Biden: "No silver bullet" to prevent gun violence
U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden speaks during a meeting with representatives from the video game and entertainment industries January 11, 2013 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House in Washington, DC. / Alex Wong/Getty Images
"We know that there is no silver bullet, no seat belt you can put on" to prevent gun violence, Biden said with representatives from the Entertainment Software Association, which represents publishers of video games, including Microsoft and Disney, and video game developers sitting at the same table. Also in attendance were leaders of a government-funded study on the effects of violent video games on teens.
Biden to video game industry: "We're looking for help"
Indicating that video game creators are not to blame for an increase of violence, Biden told the group that they have "not been singled out," but that he is asking for advice from a lot of different groups of people on how to decrease gun violence.
Today's meeting comes a day after the president of the National Rifle Association said publicly he was "disappointed" with how his group's meeting with Biden went.
"We were disappointed in a sense, because prior to the meeting, they made a number of statements from the White House that they haven't made up their mind," NRA president David Keene told CBS News. "But at the meeting, the vice president made it clear that in terms of firearms, they have made up their mind."
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- NRA "disappointed" with Biden gun meeting
Biden declined to comment extensively on the NRA meeting, but today said it was "straightforward" and "productive."
Thursday, Biden outlined a series of recommendations he plans to give President Obama by Tuesday, including universal background checks, restrictions on high-capacity magazines, and increased federal capabilities for effectively researching gun violence. Biden also stressed ongoing discussions about the importance of including the mental health community in the conversation.
After Newtown, Congress calls for violent video game regulation
"There's an emerging set of recommendations, not coming from me, but coming from the groups we've met with, and I'm gonna focus on the ones that relate primarily to gun ownership, what types of weapons can be owned," Biden said Thursday.
The Brady Campaign, which is working for enhanced gun regulations, released the policy proposals they gave to Biden. It includes closing the gun show loophole, which allows the sale of guns without background checks, and banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines - all proposals the president has previously said he supports.
In addition to the Brady Campaign, Biden met with victims of gun violence, gun sports groups, entertainment industry officials, retailers of guns and pro-gun groups, including the NRA.
Biden was tapped by the president to lead the task force just days after a mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., killed 20 children and 7 adults. Biden also said gun violence is a bigger issue than mass shootings. "We have a problem beyond the massacres... there's 10,000 people a year gunned down in our cities.... It's a real problem. It's serious," he said.
As senator, Biden authored a massive crime bill in 1994 that included an assault weapons ban. That ban expired in 2004 and has been stalled in Congress since.
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Where: Washington DC, on the Mall
When: Monday, January 21, 2013, 11 AM to 2 PM (local),
Why: To Communicate the 11th Hour for the 2nd Amendment
What: Wear Cammies, Face Paint (your choice) and Shades (leave the guns at home)
How:
1) Caravan with friends from home, forward this message to all
2) Download and bring plenty of copies of the US Constitution
3) Bring food, drink and shelter
4) Call and talk to your US representatives daily
Gun Gala Parties are scheduled on state capitol steps from 11 AM to 2 PM on the following dates (migrate from one state capitol party to next on the way to DC):
Tuesday, Jan 15: HA, AK, WA, OR, CA, AZ
Wednesday, Jan 16: WY, UT, NM, MT, ID, NV, CO, WI
Thursday, Jan 17: ND, SD, NE, KS, TX, LA, OK, MN, MO, IA
Friday, Jan 18: FL, TX, ME, MA, VT, MA, GA, WI, IL,
Saturday, Jan 19: AL, AR, TN, KY, OH, IN, MS, CT, RI
Sunday, Jan 20: VA, MD, NC, SC, WV, PA, DE, NJ
Monday, Jan 21: Washington DC on the Mall
Your Personal Mission:
1) Support the US Constitution, read excepts publically, few people have a clue what it says or what their fundamental rights are under that document; distribute copies; educate people; voice your support
2) Support the 2nd Amendment, give speeches
3) Have fun, sing songs, tells stories and party on the capitol steps
4) Move on to the next state capitol on the way to DC
5) Have a good time; it's your country
Note: 1142 means "11th hour for (4) the 2nd amendment
Pass It On
A few random acts of violence are hardly a reason to spend so much time and effort solving a problem that doesn't exist.
If the children in Sandy Hook had been instead elderly people in a retirement home who were killed we would not be having this discussion at all.
You do not rule by emotion - you must rule by logic and examining the facts and the facts prove that high capacity magazines and rifles are not a problem.
If people were serious about gun control there would be more police effort spent cracking down on the real problem: inner city gangs.
Ironically the worst areas in the United State for gun violence also happen to be the most Democratic.
Interesting, no?
No. It's actually because you keep bringing upa "red herring" that does not apply to localized excessive death by firearms that Bidens team is assembled to address.
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Are you stoned? We are talking about gun violence and murder. I would say the largest group being murdered (young black males) would be applicable
Not the same....racist.
Except they are not.
Pathetic. You jackasses do any thing to change the topic.
And how much did they contribute to your campaign?
Now, with Uncle Joe's comic comments aside, he went into this dog and pony show with the results preprogrammed. Being the now emerging into daylight leftist that he is, obama is going to do everything he can to trample our rights, spend money and raise taxes.
We can only hope that the Republicans in Congress can, for at the least the next two years, prevent the most insane of his ideas from coming into law. Hopefully in 2014, this country will have the sense to return both houses to Republican control.
Bear in mind that a certain locality in the US exceeded 236 deaths per 100,000 people in 2012. (of course that community is(was) only comprized of 11000 people). That is 26 times the national figure from 1992, and 60 times the naional average of 2011. "Fun" with numbers.
Three points- (1) by cherry picking the timing and population, you can produce any two precentages that appear to be comparable, but that are not necessarily. You can also cherry pickthe times to insinuate a continuous trend - that is not reflected by tracking every data point.
(2) Any trend over time of data is not necessarily reflective ofthe effect of any singular event that occured beore it. This represents the "post hoc"or correlation is causationfallacy.
(3) Imagine what that per capita data for this locality would have been had Nancy Lanza only access to and the common sense to limit access for her som to shotguns.
The event would still have been horrendous. We would likely still have victims and heros. Just a lot less Children and Teachers sent to Jesus in a minute or two.
Bear in mind that effects of this type of violence are local.
Biden: No silver bullet to prevent gun violence.
Obama: If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.
Here's one for the lefties. Hillary will be gunning for the White House. The only word that is out of bounce is "crosshairs".
Plenty of idioms to go around. They catch in your head. Cause visceral and automated associations. This is deliberate and there is a prupose to it.
It was also key to the vocabulary ("code") used by Gingrich when he was speaker.
I'm having the strangest episode of deja vu.
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That's because neither you or your god in the white house actually wants to address the real problems. So yes, we adults who actually see the real problems must continue like a broken record.