Gun control debate: Standing by families of the slain shows Obama’s humanity

[decocker 7,198]

lets play answer the question.

what is the master plan?

comment number 4, which quoted a commenter on the op. does not give us details on the master plan.

depends on who you ask. master plan to some folks here, gun grab. obama is trying to confiscate all weapons in order to take over the world, effortlessly.

a twist on this take, is shown in the bit i quoted from the comment section:

Perhaps, just perhaps, it is because each of these shooters were "white" (gulp) and he could continue his drive toward greater racial division?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

here? wait - what about those that voted for him ? Surely they feel sorry, aye?

I don't know, how about you ask them?

[JohnR! 5,495]

did he? it doesn't suprise me. great minds think alike.

It doesn't surprise in the least either. In fact, it is quite expected.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Gegel

[SMOKE 1,426]

'he could continue his drive toward greater racial division'

so, you think thats obama's plan?

[JohnR! 5,495]

I don't know, how about you ask them?

That would be a waste of time! Everyone knows the constituency of the winning candidate feels sorry for the winner.

Have you not noticed how Romney & Paulie were celebrating when they lost?

[decocker 7,198]

so, you think thats obama's plan?

nope.

[SMOKE 1,426]

nope.

then why would you refer to it as the master plan?

[decocker 7,198]

then why would you refer to it as the master plan?

really trying to peg me here aren't you? no thanks.

because there are people who think that racial divide and gun control are obama's master plan.

[Darnell 8,478]

I don't know, how about you ask them?

Alas, not knowing, though, might be detrimental to you and your environs.

Knowledge is power! can also be empowering, when focused on 'home'.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Alas, not knowing, though, might be detrimental to you and your environs.

Knowledge is power! can also be empowering, when focused on 'home'.

You're a mess.

[JohnR! 5,495]

You can hear it from those who were present, instead of relying on some pain-killer-dependent also-ran radio talking head...

The President and Vice President Biden also met privately with the women, hugged them and comforted them through their tears that had started flowing even as they stood at the White House gate awaiting clearance into the East Wing. They shared their memories of their loved ones who died too soon at Newtown, Virginia Tech, and in the Washington DC. area. I was also an invited guest as my youngest brother was shot to death on Thanksgiving Day in front of my mother's home in Los Angeles in 1994.

Many of the women were moms not only grieving for their own children, but also over the never-ending stream of gun deaths of other children, such as the recent murder in Brunswick, Ga. of a 13-month old in his stroller during the robbery of his mother, a five months old being gunned down in his father's lap in Chicago, where a mother recently lost her son, the fourth offspring to be murdered . Many came looking for a way to connect their loss to national efforts to change the violent culture that is killing our kids.

Most of the women I talked to had never been to the White House, never dreamed that their personal hurts would become a shared national pain and could be useful in the President's campaign to stop gun violence.

"Honored not exploited," was Theresa Williams' self-description. Her son, Aaron Kidd, a Suitland High school student was shot and killed near his home in February. He was one of six high school students in Prince George's County murdered since August. "I don't want the president to back away because when the public mood shifts and the deaths keep mounting, I am left with my personal hurt. I feel my story backed up the president's message."

Emily Ward, whose son was shot and killed in The District in 1992 also challenged the word "prop" being applied to her. A photograph in The Washington Post showed the president bent over as she also held him. "While his critics can sit back and attack him, the president is out talking to moms, parents, students, teachers, law enforcement agents trying to get the guns off the streets. I feel humbled and moved by the president's passion to do something."

Many of the women, while touched by the emotional significance of the event, saw the event as part of a fledging movement not only to fight the NRA but also to punish those in Congress who are fighting the president's proposals. Those measures include universal background checks, a federal gun trafficking laws and a ban on assault weapons, which Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, recently refused to bring to the floor for a vote.

While I believe in many quarters the national debate on gun violence gives a higher priority to the mass shootings in the suburbs than the massive daily murders in the inner cities, Ruth Marshall, a community activist I spoke to at the White House had a different view. "For decades black kids were being killed in the ghetto. The problem was ignored. Now...the culture of violence is no longer confined in one area..To be effective, gun reform must reach all."

Marshall, who recently ran for the D.C. City Council in Ward 5, saw the President's national campaign as a spark to ignite a growing effort to mobilize a gun reform movement. "Our children are being killed and it is up to the grass roots to make the Congress get off the dime and do what's right. We have the power to get this done."

What's coming from the White House and the Congress may be good for a start, but most have too many loopholes or start from the premise that declining polls for gun reform since the December Newtown massacre mean public support won't be sustainable. It is good that the president is not following the polls but listening to those demeaned as "props," whose stories are strengthening his resolve to continue his campaign. For those who have to face life without their loved ones, polls can't predict when it is time to move on.

Tough gun reform in my book would require that any person who is caught in public with an unlicensed or un-registered gun of any kind to receive a tough jail sentence and fine, a position that does not infringe upon the 2^nd amendment rights to keep guns in their homes.

I don't believe the hype that tough gun measures can't be achieved. We are a nation accustomed to doing the right Big Things. We ended child labor, gave women the right to vote, sent our astronauts to the moon. We can also develop the political will to stop arming ourselves to death. Britain has done it, Japan has done it. Why can't we?

Edited April 4, 2013 by Gegel

[SMOKE 1,426]

really trying to peg me here aren't you? no thanks.

because there are people who think that racial divide and gun control are obama's master plan.

does that mean you were trying to peg me w/ someone else's comment...i think so

[decocker 7,198]

does that mean you were trying to peg me w/ someone else's comment...i think so

err, um, sorry you felt i was putting words in your mouth smoke. if you read my comment without a bit of pause for tone or satire - i guess you think i'm excited about the impending doom of our president's master plan. please don't be alarmed.

[SMOKE 1,426]

err, um, sorry you felt i was putting words in your mouth smoke. if you read my comment without a bit of pause for tone or satire - i guess you think i'm excited about the impending doom of our president's master plan. please don't be alarmed.

i'm not alarmed. i just assumed...since you quoted me. then inserted your response to someone else's post from another site, you thought i felt like that person did...my mistake.

[Danno 1,228]

Oh look, he only cares about black people, what about Newtown? What about Colorado? There is no way he can win in some folks eyes.

He really doesn't not care about the endless stream of Black lives perishing in violence every night.

I really thought he was going to take some meaningful steps at addressing this serious problem.... But instead it's politics as usual.

None of his proposals with have any effect on any of the urban areas.

He has not even put a special task force together to study this problem.

Black folks are just props for him thats all.