense..

John Doe was killed by a man driving a Celica into a crowd of people. Rep Jane Doe then proposes a ban on Hummers, Tahoes, Escalades, and any vehicle having any two of the following features- <20mpg, tires bigger than 17", a stereo capable of producing more than 100db, power windows, a hood ornament that sticks up.

Now after seeing that ban pass, is it any wonder that after another misuse of a car by a criminal that car enthusiasts would be wondering about what the features of the car are?

[MichiganVote]

3. ...and teachers are the ones called terrorists...(eye roll)

[virginia mountainman]

4. A closed mind is a terrible thing...

The e-mail went on to say, "Your audience will appreciate non nonsense common sense talk that will make them wonder why anyone wants to ban guns in the first place."

Thanks, but no thanks.

Yes, don't even discuss a differing view point, Way to keep an open mind Bill.....

[aikoaiko]

7. Bill, we have been talking about guns, the anti-gun side has simply been losing the argument

And, Bill, its not the gun merchants or the NRA who are winning the day, it is those citizens who support the 2nd Amendment.

[ThomWV]

8. Because the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, has settled the matter

We have a 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. People who do not like that should try to amend the Constitution and if they are successful then we will not have the right to bear arms and laws restricting our ability to bear arms may then be written and enforced. Its really that simple.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. It's also simple to understand the outrage over the recent shootings

It's a complicated issue. But let's be honest and admit there is a problem when lunatics get their hands on guns and murder people. We shouldn't have to amend the constitution to address that.

[X_Digger]

20. Outrage is understandable..

.. however knee-jerk responses are not. That's how we got the patriot act, too.

Sensible changes to legislation- like opening up NICS to private sellers (after working on privacy concerns)- have been endorsed by a majority of folks in the gungeon here at DU. Nobody wants maniacs to have access to guns, but restricting everyone's access to guns as a means to that end would be as silly as limiting access to new cars because some suicidal idiot might plow into oncoming traffic.

[Fumesucker]

13. There are already a great many restrictions on what arms you may have.. n/t

[ThomWV]

23. Yes there are - and if challenged properly they would probably fall too.

Because let's face it, a right is a right. Besides, as the person said above, it really doesn't make sense to amend the Constitution to address the actions of people who are breaking existing law, or in many cases simply demented.

[Redneck Socialist]

17. There has been a lot of talk about guns Bill, perhaps you weren't listening.

"...this week's Democratic primary for governor was won by state legislator R. Creigh Deeds, a man who supports allowing concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol and opposes limiting handgun purchases to one a month."

It's quite possible that Mr. Deeds' victory, at least in part, was based on his support of the right to bear arms.

I think perhaps that you just don't care for direction the discussion has taken.

[X_Digger]

19. The people have spoken..

http://www.gallup.com/poll/117361/support-gun-control-laws-time-lows.aspx


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/08/gun.control.poll/index.html

Now, a recent poll reveals a sudden drop -- only 39 percent of Americans now favor stricter gun laws, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll.

[aikoaiko]

21. only 39 percent of Americans now favor stricter gun laws -- holy schmoly thats low

Its gotta hurt when the usual fear mongering doesn't work for the anti-rkba side anymore.

[Xenotime]

24. With right wing terrorists running around shooting everything in sight..

Why woudlnt' you want stricter gun control. It just doesn't make sense.

[undeterred]

25. I don't feel safe living in this country with so many guns

and I don't care whether they belong to the crazies on the left or the right. Anyone who values a weapon and their right to own it to the point where they don't give a damn about the needless waste of human life is crazy and should be disarmed.

[kenny blankenship]

26. sssh...

You want to get us all shot?