"President Obama, his face set with rage, stood in the Rose Garden surrounded by the families of Newtown and former Representative Gabrielle Giffords and asked how a measure to expand background checks for gun buyers--one supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans and a bipartisan majority of the Senate--had slipped away.
'The American people are trying to figure out,' Mr. Obama said, 'how can something have 90 percent support and yet not happen?'...
...(The N.R.A.) which once supported new background checks, (decided it) would no longer abide them...Then the Gun Owners of America chimed in, attacking Republican senators who showed any interest in compromise, arguing that a national gun registry would arise from the bill...
...(Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns), said...'the American people have recently been treated to such a stark display of frank dishonesty. You have grown men making statements that they plainly know to be false reading directly from talking points from a gun lobby that plainly knows them to be false.'
...The fierce lobby against gun control believes the battle is over for now.
'We feel confident this will spell the end of gun control for the 113th Congress,' said Michael Hammond, the legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, based in Virginia. 'The gun registry defined the battle over universal background checks.'"
what eye thynk: How is it possible that 90% of Americans were ignored by their Senators, Mr. President? Because Congress' attitude has become "You elected me to represent you and that is my job; but now that I'm here, I feel that my position as an elite lawmaker is more important to me than your opinion or the safety of your children and so I have decided to protect my cushy billet by pledging my support, not to you, but to any lobbyist willing to pay for my vote and who will campaign against anyone who opposes me.".
As for the gun lobby's claim that universal background checks would result in a national gun registry, that was a lie created out of whole cloth. Nowhere in any of the bills offered--neither those created by the bi-partisan Senate committee nor the compromise bill offered by conservatives Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania)--is there mention of a national gun registry. But that didn't stop anti-gun control activists from claiming it was fact and that it presented a threat to the liberty of every American.
Where I grew up, lying to get what you wanted was considered cheating. In today's political arena, it is business as usual. And Mr. Hammond is proud to say it "defined the battle".
Just before the Senate was to vote on these gun control bills, former Representative Gabrielle Giffords ran into Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) in the hall outside the Senate chamber. It is difficult for Ms. Giffords to speak since her brush with gun violence in 2011. She wanted to convince Senator Flake, who had indicated that he intended to vote against any new gun control legislation, to change his mind. The only word she was able to get out was "need". Mr. Flake could not look her in the eye, but said that he "was sorry". He later explained that he "didn't know what else to say. It's very hard."
Hard? Or were you just not brave enough to stand up to the NRA and the Gun Owners of America and say "Enough"?
The votes:
- Universal background checks - 46 no, 54 yes (Sen. Reid changed his "yes" vote to a "no" in order to preserve the parliamentary right to re-introduce the bill.
- Assault weapons ban - 60 no, 40 yes
- Magazine size limits - 54 no, 46 yes
So this is our once proud Senate...a room half filled with cowards being piloted by a group of liars waving money.
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