U.S. Gun Laws: Public's Will Thwarted by Minority's Power

[SecularMotion]

“The gunman is worse than the one at the theatre a couple of weeks ago because he targeted an entire community," said a worshipper who witnessed the tragic shooting at his local gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wis., Aug. 5. The shootings killed seven people, including the gunman, and critically wounded three people, including a policeman.

As a claim, it is open to debate. The body count was higher in Aurora, Colo., so was the number of injured. Hate crimes carry a greater penalty in the United States, but it is a fool’s game to pit one tragedy against another.

What matters more is what the two shooters shared in common: the possession of lethal weapons. The kind that allowed one individual to wreak disproportionate harm, take multiple lives in a matter of seconds, allowed him to live out his most violent fantasies. Focusing on the “hate” angle distracts from the far greater crime: the appalling state of gun laws in the United States.

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people -- or so goes the tired argument used by anti-gun control advocates to dismiss any call for stricter legislation. And their Republican supporters like Mitt Romney are quick to define every shooting rampage as the work of a “deranged person.”


http://newamericamedia.org/2012/08/us-gun-laws-majoritys-will-thwarted-by-minoritys.php

[ileus]

1. I suppose guns do kill people after all.

[X_Digger]

2. The "public's will" is for laws to remain the same.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. A minority was against slavery too

[4th law of robotics]

4. The majority are ok with our current laws

so the question is "why are we stubbornly refusing to tear up the constitution at the behest of an angry minority?"

[krispos42]

5. So should majority rule on a city, county, state, or federal level?

If, say, the majority of Virginians want to enact Vermont-style laws, will NY and NJ shut up and concede "majority rules" when local gun traffickers move guns from VA to their states to combat the vacuum created by their gun laws?

Will NY and NJ not say a single word about how VA should toughen up their gun laws?

[BigAlanMac]

13. Unless the laws in Vermont and Virginia have changed

lately, the requirements and checks needed to buy a firearm in VA is exactly the same as it is in Vermont. Probably a little better in VA since the VASP do a state check plus a NICS check.

[Missycim]

6. So if the majority

wants to do away with abortion you'd be ok with that? ( I wouldn't)

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Ever since 1994 the public will has been for relaxing gun laws.

The public has elected, and continues to elect, politicians who are gun-friendly. The percentage of Senators and Representatives who have NRA "A" ratings has been steadily climbing, and now stands at over 50%.

[rDigital]

8. People are responsible for their own actions.

You wouldn't blame Ford & Budweiser for a drunk driver.

You wouldn't blame a paintbrush for a work of art.

Spoons are not responsible for obesity.

Fertilizer companies are not responsible for bomb makers.

Gun makers are not responsible for those who misuse their products.

[friendly_iconoclast]

9. You really want to go that route?: "Coloradoans likely to vote on ‘fetal personhood’ for a....

...third time in November"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014188255

[HALO141]

10. If "the minority" was really

In the minority it wouldn't be so powerful. Or is that too obvious for some people?

[aikoaiko]

11. Republicans thank you for effort to gain support for more gun restrictions.

Fortunately, the President's Press Secretary has already said no new federal guns laws.

[Atypical Liberal]

12. Civil rights should never be up for a popularity vote anyway.

I don't care if a majority or a minority wants to preserve slavery, slavery is wrong. I don't care if a majority or a minority want to ban gay marriage, it's wrong to oppose gay marriage. I don't care if a majority or a minority want to ban abortion, it's wrong to oppose abortion.

Likewise, I don't care if a majority or a minority wants to take away people's right and ability to defend themselves, it's wrong to try to do so.

[rl6214]

14. I know you normally don't comment on your own posts but

if it's the public will, I would assume the article is implying it's the MAJORITY of the public will and if so, the MAJORITY votes into office people that will back their will so if that's the case, how can the MAJORITIES will be thwarted by the minority?