Aaron Sorkin wrote for actor Michael Douglas - as President Andrew Shepherd - in the 1995 motion picture, The American President, "You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security and I will go door to door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right...and I'm gonna get the guns."Unfortunately, Andrew Shepherd is a fictional character and The American President is a fictional movie.
For five years - between May 2003 and June 2008 - California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, Florida Democratic House Representative Alcee Hastings and Republican House Representatives Michael Castle of Delaware and Mark Kirk of Illinois introduced bills to reauthorize the ban. At that same time, Senator Frank
Lautenberg of New Jersey and House Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York - both Democrats - introduced similar bills, which would have created a new ban with a revised definition for assault weapons. Regrettably, none of the bills left committee.
Shame on President George W. Bush and the Republicans in Congress - at that time - who did not push for the ban to be reinstated when Democrats...and even some Republicans...did all they could to keep the law on the books.
After the 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama spelled out a detailed agenda to "make the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent." A few months later in 2009...President Obama instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to further make the President's desire...to revive the ban...known to all lawmakers...and to the country. Attempts to pass a new federal Assault Weapons Ban were made in December 2012 after twenty first-grade children and six educators were slaughtered - shot to death - in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. A month later, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced The Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. The bill was similar to the 1994 ban, but that it would not have expired after ten years. But the Republican Congressional delegation from Texas condemned Senator Feinstein's bill...as did the National Rifle Association. On March 14th, 2013...Democrats and Republicans of the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the bill. But on April 17th, 2013, the new bill was defeated by a vote of 40 in favor and 60 opposed.
I hope those Senators and Representatives who said "Nay" in 2004 and 2013 feel really good about themselves today that 50 innocent Americans are dead...and 53 more are hospitalized after being wounded...when - at about 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 12th, 2016 - a mentally unstable, homophobic hater...who had reportedly sworn allegiance to ISIS...went on a shooting rampage...and opened fire at a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Of course, I'm being sarcastic...because any politician who voted against a renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban...should be feeling lousy that they didn't vote to approve such a ban. Meanwhile, President Obama has officially tagged the attack in Orlando..."an act of terror" and "an act of hate" by a "very sick person." Authorities say the cold-blooded killer - who died in a gun battle with SWAT officers - was known to...and had been watched by...federal agents...within the last few years...but that he was dismissed as a threat to anyone. Obviously, somebody made a tragic mistake with their observation of this deranged madman. And now...50 victims are dead...and 53 more are laying in a hospital...wounded by the bullets of a psychotic. Ammunition and firearms - including an assault weapon and handgun - were legally purchased within the last week before his deadly shooting spree. How was somebody who was already on The F.B.I.'s radar...able to buy guns? This should never have happened...and can NOT ever happen again.
Maybe now...Republicans will join forces with Democrats...and pass a gun control law that will stop the heinous type of crime that stole the lives of 50 beautiful souls.
Fifty individuals left their homes on Saturday evening, June 11th...thinking they would be returning after a night of mirth, merriment and music...but to end up being...brutally murdered. The families of those 50 people have had their hearts ripped out from inside them...and they are now suffering deeply that their loved ones are gone forever.
After the tragedy in Orlando - the worst mass shooting in American history - if Republicans in Congress still refuse to pass a commonsense gun control law that would ban assault weapons in the United States...America is not the country I have always thought it to be. And if Americans overall...do not demand Congress to act accordingly...then our nation is going to agonize again and again...and more families will be grieving...following future shooting horrors. I, therefore, ask each of you who are reading this column...to think about that for more than a minute...because the next person killed...might just be someone you love...or one of your friends. And now think of this. Or that someone...may be you.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
After the above commentary was published, The F.B.I. adjusted the count of those killed from 50 to 49. Federal agents now say that the original total included the gunman...which authorities do not consider..."a victim."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
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Photo credits: tvovermind.com (Academy Award Winner Aaron Sorkin), monologuedb.com, Castle Rock Entertainment and Columbia Pictures (Academy Award Winner Michael Douglas), wired.com (former President Bill Clinton), MSNBC and NBC News (Senator Dianne Feinstein), nj.com (Senator Frank Lautenberg), zimbio.com (former President George W. Bush), humanevents.com (former Attorney General Eric Holder) and voanews.com (President Barack Obama)
Copyright 2016 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
Will do nothing. Virginia Tech which was worst before this one was done with two handguns... no assault weapons. can't put the genie back in the bottle. your only choice now is arm yourself and have a chance or be a victim. i carry everywhere everyday now.
ReplyDeleteHow tragic...and how sad...that you feel that way. Are you suggesting we go back in time to the wild west where everybody walked around with rifles, shotguns or sidearms? Do I call you Matt Dillon, Lucas McCain or Little Joe Cartwright? GBD
Deleteits too bad but its all you can do. be a helpless victim or have your own gun and stand a chance. your choice. somebody walks into mcdonalds and starts shooting people with a pistol what are you going to do. you're going to sit there and die if you don't have a gun.
DeleteThat's why we need commonsense gun control laws with extreme background checks and a 90-day waiting period to purchase a gun. GBD
Deletekeep telling yourself that and remain helpless... what would that do... anybody can pass a background check before they commit a crime... anybody can wait 90 days while they plan their crime... that won't stop anything... there are over 300,000,000 privately owned guns in the us already... you think all those will just disappear if a new law is passed? you need to be realistic and if you care about your own safety carry your own defense... its really the only option these days... banning 'assault weapons' does nothing... they aren't any more deadly then all the weapons that aren't called assault weapons....
DeleteYou'll never get me to agree with you, so I just hope I am right...and you're not. Otherwise, America will be going back 150 years. I'd hate to see that happen. GBD
Deletethere is nothing to agree or disagree with... I've given you facts and you still think something I'm saying isn't true.
Deletefact - there are 300,000,000+ guns in american homes
fact - handguns and rifles that you don't count as 'assault weapons' fire just as quickly and are just as deadly as what you want to ban so banning 'assault weapons' does nothing. if you think otherwise id love for you to tell me the difference between an assault weapon and a handgun...
fact - every single mass shooting would have still happened even if 'assault weapons' were banned
fact - if you are sitting somewhere and somebody walks in with a gun and starts shooting people no law is going to help you. you better have your own gun to shoot back or you will be dead. there is no agreeing or not agreeing here. if -right now- you go out to eat or out to a bar or out to a movie and somebody starts shooting what are you going to do? i don't know about you but id rather have at least a chance instead of being a helpless victim pleading for my life on the floor. you may not -like- it but that is the reality we live in now. just because you don't like the idea of people having guns that doesn't make them any less important. the people like me who carry guns everywhere are the ones that might save your life one day
My point is this. I don't want every citizen of the United States of America - men, women, boys and girls - stepping in to a time machine (so to speak) and going back 150 years to an era when everybody walked the streets with guns. Something must be done to prevent that from happening. I've written in other commentaries over the years that if our forefathers were able to look in to a crystal ball and foresee the future (obviously they couldn't) then there would not have been a Second Amendment written as it is and Americans would not have the right to bear arms. But that isn't the case. And nobody can go back in time to ask the founders of our nation what they might have done differently if they knew then what we know today. However, as President Obama stated the other day, not he, nor Hillary Clinton, nor most, if not all Democrats, want the Second Amendment to go away. We just want a commonsense gun control law with better background checks and NO ASSAULT WEAPONS. As for your question about the difference between assault weapons and handguns, there is a great difference. Oh yeah, they both kill, but a handgun isn't going to kill dozens of people in a matter of seconds. An assault weapon can. One person being killed by a gun is one too many - especially if he or she is your loved one...or YOU. But without asssault weapons, 49 people would not have been senselessly murdered in Orlando. We must do better background checks and people who are on FBI watch lists, must NEVER, EVER be able to buy any kind of gun. I could go on, but I think you get my point. GBD
Deleteeverybody supports what you are saying as far as wanting to prevent things. you are 100% completely wrong about "assault weapons" though and you still haven't told me why they are more dangerous than other types of guns. i assume its because you don't know since you aren't familiar with firearms and thats OK but don't spread false information or buy into what you see the liberal media spreading false information. please explain to me how a so called assault weapon kills dozens of people in a matter of seconds vs any other type of gun. you can't. an "assault weapon" and a hand gun or any other modern rifle fire one round per trigger pull. if you pull the trigger fast and shoot 10 rounds on a assault weapon you can do the same thing and shoot just as many rounds in the same time on a pistol. the title of your post is ban assault weapons yet you don't really have a reason why you want to ban them other than you think they are somehow more deadly than other guns. you statement about how 49 people would not be dead without assault weapons is completely false and shameful. i assure you just as many people would be dead if the shooter used other types of rifles or handguns. look at virginia tech... look at charleston... look at columbine... no "assault weapons" used... so please do some actual research before posting nonsense like this... don't just repeat what you hear on TV. if you still think you're right please explain -EXACTLY- why an "assault weapon" is more deadly than a pistol or other rifles that aren't classified as "assault weapons".
DeleteSo what you are basically saying is that I should actually be debating with you that we ought to ban ALL guns. I know you don't want that...and that you know is never going to happen. Although the world would be better off without them. GBD
Deleteyes at least if you wanted that you would make some sense even tho it would never happen with 300,000,000 guns already out there. saying you want to ban 'assault weapons' is like saying you heard some drunk drivers drove Fords so as soon as we ban all Fords there won't be any more drunk driving... you still can't tell me why you think assault weapons are more deadly than others because you don't have a reason other than you heard somebody say it on tv.
DeleteI believe I gave you my reasons...and it has nothing to do with hearing somebody say it on TV. Your reasoning, however, is completely illogical. But since you obviously believe that we should all be carrying sidearms, I wouldn't expect you to agree with me on anything concerning gun control. I think we're done here with this debate. Feel free to read my latest column and to comment. GBD
DeleteEvery law-abiding citizen should if he or she wants, should have the right to carry a firearm, it is their Constitutional Right. But you as with most of the left don’t think much of the Constitution! The country would be a lot worse off if we band all guns, then only the bad guys and terrorist would have them and we would not be able to protect ourselves!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I have been ill thus the delay in responding to your comment. As for your remarks, I'm always amazed when a Republican reader tells me - a Democratic progressive liberal - that I "don't think much of the Constitution." Shame on you for saying something so offensive. My feelings remain the same as always that we must ban assault weapons and that we must have strict background checks to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. In a perfect world, I would get rid of guns altogether, but I realize that is impossible. Therefore, we need commonsense gun control laws and background checks that will hopefully prevent people who should never have a gun the chance of getting one. GBD
DeleteYou being a “Democratic progressive liberal” by definition can’t think much of the US Constitution. The policies you stand for are in direct contrast to the Constitution. To start off Democratic progressive liberal don’t stand for the 1st 2nd and 10th amendments, freedom of religion only when it doesn’t interfere with your big government programs and control, ie: everybody has to pay for birth control against your religion or not, pay for abortions, participate in gay marriages the list goes on. Freedom of speech as long as you agree with it, a true believer in free speech could never support “safe zones on college campuses and many other places. Free speech is Citizens United allowing anyone to use their own money to support anyone for any elected position without limits. The Second, all the Democratic progressive liberal want to do is take the guns away from law abiding people. The tenth you seem to think the FEDs have a right to stick their noses into everything they don’t. We are 50 states with states’ rights! You can claim all you want that you support the US Constitution but we all know you don’t!
ReplyDeleteI won't even acknowledge all of the venomous nonsense you spewed in your comment since it's disgraceful to accuse anyone - "a Democratic progressive liberal" - or anybody else...of not supporting the U.S. Constitution. However, I will respond to one part of your remark. And that is - not I, not President Obama, not Hillary Clinton and not most other Democrats want to "take the guns away from law abiding people." So it's your lack in education about the Democratic Party that gives you such a ludicrous idea. GBD
ReplyDeleteIt is not “venomous nonsense” as you put it, it is truth. You cannot defend against the facts and truth. As for taking guns away, you have stated in earlier posts a quote from a movie The American President when Michael Douglas said “I'm gonna get the guns”. Once again you and the left can’t tell the truth, you want to take away our guns. As for the 1st and 10th amendments my statements are 100% correct and maybe you should get educated on what your leftwing party stands for, it’s not the US Constitution or the rule of law, just ask Hillary!
ReplyDeleteYour "venomous nonsense" continues. You - as with most other Republicans - are someone who just thinks he or she (I don't know your gender since you continue to remain anonymous) can spin things the way you want. Nobody wants to take away regular types of guns from law abiding citizens who have gone through background checks showing proof that they are not someone who is likely to go killing people. It does amaze me though that you and other Republicans want to bash Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for everything bad in the world. I'm surprised you haven't accused one, two or all three of them of President John F. Kennedy's assassination - even though President Clinton was only 17 years old, Secretary of State Clinton was only 16 and President Obama was only age 2. GBD
ReplyDelete