What Colorado Shooting Means For Gun Control

Family members of the victims of the Century 16 theater shooting leave roses at a memorial display during a vigil at the Aurora Municipal Center campus in Aurora, Colo. Sunday. (AP/The Denver Post, AAron Ontiveroz, Pool)

James Holmes, the man suspected of killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, is expected to be formally charged next Monday.

The case has again brought up questions about gun ownership laws. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a long time gun control advocate, says both President Obama and his likely rival Mitt Romney need to tell Americans specifically what they are going to do on this issue.

But Chris Cillizza of the Washignton Post writes, “If history is any guide… the Aurora shootings will do little to change public sentiment regarding gun control, which has been moving away from putting more laws on the books for some time.”

Cillizza draws attention to this graph, based on a Gallup survey:

(Gallulp/Washington Post)

Guest:

Chris Cillizza writes “The Fix” in the Washington Post. His new book is “The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics.”

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

BHA in Vermont

A nut goes crazy, shoots up a theater and the gun rights advocates think he would have hurt fewer people if more people carried guns.

Just what we need, a bunch of concealed carry people shooting at the shooter. How many MORE people would have been shot by the concealed carry shooters trying to hit kill an armored shooter?
- Ljcandme
  
  Well if you were there (Colorado) then you would have wanted
  me with you if it was legal to ccw. I have trained formally to respond to such a
  wicked despicable act as this. I also will tell you from firsthand experience
  that if you ever go to a gun show in AZ. the people are so nice and no one is
  pushing or cutting in line like people do at sporting events or on the road. It
  will take a good hour or more of standing in line to enter a gun show. Ask yourself
  why?
  
  Because most everyone has a gun!
Guest

What rights do little kids have NOT to be taken to a violent, loud, traumatic, movie – AT MIDNIGHT???

What
if a foster family had taken their small kids to a movie like this?
What would social services have done? Does the desire for adults to have
some “late night fun”, trump a parents obligation to do what is best
for their kids (including protecting their hearing)?

Shouldn’t there be a law that prevents kids under 12 from entering an R rated movie, even if accompanied by an adult?
Herten, J. B.

RY: the 12 people killed last week in Aurora won’t be able to vote henceforth. The 9 people killed in Tucson when Gabby Giffords was shot won’t vote henceforth. Also, many of the staunchest NRA supporters are Republicans; H.R. Giffords was a Democrat. It is very likely she will never hold public office again. The GOP is funded by firms that make guns (among others,) and the Democrats are focused on surviving a post-Citizens United world.
- Dallyass01
  
  Democrats are financed by Big pharma that kill just as many as guns. I dont claim to be either. I know taking away the rights that our four fathers set into action is wrong. Our constitution should be upheld not cut apart. I happen to own guns. I hunt and pleasure shoot. If a nut goes off and runs twenty people over with a bus, are we gonna outlaw buses. Look at 911 they held up a plane with carpet knifes. Come on wake up america. Us law abiding citizens turn our guns in. Then we are all sitting ducks. Criminals are criminals because they dont follow laws. Do you honestly think we will get them to turn in their guns, come on really………?
  - Mskitty4peace
    
    They don’t care about the criminals having guns.. you are right… They want your guns, my guns, “law abiding citizens” guns. The criminals guns are too hard to get, and they are getting so much money for the illegal arms sales, just like the drugs, so they are definitely not going to stop that. When hurricane K happened they went in and took from civilians homes, actually knocked on private citizens doors and demanded their fire arms…..HA!!? imagine that. US Marshalls taking away Innocent, law abiding citizens fire arms. The second amendment is to protect up from our own govt. pure and simple If more people would realize that these “Manchurian candidates” are exactly that, and that there are people, very evil people behind the scenes running the “show” for their own agenda.
Ellen Kaufmann

Shame on Robin Young for not mentioning/asking the guest to mention that until a few years ago there was a federal ban on assault weapons to individuals. Congress allowed the ban t to expire (NRA influence). Gun rights activists say that people need to be able to protect themselves with guns. Protecting yourself from an assailant does not require multi rounds. We do not live in a war zone.
- hitesh
  
  Hello Ellen, hitesh here, the producer who worked with Robin on that segment. Appreciate you writing in about this.
  
  We did touch on the ban when our guest, Chris, responded to a question and talked about what measures could be passed in the Clinton era and why (in his opinion) they’re not at the top of anyone’s agenda today.
  
  Of course, you’re right that this is very important and afterwards both Robin and I were sorry we hadn’t got back to assualt weapons in that conversation. We are planning a followup to take this up again.
- Dallyass01
  
  Ellen I am a very avid gun Collector. The brady bill is what you speak of. It did nothing to ban assault weapons. All it did was to modify the stocks so they were not pistol grip. Many criminals cut them off anyway. It also took pistol magazines from 15 to ten. I bought many guns during this time and never once was it hard for me to buy one. The brady bill you speak of wasn”t worth the paper it was written on..
Guest

This show said that gun ownership is low and violence is low. Everything else I see says gun ownership is high and violence is low. Which is correct?
- Alden
  
  This statement baffeled me as well. Background checks for firearms purchases (NCIS) are up substantially and firearms manufacturers are reporting record sales. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report shows crime down across the board.
Elizabeth

Seriously?! My comment criticizing the choice of guest for today’s show was just removed, why? Does “be civil” mean “must not criticize the show”?

Unbelievable.
- jryanhn
  
  Hi @1cebc1dbcd0e67e5b84a81087837aea3:disqus , Thanks for your interest in the show and your comment. There was no action taken here to remove your comment. Are you sure that it actually posted? Sometimes there is a lag with our comment system and it may not have actually posted.�
  – Jill Ryan, Here & now
  - Elizabeth
    
    Yes, it appeared in this thread, and now it is gone.
    - jryanhn
      
      @1cebc1dbcd0e67e5b84a81087837aea3:disqus do feel free to re-post it, we’d like your feedback.�
      -Cheers,Jill
hitesh

Hello @Guest, @Alden, hitesh here, one of the producers.

You’re pointing to some questions we’ve been asking about also– what is the rate of gun sales and gun ownership? For one thing, there was a sharp spike in gun sales in 2009 over fears that the Obama administration would restrict gun ownership. We’re planning a follow up conversation to address those questions.

The numbers we quoted today come, ultimately, from a post on the blog, The Monkey Cage, being cited by others this morning, including Politico, which is where we first saw them. �
�
The post makes the arugment that the public support for gun control is waning for 2 reasons:
1) Violent crime is at a 40 year low.
2) The number of households with guns is down from about 50% in 1973 to about 33% today.

Putting the url for the blog below, where you’ll find the stats and charts the author cites and a lively discussion about what it all means.

Thank you for writing and listening so closely.
hitesh
- Alden
  
  HI hitesh – interesting link. No disrespect to the Gallup organization, but if I were looking into facts regarding the currents state of the firearms world I would go to nssf.org. I suspect they’d be happy to share some data with you. One can also check the quarterly financial results from Smith & Wesson, Ruger and The Freedom Group (Remington).
  I’m sereously not trying to go pro-gun here, just pro-facts. I always find it interesting when NPR ventures into the gun space because it is obviously (and understandably) foreign territory. It’s too bad that the discussion only surfaces as the result of a terrible tragedy.
http://profile.yahoo.com/YI7JPHPR4F6T2PALUHX4CXUHWQ It

If it is found that the man they have in custody is the one who pulled the trigger
all those times, how long will our current court system allow him to remain
alive and why?
Pepper

Many have made this whole issue into a political issue when it is a MORAL issue. There are so many factors involved that there is no quick or easy answer. When people are told on a regular basis from all over our society that human life has no more value than the life of a gnat, I think you can expect to see people treating other people with animalistic behavior & violence. To help slow down some of the gun violence I’d like to suggest the following, most of which are not original with me, but most don’t get discussed together as part of a solution.
1. Get respect for mankind back in vogue, which will mean putting God-consciousness back into our society’s daily life.�
2. All 50 states institute a waiting period of a minimum of 3 days with a background check.
3. Crack down on illegal sales of weapons, because #2 will only affect that are already law-abiding citizens.
4. Limit ownership of guns to no more than 2 per household. Don’t know how we’d enforce that, but I’m sure it could be done.
5. Concealed weapons permits should be allowed in all 50 states, but a person is not allowed a permit until they’ve gone through gun safety classes & have proved they are capable of handling a weapon responsibly.
6. Be realistic & admit to ourselves that what goes into people’s minds will come back out. Food does, so it only stands to reason that what is put into our minds will also come back out. Violent gaming and entertainment will fuel a violent mind. Hollywood & the like will need to take some responsibility to produce less of it, people will have to take personal responsibility to consume less of it. I’m not suggesting that we all watch movies like PollyAnna all the time & nothing but that, but really people…what price are we willing for society to pay for the sake of our “entertainment” ? �
7. All purchases of ammunition must be made in person. It would make it more difficult to stock pile, oh say, 6000 rounds of ammunition. Apply #3 but only to ammunition sales.
8. Be aware of those around you and stop being so selfish & self-absorbed.�
Here’s my explanation to #8…How many times do we go places & do things where we see someone alone, looking on from the fringes. How often do people go out of their way to include someone that’s alone? How often are people kind to someone that is “quiet”. “Quiet” doesn’t always mean stuck-up or anti-social, sometimes it just means they’re lonely & afraid to reach out. As I’ve seen the pictures of shooters over the years & read about their lives, one of the traits that has stood out to me is how often they’ve been labeled as “loners”. Really? How many of those people could have been prevented from breaking mentally had their been people in their lives that reached out to them instead of just letting them be alone. Did anyone else see the pictures of Mr. Holmes in the news today. He looks like he’s coming down off of a drug induced high or something & he looks mentally broken. I’m not suggesting he not be held responsible for what he chose to do, but what I’m saying is, how often could we prevent other people from reaching that point in life if we weren’t so self-absorbed in our own lives?!? No one really knows the answer to that one, and worse yet, it’s a MORAL issue & cannot be legislated. We have to become people of conscience. People to who reach out & care about other people. I truly believe this is where the gun control battle must begin. Eliminate the need for someone in desperation wanting to use a gun on someone in the FIRST place by caring about them.
K, I’ll get off my soapbox now. I’m sure I could come up with more…but I think that’s enough to think on for one afternoon.
- Alfred
  
  Mr Holmes is on drugs. All of these Manchurian Candidates or sleeper agents are on a wide array of drugs. They most likely have a RHIC-EDOM implant.
  Radio Hypnotic Intra-Cerebral Control & Electronic Dissolution of Memory
  
  This fellow is probably coming out of a bad dream and doesn’t realize what the hell he was doing.
  
  Shades of the work of Donald Ewen Cameron and Dr. Jose DelGado here.
  The CIA at work.
Alfred

What this means is that the Globalists are working actively towards gun control.
They cannot take over this nation without a bloodbath.
So they will find ways to “convince” the public through these so called random acts of violence to do so.
Don’t any of you people see a pattern here with these shooters. All are “lone gunmen”, all are on some form of medication, namely the anti-psychotics or anti-depressants, most had no jobs(so where do the weapons and ammo come from, they are cheap).

Just looking at this fellow in the newspaper recently and on the tube in his daze.
Hell the guy looks like a prime subject for your Manchurian Candidate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Holmes had a RHIC-EDOM implant. Yes folks the military and CIA have been working with many institutions of higher learning on this for decades.
Also to not, Mr. Holmes was a neuroscience major. Was he a willing participant in some program or not?
This reminds me of the old CIA program called MK-ULTRA(Mass Killings Using Lethal Tradecrafts Requiring Assassination)

For those who have little time or can’t figure out how to use a search engine, RHIC-EDOM stands for: �
Radio Hypnotic Intra-Cerebral Control & Electronic Dissolution of Memory

I have even read about these implants on line at various web sites. However don’t expect the mainstream media to bring this up. What you don’t know would hurt you.
Wake up people. There will be more of these “sleeper agents” in your future to advance the agenda of the Globalists.
In the end with these shootings, WHO BENEFITS?
Sam

BIRTH CONTROL TODAY, GUN CONTROL TOMORROW, MIND CONTROL THE DAY AFTER, THEN WE REST.

“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.”
Aldous Huxley’s lecture to The California Medical School in San Francisco in 1961