Occasional Repost; We Can't Afford To Be Wrong

Occasionally, we will repost pieces we appreciate. Here is a little something from our friend/writer Ruth Ann Satchfield. Although it is not everyone's number one concern this election season, Proper Gun Ownership Registration and Training oughta be one of the issues we address nationally...finally. We do it for cars, and cars aren't intended to kill. It should be a no-brainer to do it for weapons that are designed to kill.

We Can't Afford To Be Wrong

By Ruth Ann Satchfield

The issues of gun ownership registration are certainly on the table.

Every time we choose a new president there are important things to consider. Occasionally we get the opportunity to choose between two very good people, and the choice should be made by their stances on the issues, their experiences and their chances of defeating whoever represents the GOP. There are going to be pluses and minuses for each candidate, and I am going to try to explore these issues as fairly as I can.

After the horrific murders in Charleston this last week, we have some differences arise between our leading Democratic candidates which I would like to explore. What do you think? Was there just one cause for the deaths in Charleston? For myself I believe it was a combination of things. Since President Obama was elected, racism has come out in the open, partly because of the talkers on conservative media encouraging racist beliefs. There has never been less respect shown to an elected president in my "baby boomer" lifetime. From the killer’s own words we know racism was clearly the motive. We also know that his beliefs were encouraged by the radical right-wing on the internet.

Since he threw his hat in the ring, Bernie Sanders has been polling well.

Sanders
From his words, we know that Senator Bernie Sanders recognizes this, but that was as far as he went. He doesn't want to address the gun issue. Sanders, saying his home state of Vermont has “zero gun control,” acknowledged that different parts of the country have different outlooks on guns.

I think the people of Vermont understand that guns in Vermont are different than guns in Chicago or guns in Los Angeles,” Sanders said, telling the assembled journalists that he thinks “it is wrong” when people who are “in some cases suicidal and in some cases homicidal” are “still able to purchase guns.”

Senator Sanders is right we have a problem, and it is growing. Where are the calls for Sanders to take a stand on the problems we have with the availability of guns, and the proposed solutions out forth by other members of Congress? Will he be able to come up with a national solution, other than a zero gun control stance.

Is this election outcome inevitable for Hillary?

Clinton

From her words, we know that Secretary/Senator Hillary Clinton also recognizes that our country has a problem with the availability of guns to the wrong people, but has another take on the problem.

“How is it possible that we as a nation allow guns to fall into the hands of people whose hearts are filled with hate?” she said, voice rising. “We can have common-sense gun reforms that keep them out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable while not penalizing responsible gun owners,” Asked Secretary Clinton.

O'Malley adds his voice to the race.

O'Malley
If you’re concerned about keeping guns out of the hands of killers, you may be interested in this Democratic Candidate’s ideas. In 2013, the Washington Post reported on O'Malley's gun responsibility proposals.

"Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) will seek to institute some of the nation’s strictest gun-licensing requirements, ban assault weapons and restrict visitor access to schools in one of the most expansive government responses sought to last month’s school shooting in Newtown, Conn. 

Perhaps most controversially, O’Malley is making plans to ask the General Assembly to force prospective gun owners to provide fingerprints to state police, complete a hands-on weapon-familiarization and gun-safety course, and undergo a background check to be licensed. And the governor is seeking new measures to keep guns out of the hands of those with mental illness who show violent tendencies."

It is interesting to note that to be licensed for conceal carry in Texas today, you must do everything Gov. O’ Malley proposed then.

The Gun Issue
The weapon of choice by these people looking to become infamous through murder has been the gun. So what are we going to do about it?

These regularly occurring terroristic events are now part of our collective consciousness as a country, and argument for Proper Gun Legislation has been proven over and over with these mass murder events. Killers do not usually commit mass murders with other weapons. It can be done, of course, such as in Oklahoma City. If someone wants to, sure, they can always figure out a way to do harm.

Bringing the Fight To White Supremacists
Why are Republicans protecting these criminals by making it more difficult to enforce gun laws?

There are hate groups all over the country. It seems these groups are associated with crime sprees. Years ago, members of a group of white supremacists were caught robbing banks in the Pacific-northwest to fund their activities, and they were taken down. When Texas realized they had the same thing going on there, Federal Agencies focused on, and broke up, a White Supremacy group that was selling drugs to get the money to finance their activities. The Feds were making headway in breaking up some of the criminal groups who follow the white supremacist beliefs, but the GOP representatives in congress cut their funding.

The KKK and white supremacists are teaching children to hate, encouraging their members to join our military so that they will get weapons training and be prepared for the race war they are determined to start.

There are hate groups all over the country. Unfortunately their members do not have a problem getting guns or ammunition. The killer in Charleston wanted to start a “race war.” The two killers in Las Vegas - who killed a couple of police officers who were having breakfast - did so with the purpose of starting a revolution.

The NRA has made things worse with their insistence that guns be available to anyone who wants them. In Indiana, the NRA pushed a law that made it legal to shoot police in your own home or vehicle. In Louisiana, the NRA pushed an amendment permitting felons to own guns and the Republicans in that state passed it. As if that was not enough, the NRA is now pushing to make it possible for people charged with domestic violence to keep their guns.

When are we going to wake up? These incidents are multiplying, and the issues of hate and gun control are linked together. When will the insanity stop?  Of course, we must keep criminals from having guns. Every person who buys a gun must be required to pass a background check. We must stop straw purchases, and the loop-holes that allow gun sales without back-ground checks. And lastly, something must be done to require lawful gun owners to store their guns safely.

Of course, if the Democrats back the wrong candidate, and we lose, the Republican we help elect will most likely not protect us from guns in the hands of the wrong people, nor will they do anything about the white supremacists, because the white supremacists are their supporters. Ya know, those people who are buying up all those confederate flags now that they are losing favor in the public marketplace. To continue to be considered a viable national candidate,

Cruzing into a solid 7th place in the GOP candidate ratings.

Cruz
Ted Cruz is having to refund donations to Citizen Council donors as we speak, but he is not the only Republican to take them. How many of these organizations do you think are donating to the Republicans?

I have no doubt what we have found out recently is only the tip of the iceberg.

Originally Published in The Blue Route ~ June 22, 2015