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Obama sets up gun violence task force
Updated 1:10 p.m. ET
Five days after the murder of 20 children and six faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., riled the nation, President Obama announced the formation of a task force to provide immediate recommendations of how to reduce gun violence.
"This won't be some Washington commission" that takes six months to study the problem and write a report that goes nowhere, he said. He insisted that he wants ready-to-act concrete recommendations on the "complex issue" in January.
Obama promises action on gun control "no later than January"
Vice President Joe Biden will lead the task force and he will be guided by cabinet members and outside groups. Biden was a key author of a crime bill in 1994 that put more cops on the streets and banned assault weapons. The assault weapons ban expired in 2004, and after Newtown there are renewed calls to reinstate it.
Indicating that gun politics are tough to overcome, the president said at a news conference announcing the task force Wednesday, "The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing."
When asked how he is going to overcome the powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, the president put the onus on them. "I would hope they do some self-reflection," he said.
He added that the NRA and the members of Congress they strongly support should change their mentality that any legislation related to guns, especially gun safety, is an automatic "encroachment on the Second Amendment."
The NRA rates members of Congress on gun-related votes as well as vote indirectly related to guns. For instance, they ranked the confirmation of Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The gun lobby is coming under intense pressure. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., whose husband was killed in a mass shooting in 1993, offered harsh words Wednesday. "The gun lobby doesn't work for us, they work for the gun manufacturers....The American people are starting to see that," she said.
But perhaps hoping to placate fears that he wants to take away all guns, a common belief among many pro-gun rights enthusiasts, the president, made a point of saying that he believes in the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. He pointed to a "tradition of gun ownership" in the U.S.
Obama: Using a gun, common sense not "incompatible ideas"
However, the president repeated a statement he said initially after the tragedy, that he would "use all the powers of this office" to prevent similar incidents.
The president indicated that a ban on assault weapons, which he called "weapons of war," is something he supports as well as a limit on high-capacity clips and more stringent background checks. But he cautioned that "no law or set of laws" can prevent all violence. He noted that a culture that "glorifies guns and violence" must be examined and access to mental health care must increase.
Later, the president was asked by a reporter, "Where've you been," on the gun issue, to which he responded, "I've been President of the United States."
"It seems to a lot of observers that you made the political calculation in 2008, in your first term, and in 2012 not to talk about gun violence," ABC's Jake Tapper said. "This is not the first incidence of horrific gun violence of your four years. Where've you been?"
Obama calls for "perspective" from Congress following tragic week
"Here's where I've been, Jake. I've been President of the United States," Mr. Obama answered. "I don't think I've been on vacation."
"I think all of us have to do some reflection on how we prioritize what we do here in Washington," the president. "This should be a wake-up call for all of us."
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a gun control advocate, praised the president's task force. "I was very encouraged by the President's strong statement and his announcement is an important step in the right direction," the outspoken mayor said in a statement.
In Congress, calls are increasing for action, including by members who previously opposed gun control measures. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday, "What we need are not more words, what we need is action."
Pelosi appointed Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., who she described as an "avid hunter," to lead a separate task force on gun violence. Pelosi's task force would work separately from the president's and is expected to come up with recommendations of how Congress can move forward.
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OMG! This guy missed his calling, he should have been a stand-up comic.
The irony never registers with this guy, does it?
Law abiding American Citizens will continue to demand they be able to purchase "assault weapons," as long as the Federal Government continues its "assault" on our Freedoms!
Before you go looking for ways to limit/nulify our Constitutional freedoms further and limit our ability to defend ourselves, especially from our government, please answer the following questions:
? Why aren't existing Federal Firearms laws being enforced?
? Why do you continue to allow terrorists, drug cartel members and illegal aliens to INVADE our country, by refusing to close our borders?
? Why did you give foreign drug gangs Assault Weapons that killed Americans?
? Why has the Department of Homeland Security purchased enough ammunition to put 5 slugs in every single American Citizen?
These are but a few of the questions that MUST be answered, before the American People should even think of discussing anything on YOUR agenda!
Respectfully (For the Office)
A Veteran, Son of a Veteran, Father of Veterans & Son of Liberty!
I see a bird rising,
firebird,glowing above the embers,
burnished,rising,spreading,
the NRA,Congress,preponderance of guns
falling like ninepins into scuffed cinders;
she is shedding:fledged--ready to fly!
She may fly and burn the Harpies
(who may come to her),a phoenix
above the ashes of the old;
she is glowing and young
as if lit by a taper
on twenty candles.
For New England,
from a Scottish Highlander.
Gregory Shepherd,
Edinburgh.
Raise the age to 26 to own or beable to have a handgun in possession legally. Because it is a age where most have matured and would be out of college that would reduce college student have some access to handguns while in college.
Donot ban semi automatic handgun,but reduce the number of rounds for high end magazines, because everyone would go out and buy revolvers and we would double the abount of handguns avaiable to criminals.
Require all gun shows to complete the background check on sales.
Another issue that needs to be addressed and that is the amount of children we put on Ritalin and other medications because they happen to be a little more hyper or not as well behaved as other children. We live in a society that chooses to medicate these kids rather them deal with them. Most of these tragic events were committed by people who were on mind altering medications. We have to questions the pharmaceutical companies who constantly push these medications and the doctors they pay to prescribe them to our children.
I grew up in an apartment with 8 brothers and 2 sisters and by today's standard we would have all been diagnosed with ADHD. My parents never thought we had a psychological condition when we were horsing around. They knew we were kids doing what kids like to do, have fun. If we would go to far my mom and dad would not give us a pill to calm us down. They might give us one for the pain in our head after they slapped us upside it. That normally worked, Today a lot of parents are afraid to discipline their children thinking if they do someone will call the police and they will end up in jail with their kids removed from the household. There are also some parents who think medicating their kids is easier than dealing with them. These parents owe it to their kids to work with them.
We always talk about the war on drugs in this country and it is always focused on drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana. I propose we declare a war on prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical companies who do whatever they can to get them prescribed, and the doctors who give them out like lollipops rather then spending the time to figure out if there really is a problem. There is no profit in a cure but there is significant profit in continued treatment.
The sad thing is that the politicians these days can't solve the simplest of issues and when all the outcry for change subsides, they will go back to doing nothing. We will not hear from them again until another tragedy occurs and they come out of the woodwork acting shocked and surprised that it happened again.
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Heavens opened up. The light shone... hallelujah. hallelujah. hallelujah!!!
Yes. Dan.
Admitting it is half the battle.
BAZOOW!
KATHWACCK!
LOL. I have to admit you just made me laugh.
______________________________________
Who me? lol
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Dan30003 replies:
There is no difference.
It is what it is.
That is why I live in an all White community.