Activist Wednesday: New York Leads the Way on Gun Control
Posted on: January 16, 2013
Morning, Widdershins! I have some very good news for you: Yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed landmark gun control legislation into law.
New York lawmakers on Tuesday approved the toughest gun control legislation in the nation, expanding the state’s existing assault weapons ban and addressing gun ownership by those with mental illnesses in the first major legislative action in response to the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.
The measure passed the state Assembly 104-43 after passing the state Senate 43-18 Monday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo quickly signed the legislation on Tuesday.
“This unfortunately required tragedies and loss of life to actually spur the political process to action,” Cuomo said in remarks minutes before signing the bill.
“This will be the toughest gun control package in the nation,” Sen. Jeffrey Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference that shares majority control with Republican senators, had told The Associated Press. “All in all, it is a comprehensive, balanced approach that will save lives.”
What’s in the bill? The article doesn’t go deeply into the details, but the NRA made sure to make outraged noises, calling the new laws “draconian.” So let me get this straight, NRA, you don’t think it’s a good idea to ban assault weapons and prevent the mentally ill from owning guns? I really have to wonder who the hell is still admitting to being a member of the NRA at this point. It’s like going to work wearing a Ku Klux Klan hoodie.
Anywho, today our newly re-inaugurated President will copy off Joe Biden’s homework unveil proposals based on existing legislation and his Gun Control Committee’s findings.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who led a task force that made recommendations on the issue, will present the measures at a White House event attended by children from around the country who wrote letters to the president about gun violence and school safety.
Looks like Obama’s PR team is back on its game, and I truly mean that as a compliment. Yes, for heaven’s sake, have kids show up at the event. Hell, have them read their letters! Talk about telling the truth and shaming the devil (i.e., those standing in the way of gun control). Well-done, Mr. President.
Obama has signaled his plan would include elements that did not require congressional approval. The president could take action to ban certain gun imports and bolster oversight of dealers.
A spokeswoman for Representative Jackie Speier, a lawmaker from California who was one of a group of Democrats who met with Biden about the issue on Monday, said his task force had identified 19 different options Obama could choose to implement through executive action.
“(Biden) did not indicate which or how many of those options the president will take up or present to the nation tomorrow,” said the spokeswoman, Jenny Werwa.
And again I say (provisionally) well-done. Why try to fight through the thicket of drooling psychopaths that infests the House, if you don’t have to do it? Obama has been fine with declaring himself empowered to assassinate American citizens, torture people at will, spy on Americans without warrants, and mount drone strikes against people in countries with which we are not at war. Might as well use all that unconstitutional executive authority for good, rather than eeee-vil.
As with all things Obamanian, we will have to see how far he goes, and how willing he’ll be to stand up for his alleged beliefs. I would say, however, that this may be the year we finally achieve some sanity on this issue.
I was talking about this with colleagues at work last week, and people were saying that a lot of public opinion is against the government telling us what we can and can’t do. I pointed out that the government is supposed to take our money to provide goods and services, as well as promoting public safety. Obviously the Libertarians will say anything, no matter how absurd, but at a certain point, it’s hard to argue that the government can’t prevent people from shooting up schools with assault weapons. (For f*ck’s sake.) Another colleague pointed out that back in the day of the 2nd Amendment, there were rifles and bayonets, not rocket launchers and Uzis. The Constitution should be amended again to reflect the more sophisticated killing machines of today, I think.
In any case, such is my rant for Activist Wednesday. Let’s keep our eyes on this issue and hold our legislators’ feet to the fire if they don’t ovary up and sign stricter gun controls into law. It’s the right thing to do, no matter what those guys hiding in the white robes say.
This is an open thread.
24 Responses to "Activist Wednesday: New York Leads the Way on Gun Control"
January 16, 2013 at 8:49 am
One option would be to require all gun owners to join one of those “well-regulated militias” and show up for duty once a month.
The NRA is over. They have lost their credibility and effectiveness. Sane gun owners would do well to distance themselves from that pathetic organization. Draconian–yeah, right.
*For the record (because disclaimers are required in conversations such as these), I am not for banning all guns.
I am for banning white males aged 15-66 from having access to them, which would solve more than 90% of mass shootings.
January 16, 2013 at 8:52 am
And one little nit:
…today our newly re-inaugurated President…
Not yet.
January 16, 2013 at 9:48 am
Fredster chided me last night for not commenting (sigh). I don’t like spouting off about your system, cause ours is barrelling down the same slope. I agree with Pat – we (both countries) regulate fireworks, tobacco, cars so why are automatic weapons exempt? Yesterday I was listening to a CBC interview with Paul Watson (the former Greenpeace, now Shepherds of the Sea chap) and he has drones. They aren’t armed of course (could be but not for their organization), but he was able to purchase drones legally. Drones! When I sit down for my yearly Xmas movie – Santa’s Slay – I always laugh when they bring out the rocket launcher and shoot. I’m not laughing anymore. If any idiot can purchase WMDs……well you all know.
January 16, 2013 at 11:09 am
Sophie, did you see this bit about Anderson Cooper and one of the freaks claiming the Newtown tragedy was staged?
January 16, 2013 at 2:42 pm
First, HT, I, for one, relish your ever polite insights about the inanity of our system. Please never hold back — as you can clearly see over the intertubz and on the airwaves, when the intelligent, insightful, polite people hold back, the wingnuts just have more room to spin.
Second, I have said this before, but I’m a’goin’ to say it again about ultra-capacity clips and drums that hold up to 100 rounds, “When the NRA can prove to me that their collective IQ exceeds the drum size, I’ll consider it, but until then, the convenience of a sport shooter in changing out a clip does not, does NOT, outweigh the innocent life of a bullet-ridden 6-year-old.” These people have no sense of decency.
As you can see, this frosts my flakes — the whole notion of extended clips and drums is nothing more than abject greed. Here’s an example you won’t see on teevee — how many 19 cent goldfish do you think a pet store would sell if the fish food could only be sold one-at-a-time in quarter gram containers — not many I’m betting. The same is true for these assault weapons — if you can’t sell drums and extended clips, it “isn’t as much fun,” to shoot therefore, fewer assault weapon killing instruments are sold and less ammo is sold — a lose/lose for the manufacturers. Hell has a special place for these people — I hope it is testing defective asbestos suits.
January 16, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Fabulous idea – IQ must be equal to or greater than drum size/
January 16, 2013 at 4:59 pm
I think I caught something about Obama having issued his e.o.’s on this but have to check it out.
January 16, 2013 at 7:43 pm
A friend just pointed out to me that almost every state has some kind of ban on switchblades. They’re dangerous. Assault rifles, on the other hand, are well-known to be just a form of jewelry.
Right?
January 16, 2013 at 8:00 pm
@10 – I’ve always looked at assault rifles as a fashion accessory – artfully placed over the shoulder – wish that they would provide room on the butts to place wallets and lipstick though. What, you didn’t?
I keep going back to the thought that someone can buy drones and arm them. Has the world gone crazy, or is it me?
Prolix – now you’ve made me blush and at my age, that is not easy to do – not enough red blood in the body. Thank you for your kind words.
January 16, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Oh Gawd! Just what we need with the redneck drivers here. 
http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=67772
January 16, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Good grief Fredster, I’m around 900 miles north of you – our weather is sunny and mild for the next week – by mild I mean just under freezing, but in our area that is mild. Batten down the hatches buddy, you’re in for a bumpy ride.
January 16, 2013 at 10:23 pm
….hiding my Glock 19 under the mattress, eyes darting….dart…dart….dart….grabs the scotch and runs out of the room like my hair is on fire….
January 16, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Awesome comments, everyone! I especially love the idea of assault weapons as harmless fashion accessories. Don’t go shopping without one, ladies and gents!
Upps, unless you’re hiding an Uzi under that pillow, you can stop looking around suspiciously. Many of us here on the site own guns.
It is so weird, I am in Florida on business. I haven’t had warm weather since August, so to say it is a pleasant shock to my system is rather an understatement.
January 16, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Uppity stole the best scotch – again! That woman is an amazing quick grab artist.
Madamab enjoy your time in Florida (as if you can on business – been there done that). Hope you and chat can connect. Gnite all.
January 16, 2013 at 11:42 pm
Now if New York would only get rid of the criminal cops in the state., that would be nice too. The problem here in my state is people can’t even protect themselves with simple things like decent pepper spray. The strength of the spray allow ( as in “Halt” quality) wouldn’t stop a pitbull coming at you, it would only piss him off more. It’s easier to get a gun license, no kidding. And even then, it’s not that easy in NY. Took me 60 days to get a license back when i got mine. I am not adverse to restrictions and making it hard at all. I object to the fact that all it does is inconvience law abiding citizens, because the other dirtbags can get a gun off the street in an hour. This is not a standalone problem. Our mental health laws protect crazy people (which is why I got my first gun), and our criminal laws have scum back on the street in no time flat, even some murderers don’t serve their terms. Without toughening our stance on these things, all the gun control in the world won’t help.
January 17, 2013 at 12:13 am
MB said: It is so weird, I am in Florida on business.
Enjoy!!!
January 17, 2013 at 12:14 am
grabs the scotch and runs out of the room like my hair is on fire….
Shit! We gotta stop leaving the good stuff out in plain sight! 
January 17, 2013 at 12:21 am
Upps @15 & 18: As I said at your place…the thing about discussing with or having your doc ask if you have guns…the only thing my doc and I could discuss might be which range he practices at since he has the same model Glock that I do.
January 17, 2013 at 12:47 am
Good point, I wouldn’t be willing to discuss other aspects of my life with my dr, only whatever health issue I am seeing them for.
January 17, 2013 at 1:21 am
socal@22: If my doc were to ask “do you have guns in your household?” and I answered yes, uh, what’s supposed to come from that? I have no children in my household so I don’t have to worry about a child getting hold of a pistol. if I were to have visitors that included a child, of course I’d put the weapon away and out of sight. As I said, I did mention to him one time that I had purchased a Glock and then he asked me what model and then we talked about the different Glock models and why we liked it over other brands.
January 17, 2013 at 1:25 am
HT@14: I just saw your comment. The event is not *supposed* to be that bad. The wx guys are saying surfaces are warm enough that there should not be any snow sticking except to grassy areas and then the possibility of some icy areas on bridges or elevated spots. Of course a lot can change in a few hours when it comes to forecasts. I have enough stuff to tide me over in case the roads do get icy, but I’m hoping for the best.
Comments are closed.
January 16, 2013 at 7:46 am
We have banned buying fireworks in MA.
You can be fined for smoking in public places.
A license to drive must be first obtained before one is allowed to get behind the wheel of a car.
Auto insurance is mandatory here in the Baystate.
But according to the NRA and its proponents, every man, woman and child is entitled to own a weapon of mass destruction!
What’s wrong with this picture?