Author: Michael A. Ventrella

by

Talk about stupid

People who post this meme are stupid:

stupid

This is what is known as a “straw man” argument. You create a straw man of your own and then knock it down, and then prance around pretending you made some great accomplishment. Instead, you just look stupid — or worse, dishonest.

Nobody is saying that. No one thinks that stronger gun laws will be obeyed by criminals, any more than laws against murder have stopped all murders. Using the logic of this meme, all laws are bad because criminals will ignore them. Might as well not have any laws at all, hm?

It’s almost as stupid as the people who laugh at “gun free zones” as if they are so much smarter than the politicians who created such laws. Those laws do not create a magic zone protecting everyone inside. They say that if you have a gun in that zone, your punishment will be harsher. It’s like signs saying that you have to slow down in a construction zone. It doesn’t prevent speeders, but those speeders who get caught pay a harsher penalty.

Isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t that what laws are supposed to do — to encourage actions that benefit society and discourage actions that don’t? What in the world is stupid about that?

“But criminals won’t obey them anyway!” they say. There are two responses to this:

First, many gun deaths do not come from “criminals.” They come from guns in the home. These guns cause accidents (there’s at least one case per week where some kid shoots his brother with a gun in the house). They cause suicides. They are available for people to use in anger against their spouse. More guns means more gun deaths. (Duh)

Second, where gun control has been in place, gun deaths go down. This is another duh. States with gun control have less gun deaths per capita. The US has more gun deaths than any other advanced civilized country. States that have lessened gun control have seen their gun deaths skyrocket. Gun laws may not stop gun deaths completely, but they work.

We can do something about all these Americans who are dying on our streets. We can do something to reduce our outrageous number of gun deaths. Laws work.

And if you can’t acknowledge all that, you must be some special kind of stupid.

Editorial cartoon: When push comes to shove

by

Right to be Threatening > Right to Not Get Shot

How did we ever get to the point where the right to carry firearms is greater than the right to not be shot?

The guys carrying the guns may falsely believe they are safer with their guns around (I say “falsely” because statistics show that having a gun increases your chance of being murdered) but what about the rest of us?  Don’t we have a right to go to public places without seeing someone carrying a gun and having to worry whether that person is a law-abiding citizen or some deranged madman just about to commit another mass shooting?  Places can say “no shirt, no shoes, no service” but not “no guns”?  Give me a break.

Good old Joe the Plumber (who isn’t named Joe and is not a plumber) sees it differently. “Your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights,” he says, which of course calmly reassures those who lost their children.   What a nice guy!  Oh, wait.  I’m sorry.  I meant “asshole.”  What an asshole!   joeplumber

A long standing exception to the 1st Amendment is called “Time, Place, and Manner.”  The 1st Amendment clearly says Congress shall pass no law regulating speech, but of course they do.  Your speech can be limited in a number of reasonable ways.    You can’t stand in the middle of a courtroom during a trial and give a speech about taxation.  You can’t have a rally at 3 am using loudspeakers.  You can’t disrupt a military funeral claiming that “God hates fags.”  The time, place, and manner of your speech can be regulated.

The 2nd Amendment is not as clearly written as the 1st, and even includes the words “well regulated” which appears nowhere else in the Constitution.  So for people to say that the right to carry a gun cannot be regulated in the same way speech is doesn’t make any sense.  Of course it can.  If they can keep you from getting up in the middle of Chipotles and giving a speech, then they can keep you from bringing a gun in there.   And this does not infringe on your right to own a gun, but only limits where you can take it.

(Do not be distracted by what Joe was responding to.  The murder’s father rant blaming the NRA was ridiculous — he’s the father; he holds more  responsibility for his son’s actions than anyone else.)

 

by

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day, I thought I’d just post some cartoons, and remind everyone to always remember the true purpose of the day.

 

memorial-day

Editorial cartoon: X-Men: Museums of Future Past

by

The Gun Control Shuffle

There was another mass shooting today, so that can only mean that it’s time once again for America’s favorite pastime! It’s the Gun Control Shuffle!

1. Have a mass shooting.

2. Bury the dead and cry.

3. Politicians talk about the need for gun control so this never happens again.

4. Gun manufacturers, through their lobby group the NRA, warns that the government is out to take everyone’s guns.

5. Gun lovers buy lots of guns because they believe the NRA and the right-wing media.SHOOTING-master675

6. Gun manufacturers’ income skyrockets.

7. Gun manufacturers use this money to bribe politicians through their lobby group, the NRA.

8. Despite overwhelming public support, no gun control passes.

9. Another mass shooting occurs.

Repeat every few months.

Note:  This is the fourth Gun Control Shuffle in the past ten months, so we’re right on schedule.

Editorial cartoon: Constant memorial

by

Gun nuts shocked that people don’t want guns everywhere

A Texas gun rights group has called upon its more extreme members to stop the “going into Chipotle with huge guns and scaring all the kids” campaign.  Surprisingly, it hasn’t been very well received.

Responsible gun owners around the country (yes, there are some) spoke out against this stupid idea, and, I am happy to report, the nuts listened. chipotle-guns

“We must once again adjust in a way that shines a positive light on our efforts, our members, and our respective organizations,” they said. “We have decided the prudent path, to further our goals, is to immediately cease taking long guns into corporate businesses unless invited.”

Yeah, who would have ever seen that coming, huh?

These gun lovers have this movie-inspired vision that if a bad guy were to show up, their swift actions with their own guns would save the day — and just like in the movies, all the bad guys would miss, the good guys would never be hurt, and no innocent bystanders would ever be in danger.   Just like in the old west (where, by the way, the laws all prohibited bringing guns into any public place).

Ask any officer trained in how to deal with exactly this situation what the chances of that are, and then find out how many shoot-outs with actual, real, trained SWAT teams end up in the exact way they want them to.  Now imagine a bunch of Texans drinking margeritas in Chipotle and tell me what you think the result will be.

But for now, let’s at least be thankful that a few more sensible minds have taken hold in Texas.  (Never thought I’d type that sentence.)

Editorial cartoon: Guns everywhere!

by

Money decided the election here

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Tom Wolf is a good man and I agree with his positions on the issues.  I supported him for Governor in the Democratic Primary Tuesday, but that was a late endorsement when it was clear he was going to win.  I felt that we all needed to get behind a strong candidate in order to defeat Republican Tom Corbett in the fall.

But Wolf would not be where he is today if not for money.   giphy

The main candidates didn’t differ that much on the issues.  But Wolf spent something like $10 million of his own money to win this election, and the others just could not compete.

It’s sad that money has so much power in America to sway elections.  But then, that’s one of the reasons I supported Wolf.  He’ll have the money in the general election to fight Corbett like he needs to be fought.

Let’s face it, money doesn’t always guarantee a win.  (Hi, President Forbes!)  It can’t make an unlikable candidate charismatic.  But it sure can help a good candidate zoom past other good candidates.

Wolf not only spent lots of money, but also spent it wisely.  He hired the best consultants and ran excellent commercials in the right markets.  Many Democrats like me noticed and said “Any of the candidates would make a good Governor, but only one seems to be way ahead of the others in being a good campaigner.”

I’d love to see campaign finance reform change the game.  But until then, we have to play by the rules as they exist.  And lots of money helps you win.