a question Mr. Pelley: "Is it true you're a liar and a fraud?"

[tk2kewl]

58. You seem quite persistent Bill, so I'll tell you what I think about gun control

Last edited Tue Feb 23, 2016, 08:16 PM - Edit history (2)

I don't particularly like guns. I think we should have background checks for all gun sales and I think assault weapons should be illegal. I think ammunition should be heavily taxed and magazine sizes need to have legal limits. I would love to live in a society where police do not have reason to be armed.

I have some personal experience with gun violence. A family member was threatened with a gun in one instance and another was murdered Ina separate instance. In both cases the weapon was a shotgun - no one is going to make shotguns illegal.

I grew up in Mineola on LI. A HS friend of my brother's was among the people killed by Colin Ferguson on the LIRR. I've met Caroline McCarthy on a few occasions and I approve of her work on gun control.

I also have two friends who live in Sandy Hook. One a PA at the hospital and another a reporter for a local paper. My son is the same age as the children who were murdered. Even though my connection to that crime is somewhat removed, its effect on people I know and the thought of those children left a scar on my soul.

Sanders' position on gun control, however, is not as troubling as some would like to make it. His objections were due to liability issues, and based on some good logic. Guns are made to kill, so it's not the same thing as someone selling you a medicine that kills or telling you a cigarette isn't going to harm you. I wouldn't expect Stanley to be liable for my smashed thumb if I hit it with a hammer.

As I said, I am aware of Sanders' voting record on guns, and posted it earlier. I trust him to make well informed and thoughtful decisions on the issue. I find it funny that many Clinton supporters decry liberal purity tests for so many other issues but latch onto guns and attempt to hold Sanders to a purity test on the issue when his record is by an large a good one.

Finally, Sanders actually has a voting record on gun control that we can examine - Clinton no so much. All we really have to go on is her campaign record, which as with many other issues is not entirely consistent: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/4/1427635/-Hillary-Clinton-s-2008-position-on-gun-control-wasn-t-what-it-is-now


So, you want to talk about deaths as a result of war now?