Biden calls for bypassing congress on Gun Control

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I sarcastically said maybe Obamer will bypass congress on gun control like he did everything else. Darn. He is really going to try it.. Amazing. Folks pro gun anti-gun, whatever your position this should scare you to death.

My link

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CNN) -- President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders to help stop mass shootings in America, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday. "The president is going to act. Executive orders, executive action, can be taken," Biden told reporters before meetings with groups representing survivors of mass shootings. "We haven't decided what this is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and all the rest of the Cabinet members."

Legislative action also is needed, Biden said.

"I'm convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of Americans, and take thousands of people out of harm's way, if we act responsibly," he said.

President Obama vowed last month that a new task force overseen by Biden will provide "concrete proposals" by the end of January to reduce gun violence. The group, which includes an array of Cabinet members and government officials, was established in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that left 27 people dead -- 20 of them elementary school children.

In addition to gun laws, the group is looking at mental health care and what the president has described as a culture that often "glorifies guns and violence."

CNN iReport: The gun control debate

Biden's brief remarks Wednesday came before what will likely be some of the most emotional testimony before the task force.

We can... take thousands of people out of harm's way, if we act responsibly.

Vice President Joe Biden Among those addressing the group to push for tougher gun laws is Colin Goddard of the Brady Campaign. He was shot four times in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a gunman killed 32 people and himself.

"My job is to represent the voice of the overwhelming majority of Americans ... that want some comprehensive, common sense changes to our gun policy," he told CNN Wednesday. "There are common ground solutions that respect the Second Amendment."

Many gun sales take place without background checks, and "that's bad policy," he argues. Conducting such checks "doesn't stop a law-abiding citizen from getting a gun. But somebody with a history of illness, felony record, they need to get checked."

The campaign's phones have been "ringing off the hook" since the Newtown massacre, he said.

Reaction to Newtown school killings The task force will also hear from gun safety organizations Wednesday.

Where do you stand? Weigh in on Twitter

Gun lobby faces challenge

On Thursday, Biden's group will hear from the other side: gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association.

The NRA has argued that it is committed to keeping people protected, but that a focus on stricter gun control is misguided.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has called for all U.S. schools to have armed guards

NRA President David Keene later told CNN the group supports schools choosing whether they want armed guards.

A rising chorus of voices is standing up against the NRA and the gun lobby's sway over U.S. politics.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head in a mass shooting two years ago, and her husband Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain and astronaut, launched a new political action committee Tuesday to end what they called lawmakers' "fear" of the gun lobby.

Alex Jones: Don't dare take our guns CNN's Piers Morgan has also garnered attention for speaking out against the influence of the gun lobby.

Wal-Mart changes tune, will attend White House meeting

After initially saying it would not attend a meeting with the White House on Thursday, Wal-Mart , the nation's largest retailer, said Wednesday it now will.

The company has had "ongoing conversations with the administration, Congress, (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg's office, sportsmen groups, suppliers and others to listen and share our thoughts and experiences," company spokesman David Tovar said in a statement to CNN.

"Knowing our senior leaders could not be in Washington this week, we spoke in advance with the vice president's office to share our perspective," he said. "We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate."

Wal-Mart sells guns and ammunition.

Previously, the company had insisted that its "experts" on gun control needed to be in Bentonville, Arkansas, where the company is headquartered, for important meetings, and insisted the move should not be interpreted as a "slight" or "diss" to the White House.

The future of gun laws: Weigh in on Facebook

States, cities make their own moves

L.A. gun buyback yields rocket launchers Across the country, people are sharing their views on what Washington should decide. Among them are Californians who have packed into town hall meetings.

Some have spoken out in support of renewing a ban on assault weapons -- high-capacity weapons that have been used in numerous mass shootings. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, is pushing to reinstate a ban that expired in 2004.

But others at the town halls argue that banning those guns isn't the answer, and could even be a slippery slope toward banning all guns.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, plans to push for major new gun laws Wednesday, including one of the country's most restrictive bans on assault weapons, the New York Times reported.

Bloomberg, a longtime advocate of stricter gun control, is pushing for tough steps nationwide.

Hoover: 'We do not need more guns' Burlington, Vermont, a city of less than 43,000 people, has already made a move of its own: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/09/us/vermont-assault-rifle-ban-resolution/index.html" target="_blank">passing a resolution that could lead to a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

The city council voted 10-3 in favor of the resolution, which will now be presented in public hearings and voted on by the public before going to the state legislature.

Amid the cacophony of voices battling over the issue, two young former Marines have found themselves in a spotlight online, representing very different views.

First, Joshua Boston posted on CNN iReport an open letter to Feinstein explaining why he would not abide by an assault weapons ban. "I do not believe it is the government's right to know what I own," he wrote in the post, which went viral. "Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime."

On Tuesday, Nick DiOrio responded with his own iReport. Marines don't believe in following the law "only when it suits us," DiOrio wrote, calling Boston's letter "embarrassing because he makes Marines seem insensitive and uncaring." DiOrio said he supports an assault weapons ban.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Doesn't scare me at all. It's a lot of talk and no action as of yet. If you're going to overreact, wait until something happens first.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

So what do you think the Exec. Order will be? I know they have limits but I am unsure of the their exact boundaries

[^_^ 5,021]

It has to be something SCOTUS will uphold. They will be careful about this. Relax.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Here, since you need lots of it.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

Here, since you need lots of it.

and it's non-stick!

[SMOKE 1,426]

I sarcastically said maybe Obamer will bypass congress on gun control like he did everything else. Darn. He is really going to try it.. Amazing. Folks pro gun anti-gun, whatever your position this should scare you to death.

what scares the hell out of me is, you're taking a cnn story on gun control seriously.

cmon herschel, they brought alex jones's bat sh!t crazy a$$ in to represent gun owners for the piers show.

[quote name=' timestamp='1357759769' post='5912198]

It has to be something SCOTUS will uphold. They will be careful about this. Relax.

n/s and the american public has to support it too. unless obama plans to go all assad on the country too.

[^_^ 5,021]

n/s and the american public has to support it too. unless obama plans to go all assad on the country too.

it will be something most of his voters are comfortable with. i have no idea what. if i had to guess, some kind of regulation on companies that manufacture guns in the US. we'll see.

[SMOKE 1,426]

[quote name=' timestamp='1357761663' post='5912260]

it will be something most of his voters are comfortable with. i have no idea what. if i had to guess, some kind of regulation on companies that manufacture guns in the US. we'll see.

its going to be something most of the entire country supports or it won't be enforceable. the confiscation fantasies people a spewing are cracking me up.

[^_^ 5,021]

its going to be something most of the entire country supports ...

there is no such thing.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

[quote name=' timestamp='1357761663' post='5912260]

it will be something most of his voters are comfortable with. i have no idea what. if i had to guess, some kind of regulation on companies that manufacture guns in the US. we'll see.

Along the lines what Republicans do in many states doing an end-run around Roe Vs. Wade by effectively regulating abortion clinics out of business? Republicans showed Obama how it's done. Seems to be the way to govern these days.

[^_^ 5,021]

Along the lines what Republicans do in many states doing an end-run around Roe Vs. Wade by effectively regulating abortion clinics out of business? Republicans showed Obama how it's done. Seems to be the way to govern these days.

Except if a woman needs an abortion she's most likely not going to go to abortion clinic in Mexico or Iceland.

But if gun manufacturers in the U.S. are regulated in a way that makes it more difficult for them to sell their product, then U.S. consumers can continue to purchase from overseas manufacturers.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

[quote name=' timestamp='1357763117' post='5912312]

Except if a woman needs an abortion she's most likely not going to go to abortion clinic in Mexico or Iceland.

But if gun manufacturers in the U.S. are regulated in a way that makes it more difficult for them to sell their product, then U.S. consumers can continue to purchase from overseas manufacturers.

So you regulate the retailers that want to sell in the US. Problem solved.

[^_^ 5,021]

So you regulate the retailers that want to sell in the US. Problem solved.

That's very difficult.

Going after the manufacturers is easier.

As for overseas manufacturers, imports can be regulated too. Not stopped, not even slowed down... just something that makes them easier to track or more expensive.

Of course, you run the risk of the entire business going underground. If that happens, the NRA will be proven right when they say, when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

The vast majority of gun-related deaths are gang related anyway so I'm not sure what any of this does.

People are generally more angered when nice suburban communities get affected and tend to not care if urban areas continue to suffer. So any regulation will address that.

Edited January 9, 2013 by ^_^