In the wake of yesterday's school shooting in Florida (and it occurs to me that I could start a department on this blog titled "Massacre du Jour," but that would be a bit too ghoulish), Fox News' Steve Doocy asked Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-NRA) if it was appropriate to be talking about gun control:
The facts that are necessary to know are: some wacko got his hands on an assault rifle, walked into a public high school and started shooting. Who the shooter is and his motivations are secondary; how he got the weapon is wide open: over the counter at a gun shop, at a gun fair, mail order -- there are a lot of options.
Via Joe.My.God. who adds this little tidbit:
And why doesn't the cry "Save the children!" resonate with Republicans when it's used for gun control the way it did when it was used against gay civil rights?
Sorry -- silly question. Mrs. Betty Bowers provided the answer. (And it looks like one of Jimmy Kimmel's writers has given us the answer for a lot more Republicans.)
I can't let this go without adding this to the mix:
Footnote: We can learn a lesson from Australia:
Australia has also seen steep declines in gun-related deaths overall. You think maybe there's a connection?
“It’s not, only because people don’t know how this happened,” Rubio said. “[We don’t know] who this person is, what motivated them, how did they get a hold of the weapon that they used for this attack.”
. . .
“I think it’s important to know all of that before you jump to conclusions that there’s some law we could have passed that could have prevented it,” he continued. “There may be, but shouldn’t we at least know the facts?”
The facts that are necessary to know are: some wacko got his hands on an assault rifle, walked into a public high school and started shooting. Who the shooter is and his motivations are secondary; how he got the weapon is wide open: over the counter at a gun shop, at a gun fair, mail order -- there are a lot of options.
Via Joe.My.God. who adds this little tidbit:
Marco Rubio, hooker for the #NRA, took $3,298,405 in blood money from them in 2016. I'm sure there is a Proverb he can tweet that will make that all OK . . . #GunControlNow https://t.co/h2P7li2Glx
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) February 15, 2018
And why doesn't the cry "Save the children!" resonate with Republicans when it's used for gun control the way it did when it was used against gay civil rights?
Sorry -- silly question. Mrs. Betty Bowers provided the answer. (And it looks like one of Jimmy Kimmel's writers has given us the answer for a lot more Republicans.)
I can't let this go without adding this to the mix:
Footnote: We can learn a lesson from Australia:
In April 1996, a 28-year-old man armed with semi-automatic rifles entered a cafe in the small Australian town of Port Arthur, shot and killed 35 people and injured 23 others. It was the worst mass shooting in Australian history.(Emphasis added.)
The day after the massacre, the country’s prime minister, John Howard (a newly elected leader), started to put together the most sweeping gun control reforms ever contemplated by any Australian government.
The country passed the National Firearms Agreement, which banned automatic, semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns. It also introduced a stricter system for licensing and owning guns. The agreement is considered one of the strictest gun laws in the world. . . .
It took just 14 days after the Port Arthur massacre for gun laws to be proposed and then passed by the Australian government.
In the decades before the Port Arthur killings, there were 13 mass shootings in Australia (defined by academics as the killing of five or more people, not including the shooter).
Since the 1996 gun reform, Australia has not had another mass shooting.
Australia has also seen steep declines in gun-related deaths overall. You think maybe there's a connection?
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