My political and philosophical leanings are generally liberal when it comes to social issues and conservative on fiscal issues. 

I do believe in the Second Amendment - and own several guns - but I part company with those who feel that the average citizen has a right to assault weapons. But that is a separate discussion.

Where I have a problem with the whole assault weapon ban is that it is in the nature of a knee-jerk reaction ........ a "feel good" measure that will do little to address the problem of gun violence. The vast majority of gun violence and deaths are not caused by assault weapons. So banning assault weapons may have a limited impact but it does little to deal with the 75-80% of gun deaths are not caused by assault weapons.

Shown below are the actual statistics of gun deaths caused by different types of guns in 2011 ...... I assume the "unknown" category includes assault weapons. So what will banning assault weapons do as far as dealing with the problem of gun violence given the statistics shown below? What is the assurance that those who use assault weapons at the moment will not just use other types of guns - still causing carnage even if less than occurs in mass shootings involving assault weapons.


http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-20


So the next logical move by proponents of gun control will be to seek further restrictions on all gun ownership ......... after all, the vast majority of gun deaths are caused by other types of guns as opposed to assault weapons. Why would they be satisfied with restricting the weapons that cause a relatively small portion of the gun deaths in the US?

I totally believe that the longer term agenda of gun control advocates is to further restrict gun ownership and to ultimately ban gun ownership for the most part. 

Perhaps the lesson to be learned in reducing gun violence is in the steps that were taken to reduce violent crime in the US. Homicides and violent crime have declined by 50% in the last 20 years. Does this not warrant closer scrutiny and see if there are lessons that can be employed in dealing specifically with regarrd to gun violence?

An assault weapon is a machine gun, fully automatic.

Semi automatic rifles, and shotguns are what the ban will effect.

Average citizen?
Who gets to decide who's average and who's not?

She didn't have the votes..








Moons.

One minute five seconds in Obama,






But he needs the votes.









Moons.

Moons, can't you EVER discuss this without personally dising anyone and everyone who holds an opposing view of gun control?  Do you realized YOU are a member of the minority? Obama was elected  to represent the MAJORITY of the Americans. If the majority didn't want more gun control, he would not be trying to find a way to do it. You have plenty of time to increase you arsenal. You can still go to shows and sell  your leftovers to strangers without doing background checks and you can still carry your beloved gun everywhere you go. That's not going to end any time soon and you damned well know it.

Majority rule aside, odds of no major changes are greatly in your favor because the majority of the GOP's and some of the Dems are going to prevent any changes in the current gun laws because they are indebited to the NRA and don't want to loose their cash cow.  The wishes of the American public be damned, Your "ilk" will win out in the end. Some people are more likely to give up their first born than their guns. Rest easy, the majority of the American public isn't going to win this battle, the gun lobbyists are. Wayne will get a pay increase.

and why do you feel the need to tell everyone they are in a minority?  not everyone that voted for Obama voted for him for a voice of more gun control.  and since when does being in a supposed majority even matter?  this a democractic republic, not a democracy ruled by masses.  It's surprising how many think it is.

And I think it's more honest to say, if a tragic shooting of little kids hadn't happened, there wouldn't even be a discussion of gun control, they'd hopefully be talking about more important things.  That will actually make a difference in people's lives.

What could be more important than preventing the mass murder of children in a public school?  Wow. That is something. You betcha we wouldn't be having this conversation IF a madman with AR hadn't done this. Proves all the old  rhetoric is worthless. IMHO


Oh, and on a side note, educators overwhelming do not want to be packing in the schoolyard. At least in sensible CT, that is the way it is.

oh, here we go, same old rhetoric is right.    Take all the guns, take them all away today, every single last one of them, pooooffffffffff, gone, like a fart in the wind.  Someone somewhere will still kill a bunch of kids in a school if they're crazy enough, just like has happened throughout history across the globe, rare, but tragic things happen and they will continue to happen.  

It's like the guy that's afraid to fly because he might crash and die, but he'll sit in his recliner smoking all day and think the real reason he'll die early is if he has to get on a plane. 

There are things in going on in this country right now today, that are going to have a much larger impact on an astronomically larger number of people the gov't could be working other than gun control.  I'm sorry you can't see that.  I feel badly for you, that you must think I don't care about parents that lost their children.  I'm sorry, that your delusions have to keep telling you that, so you can somehow feel better about yourself and your position.  

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/28/poll_finds_strong_support_for_gun_regulations/
 

Monday, Jan 28, 2013 01:45 PM EST

Poll: Americans want gun control

 

 

•  

Enlarge(Credit: AP/Julie Jacobson)

As Washington begins the fight on gun control in earnest, a new poll from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health should bolster Democrats pushing for new firearms regulations.

According to the survey, released today, a majority of Americans support a wide array of policies being discussed in Congress: 89 percent support closing the so-called gun show loophole by requiring background checks for all firearms sale; 69 percent support banning the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons; while 68 percent support banning the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent favor prohibiting “high-risk individuals” from having guns, including those convicted of a serious crime as a juvenile or those convicted of violating a domestic-violence restraining order.

GfK Knowledge Networks conducted the survey, which was in the field this month and polled 2,703 respondents nationally. The results are being published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Several other polls have found similar numbers, though this one found greater support for some policies. A Gallup poll released last week found that 91 percent would vote for universal background checks, while 60 percent and 54 percent, respectively, favored a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

To gain further insight, the Johns Hopkins researchers over-sampled gun owners and people living in homes with guns. “Not only are gun owners and non-gun-owners very much aligned in their support for proposals to strengthen U.S. gun laws,” said study co-author Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, “but the majority of NRA members are also in favor of many of these policies.” For instance, the survey found that 74 percent of NRA members supported universal background checks for all firearm sales.

Of the 31 different gun policies researchers asked about, a majority of Americans supported all but four. “This research indicates high support among Americans, including gun owners in many cases, for a wide range of policies aimed at reducing gun violence,” said lead study author Colleen Barry, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

As Washington begins the fight on gun control in earnest, a new poll from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health should bolster Democrats pushing for new firearms regulations.

According to the survey, released today, a majority of Americans support a wide array of policies being discussed in Congress: 89 percent support closing the so-called gun show loophole by requiring background checks for all firearms sale; 69 percent support banning the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons; while 68 percent support banning the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent favor prohibiting “high-risk individuals” from having guns, including those convicted of a serious crime as a juvenile or those convicted of violating a domestic-violence restraining order.

GfK Knowledge Networks conducted the survey, which was in the field this month and polled 2,703 respondents nationally. The results are being published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Several other polls have found similar numbers, though this one found greater support for some policies. A Gallup poll released last week found that 91 percent would vote for universal background checks, while 60 percent and 54 percent, respectively, favored a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

To gain further insight, the Johns Hopkins researchers over-sampled gun owners and people living in homes with guns. “Not only are gun owners and non-gun-owners very much aligned in their support for proposals to strengthen U.S. gun laws,” said study co-author Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, “but the majority of NRA members are also in favor of many of these policies.” For instance, the survey found that 74 percent of NRA members supported universal background checks for all firearm sales.

Of the 31 different gun policies researchers asked about, a majority of Americans supported all but four. “This research indicates high support among Americans, including gun owners in many cases, for a wide range of policies aimed at reducing gun violence,” said lead study author Colleen Barry, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

and your copy paste skills are duly noted.

again, republic vs. democracy, look it up.  Doesn't matter what the "majority" might want.

2nd, limit magazine sizes to 10 like proposed, do you think it will stop another school shooting?  Really? 

Define assult rifle again, because thus far, nobody has other than some vague description of most every gun out there.  Good luck getting that one thru.

Go for the background checks, they make you feel good inside, like you've done something, yet everday, and I do mean every single day, hundreds and thousands of people that are prohibited from having a gun, get arrested with them.  Good luck stopping crazy, but if it helps you sleep better at night, like you've really "done something" go ahead and pass it.  What are you going to say the next time a school shooting happens?  because it will happen new reg's or not, ban or no ban.