Strike at the root of gun violence by shutting down the 'iron pipeline' [View all]

[Cirque du So-What]

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Obama also proposed a federal gun trafficking measure Wednesday, which Kelly called “a move in the right direction,” saying that 90% of the guns confiscated by police in New York come from out of state. “We need a federal plan. Otherwise, we’re still going to be plagued with guns coming from all over. They come up what we call the iron pipeline, 95, Highway 95, coming up from the southern states. These are guns that are landing on our doorstep and they’re killing New Yorkers,” Kelly said.

Kelly commended Obama’s efforts to reform gun control. “I think the power of the office is tremendous and the fact that the president is now speaking about it, actually getting behind this legislation, will mean an awful lot. As he said yesterday, that we need the public support. We need the citizens to get behind this. To me, this is just common sense. These are not new proposals. Certainly, [New York City] Mayor Bloomberg has put these proposals forward for quite a while. But now that they’re sort of coalescing, getting behind it, and the president is leading the charge, I think this is very, very important and it could very well be a turning point.”

more...

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/17/ray-kelly-armed-guards-in-schools-is-not-the-answer/

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In New York City alone, just last week, the NYPD suffered one of its bloodiest nights when three officers suffered gunshot wounds, in two separate crimes, just an hour apart. We are all thankful these heroes are on their way to recovery.

Almost one year ago, NYPD Officer Peter Figoski, the father of four beautiful daughters, was tragically killed in the line of duty.

One thing all of these shootings have in common: the guns used all came up "the Iron pipeline" from out-of-state. In fact, according to the Mayor's office, 85 percent of the guns used in gun crimes in New York City come from out-of-state, and at least 90 percent of these guns are illegal.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-kirsten-gillibrand/end-the-flow-of-illegal-g_b_2440791.html

Proponents adhering strictly to the current NRA talking point about identifying the 'mentally ill' is just a panacea to placate the masses...until the next gun massacre occurs, that is. The root of the problem lies in the ready availability of firearms, and the NRA's polly-parrots continue to ignore the fact - once bandied about by their side with great regularity - that anyone, despite appearing on any generated list, is able to obtain a firearm because they're so readily available. All suggestions that run contrary to the NRA script are met with the equivalent of 'resistance is futile,' however, so it's up to us who believe a legislative solution is within our grasp to apply unrelenting pressure until the real problems are addressed first.