SF Chron editorial: "Politicians duck the 'gun factor'"

[Creeping Incrementalism]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/04/EDG6PKDUJP1.DTL

THREE FATAL shootings on school campuses in a single week should prompt deep national soul-searching about what could be done to make sure horrific crimes such as these never happen again.

In the past, these sort of shootings might have triggered intense discussion about the need for stricter gun-control laws.

Yet, it is an indication of how successful the National Rifle Association and other anti-gun-control forces have been in removing the issue of gun control from the national political agenda -- and getting our political leaders to acquiesce to their wishes.

We know that gun-control laws on their own won't eliminate gun violence.

But the question has to be asked: How it is possible that a disturbed man in Pennsylvania can get hold of a shotgun, a rifle and a semiautomatic handgun, along with 600 rounds of ammunition -- then use them to kill five defenseless schoolgirls?

The question has to be asked: How can guns flow through East Oakland, West Oakland, Richmond's Iron Triangle and Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco without any legal barriers?

President Bush's response? Convene yet another conference.

Incredibly, the conference won't focus on how to get guns out of the hands of criminals, but will strategize on how to improve school safety.

"Our schoolchildren should never fear their safety when they enter a classroom," he said Tuesday. He spoke from Stockton, which the president may not have known was the site of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. In 1989, 5 students were killed and 29 wounded at an elementary school.

Mr. President, the only way to make classrooms safe would be to turn every school in America into an armed fortress -- an impossible task. Another approach might be to figure how to get guns out of the hands of insane, depraved individuals, who acquire guns as easily as they can buy a six-pack.

An indication of our wayward national priorities can be found in a bill, HR5092, approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week. The bill, a legislative priority of the NRA, would make it far more difficult for federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to crack down on gun dealers who violate federal gun laws.

Lawmakers somehow found time to pass this irresponsible bill while failing to vote on 10 out of 12 appropriations bill needed to fund the federal government in the new fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1.

Until the nation gets serious about gun violence, bullets will continue to take lives, whether on school campuses or in neighborhoods near where we live. What's needed is action -- not another conference.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Incredibly, the conference won't focus on how to get guns out of the hands of criminals, but will strategize on how to improve school safety.

Until the nation gets serious about gun violence, bullets will continue to take lives, whether on school campuses or in neighborhoods near where we live. What's needed is action -- not another conference.

As long as we continue to talk about so-called "gun violence," we'll continue to shirk taking action. The root cause of violent crime is criminals. It's time and long past time to crack down on criminals.

Hell's furnace room will freeze before the leftist extremists advocate any such thing, of course.

 

[taliv]

We know that gun-control laws on their own won't eliminate gun violence.

uhh, then what is it exactly that they're proposing?

Yet, it is an indication of how successful the National Rifle Association and other anti-gun-control forces have been in removing the issue of gun control from the national political agenda -- and getting our political leaders to acquiesce to their wishes.

funny how democracy works.

 

[FTF]

How many guns are in this country? 300 million? No law in the world could have possibly stopped this man.

It's a fact that the police and the government can't protect us. I don't see the problem here.

All of these assclowns need to get carjacked or have their wife beat by a three time felon running the streets because our judges let them go. Then maybe they'll get it.

 

[razorburn]

Even I am somewhat uncomfortable with saying it, but we need guns in schools. Every other security measure is a joke without the force to back it up. Metal detectors, unarmed guards, X-rays?? At best, that only alerts you that they have a gun. So what? Now that you know what they were going to do, do you think a lunatic intent on a mass murder-suicide is going to stop now despite the fact that you're still completely defenseless and they could still just do it anyway? Do they expect them to say "Oh, you caught me. I was going to kill you all and then kill myself, but now that you know that, I'm going to go home and make some macaroni." It's just totally ridiculous. Might as well disband the U.S. military, make a law saying nobody is allowed to hurt us, and have a detection system to tell if anyone is. (although if they are, don't have anything available to stop them)

 

[RobXD9]

We know that gun-control laws on their own won't eliminate gun violence.

Yep. And Clinton's "Brady" Assault Weapons ban prooved that. Just look at how successful these "sensible gun control laws" were in protecting Rachel Joy Scott and her class mates at Columbine.

But the question has to be asked: How it is possible that a disturbed man in Pennsylvania can get hold of a shotgun, a rifle and a semiautomatic handgun, along with 600 rounds of ammunition -- then use them to kill five defenseless schoolgirls?

That would be because many guns are smuggled across the US/Mexico border.
The same border that liberals in congress are AGAINST fencing off.

Why would liberals be AGAINST protecting the border? Cause that's where much of their voting base comes from.

President Bush's response? Convene yet another conference.

The liberals response? Write a law that FINALLY makes it illegal to take a gun to school and kill someone.

Oh crap...that's already there.

The liberals response? Write a law that FINALLY makes it illegal to commit murder.

Oh crap...that one too.

The bill, a legislative priority of the NRA, would make it far more difficult for federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to crack down on gun dealers who violate federal gun laws.

Hey wait a minute...the writer just said the NRA was removing gun control issues from the agenda....

Yet, it is an indication of how successful the National Rifle Association and other anti-gun-control forces have been in removing the issue of gun control from the national political agenda

Typical sheeple mentality. Three criminals in one week commit murder in our nation's schools. And whose fault is it?

Yep - the NRA.

But you know what ticks me off most about these editorials? Nobody ever has the balls to put their name on it. Friggen cowards.

Robert

 

[22-rimfire]

The article basically blames the NRA for the gun violence. The idea being if we thought about the subject long enough and passed enough laws, maybe something would work. The article is a bunch of crapola as far as I'm concerned.

If you read between the lines, the article would suggest that fitness testing should be required to own firearms on a continued basis. Just passing the NICs check during the purchase is not enough. Oh.... and a requirement that you can't own more than 10 rounds of ammo at one time. Bring your empties back as proof that you used them up, or something like that. Maybe they could charge a deposit on the box of ammo like they do some places on glass and plastic bottles...... oops, I'm giving them ideas.

 

[Zundfolge]

Yet, it is an indication of how successful the National Rifle Association and other anti-gun-control forces have been in removing the issue of gun control from the national political agenda -- and getting our political leaders to acquiesce to their wishes.

No you small minded, Koolaid drinking SF lefty, its an indication how UNSUCCESSFUL gun control is.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Maybe there's a good reason why no one's seriously talking about "the need for stricter gun-control laws" after this spate of killings. Every time we've had high-profile killings in the past, it has led to "stricter gun-control laws." Yet we still have killing. You would think there would be something to show for the laws already passed before trying the same response.

 

[ceetee]

Y'all are missing something that's really important here.

We know that gun-control laws on their own won't eliminate gun violence.

On their own.

What that means is that not only do "we" need stricter gun control, but we need stricter people control, too. "We" know that there are lots of guns out there. Not only do "we" have to make selling them as close to impossible as "we" can, but "we" also have to make sure "we" install cameras in those areas most likely to harbor illegal gun sales. "We" have to keep a tighter watch on people to make sure they're not going out and doing something "we" don't like.

There are a lot of things "we" should be doing to make sure that "we" can walk the streets safely...


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