Obama’s Gun Control Proposal - and why NOT?

What’s in Obama’s Gun Control Proposal - NYTimes.com:

The initiative to reduce gun violence announced by President Obama on Wednesday includes both legislative proposals that would need to be acted on by Congress and executive actions he can do on his own. Many of the executive actions involve the president directing agencies to do a better job of sharing information.

The New York Times has (as nearly as I can tell) done an exemplary job of reporting the substance of Obama's Gun Control Bill.  Well ... in truth, it wasn't much of a challenge.  They just took the information provided on the "fact-sheet" handout, and published it.   However, it does help us to look at it in 'some detail so we can evaluate the cause, the effect, and the justification OR rejection of the talking points.

In 2008,  President ial Candidate Obama said:"I have no intention of taking away folks' guns".   (A 2008 article from FactCheck.org.. a notorious Liberal Democratic website, is the source for this and other quotes.  In the following discussion, that will be the source of unattributed Obama quotes.)

We should have paid closer attention to what he DID say, though;  at the time, he made it quite clear that the thought that the second amendment was talking about firearms appropriate to duck and deer hunting ... within certain limitations (yet to be defined ... until today).  But America took him at his word ... as they THOUGHT he meant it, not as he actually meant it.  Today, he has his revenge.  He will allow you to keep your guns, as long as they are not evil according to his own private interpretation.

(Is it tacky to say "I told you so"?  Perhaps .. but I did!)

Here's what the New York Times cited as the salient points of the President's proposed bill, along with various comments.  Note the prevalence of "cosmetic" and "already law" comments;  clearly, these reiterations of existing law serve no useful purpose but to enhance his own personal image as a "lawmaker".

Author's comments are [presented in red]

Proposed Congressional Actions

• Requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, including those by private sellers that currently are exempt.[Actually, the 'private sellers' provision has been an accepted "moot point" for the entire history of the country.  If this became law, my children could not legally inherit my firearms .. no matter what the characteristics of the firearm.]
• Reinstating and strengthening the ban on assault weapons that was in place from 1994 to 2004.[The "Assault Weapons Ban" was sunsetted after ten years because both parties in the legislature agreed during debate on the original bill that if after that legitimate trial period crime statistics could NOT prove that the measures inherent would reduce crime, they would agree that it was an unjustifiable imposition on the Second Amendment Rights of legitimate American Citizens, and should (and eventually was) rendered moot and not lawful.  Ten years of experience proved conclusive that the components of that law was essentially useless, and the law was allowed to laps by mutual agreement of both political parties.  Future references to this FACT will be cited as "PROVEN NOT HELPFUL 1994 - 2004"]
• Limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.[PROVEN NOT HELPFUL 1994 - 2004]
• Banning the possession of armor-piercing bullets by anyone other than members of the military and law enforcement.[Already law]
• Increasing criminal penalties for "straw purchasers," people who pass the required background check to buy a gun on behalf of someone else.[It's already illegal, penalties already include imprisonment; how would increases in 'penalties' be more effective?]
• Acting on a $4 billion administration proposal to help keep 15,000 police officers on the street.[Shouldn't be part of an 'assault weapons ban' .. and didn't Obama already promise this years ago?]
• Confirming President Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.[The last guy he proposed for the post was a proven bungler; remember "Fast and Furious"?]
• Eliminating a restriction that requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to allow the importation of weapons that are more than 50 years old.[... Which would NOT eliminate any weapons which fit into the current administrative definition of "Assault Weapons", except for full-automatic weapons which are .. you guessed it .. already fully regulated.]
• Financing programs to train more police officers, first responders and school officials on how to respond to active armed attacks. ["Throw money at it" .. typical Liberal solutions which have worked so well in Education, Health & Welfare, The Housing Lending Crisis, TARP, and other "bail-out" programs]
• Provide additional $20 million to help expand the a system that tracks violent deaths across the nation from 18 states to 50 states. ["Throw money at it" ]
• Providing $30 million in grants to states to help schools develop emergency response plans. ["Throw money at it"]
• Providing financing to expand mental health programs for young people. ["Throw money at it"   Even worse ....opens the door for allowing Liberal Psychologists and Health Care Workers  to define people as "mentally ill' based on purely subjective graunds.]

Executive actions

• Issuing a presidential memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.  .[Already law]
• Addressing unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.[It's his administration.  If his administration isn't encouraging measures which are ALREADY LAW ... why not?]
• Improving incentives for states to share information with the background check system. .[Already law.  See above.]
• Directing the attorney general to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. .[Already law.   See: "Fast and Furious"]
• Proposing a rule making to give law enforcement authorities the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun. .[Already law]
• Publishing a letter from the A.T.F. to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers. .[Already law for dealers: again, see "grandfather laws" currently effect; my guns inherited by my children, etc.]
• Starting a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.["Publicity" .. like that's anything new]
• Reviewing safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).[Cosmetic:  this has NEVER been shown to be an issue in gun crime]
• Issuing a presidential memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.[Already law]
• Releasing a report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and making it widely available to law enforcement authorities.[Already usual practice]
• Nominating an A.T.F. director.[Asked and answered .. again, see "Fast and Furious".  Isn't this already the job of the president?  And hasn't he already mucked it up once?]
• Providing law enforcement authorities, first responders and school officials with proper training for armed attacks situations.  [This isn't already in effect?  I thought that was part of the FEMA job!]
• Maximizing enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.[Obviously, the cops are to blame!]
• Issuing a presidential memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence.[They have been doing that for 50 years ... and they have been proven wrong about their conclusions for 50 years.]
• Directing the attorney general to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenging the private sector to develop innovative technologies.[Cosmetic; the attorney general is an ineffective idiot OR a criminal, and he was Obama's choice; and the private sector (gun manufacturers and dealers) are already abiding by a near-overwhelming set of federal regulations]
• Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.[Great.  The doctors are now REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW to violate patient confidentiality?]
• Releasing a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.[See above]
• Providing incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.[No problem; Education is already .. what, 70% of the national budget?]
• Developing model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.[Cosmetic]
• Releasing a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.[Cosmetic; anything that isn't, should already be there.  And hey, how about Medicare?]
• Finalizing regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within insurance exchanges. [Over-reaching;  or at least to vague to be helpful]
• Committing to finalizing mental health parity regulations.[What?  You've been president for four years and you still haven't made it clear to mental health professionals what their "REAL JOB" is?]
• Starting a national dialogue on mental health led by Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, and Arne Duncan, the secretary of education.[Any measure which includes the name "Kathleen Sebelius" is automatically suspect.  As far as a "National Dialogue" .. that sounds both cosmetic and 'bogus' to me]

I recognize, acknowledge and accept that my responses seem to be both facetious and not terribly helpful.  And no, I don't care to cite specific counter-suggestions to address this terribly important National question.

Here's why:

• Anything that I ... or Obama .. can dream up is obviously going to be something in the nature of a band-aid.  I can't think of ANY Federal Legislation which is going to stop lunatics from shooting little girls.  And obviously, neither can Barry.   The difference is, I don't have to find a solution; I'm an old white guy, it's not my job.  It is, however, Barry's job.  He wanted it, he got it, and now he can't do his job.  Last time I couldn't do my job, my boss fired my ass.  So .. any suggestion I could make would probably be somewhere along those lines.
• Another thing:  What IS my job is to help Our Beloved Leader to do his job.  Even though I can't give him suggestions which are acceptable to him, the least I can do is to alert him when he is reverting to Political Bullshit.
• Barry, it is obvious to all of us that you are dancing as fast as you can; but .. it's just not going to cut it!  Why don't you get rid of the sycophants in your office and find some people who actually can  THINK!  For example, Ronald Reagan actually was as incompetent as your party (wrongly) said George W. Bush was .. but he was still one of our country's  greatest presidents.  And in fact, "W" didn't do as bad .. for the same reasons; they both found and hired people who were smarter than them, and they listened to their advisers.  Unfortunately, you have advisers who are smarter than you, and maybe you actually listen to them ... but just being 'smarter than you' doesn't mean 'smart enough'. [Knock Knock!]  Are you listening to me, Barry?
• The time for Political Bullshit is past.  Admit it; you can't find the people who are TRULY homicidally  deranged before they cap their mother and then drive-buy a schoolhouse.  There's got to be another way .. but nobody you're talking to has ever suggested .....
• LET YOUR PEOPLE GO!  It's going to cost somebody (eventually .. me) a TON of money to hire armed school guards  We can't afford it.  Why don't you just let your teachers carry concealed weapons?  It worked for the Israeli's?  (Of course, their enemies resorted to bombs, but no plan is perfect.)

All I am saying is, give a piece a chance.  We've already seen that gun-free zones are considered (by maniacal would-be mass murders) to be nothing more than a target-rich environment.

Maybe .. just maybe, if you follow the Israeli Protocol (which combines armed  citizens with intelligent profiling) you could cut down on the number of nut-jobs who are allowed .. by YOU! ... to walk into a structure and blast away without fear of consequence.

Talk about your 'common sense gun control law'!

Remember: Gun Control means "Hitting what you're shooting at".

Why should the Bad Guys be the only ones who understand this?