TIME FOR GUN OWNERS TO BE VIGILANT AGAINST GUN CONTROL ZEALOTS

Colorado theater shooting is sure to energize the (Sarah) Brady Bunch of gun control advocates and their Democrat allies in Congress; Bloomberg first to spout off

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn’t wait a Hot New York Minute before he piped in with his usual ballistic anti-gun rhetoric. Of course, Bloomberg always disregards the fact that, even with the strictest gun control laws in the whole country, NYC is still plagued with shootings day in and day out.

A firearms ban, whether on handguns or military-style rifles, will prevent only law abiding citizens from obtaining and possessing such weapons. Gangbanger thugs will always find a way to obtain the firearms they use to protect their street gang turf or take revenge on rival gang members. And other lawbreakers will still be able to get guns with which to rob and murder law abiding citizens on the streets and in their homes.

GUN FOES MOBILIZE IN WAKE OF ‘BATMAN’ THEATER SHOOTING

Newsmax
July 20, 2012

Within hours of a madman opening fire in a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colo., gun-control advocates began to use the theater shooting spree, which left 12 dead and 58 wounded, to push their agenda.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ardent gun-control advocate, led the way, citing the massacre on a radio broadcast Friday morning, insisting that statements of sympathy and concern from President Barack Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns were not enough.

“Soothing words are nice,” said Bloomberg. “But maybe it’s time the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they’re going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country. And everybody always says, ‘Isn’t it tragic?’”

Bloomberg urged the nation’s governors to speak out about the shooting as well.

“I mean, there are so many murders with guns every day. It’s just got to stop,” he said. “And instead of these two people, President Obama and Gov. Romney, talking in broad things about they want to make the world a better place. OK. Tell us how. And this is a problem.”

Bloomberg added: “No matter where you stand on the Second Amendment, no matter where you stand on guns, we have a right to hear from both of them, concretely, not just in generalities, specifically, ‘What are they going to do about guns?’”

The country seemed to be in for yet another round in the debate of whether gun-ownership creates violence or prevents it. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said he could not understand why there was apparently no-one in the theater with a weapon who could take gunman James Holmes out before he could create more mayhem.

"It does make me wonder, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?" Gohmert asked.

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter who represents the Aurora area where the shooting occurred, said of Holmes: “I don’t know why he had such easy access to guns.”

Perlmutter said it was “premature” to consider political issues, however his Democratic colleague in the House, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York was not so bashful. “We as a nation should … not continue to ignore avenues to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future," said McCarthy, whose husband was shot to death on the Long Island Railroad in 1993.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence posted a petition on its web site asking for signatures from those who felt the Aurora tragedy was a reason to help prod lawmakers towards more gun control legislation.

The campaign, founded by former Reagan press secretary James Brady after he was wounded in the assassination attempt on his boss, said the “horrendous shooting” is “yet another tragic reminder that we have a national problem of easy availability of guns in this country.”

The petition asked that convicted felons and domestic abusers, terrorists and the dangerously mentally ill should be banned from buying, owning or carrying a gun anywhere in the country.

Dennis Henigan, vice-president of the campaign told CBS News it is time for President Barack Obama to act on gun control. "The president has not shown sufficient leadership on the gun issue," he said.

Referring to other shootings such as those at Columbine School, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood and Tucson, he said, "We hope that the cumulative impact of these continuing tragedies will ultimately lead our politicians to begin to respond to the need for public safety, the need to stop this violence, instead of simply doing the bidding of the gun lobby."

"This being an election year, I believe that the American people will say, as they say over and over again, 'enough is enough,'" added Henigan.

Media figures too joined in the fray. CNN talk show host Piers Morgan tweeted extensively on the issue, saying, among other things, that “America has got to do something about its gun laws. Now is the time.”

He later added, “More Americans will buy guns after this, to defend themselves and so the dangerous spiral descents. When/how does it stop.” Within seconds, he added, "Lunatics like this will always try and get guns. It should be 100,000 times harder than it is for them to do so.”

In a later tweet, the British talkshow host said, “Colorado shooter, Holmes, bought all four of his guns LEGALLY at Gander Mtn & Bas Pro Shop. Still the ‘wrong time’ to debate gun control?”

Larry King, the man Morgan replaced on CNN also tweeted support for more gun control. “We remain one of the few countries in the world where anyone in the world can get a gun. In this case a machine gun. This is absurd,” wrote King.

Arianna Huffington of the liberal Huffington Post tweeted, “People might say it’s too early to have the gun discussion Mayor Bloomberg wants. Actually it’s too late.”