OPINION
Submitted By Tom Laurent
What kind of country are we, where one powerful special interest group holds so much power that politicians would rather compromise the safety of children than deal with the in-your-face truth that guns are the problem and a public health crisis? It seems many rural politicians, including Doug LaMalfa, are more afraid of the NRA than they are of facing the broken-hearted constituents whose loved ones are murdered in mass shootings. A recent Pew survey showed that 82% of surveyed rural adults said that the right to own guns is essential to their personal sense of freedom. Guns also steal the freedom of living from the 40,000+ people killed annually by guns.
The NRA propaganda machine attempts to manipulate gun owners by using disinformation rather than facts or logical arguments to construct a narrative that secures their power and influence over Congress. This narrative promotes the idea that liberal governments and minorities are to be feared and that those groups want to take away your guns. Influencing voting gun owners also ensures that the NRA maintains power and control over congressional representatives. Politicians whose voting base is made up of these fearful people, are likely to follow the NRA’s lead on gun issues or be voted out of office.
These NRA toadies claim the Second Amendment ties their hands when it comes to common sense gun legislation. They act as if they have no power to halt the wholesale slaughter of innocents in America. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court clearly stated that the 2nd Amendment does not protect assault weapons, which were specifically designed for the battlefields. Why is the NRA and their minions so afraid of common sense gun laws? The NRA decided its purpose is to maximize gun sales and protect the gun industry’s profits.
In 2019, the NRA was classified as a domestic terrorist organization by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Recent data from a YouGov survey found that 43% of Americans believe that the NRA is a terrorist organization. The NRA is against all forms of gun control regulations and laws and do nothing to prevent the gun slaughter of our citizens, young and old. They have the power to allow significant gun law changes to be made that would make our lives safer, but refuse to support any law they feel will encroach on the public’s “right” to own weapons of war. They believe that once they open the door to gun regulations, liberal politicians will ban assault weapons and much more, which would reduce gun sales and profits.
The mass slaughter of innocent people continues to increase year after year. Death by guns will keep increasing until we rise up and revolt against the power of the NRA and its political puppets. We need to throw out all the gutless politicians, like Doug LaMalfa, who brag about their positive scores from the NRA but who refuse to work for the safety of all citizens, especially children who seem to be a favorite target of gun nuts. We must elect politicians who put the safety and lives of our children first and who will pass meaningful gun safety laws. This is what the 2024 election must be about.
The revolt has started. Ten states have banned the sale, manufacture and transfer of assault weapons including California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. California now allows its citizens to sue gun manufactures for the harm caused by their products. It’s a common sense step in the right direction.
Tom Laurent
Yreka
9 responses to “We have a choice to make.”
-
This is false info. Guns don’t kill, people do. Please do not discredit the Constitution of the United States. It is there for a reason, and stupid articles like this make no sense. Mental health needs to be addressed, we need to take care of our own country and the people in it, with the current laws available that are not being enforced. LONG before we add new rules, regulations, and laws. Please stop with this crazy notion that guns are the problem. They are weapons of choice just like cars with drunk drivers, knives, bombs, shovel, whatever! Take care of the people with the issues that feel the need for this violence.
-
A gun is an inanimate object, that can do No Harm, by Itself. As to disarming Americans: Socialists Always want to First disarm Those whom They wish to enslave. Would Armed Jews have stood a better chance against Hitler ?
Mental illness is a Prime cause, of what is blamed on Guns. -
The reason we have a 2nd amendment is to protect the first. Once a country is disarmed it can be controlled. How many lives have been saved due to an available gun?
Just a few thoughts, it seems to me that going after a gun cosmetics is way off base, maybe enforce existing laws and prosecute crime. -
I can’t believe articles like this are even published.California has one of the highest incidents where cops have killed a civillian.Most of them aren’t even reported to the attorney general.California also has the most restrictive gun laws in the nation.On top of that, I had heard from a friend of mine that our local law enforcement doesn’t wear body cams.He looked it up and he is correct.So just to put it out there this is exactly why the second amendment exists,for protection against a tyrannical government. Everything I said is factual and can be backed if required.I would suggest call your local law enforcement and city council and demand action be taken.if they say they do waer bodycams have them show you in there policies.I have heard there is a couple of petitions that are being posted at various businesses. Not sure exactly which ones I’ll keep you updated.
-
Yes, its mentally ill people killing people. Killers are killing people with their weapon of choice. How many are choosing a knife, a shovel or a weapon to maximize their killing power. They want to make a statement by killing as many people as they can with a weapon that can use a 30 to 100 round clip. Hand guns don’t have that same killing power. Any rational person would conclude that reducing the killing power of a mentally ill shooter would save lives. Do we save lives or allow any firearm to be purchased, such as an AR-15, which can easily be converted to almost an automatic weapon by changing the firing mechanisms? The 2nd Amendment’s “a well-regulated militia” tells me that a state or federal government can regulate the purchase of firearms, ownership rights and what type of firearms can be purchased. Hand guns for home protection and hunting rifles are legitimate firearms which are protected by the 2nd Amendment. The AR-15 rifle is nothing more than a killing machine, which some men view as a man-toy and have to own one.
-
Thank you to all who can comprehend the common sense of banning assault style weapons. And for the rest of you, I’m sorry that you feel threatened but regulations and laws for gun ownership are similar to owning a car – get a license, register it, lock it, and drive/shoot responsibly. No one is saying that you can’t have a sporting or self-defense gun and good background checks will allow fewer mentally unwell people buying and firing them.
What Mr. Laurent said about the NRA influence over politicians is well known and really despicable. Mr. LaMalfa and the like don’t deserve our vote when they campaign with money from special interest groups that hold all the strings. Mr. LaMalfa is a small example of an NRA puppet, looking only after himself and not of the greater good of District 1.
-
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” 2nd Amendment, adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights.
From Britannica.com;” In the 2008 landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the Second Amendment includes the right of individuals to bear arms for self-defense. In 2010 McDonald v. City of Chicago extended the prior ruling from federal laws to state and local laws.” -
Tom Laurent has an ideology much more well-suited to places like Oakland, Berkeley, SF, Portland, or Seattle. And we all know how well things are going in those liberal-run, crime & poverty ridden shitholes. Perhaps Tom should move back to whichever place he came from and stay with his own kind. We don’t need or want leftists douchebags like him here in our beautiful county. I would like to know more about Tom’s background and education seeing how he views himself as an authority on all things extreme far-left. He is most likely just a dirty marxists propagandist at best.
-
P.S. Properly-prescribed medications kill far more people that gun violence…over 225,000 per year in the US. It’s the 3rd largest killer after heart disease and cancer, and is known as Iatrogenesis. Maybe Tom needs to worry more about those innocent lives lost and the profits being made in the process, rather than wasting his precious time railing against our 2A rights.
- Rubble from Copco No. 1 Dam Blast Temporarily Blocks Outlet, Raises Reservoir Level
- CalMatters: California once led in government transparency. It descended into secrecy and opacity
- The Code of the West…the Realities of Rural Living
- College of Siskiyou Spring Concert Schedule
- CalFire PR: BURN PERMITS REQUIRED May 1, 2024
Avery Theatre CDF&W CHSRA Copco Dunsmuir Dunsmuir Elementary Dunsmuir Wildcats Easter Egg Hunt Etna EtnaCa FERC Forest Service Irongate Iron Gate Junior High Rodeo KCOC klamath Klamath Dams Klamath National Forest klamath river Klamath River Dams KNF KRRC Main Street Homestead McCloud Montague Mount Shasta Mt Shasta obituary Rodeo Salmon Scott River Scott Valley Scott Valley Agriculture Water Alliance Siskiyou Siskiyou Art Museum Siskiyou County Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors Siskiyou District Attorney Office Siskiyou Golden Fair The Well USDA KNF weedca YPD Yreka
Mad American
Jim Hendricks
Brian Smith
Class A citizen
Tom Laurent
Cee Shelly
James Perdue
Indigo Mystik
Leave a Reply