Charles Manson To Head NRA - Bashar Hafez al-Assad NRA's Pick For President

On Friday, the gun lobby broke its silence to comment on the Connecticut school shooting, which took the lives of 20 first-graders and six adults. In a widely-panned public appearance, NRA leader Wayne LaPierre blamed gun violence on everything from video games to the media, and advocated placing an armed officer in every school in America.

Ironic that the NRA has always said that people kill but not guns.  Now we learn that it’s not people but video games. That and everything else other than guns.  Fact is: guns are used in 12,000 homicides, 18,000 suicides, and 6,000 accidents per year. Time is now to talk.

Lawrence O'Donnell perhaps described Wayne La Pierre best, calling LaPierre a "lobbyist for mass murderers."  Hey NRA, fire LaPierre and hire Charles Manson, a perfect spokesperson for mass murder. Or perhaps LaPierre and the NRA hope to install a police-state, controlled by gun manufacturers? LaPierre for dictator. The NRA could get some helpful tips from Bashar Hafez al-Assad.

As to the great idea by the NRA to arm schools for defense, who pays?  There are about 130,000 schools in the USA. Assuming that each “guard” cost only $50,000 a year, that would cost us about  $6.5 Billion (not including the new guns). Is the NRA going to pay for this? Gun manufacturers? [Just a side note, they had an armed guard at Columbine and it didn’t work.  Maybe we need a platoon at each school?]

But why stop at schools! Let the armed camps grow: post office, schools, malls, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc.  The possibilities are truly endless.

So why is it that we feel the need to start a new arms race?

One of the primary drivers for gun ownership is that people are afraid. But how does gun ownership ever solve anything? As the crooks get more heavily armed, so “must” the cops. As the cops get more heavily armed, so “must” the populace in order to “protect” itself from both the cops and the crooks.  Not to mention protecting us from each other.

Do you really want to live in a war zone and end up being caught between armed fire fights? Just imagine going outside to get the paper and having to duck for cover as one of your neighbor’s security guards has a shootout with the guards for your other neighbor’s dog walker because the dog peed on the neighbor’s yard. Soon you will need a tank just to go grocery shopping. Why can’t people accept that you cannot arm yourself against danger; you have to take reasonable steps to reduce danger?

Gun ownership is much more a psychological prop than a real defense. Police forces are well aware of the Tueller rule, that an assailant within 21 feet of a policeman can generally get to the police officer before he can pull his gun out and down the attacker. That is assuming you even have your gun with you and handy. Nancy Lanza’s guns did her no good.

Even having a gun at home does not necessarily make you safe at home. Where do you keep it? In the bedside table? So what happens when a bad guy enters through your back door while you are watching TV? So do you have one in every room?

The record in both the UK and Australia, after strict gun controls were imposed, was that armed violence, murders and successful suicides all fell. In 1996, Australia changed its gun laws following a particularly bad mass shooting: banning assault rifles, severely restricting other types of fire-arms, limiting magazines to five rounds (three for pump-action shotguns, auto-loaders were banned outright). Researchers compared the rate of mass shootings before and after; using fixed criteria, not just what “felt” like a mass-shooting; and found that the rate dropped from one every 18 months before the change, to just one event in the 16 years since the change. [So no more talk about how taking away guns won’t work.  It did.]

Some gun enthusiasts argue that we need guns to keep our government in check. The idea that a single individual (or even a small group)can somehow defend themselves from a hostile government or rampaging gangs if they only have enough guns is silly. New York City now has the seventh largest army in the world! The idea of and time for a well armed militia to defend our liberties has come and gone.

It is about the prevalence of guns, the access to guns and the consequences for this society, as it is, with so many guns available. Even with mental illness, video games, etc. if you take guns out of the equation, the death toll drops, the shooting toll drops and the cycle of violence drops as well.

It is time to put the NRA out of business.

National Rifle Assn: All Recipients

Name	Office	Total Contributions
Fincher, Steve (R-TN)	House	$9,900
Renacci, Jim (R-OH)	House	$9,900
Mandel, Josh (R-OH)	Senate	$9,450
Berg, Rick (R-ND)	House	$7,450
Cantor, Eric (R-VA)	House	$7,450
Coffman, Mike (R-CO)	House	$7,450
Labrador, Raul (R-ID)	House	$7,100
Thompson, Tommy G (R-WI)	Senate	$7,000
Carter, John (R-TX)	House	$6,950
Heller, Dean (R-NV)	Senate	$6,950
Matheson, Jim (D-UT)	House	$6,950
Allen, George (R-VA)	Senate	$6,450
Gosar, Paul (R-AZ)	House	$5,950
King, Steven A (R-IA)	House	$5,950
Romney, Mitt (R)	Pres	$5,850
Barrasso, John A (R-WY)	Senate	$5,308
Dingell, John D (D-MI)	House	$5,000
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT)	Senate	$5,000
Murphy, Tim (R-PA)	House	$5,000
Rogers, Hal (R-KY)	House	$5,000
Ross, Mike (D-AR)	House	$5,000
Runyan, Jon (R-NJ)	House	$5,000
Simpson, Mike (R-ID)	House	$5,000
Barrow, John (D-GA)	House	$4,950
Benishek, Dan (R-MI)	House	$4,950
Canseco, Francisco (R-TX)	House	$4,950
Corker, Bob (R-TN)	Senate	$4,950
Holden, Tim (D-PA)	House	$4,950
Mourdock, Richard E (R-IN)	Senate	$4,950
Rigell, Scott (R-VA)	House	$4,950
Sessions, Pete (R-TX)	House	$4,950
Shuler, Heath (D-NC)	House	$4,950
Stearns, Cliff (R-FL)	House	$4,950
Wicker, Roger (R-MS)	Senate	$4,950
Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN)	House	$4,500
Flores, Bill (R-TX)	House	$4,500
Manchin, Joe (D-WV)	Senate	$4,500
Smith, Lamar (R-TX)	House	$4,500
Terry, Lee (R-NE)	House	$4,500
Tipton, Scott (R-CO)	House	$4,500
Griffith, Morgan (R-VA)	House	$4,150
Amodei, Mark (R-NV)	House	$4,000
Bartlett, Roscoe G (R-MD)	House	$4,000
Bucshon, Larry (R-IN)	House	$4,000
Chandler, Ben (D-KY)	House	$4,000
Coble, Howard (R-NC)	House	$4,000
Griffin, Tim (R-AR)	House	$4,000
Johnson, Timothy (R-IL)	House	$4,000
Miller, Jeff (R-FL)	House	$4,000
Yoder, Kevin (R-KS)	House	$4,000
Bishop, Sanford D Jr (D-GA)	House	$3,650
Cole, Tom (R-OK)	House	$3,500
Critz, Mark (D-PA)	House	$3,500
Duffy, Sean P (R-WI)	House	$3,500
Granger, Kay (R-TX)	House	$3,500
Schilling, Bobby (R-IL)	House	$3,500
Upton, Fred (R-MI)	House	$3,500
Walorski, Jackie (R-IN)	House	$3,500
McCaul, Michael (R-TX)	House	$3,150
Nunnelee, Alan (R-MS)	House	$3,150
Bachus, Spencer (R-AL)	House	$3,000
Denham, Jeff (R-CA)	House	$3,000
Ellmers, Renee (R-NC)	House	$3,000
Fischer, Deb (R-NE)	Senate	$3,000
Gibbs, Bob (R-OH)	House	$3,000
Graves, Tom (R-GA)	House	$3,000
Harris, Andy (R-MD)	House	$3,000
Hensarling, Jeb (R-TX)	House	$3,000
Hochul, Kathleen (D-NY)	House	$3,000
Huizenga, Bill (R-MI)	House	$3,000
Hurt, Robert (R-VA)	House	$3,000
Johnson, Sam (R-TX)	House	$3,000
Kissell, Larry (D-NC)	House	$3,000
Latham, Tom (R-IA)	House	$3,000
LaTourette, Steve (R-OH)	House	$3,000
Michaud, Mike (D-ME)	House	$3,000
Moran, Jerry (R-KS)	Senate	$3,000
Perry, Scott (R-PA)	House	$3,000
Ribble, Reid (R-WI)	House	$3,000
Roskam, Peter (R-IL)	House	$3,000
Ryan, Tim (D-OH)	House	$3,000
Schrader, Kurt (D-OR)	House	$3,000
Sullivan, John (R-OK)	House	$3,000
Walden, Greg (R-OR)	House	$3,000
Quayle, Ben (R-AZ)	House	$2,600
Altmire, Jason (D-PA)	House	$2,500
Altschuler, Randy (R-NY)	House	$2,500
Baca, Joe (D-CA)	House	$2,500
Barr, Andy (R-KY)	House	$2,500
Bilbray, Brian P (R-CA)	House	$2,500
Boehner, John (R-OH)	House	$2,500
Buerkle, Ann Marie (R-NY)	House	$2,500
Cardoza, Dennis (D-CA)	House	$2,500
Franks, Trent (R-AZ)	House	$2,500
Gibson, Chris (R-NY)	House	$2,500
Guthrie, Brett (R-KY)	House	$2,500
Hayworth, Nan (R-NY)	House	$2,500
Heck, Joe (R-NV)	House	$2,500
Kelly, Jesse (R-AZ)	House	$2,500
Kingston, Jack (R-GA)	House	$2,500

METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more. All donations were made during the 2012 election cycle and were released by the Federal Election Commission. Figures for the current election cycle are based on data released on November 12, 2012.

Credit for the chart and NRA information to the Center for Responsive Politics.