WE KNOW WHAT HAS TO BE DONE

We have heard lip service this week from Donald J. Trump in his role as the alleged President of the United States.  We heard a con man who speaks out of both sides of his mouth.  We heard a liar who rarely speaks without telling some form of untruth about people and policy.  We heard a profiteer who blamed consumers for the problem of violence (blaming their hate, mental disturbance, playing video games and allowing unbridled immigration).  
We heard a corrupt politician who read words from a teleprompter calling for action but who took no effective action except to please his sponsors (the NRA and corporate giants).  We heard a white nationalist, a purveyor of hate and racist venom (using racist language that divides people against one another), call for the nation to come together in unity, a unity he has worked to destroy.  Trump said, ““In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.  Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”  

Hopefully, this man of warped mind, ravaged heart and devoured soul will not be the chief spokesman for this nation much longer.

This illegitimate president tried to tell us that the causes of recent mass shootings have to do with Hate Speech, violent Video games, and Mental Illness. But there were no words that indicated remorse for his own contributions to hate and violence.  There was no reference to the need for the Senate to act on national gun legislation passed by the House of Representatives that would institute universal background checks but has been blocked by Senate Republican Leader, “Moscow Mitch” McConnell, who has a penchant for barring Senators from voting on much-needed legislation until he hears from his manipulator, Donald J. Trump!

This fake president has directed the Department of Justice to “work harder” with local, state and federal agencies to find potential attackers (about as ineffective as one can be!). He also called on social media companies to "develop tools to detect mass shooters before they strike" (the same social media companies that allow their platforms to be used by radicals who advocate violence…).  Trump also asked the FBI to identify what resources the agency needs to investigate and disrupt "hate crimes and domestic terrorism" (the same agency Trump continuously maligns). 

Later in his speech, Trump called for the end of the "glorification of violence," focusing on the video game industry and said mental health laws must be reformed. Trump also said he will direct the Department of Justice to propose legislation to treat hate crimes and mass shootings as capital crimes that can result in the death penalty (the same death penalty that didn’t work to deter other major crimes). In Tweets, he said, “Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform" (so we can do what? --  build that wall to keep our domestic terrorists within the U.S.?). "We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!”  This is his Plan for controlling gun violence.  It stinks of stupidity, hypocrisy and pure nonsense.  (Recently, he has suggested that background checks might be acceptable, but no one knows just what he will support to keep the NRA happy!)

We already have some sense of what must be done to control gun violence, and several of the proposals have overwhelming public support even among gun owners.   A CNN poll on Sunday August 4^th, “saw record highs for its own polling, with 7 in 10 Americans wanting stricter gun laws.

Following the domestic terror attacks in Dayton and El Paso, public support rose.  Most Republicans would support legislation banning assault-style weapons, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found Wednesday — a finding that contradicts President Donald Trump's claim earlier the same day that there's "no political appetite" for such restrictions.

The poll found that: 

·       Nearly 70 percent of all voters would back such a ban 

·       Support for an assault-weapons ban was higher, at 86 percent, among Democrats, who have been pushing for new restrictions on the firearms in the wake of two mass shootings over the weekend

·       Ninety percent said they would back universal background checks for gun sales 

·       Only 23 percent of all voters oppose an assault weapons ban, the poll found. 

Republicans typically are more reticent to support new gun restrictions, and Trump campaigned in 2016 on his strong support for the Second Amendment. But the poll found that:

·       55 percent of GOP voters were comfortable with banning assault weapons, and 

·       54 percent said they would support stricter gun laws more generally. 

 (The poll was conducted Aug. 5-7, in the immediate aftermath of two mass shootings)

A few more of those public-supported proposed gun laws, include:

·       banning of high capacity magazines (large capacity magazines are the common thread uniting all of the major mass shootings in recent history. These magazines were prohibited under federal law until Congress allowed the 1994 assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.)

·       banning bump stocks

·       pressure on internet platforms to disallow (white nationalist) groups that post violent hate speech and harmful terroristic threats.

While these proposals are most likely to be supported by a large portion of the public, there are others receiving attention, particularly from Democratic candidate for President, Corey Booker, who has proposed these additional concepts:

·       begin using executive actions to enact his plan to curb gun violence on “day one” as president, should he win in 2020.

·       in addition to a ban on assault weapons, bump stocks & high-capacity magazines, he wants a limit on gun buyers to purchase of one handgun per month;

·       require gun manufacturers to produce guns with microstamping technology, which would make bullet shells fired from a weapon traceable to a specific gun

·       implement stricter regulations on gun manufacturers by allowing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue recalls on faulty guns and make safety warnings

·       repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which would allow victims of gun violence to sue gun dealers and gun manufacturers for the misuse of their products. 

·       call on the IRS to investigate the National Rifle Association’s actions to see if the organization’s tax status as federal tax-exempt 501(c)(4) should be revoked

·       dedicate more federal resources toward studying gun violence as a public health issue, increase support for survivors of gun violence, and increase funding for violence intervention programs.

One of the more controversial proposals that has been advanced is that of gun registration.  Let us remind ourselves of some of the current federal and state laws… particularly as concerns registration and licensing.  (A more detailed summary of laws can be found at The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence at www.smartgunlaws.org and more detail about registration at my Blog posting of 7/4/2016).

“A limited system of federal firearms registration was created by the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. § 5801 et seq...enacted in 1934 to impose an excise tax and registration requirements on a narrow category of firearms…  With its provisions effectively limited to pre-ban machine guns and transfers of short-barreled rifles and shotguns that are specifically authorized by the Attorney General, the registration system created by the National Firearms Act falls far short of a comprehensive registration system.

“There is no comprehensive national system of gun registration.  In fact, federal law prohibits the use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to create any system of registration of firearms or firearm owners.⁵”

Summary of State Law
Six states and the District of Columbia require registration of some or all firearms. (For more information about such laws, see their summaries on Assault Weapons, 50 Caliber Weapons, and Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines).

Additional states require the reporting of firearm sales and transfers to a state or local agency, which maintains these records.

Conversely, eight states have statutes prohibiting them from maintaining a registry of firearms except in limited circumstances

The Law Center makes the bold claim that:
““Licensing and registration laws make it more difficult for dangerous people to obtain guns and help ensure that firearm owners remain eligible to possess their weapons. Firearm registration laws can lead to the identification and prosecution of violent criminals.  Registration helps law enforcement quickly and reliably trace firearms recovered from crime scenes.  Registration laws are most effective when combined with laws requiring licensing of firearm owners and purchasers.”

“States with some form of both registration and licensing have greater success keeping firearms initially sold by dealers in the state from being recovered in crimes than states without such systems in place.²  This data suggests that licensing and registration laws make it more difficult for criminals, juveniles and other prohibited purchasers to obtain guns.” 

Let us dive a little deeper into core of our gun violence problem.  If we really want to get to the heart of the problem, we have to accept, and act upon,  the part that money and profit play in making us the only country in which access to guns (and use of guns to kill innocent people) is as prevalent as it is. We are bamboozling ourselves if we continue to believe that we will solve this problem by dealing only with the symptoms of the cancer within.  We will not reduce gun violence until we accept the fact that, as with the scourge of tobacco and nicotine, the core of this societal problem revolves around the love of money and profit.  

Here is my take on the matter:

1)      We must separate guns as a product from the right of ownership of those products – “to keep and bear arms.”  What does that mean?  It means that the very first thing we must do as a people and a nation is to assert that the 2^nd Amendment does not bestow rights on guns – guns are simply products that are potentially lethal, like automobiles.  As such, guns must be subject to restrictions and regulations as potentially lethal products, as we do with automobiles, drugs and some foods.  The right bestowed by the 2^nd amendment is the right to ownership of guns, but that right cannot be used to override the rights to safety, a full life and pursuit of happiness for other persons. 

2)       We need to clarify the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  One of the most conservative Justices ever, Antonin Scalia, when he wrote the majority opinion for the Court in District of Columbia v. Heller decision in 2008, said this:

“Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited .  It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose:  concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

It would seem clear that the Second Amendment needs clarification, either by amendment or subsequent legislation, showing that it is not absolute in its coverage of guns.  Perhaps something like the following:

“The Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the States to form and maintain well-regulated militia.  Likewise, the Congress shall pass no law infringing on the right of the people to own non-military style arms appropriate for sport, and defense of life, home and a free State.  

The Congress may pass subsequent laws that regulate the production, sale, licensing and utilization of guns and other weapons to preserve the safety and tranquility of the people and their communities.”  

3)      As we have done with other manufactured products that affect health and well-being, gun makers must be required to accept responsibility for their potentially lethal products.  We have had some experience with this process with tobacco companies and are currently dealing with opioid drug makers and the effects of their potentially lethal products.  Although that tobacco effort has taken much time and energy, many lives have been saved from the results so far.   What we proposed and demanded in relation to sale of potentially lethal nicotine and second-hand smoke could easily be applied to guns as manufactured products.  So, read the following as though applied to guns and gunmakers.

a.       raise the age of customers eligible to purchase the product

b.       make some companies pay fines or reparations for the devastating results their products cause like loss of functions or incapacitation. etc.

c.       march in front of CEO homes and businesses in protest

d.       stop buying their products; boycott big retailers like WalMart and others who refuse to end sale of harmful products

e.       impose advertising restrictions

f.        require warnings of ‘danger’ on their product 

g.     limit or terminate special considerations like tax breaks, capitol funds for expansion, government grants for any purpose, exemption from property taxes

h.     limit government contracts 

i.       disallow manufacturer advertisements in sports venues or on billboards near schools, or anywhere that children could be affected 
j.   don't forget the power of the courts during conflicts with the tobacco companies -- progressive organizations, civil rights lawyers, individuals harmed by a hate group may need to use the courts, especially in light of the district court ruling in Washington, DC that just imposed a $750k fine on a hate group which just might help force these animals back into their slimy swamp

k.       regulate the use of terms that minimize the effects of the product (such as "mild" and "light" in the case of cigarettes) by requiring that their products conform to certain standards regarding descriptive terms

l.     create a Products Scientific Advisory Committee to help inform the FDA on issues relating to the products

m.         create a Center for Arms (as with Tobacco) Products as a branch of the FDA, for the implementation of laws and regulations related to gun violence control. The main duties of the Center for (Tobacco) control include: 

                                                               i.      Set performance standards

                                                             ii.      Review applications for new tobacco products (see premarket tobacco application) and modified-risk claims (see modified risk tobacco products) before they reach the market

                                                           iii.      Require and control warning labels

                                                           iv.      Establish and enforce advertising restrictions

4)      We need public displays of opposition to the lack of responsibility by gun manufacturers for their products, such as:

a.       protests and petitions of gun manufacturers who ignore the lethal effects of their products, and who refuse to institute remedies at point of manufacture that could lessen damaging outcomes from their products (such as an imprinted individualized ID number on every gun)

b.     expansion of laws that enable victims of gun violence to make it easier to sue gun manufacturers for damages

c.       boycotts of retail outlets and internet sites that support, display, or offer to sell weapons of war like AK-47s, bump stocks, oversized magazines; or, that simply glorify guns and weapons

d.      towns and cities in which gun manufacturers reside need to demand community service, pollution control, and a responsible pay-back for gun manufacturers who leave, or threaten to leave, those communities

e.       private organizations and associations need to sponsor educational (and protest) events for their membership and communities that awaken voters and residents to the possible dangers and ill-gotten gains of gun manufacturers, emphasizing how residents’ health and economic status could be suffering

f.        but finally:  when gun manufacturers take positive actions to curb gun violence and threats to health and well-being, there must also be positive promotion of those efforts on a continuing basis

We cannot resolve the issue of gun violence, or the causes of other types of violence, unless we accept the fact that the profit motive is at least one of the primary root causes of the problem and its visible damaging results.  In fact, money or profit must be considered whenever reform of something is contemplated because the effects of money tends to be hidden (often on purpose).  It is so often hidden because too many of its biggest recipients are duplicitous leaders like Donald Trump – they don’t want you to know how little they care, how much they take from you in order to line their own pockets, or how dishonest they are in their dealings with ordinary people and communities.  Like Donald Trump, they go to the greatest lengths to conceal, to divert, to mislead; to undermine any criticism, to escape any blame, to blunt any charge of irresponsibility, and to cloak the racism at the core of their motives.  All the while they know what they are doling (Making Money off killing machines), but have convinced themselves that they are successful, upstanding citizens who have made a difference in the protection of lives and property.  

Let us remind gun manufacturers that the innocent people killed by domestic terrorists with military-style weapons and oversized magazines is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.  Let us stop the carnage by attacking their measurements for success. 

LET US EXPOSE THEIR SECRETS AND THEIR LIES
LET US REVEAL THEIR RACIST WHITE NATIONALIST MOTIVES FOR ALL TO SEE

LET US REDUCE THEIR PROFITS AND RAISE THEIR TAXES

LET US HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR DAMAGES CAUSED TO INNOCENT LIVES

LET US REMIND OURSELVES – as RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS -- THAT 

WE SHALL NOT IGNORE THE SACRIFICE OF INNOCENTS ON AN ALTAR OF GREED, PROFIT and RACISM!

{As the fortunate recipients of the love, beauty and richness of Latino heritage from a son-in-law and three grandchildren, our family takes personally the heartbreak and fear produced by the tragedies in California, Ohio, and El Paso.  We send our thoughts and prayers with our promise to do all we can to reject this vile racism and violence that threatens us all.  May the grace of loving concern provide a measure of strength that leads to healing}