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President Barack Obama Unveils Sweeping Gun Control Reform Proposals

Obama unveiled a number of recommendations based off work done by a task force, and also issued 23 executive actions that don't require congressional approval.

 

Following a series mass shootings last year, President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed comprehensive gun policy reform that included a series of executive actions.

The set of proposals is based on a month-long review by a task force spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden. The proposals address giving addtional tools to law enforcement, school safety, mental health and the availability of dangerous firearms and ammunition.

Under the proposals the president is recommending:

  • universal criminal background checks for private and retail gun sales;
  • reinstating the ban on military assault weapons;
  • a limit on ammunition magazines;
  • more gun research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
  • helping schools develop emergency plans;
  • adding more resource officers to schools;
  • adding more police officers on the street;
  • new gun trafficking laws and more.

The package will cost about $500 million, reported the Huffington Post.

Obama said in a Wednesday press conference that most Americans agree with universal background checks. He also said that more than 40 percent of gun purchases are done without background checks.

Part of his plan also includes appointing Todd Jones as director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Jones has been the acting director since 2011. The ATF has gone six years without a permanent director, according to TMP Livewire.

Many of Obama’s recommendations require Congressional approval, which is why he signed 23 executive actions that don’t require approval and take effect immediately.

The executive actions call for federal agencies to be required to hand over relevant data for a background check system; provide law enforcement, first responders and school officials with better training for active shooting situations; gun violence and prevention research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that includes video game research; and more.

Biden’s task force is comprised of 31 elected officials who met with 229 organizations from gun advocacy groups, law enforcement, sporting groups, and many others.

Local gun control reactions

The Milwaukee area saw three high-profile shooting deaths since August, in Oak Creek, Brookfield and Wauwatosa. Adding the mass shootings in Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT to the equation has heightened the national and local dialogue on gun ownership and control.

A December Patch poll — Have Recent Events Made it More Likely for You to Own a Gun? — had an almost 53-46 split among 112 votes and more than 500 comments from Patch users.

Here's what some people had to say about today's press conference on Facebook:

Rickety Jim Twenty-three executive orders were signed. Did anyone catch what they all were? Of course not.. he didn't mention the majority of their content. 

Greg Huegerich I'd like to see more liability for purchasers of guns, whose guns are used in crimes. Want to avoid liability? Fund the background check for private sales. All part of a constitutional requirement for a *well regulated* militia.

Jeff Alan-Pokey I think it sucks!! How is a ban on high capacity mags or AR15 going to stop nut heads from doing what they want. Lets put armed guards in all the schools and stop wasting time making laws that will make no difference to a criminal. However I do like the idea of background checks at gun shows.

E Jason Godersky 100% of all street gangs and mobster style thugs will not run background checks.

Patch commentary

A number of Patch Local Voices bloggers have expressed their own thoughts on gun control. Below is a look into some of our more popular Local Voices posts:

Related Topics: Barack Obama, Gun Control Reform, Gun Violence, and gun control

Avenging Angel

2:06 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Which of these will make our schools safer?

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. - Has merit, but no impact on school safety.

2. Address 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. - merit, but wouldn't have stopped New Town

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system. -Nope

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. -We do this now.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.- Don't we already?

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.= Nope

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.- Nope

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission). -Nope

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. -Nope

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Avenging Angel

2:12 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.- Nope

11. Nominate an ATF director.-Nope

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations. -Already there

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.-Nope

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.-Nope

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies-Nope

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.-Nope

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.-Already in Place

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.-Unless this means an armed guard, Nope.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.-They already have them.

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WPN1488

2:12 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

How are Obama's radical brown hordes and their willing race traitors going to disarm white America if they don't know who owns the guns? Well finding those white owned guns may have got easier today. If you are on any anti anxiety or depression meds your guns are as good as gone. Who would have thought the Affordable Care Act and Doctors would be used to destroy your 2nd Amendment
rights?

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Nuitari

2:19 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I found the second executive order infiltrating HIPAA to get your medical records disturbing.

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Lyle Ruble

5:06 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

@Nuitari.....It is HIPA (Health Information Protection Act), not HIPPA.

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Richard Head

5:34 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

"If you are on any anti anxiety or depression meds your guns are as good as gone."

That's good news. IF you are depressed - you need to alter your diet and lifestyle, it's likely meds are not necessary - so take care of yourself if you want to own guns. Still need meds = NO GUNS. Reasonable.

"How are Obama's radical brown hordes and their willing race traitors going to disarm white America if they don't know who owns the guns? Well finding those white owned guns may have got easier today."

It's stuff like the above that causes me to believe that you are either some sort of FBI agent OR mentally ill. PLEASE - don't own guns.

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Random Blog Commenter

5:34 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mr., Ruble

It's the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/

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Lyle Ruble

6:35 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

@Random Blog Commenter...In fact we are all three wrong. It is HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

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Nuitari

7:29 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Lyle, I was right. One, You misquoted me, and two, you left the A for Act off.

I'll let it go this time.

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Greg

8:20 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Maybe the "A" is silent.

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Steve ®

9:31 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I thought the two S's were?

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Craig

8:59 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Now we can debate the proper spelling for Hippo...
(hippopotamus)
wait that might be spelled inkorectley

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Random Blog Commenter

11:15 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mr. Ruble,

If I am wrong then the gov't website that I cut and pasted the name from is wrong.

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Frank Instein

8:14 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

one third of gun owners are on anti anxiety pills of some sort for different reasons, so that'll go over like a fart in church dumbasses.

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Benedons, Inc

11:16 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

It's actually HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Patriot

2:22 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

That I find a little disturbing. What exactly are the 23 executive orders that he did sign. Whats the reason in not sharing that info with the people. A total and complete waste of time!!! Not to mention a 500 million dollar price tag!!

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Steve ®

2:25 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

What he signed today was actually $4.5 billion in new spending. Not $500 million

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Satori

5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Ummm, Angel posted them 10 minutes before you asked....you have found them by now, right?

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Frank Instein

8:17 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

Obummer can sign papers all day, but withought passing congress, he might as well make paper airplanes. And how many times has congress passed these executive orders? Never.

Avenging Angel

2:22 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.-Nope

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.-Nope

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.-Nope

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.-Let's talk about it? Nope

Now, for the legislative portion of today's show:

Require criminal background checks for all gun sales. (a.k.a. closing the "gun show loophole.") -I'm ok with this, but it has no impact on school safety.

Reinstate and strengthen the assault weapons ban.-Nope

Restore the 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.-Nope

Protect police by finishing the job of getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.-They're already illegal, no impact on school safety

Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.-Nope

End the freeze on gun violence research.-Nope

Make our schools safer with more school resource officers and school counselors, safer climates, and better emergency response plans. -Once again, unless this means an armed guard, Nope

Help ensure that young people get the mental health treatment they need.-At least two of our recent shooters were under treatment, so, Nope.

Ensure health insurance plans cover mental health benefits. -Nope

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Satori

4:57 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Right, you made your point ...now again in this thread, but how can any of these things hurt? Whether it's based on politics or not, if these prevent one crazy, unstable person from possessing a gun and harming someone, it's worth it.

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Richard Head

5:38 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

@Satori - do we now ban assault gasoline - used in Molotov cocktails?

Liberals plan violence: Here, alleged Madison Bomber Kvon Smith plans to RIOT if a liberal rally doesn't get it's way.

http://racine.craigslist.org/pol/3550895175.html

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Craig

9:01 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

We need an executive order to make placing gasoline in glass containers a felony. Then the crazy people will not kill anyone for fear of incarceration.

Steve ®

2:24 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I finally got .223 ammo in today. Undisclosed quantity. It was a battle thanks to the liberal gun control nuts but at last we will have a fun time in a few weeks.

Obama needs a constant crisis to keep his base in fear. Now if he would only put this much effort into his budget issues.

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Avenging Angel

2:34 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Ok, it seems "resource officer" is liberal double speak for "armed guard", so, one out of 23 would have any impact on school safety.

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Nuitari

3:30 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Avenging Angel, thanks for posting these 23 worthless decrees since we can't rely on the false reporting of the Huffington Post.

FYI Executive orders are NOT law. Obama can write these up all he wants. Sooner or later he'll find himself impeached for going over Congress' heads.

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Steve Ebbie

4:16 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Keep fear alive and buy, buy, buy. Fill your basements with guns and ammo. I think I heard helicoptors.

Let me say that I have been a hunter all my life. I own shotguns, rifles, pistols and black powder. I have never needed more than 2 shots to dispatch game. There is no one that will take my guns away and no one should have any reason unless my age/health at some point becomes a concern.

I see no reason that anyone who purchases a gun can not have their background checked. I see no reason for 30, 50, 100 or 200 round clips. At the theatre in Colorado 70 people were shot within minutes.

If you are on the side of arming teachers or janitors, there is a study done with the New York Police Department showing a 34% hit rate with well trained professionals.

IMHO

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Greg

4:48 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Keep fear alive and call gun violence an epidemic while it actually is in a steady decline.

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Steve ®

9:42 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

"At the theatre in Colorado 70 people were shot within minutes." Funny how when no one is shooting back you have fee reign of the situation. And how easily you can reload a magazine no matter it's capacity.

What sucks is when someone is shooting back at you.

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Brian Dey

9:44 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Steve Ebbie- Sorry Steve, but this is not about hunting alone. This, specifically under the 2nd Amendment, is the right to bear arms against a tyranical government. If the government can carry 30 or more, than so can I period. As for your 34% rate. I think 34% is statisticly way better than 0%.

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Steve Ebbie

10:07 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Brian Dey,

Sorry Mr. Brian Dey, but my government also has tanks, armored personell carriers, destroyers, an army, navy, special forces, ...

By your logic, I should be able to aquire any and all of those assests to counter the very government under which I choose to live under???

Are we that afraid that "they" are coming for us???

It is just that "logic" that is sinking the arguement for "responsible" gun owners.

IMHO

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Steve ®

10:13 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

If the bad guy has a 25 round mag, I want a 30. This is about guns, not tanks. Stay on topic.

FYI you can own a tank and a fighter jet and all sorts of cool stuff if you have the cash.

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Keith Schmitz

6:55 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Suckers. The only people who are benefiting are the gun and ammo makers and dealers.

What's amusing are the guys who are going to take on the US Military, who will crush these Rambos like a bug. Funnier still is these gun nuts voting for the politicians who are making this military even larger.

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CowDung

8:27 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Keith:

Why has the US military been having so much difficulty 'crushing' the insurgent 'Rambos' in Iraq and Afghanistan? If it is truly so easy, why are we still losing soldiers?

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Brian Dey

9:03 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Sorry Mr. Ebbie, but I did not write the 2nd Amendment. Like it or not, that is the Constitutional argument. We have already accepted a ban or conditional use for automatic weapons. Now because someting looks like an assault weapon, it is an assault weapon. You claim to be a hunter. There is absolutely no diference between an AR-15 and any other .223 rifle. None. A pistol grip doesn't make the .223 any deadlier, nor does a retractable stock. None, zip, nada.

I find it acceptable to have any armament that can be carried by our police or soldiers.

If they can carry a tank, then the citizentry should beable to as well. What part of "shall not infringe" do you not understand? http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infringed

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Craig

9:06 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Cow makes a good point. It is hard to kill the enemy when he blends in with the crowd. Guerilla warfare: a sniper fires and then hides. Leaving the BIG guns no target.
Keith still thinks they line up in rows and fire, then wait to be fired on. Shoulder to shoulder combat is almost as old as poor Keith.

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Satori

9:43 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

The tin foil hat, sky is falling community grows larger every day.

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Craig

9:48 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Satori: Keith is too cheap to use tin foil for a hat.
Maybe he can recycle old whiskey bottles to make a hat.

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Steve ®

10:17 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I see it as if our government moves in the direction Obama would like to take it: The military would be on the side of the constitution, and the citizens. The military isn't made up of communist marxist socialist liberal democrats.

In the mean time a so called hunter, Steve Ebbie, was schooled by this ►There is absolutely no difference between an AR-15 and any other .223 rifle. None. A pistol grip doesn't make the .223 any deadlier, nor does a retractable stock. None, zip, nada.◄

Greg

4:44 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

24. Nationalize Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground Laws with a "no questions asked clause" when a firearm theft may have been a result.

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Richard Head

5:20 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin another Democrat threatens the Capitol and is arrested!

"A man law enforcement officials allege is responsible for a bomb scare at the state capitol in Madison just hours before Governor Walker’s annual state of the state address has a fascination with violence and a prior violent history. According to reports, Kvon Smith was arrested inside the Capitol after Capitol Police circulated his photograph earlier in the day and warned that he had made threatening statements on his Facebook page about committing an act of violence today."

http://mediatrackers.org/2013/01/15/breaking-exclusive-capitol-bomb-threat-suspect-has-history-of-violence/

See screen shots from Kvon Smith's video and Facebook.

http://racine.craigslist.org/pol/3550895175.html

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Steve ®

9:43 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Blue fisters are terrorists.

Jeff Radmer

5:40 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Yaaaaawwwwnnnn. More empty rhetoric from an empty suit. Won't pass the ( democratic) Senate, EO's are nothing but "studies", " incentives" ,reviews", "clarifications", and a little pork thrown in to pay for these. What a dud of a proposal.
On to the next "crisis". ( distraction).

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Caledonia Retiree

6:18 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

This is all fine and good but what has Obama got against the "Showcase" on "The Price is Right"? This is now TWICE his stupid, boring speeches have interrupted it this week!!!

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Greg

8:23 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Never take the first showcase.

Mike

7:43 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Dick Head-
Kvon Smith is a democrat? How do you now this?

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GearHead

8:13 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Duh! Because no GOP would pose for a pic with Tammy Baldwin!

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Richard Head

8:45 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mike - as Gearhead points out - you obviously didn't look at the link - or follow the link to Media Trackers - the information on his activities and affiliations is quite clear.

Here is the link to Kvon's video, which is still up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSdXfSX-e8M&feature=player_embedded

Human Rights and Prosperity Era!

Published on Dec 27, 2012

Song was made in 2009.
For my team TSM, and our Human rights and prosperity era which supports Justice For Palestine, Boycott Palermos, workers rights, Asian Student Union, Black Student Union, All Black Everything, Latino Student Union, Desi Student Association, LGBT Communities, and women rights!! We go the hardest, that means there are no tougher! Let's go! No Justice No peace! -Kv Smiff

Surprised the authorities haven't pulled it yet.

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Richard Head

8:53 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mike - Kvon also stated he was up to start a riot - even if it would mean his arrest, at a rally for "Wisconsin Wave" - I also have this documented on my screenshots seen on a link above.

Kvon was in contact with Ben Manski of "Wisconsin Wave" - as seen in screen shot.

"Wisconsin Wave" was to have a "RALLY TO REJECT THIS PUPPET LEGISLATURE!"

Here is the site - they are Democrats. http://wisconsinwave.org/

Link to my screen shots: http://racine.craigslist.org/pol/3550895175.html

I have more screenshots with more people who I don't recognize and may or may not be of significance. See the video before it is pulled - nothing special - just people.

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GearHead

8:59 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Richard: nice link. Back in the day we called them radicals. Now they are known as occupiers. Armstrong should be proud.

WaitingForTheSpark

7:44 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Make no mistake; the Fuhrer vaporized healthcare privacy regulations today. Conversations with ‘your’ Doctor (really the Fuhrer’s Doctor) about your gun ownership? Those notes go right into the regimes computer system. Mark my word this will result in the creation of something like a ‘no buy’ list, similar to the mysterious ‘no fly’ list. You will have Progressive Doctors looking for the slightest thing in order to deny their gun owning patient their 2nd Amendment right per The Fuhrer’s instructions. What was really chilling about the Fuhrer's speech today was this “remove 'unnecessary legal barriers' to make information more accessible to the Federal government.” "remove unnecessary legal barriers ...” In the Fuhrer’s world that means our Constitution. Stock up on EVERYTHING people, the 49% are not going to take this bent over.

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GearHead

8:18 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

For being a Constitutional Professor, have any of us heard from any of his "former students" on this? Or are they as fictitious as his composit girlfriend?

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$$andSense

8:31 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

No argument here. Best be careful with future doctor's visits and you are already screwed with existing records for any prescribed med's your doctor entered into your record. Yep, it is all coming down to the wire.

Michael McClusky

8:22 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

What is with this executive order mania? Does anyone question the president's sanity in continuously by-passing the Congress and the Constitution? This man certainly should be second-guessed.

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$$andSense

8:25 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Now here is a piece of fiction that is entirely plausible for those of you jumping on the Odumbo bandwagon on gun control:

“John Smith of ***** entered a ***** store during a “Black Friday” event and opened fire a with a cut down double barrel shotgun and “bullets” hidden under his overcoat, at the crowds assembled for the holiday shopping rush. Smith quickly fired 50 rounds in less than 5 minutes, killing or wounding at least 25 to 30 persons, including children, all at close range. The crowd was unable to disperse from the onslaught due to the store’s policy of restricting customers to easily accessible exits for reasons of theft. Police arrived within 20 minutes after Smith used up all his “bullets”, which were determined to be buckshot and slugs that hunters legally use in the area. Smith was taken into custody without incident. He confessed that the legally owned 85 year old shotgun and “bullets” he used were from his grandfather that he inherited, and claimed to have cut off the barrels and butt stock with a hacksaw in his parent’s basement. The official police response, when pressed by the media, was that the carnage could have been easily caused by an Obama outlawed style assault rifle with big “clips” and “lots” of "dangerous bullets”. “

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$$andSense

8:41 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

“the availability of dangerous firearms and ammunition.”

Uh...........haven’t all firearms always been dangerous when loaded and in the wrong hands, throught the history of firearms?

Fact, not fiction. The little .22 rimfire cartridge causes the most firearm deaths and injuries every year.

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Greg

8:43 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Gun violence has been on a steady decline for over 20 years, so what is going to be an indicator that any of this B.S. worked? Is it really intended to work, or will Obama keep coming back with more restrictions?

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Steve Ebbie

9:22 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I did a little research Greg and you are right. Gun violence is declinging.

But your dates are wrong. We were at a high of 10,225 in 2006 and now ONLY have 8,583 killed by guns in the United States of America in the year 2011.

We are on the right track. Don't change a thing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state

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Greg

10:14 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/guns.cfm

I was looking at the over all gun crime trends.

The percentage of overall deaths that were the result of falling off things like rocks and ladders was 1 percent, or nearly three times the percentage of deaths that were gun-related: 26,631 versus 8,583.

Gun-related deaths represented only .34 percent of all deaths in America 2011.

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Lyle Ruble

6:10 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I am curious, is the declining trend of gun shot death due to better first response treatment and medical intervention? How many shootings occur each year is a better measure, not deaths.

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Keith Schmitz

7:06 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Bingo Lyle. From that socialist rag the Wall Street Journal -- thanks to medical intervention, gun deaths falling despite (sorry Steve) RISING GUN VIOLENCE -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324712504578131360684277812.html.

The bottom line. The hobby and paranoia of some are costing this country a ton of money. You know. That government money that drives some of you nuts. So people may eventually come to the question, can we afford conservatism?

We're on the right track? Right!!!!

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Steve Ebbie

8:16 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Keith Schmitz,

Don't take my tongue in cheek "we are right on track, don't change a thing" as a statement of how I feel about common sense changes to make us all safer.

The 8,583 gun deaths in 2011 comes out to a little over 23 a day. Maybe that is acceptable to some who post on these blogs.

As I stated before, I see no reason why we can have someone who cannot fly commercially because they are on a no fly list, but can go to a gun show and purchase at will. I see no reason why anyone needs a 20, 30, 50, 100 or 200 round clips unless they are a professional in a tactical situation.

I have taken a variety of game and have never needed more than two shots. Once I harvested a nice Wisconsin whitetail doe with a single shot 44. My guns and ammo are locked up in different locations. We can be responsible gun owners.

I am haunted by the thought of those 20 first graders and their families.

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Keith Schmitz

8:26 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

LIKE.

Ultimately the key to reform is for a majority of Americans to regard irresponsible gun behavior and views as inappropriate.

It's very preventable, and why some people regard these deaths as acceptable as the "price of freedom" is nuts.

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Brian Dey

9:07 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

When you lefties actually start to enforce the laws you already haveon the books, then come talk to me. When you lefties actually incarcerate these animals, talk to me. We had an assasination attempt on a sitting President and you lefties let him out 25 hours per week unguarded. It's real nice to pose with children an take photo-ops, but its better to enforce the laws we already have, then create new ones we will never enforce.

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Greg

12:33 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Lyle, Good question, that is also why I have stated that issues like this need the correct analysis, rather than simple knee-jerk emotional reaction. I would have to question why the first responder effect has not been offset by the liberal demons, assault weapons, hi-cap mags and bullets only intended to kill(?).

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Steve Ebbie

12:44 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mr Dey,

I had assumed that you were an adult who could openly discuss a topic with which we may have differeing opinions/solutioins.

I think laws should be enforced.
I believe in paying time for doing crime and would like criminals held longer if warrented.
No clue about the ungarded criminal.

Bob McBride

8:02 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Were they cleaning the carpets in the Oval Office on the day that picture was taken? Or is that the computer he uses to post on Patch as "James R. Hoffa"?'

Keith, don't forget to wipe the mud off your Sketchers before shuffling into Alterra for the day.

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WPN1488

8:30 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Ever since social restraints have been lifted off of the black population in the 60s blacks have been on a virtual crime spree. What this unrestrained black behavior has shown us is why blacks were treated harshly and swiftly in the old days. Places like Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans are now virtual war zones. Flash mobs of blacks robbing stores and terrorizing people all across Wisconsin and the nation. This kind of uncivilized mob behavior was kept in check in the old days and now we can understand why they did what they did back then. So now we have a black President who thinks the problem with gun violence is the law abiding White person.

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Lyle Ruble

8:48 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

@White Power Nation 14/88...Grow up! Your Jim Crow attitudes are out dated and rejected by adults.

Think Please

8:31 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Firearm related death rate per 100,000 population in one year:

US 10.20, Nicaragua 7.14, Zimbabwe 4.75, Serbia 3.90, France 3.00, New Zealand 2.66, Canada 2.16, Israel 1.86, Greece 1.50, Italy 1.28, Kuwait 1.25, India 0.93, Spain 0.63, UK 0.25, Singapore 0.24, Japan 0.07

The facts speak for themselves: our current application of the 2nd Amendment make you and YOUR children LESS SAFE.

Shameful

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JB

9:19 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Yes, the facts do speak for themselves, if you really look at them. Places and times with the strongest gun control laws have often been places and times with high murder rates. Washington, DC, is a classic example, but just one among many. When it comes to the rate of gun ownership, that is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, but the murder rate is higher in urban areas. The rate of gun ownership is higher among whites than among blacks, but the murder rate is higher among blacks. For the country as a whole, handgun ownership doubled in the late 20th century, while the murder rate went down.

Neither guns nor gun control was not the reason for the difference in murder rates. PEOPLE WERE THE DIFFERENCE.

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Brian Dey

9:50 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Think Please- % of Homicides by firearm. U.S. ranks 24th, even though we rank #1 in civilian gun ownership. Lichtenstein 100%, Puerto Rico 94.8%, Sierra Leone 87.7%, St. Kitts 85%, Guatemala 84%, Honduras 83.4%, Columbia 81.1%, Venezuela 79.5%, Jamaica 75.6%, SWITZERLAND 72.2%, West Bank/Gaza 72.4%, Zimbabwe 65.6%, as well as Albania, the Bahamas, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eygypt, Guyana, Macedonia, Maldives, Trinidat & Tobago. They all have a higher percentage of firearm murders than the United States.

Facts speak for themselves. If ypou want to change the 2nd Amendment, then it must go through the Amendment process. Good luck getting 75% of the states to agree to ban firearms. Also, the President/Mein Fuhrer doesn't even get a vote.

NRAMember

8:40 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I am glad to see that our Great Leader Baraka Hussein Abu oumama is taking Constitutional advice from a bunch of 3rd graders, who also believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus......Stalin also used children as props.......sickening.

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Think Please

8:56 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

The statistics speak for themselves......sickening. We are less safe in America because of our anything goes gun lobby

Stand up to NRA...blah, blah, blah

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CowDung

8:59 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

We are less safe in America because of societal issues, not because of the gun lobby. We have a culture that embraces violence--until we address that, we will continue to be less safe.

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NRAMember

9:01 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Think Please, it is certainly your right as a US citizen to be a victim. Please don't make us all victims. Oh, and if you get a chance, go to Cabela's and sign up for CC carry and buy an American made gun, protect your family, be an adult.

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Brian Dey

9:53 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Think Please- We are less safe because we let criminals go free. We are less safe because no liberal wants to take n the drug gangs. We are less safe because liberals think we can reform criminals. We are less safe because we do not enforce te laws we have. Please, think please...think!

Avenging Angel

9:10 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Challenge:

Please convince me that any of these proposals will make schools safer (other than the armed guard proposal). The President lined up all those kids yesterday, so lets discuss each one and its impact on school safety.

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Think Please

10:06 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

NRAMember, the facts speak for themselves: more people are killed and maimed by gun accidents in the home than are saved from the boogie man the NRA gins up to keep gun revenue flowing and over-paid lobbyist in Washington DC employed.

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NRAMember

10:07 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Think Please, BS......like I said, you have the right to be a victim. Please enjoy this right and stop forcing others to be a victim like you.

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CowDung

10:17 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Think Please:

After Washington DC implemented their gun ban, gun murders INCREASED by more than 150%. Similar results when Chicago had their gun ban. Gun violence increased by 40% there after their ban went into effect. The facts speak for themselves.

Think Please

10:22 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Lobby, lobby, lobby...while innocent people die. Shame

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Richard Head

10:27 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Yeah, what a shame... innocent people die everyday. So - what's YOUR justification for abortion.

End the NONSENSE! Guns are an inanimate object - a tool - they are only dangerous in the hands of a criminal. What tool isn't dangerous in the hands of a criminal?

How about a FIST! One punch homicide -

"One Punch Homicide is a documentary that will reduce violence, crime, and murders, possibly more than anything in our time. It's about people who killed and were killed with one punch, and only one punch, and their loved ones. It will reduce violence against everyone - the elderly, disabled, lgbt, children, women, and men.

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg of King County, which includes Seattle, Washington, says King County has four to six one punch homicides every year. If King County's one punch homicide rate is average for the nation, which is impossible to tell because no one in the U.S., including the FBI, keeps statistics on the subject, then the U.S. has between 500 and 1,000 one punch homicides every year. Although this isn't a huge number, it has other implications. Most single punches don't result in a death, but for every death by one punch, how many other people experience serious injuries, including brain damage, because of one punch - 10, 20, 50, 100, or more?"

http://onepunchhomicide.com/

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Richard Head

10:30 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Obama uses Drones to murder innocents world-wyde - Daily- where is your concern?

"December 14, 2012, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued the following statement in response to U.S. officials’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the targeted killing of three U.S. citizens, including a 16-year-old boy, in Yemen last year:

The essence of the government’s argument is that it has the authority to kill Americans not only in secret, but also without ever having to justify its actions under the Constitution in any courtroom. To claim, as the administration has today, that the courts have no role at all to play in assessing whether the government's targeted killings of Americans are lawful—even after the fact—simply cannot be squared with the Due Process Clause.

The president himself has acknowledged that the targeted killing program must be subject to more meaningful checks, but there is little evidence of that recognition in the brief filed by the government today. If the court accepts the government's position, it is not only the current president but every future president who will wield the power to kill any American he or she deems to present a threat to national security, without ever having to explain that action to a judge. The Constitution requires more.

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Richard Head

10:32 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Lyle and Keith are two "Progressive" Wolves in Sheeps clothing who only want to disarm their neighbors so they can TAKE by decree what isn't theirs to take.

PERIOD.

A Fear of guns is irrational.

Fear People - especially incendiary radicals like Lyle and Keith.

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NRAMember

10:45 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

What were you saying Think? I was busy cleaning my FN 57.

Jason Patzfahl

10:47 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I LOVE the proposals by Obama, but there should be a compulsory buy-back program to bring in the newly illegal semi automatic assault rifles. This was done in Australia (a country founded by criminals) and they brought in over 600,000 guns.

We are a country founded on religious freedom by Puritans, not convicted criminals like in Australia, yet we still feel the need to have 100 round assault rifles strapped to our groins to make us feel more like men in case Kate Middleton and the redcoats come trying to take back their colony.

Stop being so paranoid and turn in your assault rifles. Carry a pistol and a cell phone if you have to, but for Christ's sake, turn in the guns that were designed only for military use.

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Richard Head

10:52 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jason - are you ON or OFF your meds?

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NRAMember

11:02 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Idiot, learn the history of the United States. You must be a public school teacher or another loser on the dole.

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CowDung

11:03 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jason, I believe there were many more convicts/criminals exiled to the North American British colonies than there were Puritans...

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Bob McBride

11:06 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

What ever happened to your buy back program?

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CowDung

11:22 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jason:

Interesting that you think that pistols are OK to have--they are easily concealed. An assault rifle is much more difficult to hide when one is looking to cause harm.

If people see a guy carrying a rifle through a school parking lot, they'll tend to call the police. If a guy is carrying a pistol through a school parking lot, nobody will even notice...

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Conspiracy T

11:45 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

70% or more of gun homicides are caused by handguns... Yet you are ok with them Pantywaist Patzfahl? Assault rifles are only in the bottom 3-4% of deaths by gunfire. Besides assault rifles are fun to shoot and I like mine.
I don't strapped to my groin (as you always need to stoop to insults) or because it makes me feel more manly than you,(insult incoming) I can do that wearing ballet slippers and a thong.
I like them because they irritate lefties.

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Greg

12:19 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jason, be a real man and back up your compulsory buy-back program with some statistics.

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Random Blog Commenter

12:29 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I don't see the benefit of suddenly making hundreds of thousands if not millions of law-abiding citizens into criminals over night when any banning and confiscation plan extorted by Mr. Patzfahl would not impact a single person bent on committing a violent crime. Furthermore, the public resources required to implement these plans and to pursue newly criminalized law-abiding citizens would be a detriment to catching actual criminals.

Jason Patzfahl

10:54 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

off meds, high on life. Why, are you trying to sell me drugs?

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Blair Nielsen

11:06 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

To R. Head, thanks for all stuff about Kvon Smith. Since he is a Democrat his crime is'nt getting much coverage. Go figure?

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Patriot

11:51 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Plzzzzzz come to Madison on Sat Jan 19th 12:00pm Noon Hi for support of the 2nd Amendment. It is National Gun Day and its time to stand up and show your support for our constitution

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Conspiracy T

12:09 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

I find it funny that everyone jokes about for the uncoming Zombie Apocalypse. Now picture instead of brain dead reanimated corpses shambling towards you growling, snarling and the comical chant of "Brains..Brains"
Picture it as brain dead liberals shambling towards you chanting "redistribute, entitlements, pay your fair share" and so on so forth. Not quite so funny now is it.

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Jed

8:59 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

I knew that the anti-gun nuts would jump on this with the fervor of a hounddog on a pork chop.

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Keith Schmitz

9:35 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

HERE'S YOUR GUN FREE ZONE Five people shot at three gun shows. http://ht.ly/gZAQG

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Lex Parsimoniae

11:14 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

Did you read the articles, Kieth...or just riff off the headlines. 100 million plus registered firearms in the US with 5 accidental discharges over 3 gun shows (with those stats, I'll take my chances being at a gun show, as opposed to driving on the road).

There are idiots in any crowd...you're proof positive of this axiom.

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