any shame? I posted a similar thread in early 2011 in the wake of the Arizona mass shooting regarding the vast differences in the responses used by the major pro-gun organizations (e.g. NRA) and the major anti-gun organizations (e.g. Brady Campaign). Back then, I condemned the Brady Campaign for posting on their website factually inaccurate statements and trying the use the tragedy for political gain within a mere few hours after the shooting took place (at the same time, the NRA posted nothing but a simple condolence message on its website). Since then, the Brady Campaign has changed its president, thereby at least offering the chance of hope for a more civilized discourse. Unfortunately, after the mass shooting in Aurora, CO, we see more of the same callousness by the Brady Campaign. If you click the following link, you will see the message that the Brady Campaign posted on the same day of the event. http://www.bradycampaign.org/ From the Brady Campaign website, the following message was written: "This tragedy is another grim reminder that guns are the enablers of mass killers and that our nation pays an unacceptable price for our failure to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. As someone who has suffered the lasting impact of gun violence, and President of Brady, I can tell you that we don’t want sympathy. We want action. Just this past April 16, the anniversary of the worst mass shooting in American history, 32 victims of gun violence joined us to demand Congress take action to stop arming dangerous people. Today we are meeting with activists across this country as we continue to call on the American people to add their voice for change through our petition against arming dangerous people at www.bradycampaign.org. We are insistent that our elected leaders take action to prevent future tragedies. Political cowardice is not an excuse for evasion and inaction on this life-and-death issue.” This message was posted on July 20th, the day of the shooting, well before most of the major facts of this tragedy were known to the public. The NRA has yet to official post anything about the Aurora shooting event. They could have just as easily stated the fact that this was yet another mass shooting that occurred in a “Gun-free-zone” where gun control laws have made it legally impossible for those with gun-carry permits to bring their guns with them and thwart this coward. However, they chose to take the high road. My question is to everyone, regardless of where you stand on the issue of gun control, is this: Can we all come to agree that it is highly inappropriate to use these innocent victims to try to score political points? Can we all agree that what the Brady Campaign is doing is callous, underhanded, and desperate?
They never seem to whine about the annual death toll in Chicago every year. I wonder how many of those murders are committed by legally owned firearms, but I guess it's okay in Chicago, where drug dealers and gangsters are legally recognized corporations, and support Obama at the polls.
Victims shot by guns! No, we cannot agree. This is not political point scoring, it's a bunch of people who want these slaying to end!
You clearly didn't understand a word that I wrote. My point was that the NRA, like the Brady Campaign, could just as easily used this issue to promote their own agenda by stating that this was yet another massacre in a "gun-free zone" and that without gun control laws creating this "gun-free zone" and impeding freedoms, someone with a CCW permit could have potentially thwarted the killer. Instead of doing that, the NRA, unlike the pathetic Brady Campaign, rightfully kept quiet out of respect of the victims.
They didn't have to, gun sales have gone through the roof anyway, meaning the financial sponsors of the NRA, the arms industry, have already benefitted.
Wrong. This IS political in nature because what people are proposing won't do ANYTHING to stop things like what happened. Sick people are going to do sick things. Period. Using the wrongdoings of the sick few to push a political agenda that does nothing to address the problem is wrong.
Who would be so retarded as to focus on the means of killing rather than the REASONS behind the killings? They are trying to write feel good legislation that won't even cure the symptom, much less address the disease.
The Brady Campaign had that posted just hours after the shooting. They thrive of death. They are absolutely disgusting.
I am afraid the idea of leveraging gun shooting for control policy lobby may not be effective as we thought it would be. The recent sruvey results shows that althe majority of respondents predicted gun control will become an important issue this year, only 39% thought the Colorado shootings could have been avoided if stricter gun control laws were in place. When asked if they would support a new Amendment to the Constitution that would rescind the 2nd Amendment (the right to bear arms), only 31% of the general population said “Yes” with 52% saying “No.” You can find more results here http://www.instant.ly/blog/2012/07/...ontrol-and-security-measures-still-unpopular/ I would say people just don't want to complicate their lives
Lets hear something from our Glorious Leader and the gun control pols about punishing the people who pull the trigger on the guns to commit crimes. The last thing I heard from Glorious Leader was something about no need for AK-47's. He's right, you know---AR's are a better weapons system.
Yes, but you forget that to the gun control crowd, weapons that scare them are all referred to as AK-47s. Case in point, it wasn't an AK-47 used by James Holmes. They pretend their own ignorance is justification for the laws they wish to push.
I'm afraid that you are still missing my point. Let's flip it around and say that the Brady Campaign remained initially silent in the wake of the shooting, and the NRA, within hours of the shooting, claimed that it is because of absurd gun control laws creating "gun free" zones that caused this massacre. Would you be as sympathetic towards the NRA? Somehow I doubt it. My point is, regardless of ideology, it is a pathetic and desperate measure for any organization to respond so soon after a tragedy, since (as I have shown) either the Left or the Right can spin this event to suit their own needs. If the NRA acted in a similar manner as the Brady Campaign, I would have equal condemnation towards them, even though I agree with their underlying message and focus. Why can't you see beyond your ideology and agree on this very simple point?
