Beauprez’s anti-gun past may come to haunt him

When asked about the Second Amendment, Bob Beauprez has a tendency of only talking about Governor John Hickenlooper’s policies.

So what about Bob?

A mere 14 years ago, Beauprez and and former Governor Bill Ritter were on the Amendment 22 band

Bob Beauprez flip-flops on 2nd Amendment.

wagon, which was a state-wide referendum calling for special restrictions for gun shows. These included an instant background check for certain sales that take place at a gun show, even if not required had the same sale occurred not at the gun show.

Amendment 22 passed with 70 percent of the vote.

During the 2006 contest between Beauprez and Ritter; Beauprez claimed Ritter loved gun control, whereas he supported the Second Amendment. This claim was the basis of one of the Both-ways-Bob ads which mocked Beauprez for flip-flopping on the Second Amendment.

The Independence Institute defended Beauprez’s mistake, by claiming the error was due to poor journalism by the Denver Post.

However, going back a bit further, when Beauprez was Colorado Republican State Chairman, he sent out a letter to GOP legislators calling for the party uniting on new gun control laws in the aftermath of the Columbine Shooting.

At the time, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners responded to the message by saying, “Gun rights supporters are told, in essence, to sit down, shut up, and take their medicine.”

Beauprez constantly called for closing the “loopholes in our gun laws.” The Owens Administration, working with Chairman Beauprez, crafted legislation to reign-in gun shows, proposed mandatory gun locks, and moved to disarm Coloradoans between the ages of 18 and 21.

Even Congressman Tom Tancredo voted for an assault weapons ban and a ban on magazines, along with making a few incriminating statements after the school shooting.  

The strategy, in the wake of Columbine, was to compromise a little on gun control, in order to maintain control of all three branches of state government. The results of the 2000 General Election saw the Republicans lose the State Senate to the Democrats.

The question now turns, has Beauprez become a hard-line Second Amendment kind of guy?

Recently, the question of gun control arose during an Aspen gathering. Aspen is not necessarily the friendliest of towns for gun advocates. Beauprez, playing to the audience said, if elected, and if a (gun control) repeal comes to me, I’d sign it.

Beauprez further stated that people with mental illnesses shouldn’t have easy access to guns.

Sounds a bit like the old Beauprez?

Perhaps compromising on some aspects makes political sense in some areas of strategy, but once you go down the road of giving an inch, before you know it, you’ve given a mile.

To be fair to Beauprez, he has claimed that a propensity to commit crime must be an element of limiting the Constitutional rights of someone who is mentally ill.

If society knew who had a propensity to commit a crime before a crime occurred, then why wouldn’t we create a pre-crimes police force, as illustrated in the film Minority Report to stop all evils before they occur?

Beauprez has also failed to define who would be legally classified as mentally ill? Does one visit to a psychologist mean a citizen could be pre-empted from their Second Amendment rights?

Prior to endorsing Beauprez this week, State Senator Greg Brophy, had declared both Beauprez and Tancredo weak on the Second Amendment. Yet in his endorsement, Brophy steered clear of gun talk, saying Beauprez had the best odds of winning.

Perhaps being soft on the Second Amendment is the key to winning the even-split urban-7th Congressional District twice, but for voters in rural Colorado the difference between the incumbent and Beauprez regarding gun control is a shady haze of grey.

All hope is not lost.

Republicans Mike Kopp and Scott Gessler, both have served America in the Army and both believe the Second Amendment is a right not to be compromised.

The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners feels the same way and has given Kopp and Gessler the two-thumbs-up.

Defeating Hickenlooper will be tough, but victory only comes if there is a candidate who can draw distinctions, not blur the differences over key policy issues, such as the Second Amendment. 

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Matthew Soper, Letter to the Editor, Beauprez’s past may come back to haunt him, Delta County Independent, May 21, 2014, at A2.

Matthew Soper, Letter to the Editor, Beauprez evaluated on the Second Amendment, Gunnison Country Times, May 21, 2014, at A14.

Mike Kopp is a perfect fit for Colorado

Mike Kopp, candidate for governor, has my endorsement. Here's why — Kopp specifically came to Delta County to announce his candidacy last October. He'll be back in Delta tomorrow hosting a meet and greet for all who'd like to visit with him. More than just caring about Delta County, Mike Kopp knows rural Colorado.

At a young age, Kopp was a championship bull rider. How many leaders have actually taken a "bull by the horns?" — Kopp has! He grew-up on his family's ranch in South Dakota before joining the U.S. Army. In the military, Kopp once again demonstrated his fearlessness and was selected to be an Army Ranger in the 82nd Airborne Division. Kopp served on the ground in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War and was highly decorated for his gallantry and acts of valor.

Kopp then worked as a "smoke jumper" throughout the American West, fighting a different enemy — wildfires. During the non-fire season, Kopp was a U.S. Border Patrol agent helping to keep illegals out of the U.S.

Colo GOP Governor Candidate Mike Kopp

Through all this "toughness" Mike Kopp has a heart of gold and became an ordained minister. He's worked as a chaplain helping those with mental health concerns and spiritual needs. Kopp ultimately needed his own help when his wife lost her battle with cancer in 2011. He had just been re-elected to the State Senate and named minority leader. Kopp opted to step down from public life to be with his three young children in their time of need.

Kopp is currently part of the management team for Intermountain Rural Electric Association, Colorado's national Republican committeeman and a loving father (who has recently remarried).

From a policy perspective, Kopp is very conservative, having been the original author of the state's opt-out plan regarding the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). Kopp has been endorsed by the Rocky Mountain Gun Owner's Association, and from having been around him, I can tell you, he is the responsible type who takes firearm ownership seriously. Additionally, Kopp was the last legislator who proposed serious tax cuts and reductions in the size of government. Since Kopp left the legislature, spending has continually increased and the number of legislators with ranching, military, or business experience has shrunk to countable on one hand.

Mike Kopp is a perfect fit for Colorado and I am pleased to be supporting his candidacy for governor.

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M. Soper, "Candidate Mike Kopp is a perfect fit for Colorado" 26 Feb 2014 Delta County Independent (Delta, Colo) p.2A  http://deltacountyindependent.com/index.php/opinion/soapbox/10352-candidate-mike-kopp-is-a-perfect-fit-for-colorado accessed 18 March 2014

Hickenlooper signs Syrian-style-gun-control measures

With Governor Hickenlooper's signature to HB 1224 and HB 1229 it looks like indeed the pen is mightier
than the sword/gun. The government now has the carte blanche ability to restrict any firearm which uses a magazine (this is due in part to the hastily drafted language in the bill). This is an assault on all of Colorado, our state and national constitutions, and natural law. Our peaceful protests in halls of power have been ignored. It is time the people stand up to the grievous and al-Assad-like assaults on our liberties!

As in the pre-Arab-Spring-era, the unchecked power of the Syrian Ba’ath Party also stripped their citizens of firearms. Syrian Legislative Decree No. 51 of 23 September 2001 banned private ownership of semi-automatic military looking rifles, revoking rifle permits, and only allowing permits for single shot-pistols and single-shot hunting rifles of low-calibre. Currently the people of Syria are in a bloody civil war in which the government of Bashar al-Assad is trying to quell resistance to the majority elected, single party rule.

In the Democratic controlled legislature, Colorado – like Syria – passed universal background checks, which require background checks of the possessor of a firearm when the owner is away for more than 72 hours. Along with blurring the lines of possession and ownership, the legislature completely ignored the vast majority of Colorado’s sheriffs, including Delta County’s own Fred McKee, who testified in Denver against HB 1229. With the new legislation in Colorado, as in Syria, private sales of firearms will be essentially prohibited.

The Democrats won’t achieve universal registration, universal licencing, and third-party liability this legislative session, but given another future-mass-shooting somewhere in the nation, these Syrian policies can be expected if freedom minded legislators and governors are not elected.

No one party should ever control all three branches of government. Yet when the Democrats rolled into power they began catering to the whims of the masses which has resulted in short-sighted, rights-restricting, and oppressive policies. It is time to petition Governor Hickenlooper for a redress of these grievances and upon denial demonstrate that the people of rural Colorado will openly and respectfully defy these anti-constitutional gun control measures.
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*M Soper, LTE / OpEd, Mountain Valley News. 27 March 2013  http://www.mountainvalleynews.net/index.php/home/3-opinion/3910-letters-to-the-editor-32713.html accessed 27 March 2013

Murder rate way down, unsolved murder rate way up*

As unbelievable as Hadiya Pendleton’s ruthless murder, less than a mile from President Obama’s home in Chicago, is the reality that only 66% of those who murder are ever brought to justice. Pendleton’s murderer continues to remains at-large.

Marred by the mass-shootings of 2012 was America’s statistical achievement of seeing the lowest murder rate in the past 50 years. Hidden by the smoke of the gun debate is the disturbing reality that unsolved murders are nearing an all-time high.

Pendleton was murdered a mile from Pres Obama's home.

In 2011, according to the US Department of Justice, the murder rate was 4.8 per 100,000 people, which is contrasted to the 1980 high-water-mark of 10.2 per 100,000. It is estimated that after non-culpable homicide cases for 2012 are wound-up, the statistic will be around 4.6 – the rate hit back in 1963.

When graphed on a chart, the national murder rate looks like a bell-curve, with murders steadily increasing from 1960 to 1980 and then decreasing ever since. The lowest murder rate during the past 100-years was in 1957 – there were 4.0 per 100,000. If society does nothing, the projection is such that the US will near the 4.0 mark in a few years.

Vice President Joe Biden, outlined nine proposals for reducing homicides, which include: requiring background checks for all gun sales, banning assault weapons, limiting ammunition magazines to ten rounds, providing tax dollars for gun violence research, school emergency preparedness, and mental health coverage. Each recommendation noted that ‘no single law, or even a set of laws, can prevent an act of violence.’ Yet none focus on apprehending perpetrators.

The US has serious problems, for example, from 2011 to 2012 murders in Chicago increased by 38% to a devastating 506. Pendleton’s murder marks number 42 for 2013. By contrast, 418 people were murdered in New York City last year and seven so far have been murdered in 2013.

According to the UNODC, every US Territory, over the past decade, has seen a general increase in murders. Puerto Rico has the highest murder rate at 26.2 per 100,000 people. A record breaking 1,136 murders occurred in 2011 alone. Yet, Puerto Rico boasts twice as many police officers per capita as any US state.

Shockingly, only 25% of the murders in Puerto Rico result in the police apprehending the culprit. This was the case in New Orleans in 2010. Last year, homicide investigators improved this number to 39%, and were able to reduce murders by 3%. It is unfathomable that over half of the 193 murders during 2012 resulted in an accused being brought before the courts.

From 1980 to 2008 nearly 185,000 homicides went unsolved in the US, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study. Some cities, like New Orleans, have low murder clearance rates. Meaning the police were able to present the court with an accused. Others, like Washington, DC, have nearly doubled their success rate to a laudable 96%. Nearly 6,000 homicides go unsolved every year in the US. A national average of 66% is unacceptable.

While the Biden working group and the emotions of the nation cling to media images of recent shootings, a larger problem is law enforcement’s inability to bring more suspects before the courts.

If America truly cares about justice for victims’ families, society needs to invest resources to bring perpetrators to justice. Sophisticated investigating techniques and the quashing of minor criminal offences that are working in Washington, DC and New York City should be used to help municipalities like Chicago and New Orleans and territories like Puerto Rico.

When does society begin the conversation of addressing low murder clearance rates? Society needs to move beyond looking at the sensationalizing effect of recent mass shootings and see the big picture.

The US murder rate is at a 50 year low and dropping, despite recent outliers in the data. Concern, which should be sounding alarms, is the low national average of solving these murders.

To quote former President Bill Clinton, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” The US has the knowledge and the resources to better solve homicides; there is void of political will power. It is time to implement successful techniques to bring murderers to justice.

If society truly cares about tackling murders, the debate needs to be about unsolved crimes, supporting local law enforcement, and not about the implementation devices (eg guns) used to commit the offence. 
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*M Soper, Murder rate way down, unsolved murder rate way up, OpEd, Western Slope Watchdog 17 February 2013: 4+ <http://westernslopewatchdog.com/2013/02/murder-rate-way-down-but-unsolved-murders-way-up/> accessed 18 February 2013

Don’t blame tools for murders caused by mentally ill individuals

Matt Soper

Take your pick: knifings in China, bombings in Syria, shootings in the United States: Who’d have thought an elementary education is about survival? This past week saw 20 students murdered in Connecticut, 22 students stabbed in central China and 29 students killed by a mortar in Damascus.

Opponents of guns have quickly taken to the bully pulpit to point out the Second Amendment’s barrier to domestic security. What if guns are illegal or it’s illegal to run a plane into a skyscraper or bomb a school or stab innocent children? Does a law make “bad stuff” go away?

Evil does not exist within a gun, a plane or a box cutter-knife. Evil exists in the malicious minds and actions of those who turn thoughts into deeds. The real crazies in society will accomplish their evil deed regardless of if the actions are illegal, the implementation device is illegal or the geographic location is marked a “safe zone.”

Connecticut has one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, yet a strict law doesn’t stop a thief. Adam Lanza broke state laws of theft, murder, entering a school zone with a dangerous weapon and concealing a firearm. Lanza was guaranteed no one would be able to shoot him for a long while, as he was in a “safe zone.”

No one talks about the Colorado Springs shooting of 2007, in which a mass-murderer began shooting parishioners in a church. That’s because a member of the congregation shot the murderer before the act progressed to the international news stage.

When can the conversation move from the tools used to harm innocent victims to the perpetrators and mental health in America?

As early as 2008, a school psychologist noted that Lanza cannot feel pain emotionally. Likewise, Jared Loughner, who shot Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was deemed unfit to serve in the military for mental health reasons. James Holmes, the perpetrator of the Aurora theater murders, dropped out of neuroscience for severe depression and mental disturbances. Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold expressed tremendous warning signs of mental issues through their numerous blogs and membership in the “trench-coat mafia.”

Additionally, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who used bombs instead of guns to further their evil acts in Oklahoma City, were recognized as early as high school as suffering severe psychological conditions and being unable to express emotion. Society can wonder why mass murderers, such as Lanza, Loughner and Holmes, along with Harris and Klebold and McVeigh and Nichols, do not respect current laws. But society should be reasonably certain that these characters won’t respect future laws.

Of these, the only perpetrators who acquired their weapon legally were McVeigh and Nichols. They purchased fertilizer from a local farm coop. By the way, their bomb killed 169 and injured nearly 700 in Oklahoma City.

Real crazies don’t heed legal restrictions, They will accomplish their evil deeds regardless of the lawfulness of their weapon or act. Focusing on gun control is like blaming condom malfunctions for unwanted pregnancies.

When does society begin the conversation of focusing on people and mental health and not on the tools used for evil acts?

While a famous Harvard Medical study found no direct correlation between video games and adolescents’ increased aggressive behavior, the University of Washington’s Psychosocial Epidemiologic Department has found a correlation between a pattern of video game play and aggressive behavior, such as school shootings. It seems reasonable for society to look more to the root causes, such as mental health, PTSD and the increase in violent video games and films.

The shootings across the United States — from Oregon to Colorado to Connecticut — have brought the issue of what can society do back to the forefront. Unfortunately, the public debate is gearing more toward the tools used by perpetrators of mass murder rather than focusing on the root causes.

If our society truly cares about preventing future mass shootings, then the debate needs to look to mental health and aggravating factors such as violent video games and films.

Matt Soper is a resident of Delta County and an alumnus of Colorado Mesa University and the University of Edinburgh’s School of Law. He is earning a post-graduate degree in law from the University of New Hampshire. Contact him at matthew.soper@law.unh.edu.
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Published in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Tuesday 11 Dec. 2012, p. A4 <http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/dont-blame-tools-for-killings-8232caused-by-derang>.

Safety: The fallacy of 'anti-guns proponents'

The post-Aurora shooting has seen Americans re-engage the debate over small-fire arm regulation. On 25 July 2012, President Barak Obama called for “leaving no stone unturned” in seeking measures to reduce violence in America. Mr Obama’s speech to the National Urban League in New Orleans featured a shift in the president’s policy position that gun laws in the US are sufficient.

Mr Obama said, “A lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals […] But I also believe that the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons, that we should check someone’s criminal record before they can [purchase a gun], that a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. These steps shouldn’t be controversial, they should be common sense.”

Around 0038Z on 20 July 2012, at the Century-16 Multiplex Cinema in Aurora, Colorado, suspect James Eagan Holmes walks into cinema No. 9 wearing Kevlar body-armour and a gas mask, with a black costume to resemble comic superhero Batman’s arch nemesis. The film had been playing for half an hour before the suspect began shooting into crowd, after having thrown a smoke bomb into the cinema. Within 90 seconds police were on the scene. The suspect had killed 12 and injured 58 people, before being apprehended by police in the car park. None of the people killed were members of a minority group. Leaked reports show the accused was being treated for psychiatric care after having dropped out of the University of Colorado Medical School. The suspect had no previous medical condition or any confrontations with law enforcement, including moving-traffic violations.

 shooting a Thompson M1928A1

Contrary to the President’s thesis, the accused in the Aurora shooting had no criminal record, didn’t use an AK-47, and the leaked counselling reports indicate he was not “mentally unbalanced”. Seeing a psychologist or councillor is not an admittance of being “mentally unbalanced” and using such rhetorical comparisons is prejudicial and sends a negative message to those individuals in society who really do need professional help.

According to a Harvard Law research paper, nations with the highest small-arms regulations are not always the safest or less violent. The most-pro regulation nations include: Colombia, Somalia, Japan and Sweden.

The day before Mr Obama’s speech, a court in Sweden convicted a man on two counts of murder and four attempted counts for a shooting which took place in Malmo. The accused ignored the prohibition on firearms and had been linked to a dozen street shootings over the past two years. Somalia has a major problem with gun violence, even though the official government position is to ban firearms. Some scholars have implicitly suggested a low fire arm ownership rate gave rise to al Shabaab and piracy, which in-turn gave rise to high levels of illegal gun ownership. Colombia is a nation well known for gun violence, however much of this comes from drug cartels who target unarmed civilians. The UNODC reports Colombian illegal small-arms ownership is at an all-time high, which many citizens opting for a means to protection. Criminals seem to have a propensity to ignore the rule of law. By definition, a person is a criminal if they disobey the law established by the recognized government authority. Even Japan has its share of gun crime, most will recall the assassination of the mayor of Nagasaki in 2007, a pensioner going on a shooting spree in 2009, and organized gangs who annually shot members of the opposing mafia.

There is no research which shows taking away guns makes a society safer, less violent, or secure. People intent on doing harm, will do harm. Look at 9-11, why didn't we ban air planes, or make private ownership illegal? I don't recall a single gun being used on that day, yet nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.

The UK, which has pretty much banned guns (unless you own land and a title) still has gun violence, albeit not as high per capita as the US, but knife and bombing violence are way higher per capita in the UK. Stopping all bad people in society takes the rest of society to be vigilant, sense when folks need help, or being prepared to fire back when evil attempts to prevail - that includes both criminals and the government.

Research conducted by Oxford University reveals correlations between the type of homicide and the socioeconomic and subcultural status of the victim and offender. More research needs to be conducted into this area, as it is a highly charged hypothesis to suggest a person who feels poor, socially rejected, or outside their culture is more likely to commit an offence of the person resulting in a fatality. Mass murders in OEDC states see offenders who isolate themselves from their society.

Nations with strict firearm regulations don’t necessarily have lower homicide rates. Switzerland, which has 
one of the world’s highest firearm ownership rates (2/3 of every home has at least one firearm), also has one of the lowest overall homicide ratios at 1 > per 100,000. The US, which has a similar gun ownership rate as Switzerland, has a much higher overall homicide rate of 4.5 per 100,000. Larger nations tend to have different social problems, but also Switzerland requires a large percentage of its male population to have spent a year in the military, in addition to this, much of the nation is fairly rural and research has shown murder rates are much lower in rural environments. (See UNODC homicide statistics)

A paper looking at the urban v rural divide for gun violence in and around Washington, D.C. shows that nearly 70% of all gun deaths in both areas were suicides, which are illegal in the US. It should be noted, rural suicides by guns were 10% higher in the countryside, suggesting an opportunity for medical professionals and educators to develop mechanisms for intervening. While the likelihood of being murdered in an urban area of Washington, D.C. was 50% greater, when compared rural areas. When examining other parts of the US, the gap between urban murders and rural murders was well over two-fold. Accidental shootings with a rifle or shotgun were greater (3% of total) in rural areas, accidental shootings with handguns where significantly higher in urban centres. Homicides are greater when the offender was drinking or doing drugs, vulnerable, depressed, and subject to violence or mental abuse.

Recently, Elliot Fladen with the Colorado Springs Gazette made the comparison with the war on drugs resembling the war on guns. His conclusion is that just as anti-drug laws didn’t prevent drug dealers, users, or abusers; gun control laws won’t stop black market dealers, offenders, or individual’s intent on doing harm.

Many conclusions may be reached from noting statistics and arguments from the post-Aurora shooting debate, but one point is certain – more gun regulations and laws is not the answer to America’s struggle to interdict violent criminals. 

Arizona shooting ignites debate over freedom of speech, right to bear arms & access to elected officials

A horrible and tragic shooting has struck the United States, only this time a member of Congress was shot in the head and is in critical, but stable condition. Six people were killed at a political event in Tuscan, Arizona on Saturday, 8 January 2011, including senior Federal Judge John Roll, a nine year old girl and four others. Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and 12 others were injured during the shooting. The accused is Jared Loughner, a 22-year old Army reject who was unemployed and living with his parents at the time of the tragedy. Loughner was reportedly rejected for reasons of mental unsoundness, a point which will more than likely be a defence to his two counts of federal murder charges and one count of attempting to assassinate a member of the United States’ Congress. Separate charges will ensue for liability under Arizona criminal law. Both Arizona and the US have the penal sanction of capital punishment as a tariff for criminal liability. In my opinion, the justice system should render justice and a capital penalty for the actions of the accused.

The greatest fear stemming from this shooting is (i) antigun legislation and (ii) access to all-ready-elite-members-of-congress being limited due to security - which is horrible for any ‘democratic-republic’, such as the US, Canada and many EU states. No crime is solved by more legislation - bad things happen to good people and that's a fact of life - as a society we cannot prevent all harm, as to do so would be to have safety without liberty or freedom. “If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969). Rebuts to arguments concerning freedom, liberty and opportunity tend to be based on the notion of creating a more secure society. Think about it, health care legislation was passed in 2010 to give Americans the ‘peace of mind’ that they will not have to worry about what happens when they get ill or are the victims of a delictual liability. In the name of public safety and security legislation is being introduced in the halls of Congress to limit the scope of the Second Amendment and undermine a fundamental right enjoyed by Americans. Firearm ownership is a right enshrined in higher law, which is unlike a driver’s license for a motor vehicle, which is a privilege not to be abused. America’s third President and early advocate for limited government, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) proclaimed, “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”

Rep Giffords was shot in front of a Safeway

Nationally sensationalized and emotionally devastating catastrophes tend to produce an outcry for reform and prevention. The Tuscan supermarket shooting is no exception. In a highly charged polarized environment, liberal bloggers began accusing former Alaska Governor and 2008 GOP Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin as having been the promulgating factor behind the assassination attempt of US Representative Giffords. Palin had listed the congresswoman’s seat on her “cross-hairs” targeted districts. If Palin’s rhetoric is “blood libel”, then perhaps the Democrats need to re-assess their own political free speech. In October 2010, American Vice-President Joe Biden told party stalwarts at a fundraiser in Minnesota that he was going to “strangle Republicans” who complained about the budget or how he encouraged supporters to “kill patriotic Republicans” who were using ‘procedure and substance to block a health care vote’ in the US Senate. Therefore, if President Barak Obama’s memorial conversation to the country about how “discourse has become so sharply polarised [...] we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds”, then he assumedly means both sides of the political spectrum. If this presumption is in the affirmative, then ‘Hollywood’ sensational ‘documentaries’, such as the one funded by top Democratic Party donor and billion George Soros, which celebrates left-wing terrorists who plotted to napalm Republicans at the 2008 GOP Convention (and encourages ‘freedom fighting’ tactics in ridding America of its second largest political party) a “wound” which does not serve to heal the widening partisan divide of the last decade. If the president wants to be a leader, then he himself needs to reign in members of his own party who have crept into militant like tactics before chiding opposition rhetoric. Otherwise it looks as if the president is but a mere politician preparing for another campaign.

A shooting is horrible, though it hasn’t taking long for politicians and the media to turn this random event into a national catastrophe. Let’s get the facts straight, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 46 individuals are victims of ‘murder’ every single day of the year in the US. Everyone with ‘bleeding liberal hearts’ need to lighten up see this in perspective of the larger picture of falling victim to over emotionalizing one tragic shooting over another. Let's not let one horrible event destroy the purity of our current democratic system.

12 Firearm Days of Christmas - compliments of my friend Gil

On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy Guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree..

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

8 H & Ks,

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

9 Winchesters,

8 H & Ks,

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

10 Springfield pistols,

9 Winchesters,

8 H & Ks,

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

11 Pump shotguns

10 Springfield pistols,

9 Winchesters,

8 H & Ks,

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

12 Remingtons,

11 Pump shotguns,

10 Springfield pistols,

9 Winchesters,

8 H & Ks,

7 Ruger rifles,

6 Smith & Wessons,

5 M-16s,

4 .45s,

3 Colt revolvers,

2 Tommy guns and

a cartridge in a bare tree.