Liberal, Irreverent

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The White House Breaks it Silence on Gun







On March 13, a surprise editorial appeared in the Arizona Daily Star entitled "We Must Seek Agreement on Gun Reforms." It was written by a man who up until that point had been conspicuously silent on the issue:  President Barack Obama.



In the editorial, the President acknowledged that a young man who was clearly unstable was able to legally purchase the handgun used in the Tucson massacre. And he stated that "our focus right now should be on sound and effective steps that will actually keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place."





Specifically, the President called for full funding to provide incentives to states to submit disqualifying records to the background check system for gun purchases. And he seemed to embrace the idea of universal background checks by saying, "If we're serious about keeping guns away from someone who's made up his mind to kill, then we can't allow a situation where a responsible seller denies him a weapon at one store, but he effortlessly buys the same gun someplace else."

It was a great first step.
 More needs to be done, however, to turn the President's good intentions into actual reform that will saves lives in our country. 

The White House has now begun to meet with advocacy groups to discuss effective strategies to prevent gun violence. The NRA was invited, but callously refused the president's gracious invitation, deeming him a "destroyer" of the Second Amendment.



Please call President Obama today at (202) 456-1111 and thank him for taking these initial steps to address the scourge of gun violence in our country.  And please encourage him to press forward expediently with his efforts, with the goal of embracing legislation in Congress to deal with the problemregardless of the position of the corrupt gun lobby. If you prefer to email the president, you can do so here.



Thank you for your support in this critical hour!

Sincerely,





Josh Horwitz


Executive Director

P.S. This is truly a pivotal moment. Give now and help CSGV hold the Obama administration accountable for delivering real change


No comments: