President Obama proposed sweeping changes to gun control laws Wednesday that would reinstate a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, requite mandatory background checks on all gun sales, and ban the sales of multi-round ammunition clips, which exceed 10 rounds. Predictably, the NRA immediately cried "foul" and proclaimed, "Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation." Perhaps the NRA spokesperson should pay attention to the content of the letters Obama received from Sandy Hook students imploring him to enact gun control measures or listen to the ideas of the parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook massacre.
Ham on Wry calls on citizens to take a solid stand against the NRA's rhetoric that people, not guns, kill people. The NRA should listen to some of its own members and other gun ownership advocates who see no reason for citizens to own an assault rifle, Now is the time for advocating common-sense laws that will make it difficult for people to own a gun if they can't pass a background check and can't purchase assault rifles with ammunition designed to kill as many targets as possible.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio immediately joined the fray by stating, "“Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook. President Obama is targeting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence." Please explain why law-abiding citizen need assault rifles, Rubio. Do true sports enthusiasts use assault rifles when they hunt animals, skeet shoot, or practice shooting on targets? Your claim is absolutely ludicrous, yet I would expect you to pander to the NRA in hopes it will support you in a future run for President. Let me state this another way. No true sportsperson needs an assault rifle with multi-round clips exceeding ten rounds, nor would that person balk at a background check.
President Obama is not operating under an illusion that his proposals would mitigate against all acts of gun violence. During his speech, he invoked a grasp of reality, by stating,"While there is no law, or set of laws, that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there’s even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try, and I’m going to do my part."
Obama signed 23 executive actions as part of his plan, which don't require Congressional action. Congressional action? That is an oxymoron in light of the 112th Congress's failure to make substantive progress during the last session. Ham and Wry issues a challenge to the 113th Congress. Don't allow future political donations or organizational bullies to overshadow conscience when you consider Obama's proposals. Use reason and logic, please! The framers of the United States Constitution did not write the Second Amendment to promote gun ownsership at all costs. None could foresee the development of assault rifles and ammunition designed to obliterate a target.
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