Granholm slams Santorum on gun control
By Michael J.W. Stickings
More than that, the former Michigan governor further exposed the absurdity of the extremist gun nuts:
I continue to contend that assault rifles are weapons of mass destruction in that their purpose is to kill large numbers of people in small amounts of time. And obviously there is no reason to have this sort of ammunition unless you want to kill someone wearing armor. And the fact is, it's not criminals wearing armor, it's law enforcement and the military. Which is to say, the only reason to have these bullets is to kill police officers or military troops.
And that's what Santorum and the gun nuts (meaning pretty much every Republican, not just the NRA and the other pro-gun groups around the country) are implicitly saying.
Basically, if you have an assault weapon, there are only two possible reasons why, other than wanting to kill large numbers of people rapidly: (anti-government) paranoia or fetishism (or both). And when it comes to armor-piercing bullets, this just gets ratcheted up. They want to be armed to the teeth in case they have to go -- or, really, want to go -- to war against the government, America's democratically-elected government, which they increasingly see as their enemy, so much do they hate democracy, so much do they hate it when Americans govern themselves in ways they don't like, so scared are they of a changing world that isn't ruled by ignorance and bigotry.
Santorum didn't say anything that isn't de rigueur in today's Republican Party and among conservatives generally. This is where their extremist right-wing paranoia has brought them.
And if it's treasonous anti-Americanism you're looking for, you need look no further.
More than that, the former Michigan governor further exposed the absurdity of the extremist gun nuts:
Former Republican presidential candidate and likely 2016 contender Rick Santorum dismissed the need for gun safety regulations during an appearance on ABC's This Week Sunday, arguing that Americans should have access to military-style weapons and magazines, including the armor piercing bullets used by criminals to kill cops...
GRANHOLM: Why do you need armor-piercing bullets, why do you need that?
SANTORUM: Because we're talking about a particular type of bullet that is and can be available –
GRANHOLM: Deer don't wear armor. Why do you need an armor piercing bullet?
SANTORUM: Criminals could and having, having…
GRANHOLM: And police officers certainly do…
SANTORUM: And having the ability to defend yourself is a right in our country.
I continue to contend that assault rifles are weapons of mass destruction in that their purpose is to kill large numbers of people in small amounts of time. And obviously there is no reason to have this sort of ammunition unless you want to kill someone wearing armor. And the fact is, it's not criminals wearing armor, it's law enforcement and the military. Which is to say, the only reason to have these bullets is to kill police officers or military troops.
And that's what Santorum and the gun nuts (meaning pretty much every Republican, not just the NRA and the other pro-gun groups around the country) are implicitly saying.
Basically, if you have an assault weapon, there are only two possible reasons why, other than wanting to kill large numbers of people rapidly: (anti-government) paranoia or fetishism (or both). And when it comes to armor-piercing bullets, this just gets ratcheted up. They want to be armed to the teeth in case they have to go -- or, really, want to go -- to war against the government, America's democratically-elected government, which they increasingly see as their enemy, so much do they hate democracy, so much do they hate it when Americans govern themselves in ways they don't like, so scared are they of a changing world that isn't ruled by ignorance and bigotry.
Santorum didn't say anything that isn't de rigueur in today's Republican Party and among conservatives generally. This is where their extremist right-wing paranoia has brought them.
And if it's treasonous anti-Americanism you're looking for, you need look no further.
Labels: gun control, guns, Jennifer Granholm, paranoia, Republicans, Rick Santorum
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
12:00 PM
3 Comments:
As far as I know, it’s been illegal to manufacture or import new armor piercing ammunition that’s transferable to ordinary citizens for quite some time, and for the most part, it’s generally unavailable, and certainly not in any significant quantity for most calibers.
http://www.pagunblog.com/2007/07/29/armor-piercing-ammo/
There are loopholes, of course, but we have to recognize that both sides of this argument rely on hyperbole far too much. What's the distinction between an arsenal and a collection, for instance? Depends on one's politics and what is ordinary hunting ammunition to one is "armor piercing" or even "Cop Killer" ammunition to another. So I'm either an elderly antique collector or a gun-nut with an arsenal, depending on whether you like me or not.
And as to Assault weapons, I've pointed out until I'm hoarse that what we're talking about are weapons that look like BUT ARE NOT military weapons. The only difference between a hunting rifle and an "assault" rifle as sold in the US is the plastic stock and the magazine size. One trigger pull equals one shot. They are not machine guns or sub-machine guns which effectively have been banned since the 1930's. To a large extent both sides are being lied to and are not motivated to modify their beliefs by examining facts.
Much of this argument has been so muddled by deliberately inaccurate terminology that there's little hope of resolution. Both sides want total victory, not pragmatic compromise and we all lose because of that.
I'm on the side of things that work, not on the side of more ineffective loophole ridden and designed to fail legislation.
Bill Maher pointed out the other night that Canada has a lot of guns, but only a tiny fraction of the murders. Are Canadians the difference? Does this have anything to do with Canadian access to mental health care? Switzerland has guns in most homes and they love shooting sports - virtually no gun crime. I'd like to discuss the reasons and dispense with the prejudicial and hyperbolic and inflammatory and deceptive terminology.
By
Capt. Fogg, at 10:27 AM
re:
>>Switzerland has guns in most
>>homes
Yes, but the situation in Switzerland is totally different from the U.S. The system the Swiss have would be a nightmare to any NRA member.
Yes, there are guns in most Swiss homes. But guns are still heavily regulated by the government there. The government keep loads of data on every gun in the nation. What's more is that you can't just have guns lying around randomly in the house. By law, you have to keep them locked up. You also have to be very well trained in the use of guns.
Switzerland is definitely nothing like the U.S., where there are hundreds of millions of guns floating around and little or no regulations on what people can do with them. You can't wander into a gun show in Switzerland and buy an assault rifle without even showing an ID, with no questions asked (like you can at the massive gun show that's held monthly just down the road from where I live).
I WISH we had the sort of sensible gun regulations that the Swiss have. But that's not going to happen. Meanwhile, the NRA nutjobs will continue to lie and misrepresent the Swiss system.
By
Anonymous, at 7:47 PM
Oh and Switzerland also has very strict monitoring on who owns guns. Anyone who is mentally ill, or who has a criminal history, isn't going to be able to own a gun.
By contrast, in the U.S., the government does little to prevent the mentally ill or the violent from buying all the guns they want.
For example, Seung-Hui Cho was a well-known nutcase who displayed violent tendencies and who scared the hell out of his fellow students and teachers. And yet he had zero problems waltzing into a gun store and buying all the high-tech killing hardware he wanted before he slaughtered 32 people at Virginia Tech.
But, in reading about cases like this, I really have to wonder. Who is the real nutcase? Is it people like Cho? The guy was mentally ill. Our nation's political leadership, who continue to allow this madness to continue, are just as mentally deranged. These are sick, evil people. They can burn in hell for all I care.
By
Anonymous, at 7:56 PM
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