Tucson, AZ – Two months after the shooting of a U.S. congresswoman, President Barack Obama called Sunday for more stringent enforcement of existing gun laws, citing the “awful consequences” of gun violence in American society.
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In an op-ed essay in The Arizona Daily Star, Obama says legislation to bolster criminal background checks for gun buyers hasn’t been properly implemented, with too many states providing “incomplete and inadequate” information.
He suggested rewarding states that provide the most comprehensive information to the criminal background database.
“We should make the system faster and nimbler,” the president added. “We should provide an instant, accurate, comprehensive and consistent system for background checks to sellers who want to do the right thing, and make sure that criminals can’t escape it.”
The Arizona Daily Star is based in Tucson, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot during a January rampage in which six were killed and 12 others wounded. The accused assailant, Jared Loughner, was considered mentally unstable, yet because he was never deemed mentally ill by a judge or committed to an institution, he was able to legally buy the gun police said he used.
Obama acknowledged that it isn’t easy to find common ground between gun owners and gun-control advocates.
However, he said, “none of us should be willing to remain passive in the face of violence or resigned to watching helplessly as another rampage unfolds on television.”
Guns dose not kill people, people kill people!!
Bring on the gun laws. Keep our souls safe in this planet we enjoy. Have your gun if you want one. Don’t make it possible for the unstabile or hostile to threaten others irrespectfully. Be a good nation and bring us prosperity, not a fear laden cursed lifestyle. I respect gun owners and they enjoy their great weapons that really are contributions to their peace and prosperity, but we need these laws and we don’t need to be in concern of our safety as the next guy might be unstabile or hostile and if he can hurt one person he might hurt many. So its a crap shoot. We like our guns but we must accept the stringent laws that I predict will come and bring truer peace and prosperity. Now and soon. Thanks!
Regarding automatic weapons, there was an incident in Los Angeles in 1997, when two find upstanding citizens decided to rob a bank. Both of the robbers had automatic weapons, and had body armor. When they came out, they fired hundreds of rounds at the L.A. police. The police helplessly fired back, and saw that their rounds bounced off the body armor of the individuals. Finally, the police were forced to go to a local gun shop to get some high powered rifles. It is not clear to this day if one of the cops shot one of the robbers in the head, or the robber killed himself. Also, the second robber was surrounded, and wounded. He ultimately died. His next of kin sued the City of Los Angeles, claiming that he should have received medical attention sooner! Thee was even a settlement! A number of civilians and Officers were wounded. Since that time, L.A.’s finest, have equipped themselves with better weapons with more firepower.