The Stupidest Argument Ever Made

Heard this today and had to respond      http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/some-gun-makers-try-keep-their-guns-out-police-hands

This from a gun dealer in NY--- > > > “If a citizen, you know, can’t own it, I don’t understand the reasoning why the law enforcement community should have it.”

The secret to gun dealers and makers is that they sell to police and military at a discount, and then advertise these guns to civilians, full price, as “”the ones the cops and military have””   see this interview    http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167694808/assault-style-weapons-in-the-civilian-market   

If a citizen wants to own the guns that police get, OR get the chance to arrest people, go on stakeouts, drive police cars (or open the door from the inside)

THEN ITS TIME TO APPLY TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

There is a reason cops get some special privileges that normal citizens don’t get----they deal with criminals every day as a job description.

Cops can carry guns into banks---even though ordinary people cannot

Cops can arrest with probable cause---normal citizens can arrest ONLY IF THEY SEE THE CRIME BEING COMMITTED----a citizens arrest

COPS should get special access to guns and ammo because they have a different job description----same as soldiers should get special access---that normal citizens who are hunting, target practice, or self defense should not be able to get

There is an argument that criminals can get guns and they don’t care about laws----BUT they can only get what is legally available---or privately sold through loopholes which we should close.

Your brain in a shootout

This is a great piece for anyone who thinks they can stop a shooter read this

http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/your-brain-in-a-shootout-guns-fear-and-flawed-instincts/

reporting on guns

Best reporting on Guns ---my list updated February 2, 2013

A list of the best articles, reports, pictures etc not in any particular order

News on Recent shootings

http://www.businessinsider.com/category/shooting

fact checking gun statements

http://factcheck.org/2012/12/gun-rhetoric-vs-gun-facts/

a conservative judge in favor of assault weapons ban

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burns-assault-weapons-ban-20121220,0,6774314.story

Op-Ed from Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords on gun control and their new PAC

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/07/gabby-giffords-mark-kelly-tucson-shooting-gun-control/1816383/

The Truth about Fast and Furious

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/

Fast and Furious Follow-Up article

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/03/fast-and-furious-follow-up-the-atf-and-gun-stores/

Fast and Furious radio interview

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/07/02/fast-and-furious-fortune

Fast and Furious radio interview part 2

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/06/21/fast-and-furious

Guns in Israel

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=296480

http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=259179

Israel rejects NRA claims

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/israel-rejects-us-gun-lobby-claims-its-security

more guns less rules more deaths

violent death is gun death

your brain during a shootout—its not like tv

http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/your-brain-in-a-shootout-guns-fear-and-flawed-instincts/

parent group that does school security is unarmed

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/20/169826769/after-sandy-hook-shootings-dads-step-up-security

NRA sues over bulk gun sales

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/us/04guns.html?ref=guncontrol&_r=0

liberal gun owner

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/opinion/confessions-of-a-liberal-gun-owner.html?pagewanted=2&pagewanted=all&_r=0

liberal gun owner

http://www.politicususa.com/gun-totting-liberals-perspective-colorado-shooting.html

who is confiscating guns??

http://www.politicususa.com/wingers-threat-gun-owners-liberals.html

liberal gun owner

http://samuel-warde.com/2012/12/letter-from-a-liberal-gun-owner/

Assault weapons ban graph—violence went down

how shooters get their guns

OCCUPY movement proves nonviolence works better against govt

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/12/how-occupy-proved-we-dont-need-guns-against-the-government/

laws against gun research

http://www.propublica.org/article/five-federal-policies-on-guns-you-never-heard-of

best reporting on guns from ProPubica

http://www.propublica.org/article/the-best-reporting-on-guns-in-america

Reducing Gun Violence study

http://policeforum.org/library/critical-issues-in-policing-series/GunsandCrime.pdf

Reagan writes for the Brady Bill

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/opinion/why-i-m-for-the-brady-bill.html

Why Switzerland is not an example for US gun laws

http://www.businessinsider.com/switzerlands-gun-laws-are-a-red-herring-2012-12

Why Switzerland is not an example for US gun laws part 2

http://www.guncite.com/swissgun-kopel.html

Reagan ""no AK47""  picture

NRA vs military on guns and suicides

http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/plank/111720/guns-military-suicide-nra

NRA vs military on guns and suicides

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/0727/Gun-control-Why-the-US-military-is-fighting-with-the-NRA

Militias and the US Constitution—a history of intent

http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/fieldsandhardy.html

Background checks work

Border Patrol Memorial Page (Brian Terry and Fast and Furious)

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/border_patrol_officer_memorial/

Gun control facts

http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp

Clinton tax policy

from wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clintonomics

Fiscal Policy

Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 into law. This act created a 36 percent to 39.6 income tax for high-income individuals in the top 1.2% of wage earners. Businesses were given an income tax rate of 35%. The cap was repealed on Medicare. The taxes were raised 4.3 cents per gallon on transportation fuels and the taxable portion of Social Security benefits were increased. The Taxpayer Relief Act (1997) reduced some federal taxes. Due to certain phase-in rules, the rate 28% was lowered to 20% in the top capital gains. The bracket that was 15% fell to 10%. 

In 1980, a tax credit was put into place based on the number of individuals under the age of 17 in a household. In 1998, it was $400 per child. In 1999, it was raised to $500. High-income families had this Act phased out. 

((  from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Relief_Act_of_1997   Starting in 1998, a $400 tax credit for each child under age 17 was introduced, which was increased to $500 in 1999. This credit was phased out for high income families.))


This Act took out from taxation profits on the sale of a house of up to $500,000 for individuals who are married, and $250,000 for single individuals. Educational savings and retirement funds were given tax relief. Some of the expiring tax provisions were extended for selected businesses. Since 1998, an exemption could be taken out for those family farms and small businesses that qualified for it. In 1999, the correction of inflation on the $10,000 annual gift tax exclusion was accomplished. By the year 2006, the $600,000 estate tax exemption had risen to $1 million dollars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Relief_Act_of_1997 

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 

(Pub.L. 105–34, H.R. 2014, 111 Stat. 787, enacted August 5, 1997) reduced several federal taxes in the United States.

Subject to certain phase-in rules, the top capital gains rate fell from 28% to 20%. The 15% bracket was lowered to 10%.

Starting in 1998, a $400 tax credit for each child under age 17 was introduced, which was increased to $500 in 1999. This credit was phased out for high income families.

The act exempted from taxation the profits on the sale of a personal residence of up to $500,000 for married couples filing jointly and $250,000 for singles. This is for residences that were lived in for at least two years over the last five.^[1]

The $600,000 estate tax exemption was to increase gradually to $1 million by the year 2006.

Family farms and small businesses could qualify for an exemption of $1.3 million, effective 1998. Starting in 1999, the $10,000 annual gift tax exclusion was to be corrected for inflation.

The act also provided tax exemptions for retirement accounts as well as education savings in the Hope Scholarship Credit andLifetime Learning Credits. Some expiring business tax provisions were extended.

clinton tax cut question

was the 1997 tax cut a capital gains tax cut only?? thats misleading to call it the 1997 tax cuts -----its like saying 77% got a tax hike in the recent fiscal deal without mentioning that its the 2% Social Security Payroll tax--which was cut in 2010 and now expired---

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/balancing-the-budget-for-real/  

""Republicans seldom talk about the balanced budgets of fiscal years 1998 through 2001, because they happened on Bill Clinton’s watch. They either pretend they didn’t happen, imply they occurred through some sort of “immaculate conception” unconnected to Clinton’s policies or  try to claim that the 1997 cut in the capital gains tax led to an outpouring of revenue that balanced the budget.""

GOP on the economy

How to fight GOP on the economy with their own words

ask them if we can tax the rich into a good economy----->> answer is no, because there are too few rich people

ask them if they agree the economy is based on consumer spending and confidence------>>answer is yes

ask them about supply and demand--businesses arent hiring because of many reasons but one they cite is low demand

ask them if there are more people in the middle class then the rich---->>answer is yes

ask them if debt is bad------>>answer is yes

(debt is bad because cant spend more then you make--so why are they against minimum wage??)

then ask them what they think about a strong middle class spending their income and growing the economy--->>then ask why they dont believe the questions above

Some of my thoughts on gun ownership

I am not anti gun

I am anti gun violence—especially mass murders

I believe in ammo capacity limits, background checks, permits that are reregistered annually with mandatory safety training, (armed guards in NYS need 47 hours annual training) a national registry, microstamping, safety techniques, locks and safes for guns, marksmanship training and self defense training with emphasis on rules of engagement

I am against Stand Your Ground—its ridiculous to give such broad legality to self defense---make shooters stand their ground ON THEIR REASONS and not give them an off the hook legality---shooters need to know that self defense ONLY applies to immediate threat of life—NOT when people turn or stop the attack—make every shooter face police evidence and a trial like everyone else does

The law in NYS says 5 reasons to use deadly force—rape sodomy murder attempted murder and robbery—Know the law and follow it—self defense is universal but needs to be applied legally and knowledgably—its not a reason to kill people and say self defense later----same with guns--

I am anti NRA because they have politicized the gun issue so that any regulation to stop gun violence is skewed as an attempt to seize all guns or abolish the 2^nd Amendment

Microstamping for example should be a no brainer—it will only matter if you are a criminal or your gun was stolen—why is the NRA against this??

Same with the NRA’s hatred of law enforcement agencies like ATF and other gun research such as CDC—(see Tiahrt amendment)— because gun research would say that guns are dangerous—when guns are present they are used in crimes, violence and suicide AND self defense

Fast and Furious was an issue of LEGAL straw purchase sales in Arizona—ATF was building a case but its hard to build a case when purchases are legal because NRA wants no restrictions on gun sales—like a limit of 2 per month etc

Fast and Furious

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/

I love the Constitution and believe in the Bill of Rights—they protect our God Given Inalienable Rights from abuses brought on by other people OR our government

But the 2^nd Amendment WAS NOT an individual right to bear arms—it was to set up a militia—intended by the Founders to be a national trained regulated citizen army in place of a standing army to defend—as Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution says—against insurrection and invasion when called upon by Congress.

Militia and the Constitution

http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/fieldsandhardy.html