Justice Dept. Shelved Ideas to Improve Gun Background Checks
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON After the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and others at a supermarket in Tucson in early 2011, the Justice Department drew up a detailed list of steps the government could take to expand the background-check system in order to reduce the risk of guns falling into the hands of mentally ill people and criminals.Most of the proposals, though, were shelved at the department a year ago as the election campaign heated up and as Congress conducted a politically charged investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious gun trafficking case, according to people familiar with the internal deliberations. It is not clear which, if any, of the conclusions were relayed to the White House.
President Obama, in his weekly address on Saturday, said he wanted to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this; regardless of the politics. He did not, however, give any details. The Justice Departments list included several measures that, even if Congress did not act, Mr. Obama could enact by executive order.It is far from certain, however, that the White House would be willing to wage a fight against the powerful gun-rights lobby or take attention from competing concerns, like negotiations over the looming fiscal deadline. While Mr. Obamas words hinted at new steps to curb gun violence, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and other gun-control advocates said they fell short of a concrete response.
Political pressure on the White House is building in some quarters of the Democratic Party. Representative John B. Larson, Democrat of Connecticut, for example, called for Congress to pass measures requiring background checks on all gun sales, as well as banning assault rifles and high-capacity clips.
To do nothing in the face of pending disaster is to be complicit, Mr. Larson said. Its time to act. Its time to vote.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/us/politics/justice-dept-studied-and-shelved-ideas-to-bolster-gun-database.html?hp&_r=0
villager
(26,001 posts)so when will it stop being acceptable to us?
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Busting pot shops.
tblue
(16,350 posts)Screw the politics. Time for leadership. My gosh, the American people are ready and willing!
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)and leave the insults of the justice department aside
In a sense the paranoia of the NRA super pac has actually led to a major self-inflicted wound this time.
so again, the 9 steps ahead of the Obama administration well, Obama did NOT ban guns like the NRA and the gun folks and others in their conspiracy theories said
however, now like cigarettes are no longer the item of popularity, from one minute to the next the entire public is now open, something they were not yesterday with moving a major step forward from the past
forget background checks, forget this or that
reframe the issue and move to put it in part of the war on terror, and deal with it like AlQueeda is dealt with.
You don't see AQ as a superpac with million dollar suits lobbying politicians to allow this or that.
reframe as part of the war on terror and the problem can be dealt with LIKE ADULTS deal with the terror issue.
Oklahoma City=911=CONN. school.
make it all one and the same
after all, 19 kids died in Oklahoma City and in Conn. (using the abrev. of Conn. as Conn and not ct so as not to confuse it with conspiracy theorists)
byeya
(2,842 posts)be framed.
Deep13
(39,154 posts)roseBudd
(8,718 posts)Kennah
(14,304 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)and still are.
We need to face the fact that the Peoples' lack of representation in DC has become lethal. This country needs to be taken back from the "conservatives" like it was 150 years ago. I hope to still be around when we begin the resurgence