How Democrats Embraced Gun Control at Their Convention

[billh58]

Cross post from LBN:

Source: Time

Christine Leinonen, a former state trooper from Polk City, Fla., stood stricken onstage, struggling to read the words about her son on the TelePrompTer at the rear of the convention hall. Christopher “Drew” Leinonen died six weeks ago, along with his boyfriend Juan and 47 others, in the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

“Christopher was my only child, and as I used to tell him, you can’t do better than perfect,” his mother told the delegates at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. “Where was common sense the day he died? I never want you to ask that question about your child. That’s why I support Hillary Clinton.”

Leinonen struggled to speak those words, but they were carefully chosen. Common sense is one of the terms that gun-control lobbyists advise their clients and allies to use when framing their arguments about the fraught subject of guns, lest opponents weaponize their words.


Read more: http://time.com/4427616/dnc-guns-control-hillary-clinton-convention/

The Democratic Party is responding to the epidemic levels of gun violence in our country, and is beginning to fight the callous right-wing gun lobby on many fronts. Support Democratic candidates who are willing to take on the ILA/NRA/GOA and reverse the damage they have done to our country over the past few decades.

[Hoyt]

1. Saw her, powerful. Callous gunners will just shrug it off as the price the rest of us must pay for

their sick needs.

But, at some point the victims -- and those who do not want their children to be victims of our senseless coddling of gunners -- will force action like Australia took in 1996. Every decade we wait, another 100 Million guns end up on the streets. I get restricting guns is only part of the problem, but it is clearly a big part of the long-term effort to end this craziness.

Note: Not sure why the thread in LBN was locked, but it's big news to me and apparently a lot of Democrats.

[billh58]

2. To some, guns are

only "news" when people die. Talk of how to prevent gun deaths is not newsworthy, and akin to treason to the right-wing gun lobby.

Democrats are stepping up to shine a bright light on the menace of gun violence to our society, and this quote from the referenced article sums it up: "Unlike other recent Democratic presidential campaigns, Clinton has made combating gun violence a signature issue."