Here
and
Now

opinions

Obama no match for U.S. gun rights advocates

12 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
Login to comment

horrifiedAPR. 23, 2013 - 02:17PM JST sangetsu03 - You are mistaken: 90% of Americans DO support background checks. My goodness, that information is only a google search away. http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2013/apr/04/lee-leffingwell/lee-leffingwell-says-polls-show-90-percent-america/

All of these polls are done by mail, phone and internet, no one must get off their butt to go to a polling place to participate in these polls. Couple this with polling fraud using proxy IP voting and or mail fraud and these numbers change. Some people are willing to commit voter fraud and vote more than once in actual elections risking fines and jail time. There is no risk of fines or jail time involved in voting for a private poll, what is stopping them.

The thing to remember is many busy active voters are on do not call lists, do not have time to fill out mail for polls and are honest people who would not even consider using a proxy to vote more than once. When it comes to a poll where their vote counts for something like the midterm election they find it very important to make time to get to a polling place. The politicians know this and that is why they say stuff like the quote Biden came up with.

Also remember that a politician is only going to quote the parts that support their argument or make their point. They will never give you the whole story or context unless it benefits them.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

sangetsu03 - You are mistaken: 90% of Americans DO support background checks. My goodness, that information is only a google search away. http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2013/apr/04/lee-leffingwell/lee-leffingwell-says-polls-show-90-percent-america/

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Incoorect, Xeno23. The reason that the meaure failed is that the mid-term elections are coming up, and those senators who are up for reelection worry that they may no be reelected if they supported it.

90% of Americans DO NOT support increased background checks; the most liberal poll found 52%. The point is moot anyway as a mandatory background check and 5 day waiting period have existed for more than a decade. Let's not forget that the shooter at Sandy Hook didn't buy any of the guns he used, so no background check or waiting period of any kind would have made any difference.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

how can something that has 90 percent support not happen?

The true American Democracy is showing it's teeth.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Let's not forget this happened in the halls of Congress, not at the public ballot box. Not a single US voter was going to mark a "yes" or a "no" for these proposals. We can't know what would've happened had they been given the opportunity to do so.

For this issue, US American representative democracy worked as it typically does when there's an imbalance in the mobilization of representative forces. In this case, the anti-control representatives mobilized better than the pro-control faction; that's all.

There's always a lot of talk about monied vested interests and overweening lobbies, but mobilizing those resources is part of the political process in the USA; those who can't do it aren't being politically effective - period.

This particular contest is done with, but the overall struggle isn't; however one feels about the issue. If 90% of US voters are really in favor of additional legislation, this will come out when they actually have a chance to vote. If we see a voter reaction toward more gun control, then we can say the US public favors it - if we do not see it, then despite factional noise-making, the proof will be in the ballot box.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"The American people are trying to figure out -- how can something that has 90 percent support not happen?" Obama said. That is the question, isn't it? I'd have to say that something stinks with this whole thing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Media and university polls show that yes, the great majority of Americans do indeed support background checks. Many polls show higher than 80% support. Some show over 90% support. Google is your friend.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

All the "protections" that Obama wants were already in effect in Connecticut when those children were killed. We in the rest of the country know that these proposals are not about safety for children, only the erosion of freedoms to support the Marxist agenda of Obama and the Democrats.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

That’s how they were able to defeat expanded background checks despite polling that shows up to 90% of Americans support the idea.

No, that's a lie. The plain and simple truth is that guns and the arms industry are HUGE money in the U.S., and actively support politicians who back their agenda. This is a prime example of how democracy has been sold out.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

No one quotes Biden seriously. A news article loses all credibility when they quote him or Obama for that matter. Biden has not been able to say anything correct even when he was congressman. I could not agree more with sangetsu. There is a bigger picture to look at, never trust a politician to do the right thing.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Regardless of where you fall on this issue, or why you think the bill didn't pass, it does show one troubling thing about Obama: Politicians, like generals, are supposed to choose their battles wisely, so they don't end up getting publicly humiliated.

Perhaps Obama thought he was more powerful than he really is, and overstepped his limitations. Not a good thing to do coming up into midterm elections.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Hmm, the reason that the bill was defeated was that many of the representatives debating are up for reelection next year, and they were worried that supporting the bill might hurt their chances of winning. In other words, they didn't believe their constituents wanted this bill passed, which means they don't believe the people support it.

There are now 300,000,000 guns in the US, and more than half of Americans are gun owners. But I guess their voice is not the voice Obama wants to listen to. He foolishly invested a lot of his political capital pushing an agenda that obviously isn't very popular, and now he is angry that he lost? Rather than be angry with those who listen to those who listen to their constituents, he should be angry with himself.

Despite 300,000,000 guns, America is enjoying it's lowest level of violent crime ever, despite the occasional mass shootings and bombings. Obama is probably more angry that he wasn't able to capitalize on a non-issue which would distract voters from his poor management of the economy, skyrocketing national debt, and the impending implosion of the Social Security system. He said when he was reelected that there was a lot of work to be done, I guess he was talking about improving his golf score.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites