Aurora's "Joker" was no joke--Time for Gun Control

I am angry and sad (mostly angry) that crazy people have easy access to guns and ammunition.  I am angry that every time incidents such as the Colorado one happen, we have to hear the Republican nonsense of how guns don't kill people, people kill people.  At least 12 people were killed and 58 wounded when a gunman, calling himself "Joker", opened in a packed movie theater at Aurora, Colorado during the screening of Batman-the Dark Knight Rises. WE NEED GUN CONTROL.


This morning I was watching ABC's George Stephanopolous show about the Colorado shootings and there was this lunatic woman from The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin, go on and on about US being beset with mental health problems (no kidding!).  The entire show she was blabbering about the need to fix crazy people but till that happened we'll help put guns in their hands!! I could see Joe Klein of Time magazine wince every time she opened her mouth.


Guns are dangerous. Even Dick Cheney couldn't help his gun from accidentally exploding into his friends face.  We have the right to bear arms to defend the country, not to kill everyone in it.

Why can't gun sales be recorded? How does that infringe on our freedom to bear arms? 

James Holmes, the Colorado shooter, had in the car an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, and a .40 caliber Glock handgun, said Chief Dan Oates of the Aurora police, and all three were believed to have been used inside the theater. Another Glock .40 caliber handgun was recovered inside the theater. Chief Oates said that “many, many” rounds were fired, but that there was no count so far.  In the last 60 days Mr. Holmes had purchased four guns at local gun shops, Chief Oates said. And through the Internet, he bought more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition: more than 3,000 rounds for the assault rifle, 3,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition for the two Glocks, and 300 rounds for the 12-gauge shotgun. The guns were all bought legally, a federal law enforcement official said. Mr. Holmes also purchased online multiple magazines for the assault rifle, including one 100-round drum magazine.  "With that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50, 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute,"Chief Oates said.

Why not have sellers report sales of such mass quantities of ammunition, and weapons to the police?   Why can't sales be restricted? We are not talking about  humongous dual-pack cereal boxes or a packet of 25 pairs of socks from Sam's Club. These are instruments of death.  Why are they so cheap?  We tax cigarettes to save lives, but on the way out of  7-Eleven we kill folks with bullets bought at street corners for a dime.

The opponents of gun control, to wit, Sen. John McCain(R-AZ), cite the example of Norway, where Anders Behring Breivik managed to kill 68 people inspite of the strict gun control laws there. Killers find a way, McCain thinks.  They certainly do. Where did this man get his ammunition from?  IT WAS MAIL ORDERED FROM THE USA!!

Isn't it time that we accepted responsibility and also took note of the fact that these violent incidents are on the rise?  I am not talking just about mass killings but the gun related violence on the streets of Philadelphia, Camden and New York City.  More people are gunned down on the streets everyday than even the number of victims in the Aurora, Colorado shooting. These deaths are just as tragic.  Higher gun ownership rates are related to higher gun deaths.

Republicans like John McCain must feed on a daily dose of stupid bread if he thinks he must respect the privacy of would-be killers or use the Second Amendment to protect their rights.  "Look, I think that the strongest second amendment rights people would be glad to have a conversation. But to somehow leap to the conclusion that this was somehow caused by the fact that we don’t have more gun control legislation I don’t think has been proved. ” He needs more proof of the necessity of gun control? How can it proved when there is no gun control?  Let us have gun control and gather this empirical evidence   He can't seriously think that America's founding fathers wanted us to bear arms to kill our friends and neighbors. Tchah! This is not happening to someone else, these are our families who are affected.

When asked if it would  have helped if someone in the audience were equipped with a hand gun, the Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey replied that more guns would have resulted in more deaths. He said he dealt with gun crimes every single day and the only way to solve these problems is through gun control. 


New York City's Mayor Bloomberg criticized President Obama and the Republican candidate Mitt Romney for not being more vocal about tighter restrictions on gun owners. "Leadership is leading from the front, not doing a survey, finding out what the people want and then doing it. What do they stand for, and why aren't they standing up?", Bloomberg asked.


New Jersey's senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who keeps getting re-elected despite his doddering years, has vowed to fulfill his promise to serve his people and plans on reintroducing a gun control bill. Lautenberg, one of the most vocal gun control advocates in the Senate, introduced a bill to limit high-capacity magazines following the shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  The shooter in that instance fired his gun more than 30 times without having to reload.  The bill went nowhere.  Let us hope he has better luck this time. 


Each time these incidents happen, we hear of heroes who protect their friends, spouses, children and use their bodies to shield bullets.  Let us not give them an opportunity to be dead heroes.  We want them alive.