Let's look on the good side

They terrorists are white- HOORAY- this proves they are racist white supremacists and (young) old white males
They are from a Muslim family- BOO- since Islam=Middle East all Muslims and foreigners darker than a piece of paper will be blamed

They had guns- HOORAY- this shows how lax our gun laws are
It happened in Massachusetts- BOO- they are held as an example of a state with good strong gun laws (even if it was Romney who signed many)

Therefore they had to go out of state- HOORAY- it shows how criminals will break laws to get guns
Wait, that's an NRA talking point- BOO

Maybe now the government will take serious action- HOORAY- maybe the Dems can push for GC- HOORAY- and Repubs can push for secret lists of people to watch and limit their activities without due process- HOORAY- wait, no we don't like that BOO, but more than a few on DU love the idea of an authoritarian state that constantly monitors everyone... I'm confused, let's just move on...

Repubs will push for more scrutiny of foreigner visitors and probably want the suspect sent to Gitmo.........



Hmmm, maybe this whole situation sucks and we can gloat what is and is not true about the suspects but in fact there are no winners only victims

Give the Devil his due

The NRA deserves the majority of the credit/blame for the crash and burn of gun control bills They played a poor hand masterfully and were handed many strategic and tactical advantages.

-immediate post-Newtown the NRA did the best thing they could have... nothing. (Honestly who would have accepted any statement of remorse or sympathy as sincere?)

-they used the time to keep a finger in the wind and develop a counter plan to knee jerk reactions- armed teachers.
-Like any good lie, it is 90% true. We see people carrying guns every day such as police and security officers. No one even sees the gun on the guy filling the ATM.
-many places do have armed guards without incidents.
-the tiny lie is the omission that schools are different from banks, power plants etc.
-the reaction was support from the usual places and outrage from all expected points. But the NRA could say “See we are trying”

-WLP took to the air to mobilize his core support by overemphasizing the extreme control proposals, overemphasizing his reasonableness and flat out misrepresenting reasonable proposals.

Help from gun control supporters gave the NRA an easy road:

-knee jerk reactions using the word 'ban' validated the last 4+ years of doom and gloom predictions of Obama' 'real' objective.

-Biden's committee made a grave error. He first spoke to LE representatives, which makes sense. Then every pro-GC group came up and last the NRA
-it gave the appearance the opinion of gun owners was irrelevant and the decisions were already made
-while there were no big surprises in what the pro-GC people said, the NRA had the advantage of seeing everyone else's cards before betting. They could answer and act on the offense
-had they gone first they would have had to put forth a position without knowing exactly what was on the table

-Bloomberg has money, but his interference is seen as a rich New England against rural America

-NY's hasty SAFE Act passing w/out debate and full of flaws showed that proposals were no being well planned but implemented 'while they have the chance'

-the group blame leveled at all gun owners while crowing how the majority of gun owners support increased BC diluted the message of support

-dispersion of effort. It would make sense to rally behind the Giffords and present a single unified voice in favor of GC

-the demands of all or nothing further polarized the matter


Lest I be accused of being an NRA shill (can anyone direct me as to where to collect the money) here is how to pass GC bills

-ain't happening this year
-write a strong UBC bill with penalties for straw purchase and transferring guns to criminals
-make a streamlined process for inter-family transfer
-give up the AWB. The loss of support is greater than the effect on crime
-include National Reciprocity
-set broad minimal qualification standards and allow the states to decide how to meet these standards
-allow states to set restrictions short of total prohibition
-increase penalties for those who deal without an FFL and dealers who violate BC requirements
-use the hunters Turn In Poachers model to encourage reporting of people selling guns without conducting UBC
-focus effort and money behind a single pro-GC group
-reach out to the 80+/-% of gun owners who support UBC to join the movement
-call out the NRA at every opportunity on their prior support of UBC
-if absolutely needed, put in a sunset clause. It will be much easier to renew the law by showing how it helped, than the ambiguity of the AWB in 2004

DGU- does it count?

Read boards from the 'other side' about Rep DeGette

they really don't give a rip about her reusable or not magazines. The talk is about her callousness seen in this video.

I have edited out the rest of the commentary but left this for explanation