There's no other way to look at it is there? How else can you characterize a group who has vociferously and vehemently opposed any and all efforts to establish a national gun policy to prevent mentally unstable people from getting access to firearms, even as our country faces a seemingly endless succession of gun mass murders?
They are giving aid and comfort to the shooters. They are empowering them. They are imbuing in them a sense that they have the right to do whatever they want with their firearms.
They are creating an environment were the shooters/murderers can become the object of HERO WORSHIP.
This is the case with the latest gun mass murderer, 26-year-old, Chris Harper Mercer, who killed 10 people and wounded others on the campus of Umpqua Community College in Roseberg, Oregon. He identified himself in his online profile as a 'conservative republican' with an aversion for 'organized religion' and was looking for a 'ying' for his 'yang'. A young man searching. It seems, at least, Harper Mercer found a role model. The murderer of Alison Parker.
From The Daily Beast:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
"In a blog linked to that identity, Harper-Mercer expressed admiration for Roanoke shooter Vester Flanagan.
People "like him have nothing left to live for," Harper-Mercer wrote on August 31. "On an interesting note, I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. ... A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight. ""
Likewise, the white supremacist church shooter, gun mass murderer, Dylann Roof was 'inspired' by the killer of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman.
From Mother Jones:
http://www.motherjones.com/...
"The event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case," the writing says. "It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right. But more importantly this prompted me to type in the words 'black on White crime' into Google, and I have never been the same since that day."
It's not enough that the Far Right will not stop their seemingly insane resistance to a national gun policy in ANY FORM, they have to propose counter solutions. What are their answers to the problem?
More guns. More threats. More slogans. More rationalization of the shootings.
And even defense of those doing the shootings, as in the case of George Zimmerman.
"Fox News adopts George Zimmerman"
http://www.salon.com/...
Far-Right's, glorification of guns and gun culture, as characterized by the Tea Party's '15 Non-Negotiable Core Beliefs' where they claim gun ownership to be a 'sacred' right, which it is not, is nut-job tonic to the mentally unstable.
For the Tea Party's education, sacred means of God.
Guns are NOT OF GOD.
This type of extremist position is pounded non-stop by Fox News and other right-wing media.
They simply MUST STOP.
I don't want to hear anymore of their hateful nonsense. The Far Right media, Fox News, their pundits and all the no gun law extremists bear a personal responsibility for these crimes.
Below is President Obama's Proposed Gun Laws with a Couple Additions by Me.
"The Plan:
1) Requires background checks for all gun sales and strengthens the background check system. This would include removing barriers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act so that states may more freely share information about mental health issues involving potential gun purchasers.
2) Provides states with monetary incentives—$20 million in fiscal year FY 2013* and a proposed $50 million in FY 2014*—to share information so that records on criminal history and people prohibited from gun ownership due to mental health reasons are more available. Dates of original proposal.
3) Bans military-style assault weapons and limits magazines to a capacity of 10 rounds.
4) Provides additional tools to law enforcement. The plan proposes a crackdown on gun trafficking by asking Congress to pass legislation that closes “loopholes” in gun trafficking laws and establishes strict penalties for “straw purchasers” who pass a background check and then pass guns on to prohibited people.
5) Urges Congress to pass the administration’s $4 billion proposal to keep 15,000 state and local police officers on the street to help deter gun crime.
6) Maximizes efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. The president calls upon the attorney general to work with U.S. attorneys across the country to determine gaps occurring in this area and where supplemental resources are appropriate.
7) Provides training for “active shooter” situations to 14,000 law enforcement, first responders and school officials.
8) Directs the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a statement to health care providers that they are not prohibited by federal law from reporting threats of violence to the proper authorities.
9) Launches a national gun safety campaign to encourage responsible gun ownership and authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission to examine issues relating to gun safety locks.
10) Helps schools invest in safety. The president’s plan calls for more school resource officers and counselors in all schools through the Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program. The plan also calls for the federal government to assist schools in developing emergency management plans.
11) Improves mental health awareness through enhanced teacher training and referrals for treatment. The plan calls for the training of 5,000 additional mental health professionals nationwide. The plan also calls for coverage of mental health treatment under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
And I'm adding #12 and 13.
12) 'Open carry of firearms' will not be permitted anywhere in the United States." with the exception of permitted weapons used for hunting in designated hunting eras.
13) Concealed weapon permits will only be issued to those having a demonstrably personal or professional need.
As you can see these very reasonable, proposed laws are in large part dealing with guns and mental health issues.
We are long overdue for responsible gun laws in this country.
We need responsible media that is not constantly sparking outrage when there is the mention of curbing gun extremists through legislation.
Let's make this the LAST TIME we have to endure another one of these tragedies.