gun lobby – RI Future

We commend President Obama for his Executive Orders today to better protect Americans from the out of control epidemic of gun violence.

None of what the President ordered adversely affects the rights of Americans to firearms except for criminals or people with mental health issues that are prohibited from possession of a gun. Private gun dealers and online firearms dealers who presently refuse to obtain a firearm dealer’s license will be required to do so and will now have to perform background checks for every gun they sell. There will be an improved National Instant Criminal Background System (NCIS) greatly expanding the inclusion of mental health records of prohibited firearms buyers. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF&E) agents will be added to perform the increased demand for NCIS Background checks. Firearms purchases by Federal Agencies will be directed to gun manufacturers who invest in “smart gun” technologies and who market their products in an ethical manner.

While the Gun Lobby will undoubtedly issue bombastic claims that the President’s actions violate our 2^nd Amendment rights and are a slippery slope to gun confiscation none of that is true. Over 90% of Americans and a large majority of gun owners support expanding Background Checks for every single gun sale. Hopefully, these common sense measures will encourage a national debate that will lead to reforms that result in a reduction in the nearly 90 daily gun deaths each day in America.

We thank President Obama for standing up to the Gun Lobby and call on Congress to take meaningful action to protect American lives.

(From a press release)

You can watch the President Obama’s announcement Here:

“Exeter people power has prevailed over the big bucks and dirty tricks of the gun lobby.” – Will Collette, Progressive Charlestown

A big local turnout in the Exeter special election yesterday helped the four Democrats on the Town Council stave off an attempt to recall them for outsourcing gun permitting to the Attorney General’s office rather than dumping the job on the unqualified town clerk.

Progressive Charlestown, a left leaning blog in South County that covered this issue as well as any news organization in Rhode Island, reports that more than 40 percent of registered residents came out on a snowy Saturday and preserved the results of the last regular election, rather than turning the offices over the runner-ups who didn’t win in 2012, as stipulated in the town charter.

Writes Will Collette in Progressive Charlestown:

“I don’t know if many of all those voters who turned out to say NO to the gun lobby were thinking about the Newtown massacre anniversary today, but I’ll bet some of them were. For me, that adds a lot of meaning to this win.

The recall election was organized by the RI Firearm Owners League, based in Cranston. They set up a front group called “We the People of Exeter” whose leaders are really mostly from out of town and include Charlestown’s Raymond Bradley, owner of Brad’s Guns. Click here for background.”

Collette also reports that the gun lobby, Republicans and other out-of-town conservatives who pushed for the recall also tried to confuse voters on election day by putting out signs that used their opponents slogan but encouraged the opposite action. As evidenced by this sign he photographed:

Tag: gun lobby

RI Coalition Against Gun Violence supports Obama’s Executive Orders on guns

Exeter saved: four Town Councilors beat back recall campaign