More of these? NRA doesn't care.
Assholes.
Sources close to the issue tell Fox News that the National Rifle Association -- which has remained silent since the shooting, chiefly to allow for a proper period for mourning -- will soon start to "push back" against the gun-control lobby.
"If we're going to have a conversation, then let's have a comprehensive conversation," said one industry source. "If we're going to talk about the Second Amendment, then let's also talk about the First Amendment, and Hollywood, and the video games that teach young kids how to shoot heads.
"If you really want to stop incidents like this," the source continued, "passing one more law is not going to do a damn thing. Columbine happened when? In 1999. Smack in the middle of the original assault-weapons ban."
Thanks for reminding us that the original assault weapons ban was inadequate!
The top 10 movies in Australia this year include some of the most violent: Avengers (#1), The Dark Knight Rises (#2), Skyfall (#3), The Hunger Games (#5), Prometheus (#14), Bourne Legacy (#25), Looper (#27), Battleship (#32) and Total Recall (#49). And yes, they play video games in Australia. Yet, no mass shootings since 1996. Why?
On April 28, 1996, a gunman opened fire on tourists in a seaside resort in Port Arthur, Tasmania. By the time he was finished, he had killed 35 people and wounded 23 more. It was the worst mass murder in Australia’s history.
Twelve days later, Australia’s government did something remarkable. Led by newly elected conservative Prime Minister John Howard, it announced a bipartisan deal with state and local governments to enact sweeping gun-control measures. A decade and a half hence, the results of these policy changes are clear: They worked really, really well.
At the heart of the push was a massive buyback of more than 600,000 semi-automatic shotguns and rifles, or about one-fifth of all firearms in circulation in Australia. The country’s new gun laws prohibited private sales, required that all weapons be individually registered to their owners, and required that gun buyers present a “genuine reason” for needing each weapon at the time of the purchase. (Self-defense did not count.) In the wake of the tragedy, polls showed public support for these measures at upwards of 90 percent.
All the violence in movies and video games doesn't mean shit if a potential shooter can't get his hands on a weapon of mass death. It's that simple.
So if that's the debate the NRA wants to have—one focused on shifting the blame elsewhere, then bring it the fuck on, assholes.
The NRA may think 20 first graders is an acceptable price to pay for their radical agenda. Now we get to find out whether America agrees.
And in case you're not angry enough ...
But they also indicated that Feinstein's provisions relating to the number of rounds a weapon can accommodate will be contested fiercely. "A standard semi-automatic handgun holds 12 to 14 rounds," one source close to the issue told Fox News. "Everyone would have to retool and new hardware would have to be made. That's going to be very expensive to manufacturers."
Oh, it'll be expensive for manufacturers to retool? Heavens! Okay, feel free to shoot up more children then. Please, more Sandy Hooks. Because protecting gun manufacturer profits would be better than to have living, breathing, laughing first graders stay alive.
Update: Beltane, in the comments:
Everyone in the world watches these same movies and plays these same video games. What is different about the US? We have an organization like the NRA working to ensure that every sick deviant crackpot has unfettered access to the firearms of their choice.
Exactly.
Update: NRA finally breaks radio silence, says nothing of substance except news of a Friday news conference -- in time to get buried by the holidays.