A press release today from former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired veteran and astronaut Captain Mark Kelly:
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, the Co-Founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions, issued the following statement on the election of Colonel Martha McSally to represent Arizona’s 2nd District in the United States Congress:
“We congratulate Colonel McSally on her election as Southern Arizona’s next voice in Congress. From her service in defense of our nation to her upcoming tenure in Congress, Congresswoman-elect McSally has always shown a commitment to serving her country. We look forward to doing anything we can to help Congresswoman-elect McSally succeed in representing our community.
“While it’s no secret that we supported our friend Congressman Ron Barber in this hard-fought race, we are pleased that this campaign included an important and substantive debate on how to reduce gun violence in our communities. When the real issues are debated, the public wins. This was the case with Congresswoman-elect McSally’s newly-stated support for legislation that would prevent convicted stalkers from getting guns. We commend her for defying the corporate gun lobby on this important public safety issue, and look forward to working with her to craft and help pass this badly needed legislation.
“Finally, we thank our friend Congressman Ron Barber for his decades of selfless service to this community. At every step, Ron has always fought to do right by Southern Arizona. Ron is a courageous man who nearly gave his life in service to this nation. Words cannot describe his sacrifice for us personally, and for this community. We are so grateful to him for his commitment, his courage, and his service.”
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2014.
Sorry Mark. You might wait to push your “defenseless” idea until after the threatened riots.
Police across the country are under assault. They are our first line of defense.
So…if they are, we are.
Why not give it a go in Australia?
Martha, we have enough anti-gun laws already. The gun isn’t a bad thing. The bad people are the bad thing. The more good guys carrying guns every day, the safer everyone is. Please remember this when the gun-grabbers want to spread their loony ideas. Also remember, our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. More guns everywhere means a safer place. We need to keep the right to self-protection and in a world that is more dangerous every day, (see Muslim extremism for example), don’t add to the insanity of disarming the public and turning us all into victims. It’s against the Constitution, anyway.
Right now the biggest problem is rogue cops stalking young black men. I agree that the cops should be disarmed, in light of their having killed over 600 people in the last year nation wide. They should only be allowed to use weapons for defense after a proven attack, not because they are afraid of people who aren’t white. I am disappointed that the Tucson Weakly is so into fads and so loose with the facts.
So Ken your solution for bad guys with guns is not to try to have fewer bad guys with guns but to have more good guys with guns? Let’s have a big ol’ shoot out at the OK corral and hope that some of the good guys are among those left standing. Awesome. With attitudes like yours, no wonder guns kill 10 times per capita the number of people in the US compared to Canada.
“Police across the country are under assault. They are our first line of defense.”
*rolls eyes*
The Second Amendment is your first line of defense. Take some responsibility for yourself. The police aren’t there to protect you. That’s YOUR duty. The police are there to blast your pets and then take a report.
Because good guys with guns never, EVER make a mistake and accidentally kill innocent people.
Right?
RIGHT??
You want me to believe that the NRA wants convicted stalkers to have guns? I don’t think so.
Love it when the losers make demands on the winners.
It really makes me sad to see that Giffords is still suffering so severly from her LIBERAL DEMOCRAT inflicted brain injury.
How far we have fallen when we cant trust our neighbors and put them in the same category as criminals. I grew up in an anti gun household, and it blows my mind that a fairly large minority of people live in such fear of others. I am now a gun owner and target shooter. I have been called a right wing, bible thumping gun nut just for enjoying target shooting. It has become quite humorous as the quality of there debate really exposes their ignorance and / or blatant lack of intelligence. If only these trolls actually got to know me. They would see the irony and i could probably convince them to stop treating me like a criminal. The best thing about living in this great country is that i do not need to defend myself against the rhetoric of an angry mob as we are a nation of laws and not a nation of mob rule. 99.99999999999999% of gun owners have never hurt anyone. So why target law abiding citizens. I asked my dad what he would do if someone broke in while he was home. He said he would hit them in the head with an aluminum pipe that he keeps close by. Does anyone else see the fallacy of his counterpoint? BTW, for those of you with lack of imagination and intelligence, a pipe to you skull is not pretty.
Col. McSally is a combat vet, as is Capt. Kelly. Gabby Giffords took a bullet in the course of pursing the best ideals of government, doing so with the advice and consent of the governed. They differ on many political ideas but agree that convicted stalkers should not have guns. Nobody in their right mind, including the NRA to which I belong, wants them to have guns. Yet many here in these comments exhibit the maturity of a 7 year old and the meanness of a schoolyard bully in their posts, showing their ignorance and arrogance for all to see.
If stalking is a felony then no additional legislation is required, felons can’t possess firearms. If it isn’t a felony, make it one.
Guns made Ms. Giffords what she is today. Without guns she would be an unknown.
I’m not afraid of guns. I’m afraid of the people who “need” guns. Likewise, I do not fear people who vote for Republicans. I fear the Republicans.
An elderly man I knew heard a noise late at night and armed himself with his Korean War commemorative Model 1911, .45 automatic. When the home invasion criminal opened the bedroom door, the elderly man pointed the weapon at the intruder and issued a warning. The intruder ran like a rabbit. The elderly man did not report his defensive gun usage because the police in his city do not support private weapons, although they are still legal. Fortunately, the elderly man did not fall for the propaganda of the gun-banners.
I’m not sure where to begin. Guns are not the problem, Sane, law abiding citizens should own and carry guns to protect themselves, and for whatever sporting things they like to do. The more people that carry, the more worried the criminals are that the person they are going to rob, may be carrying, and can diffuse the robbery. The gov’t has put in place HIPPA laws to protect medical people from disseminating things to anyone about a person’s health or mental status. The mental status is what should be revealed, but it can’t be, and therein lies the issue. Background checks are worthless at this point, except for those with public criminal records. I have a conceal carry permit, to which I can not carry at my place of work, so I don’t, but I do have 2 in my vehicle for whenever something may come to happen. I travel all over the country and the world for work and it disturbs me that I can not take a weapon with me to protect myself, as I have no idea what kind of area that I am going into..I can understand the foreign countries, but it sucks in the USA considering that I have passed all the background checks for purchasing and I have TSA pre-check that I can not take a firearm to another state without a whole lot of hassle having to put it in a checked bag, that someone (baggage handler) could steal (remember the electronics that were stolen from checked bags in MSP) that they finally busted them for after months of going through baggage and stealing things that were of value. My checked bags are always locked with a TSA lock, but I have no faith that the baggage handlers don”t have a key. WIth regard to that, why are not all conceal carry permits recognized by EVERY state, no matter where they are issued. This creates problems in driving from state to state and carrying a loaded firearm for protection
Having had a stalker now for three years, and knowing the anti-stalker laws, I’m thrilled to see this issue being talked about. However, do you know how difficult it is to convict stalkers in the first place? I would love to have a hearty discussion with McSally about the kind of laws that need to be put in place before this legislation is even talked about. And a gun is only one weapon, we need to work on the other more damaging weapon s stalkers use. guns aren’t the problem, the people who use them for crime and violence are.
@skhart, since there are no replies in this forum…do you carry, if not you should if you have had a stalker for the last 3 years. Cain used a rock to kill his brother, there are many weapons that a person can choose to do crime with, however a gun is a longer range weapon (depending upon the barrel length of what you buy) that you can distance yourself from an attacker and defend yourself without allowing them to harm you.
Get a gun to carry!
Ammo prices are down. Stock up now.
@Constitution Defender, yes when I first realized and confirmed that my safety was compromised I spent my rent money on a .38special bc all I had was an unreliable little pea shooter.
I always see the anti American anti gun law idiots come out in all of these types, sorry Gabby, you did a good job, should have had some armed good guys around you at the time. If you mention here that other countries do better with their gun laws than ours, please move there and shut up. The issue is not and never has been gun laws, its the societal break down of this country, starting with the lack of discipline that now thrives in America and have turned God into a politically incorrect statement. OH, and you can’t spank my child in school for disrespecting you, my foul mouthed 10 year old deserves your respect before he/she gives you theirs. But yes, lats take away guns, knives, pointed objects, nail files and all the other things you cannot take on an airline, perhaps that would help, help the criminals that is. If anyone here thinks anti gun laws will preclude criminals from using them, you are sadly mistaken and what I would call a victim in the waiting. The way you fix this is to expedite the justice system, no slack, if a person received a death sentence for a heinous crime (any murder) they get 72 hours to make their peace, no crazy pleas, no excuses, if you did it, you pay immediately. Additionally, no parole concessions for violent offenders, all of these repeat offenders consider our prisons (correctional facilities) their second or first home, back to their friends and have full medical, dental, educational benefits so they can get fixed up for their next release and crime spree. So take note anti gun lobbyist, if you wish to be unarmed and and an easy target that’s your choice, I hope you get what you ask for, me on the other hand, I have spent 20 years defending this country across the globe to have the right to keep and bare arms and will never give that up, and unfortunately, its to protect myself, family and anyone else that I should be close enough to assist. Remember, the police are not your protectors, they respond to declare your death a homicide and report the facts.
A good story, http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/dallas-county/2014/10/29/man-concealed-handgun-shoots-kills-robber-police-crime/18115091/
did this robber deserve to die? absolutely, what would the outcome have been otherwise? who knows but this is what a criminal should expect, if you commit a crime against someone, you should expect death as a possible outcome, bottom line, don’t commit crimes and you may live happily.
I’m thankful that Congresswoman~elect McSally is more gracious with these two lying idiots than I could ever hope to be; or than they ever were with her. The lying attack ad claiming a stalker hunted down and killed the husband and daughter of the woman talking is as low as it could possibly be. In truth, the woman, the ex mother in law of the supposed stalker was complicit in those deaths and should publicly apologize for the lies she told. Her personal hell will continue until she does so.
If ever there is a man who has shamed the uniform of this country it is this manipulative husband who is just another out of work squid exploiting for his own financial gain the injuries suffered by his wife and the deaths of all those in that store parking lot. Former Congresswoman Giffords, and the rest of this country would have been better served if he had been the pilot of the shuttle “Columbia”. At least he would then be an everlasting hero instead of the bum he is now.
Congresswoman McSally just follow the Constitution simple
http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2014/1…
” biggest problem is rogue cops stalking young black men. ” – absolutely wrong. I agree that there are police that ignore the laws that they have an oath to enforce, however, it is not a skin color issue. We need to take each case and evaluate all of the evidence before making such an assumption that the “white” cop is wrong and the “black” suspect should not have been hurt. In the case of Ferguson, the idea of white police mistreating black suspects lost a ton of creditability when the facts from the GJ was released for all to view. Wilson did exactly what he was hired to do and did what was necessary to STOP the threat to himself and other innocents.
Eric Gardner in NYC, I still find it hard to think that the police acted legally, especially when they did not give First Aid when Eric was on the ground. Without the evidence that the GJ had, it is hard to say justice was not served.
“Ken your solution for bad guys with guns is not to try to have fewer bad guys with guns but to have more good guys with guns?” – I think that both sides of this coin has merit and both sides are necessary to stop criminal violence.
Police have not duty or responsibility to protect any individual without a special relationship with police. So, if a person does not have that special relationship, it is wrong and a civil rights violation to restrict the tools that the person chooses for self protection.
If a person is determined to be too dangerous to own and bear arms, then we need to establish that special relationship. In my mind, special relationships exist for people that haves security details, in government facility, or other special relationships (witness protection). So, unless police are will to take responsibility (namely, if you get harmed police pays damages) you should not be denied access to arms.
So, bottom line, lock up people that are that dangerous so that they have no access or opportunity to harm innocent people.
It seems clueless to all of the posts that Jared Loughner had threatened several people at Pima Community College. This sent the police to his home to tell him to get a psych exam before returning. This alone should of promoted 2 things to happen 1- a restraining order not allowing him on campus and to show cause why it was ordered. 2- Threating is a crime our wont prosecute unless it can be plea bargained DA Barbra LaWall fell short. Oh but dipstick can go blame radio conservatives. Where was a deputy tell me you called and she didn’t ask why call, stupid response. And the people re elect these people back into office. So pima county gets what it puts into office. I am a descendent of John Moses Browning the gun inventor from Utah. What is allowed for the general populace to own is not right, I would support for legislation to not allow weapons designed after 1926 to be privately owned. This would allow for all sporting activities and police could not own or posess more than 2 service supplied weapons.