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1934 - Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, replacement for ill-fated St. Francis Dam & reservoir, begins to fill with water [story]
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The Real Side | Commentary by Joe Messina
| Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

joemessinamugHere we go again. We have to do something about guns. More gun laws. Tougher gun laws. And once again, the president completely blew past the mental health issue and went straight to gun laws without providing a single detail. Just the generic mantra of “let’s make more laws that we won’t enforce and then wonder why nothing has changed.”

Please remember, the recent shooting on Umpqua Community College in Oregon took place in a gun-free zone where even the security guard could not be armed. Not until police showed up with a gun 20 minutes after it started did the shooting finally stop.

I listened to the president’s 12-minute speech about how bad the Congress was because it wouldn’t pass comprehensive gun safety laws. What, exactly, does he have in mind? What does he see as a solution? He didn’t say. Again. He is still leaving it up to Congress for him to threaten to veto if he doesn’t get what he wants. So why waste all that time? He should just tell them what he wants.

The president expressed outrage that nine people were killed at the hands of a gunman. He is a confused (and confusing) man. Why is he not outraged about the 2,600 people shot in the “gun-free” city of Chicago this year? What about the 370 lives lost there? And most of them black lives. Not a word. No outrage. Don’t #BlackLivesMatter to him?

Then there is Washington, D.C., where there were 2,400 shootings in 2014 and 100-plus killings. Another city where guns are not welcome. This is a city where the chief of police has refused to issue licenses to carry, even though she has been ordered by a judge to do so.

Interestingly enough, she has not been locked up for ignoring the judge’s order like Kentucky clerk Kim Davis was.

Based on Chicago and D.C., we have proof that stricter gun laws work well, right? No, wait. That’s proof they don’t work. These are just two of over a dozen cities that have the same issues.

The president is not being honest about the cause. If he really felt shootings were out of control and he needed to insert himself in the process, why hasn’t he spoken out on the Chicago shootings? Why hasn’t he called on the mayor or governor, imploring them to enact new laws? The same goes for D.C. and more recently, Baltimore. Why won’t he speak out about those? Is it because it’s mostly black-on-black crime? Is it because it won’t play well? Or is it because people will ask: “Why don’t those police departments just enforce existing laws?”

New York canned its “stop and frisk” program, and guess what? Crime rates are on the rise. Shootings are on the rise. Hmmm. But the left says no, there is no relationship. Sure. OK.

What new gun laws would stop these types of shootings – especially the ones that happen in cities where there are already no guns allowed? For those of you who love to post negative comments on my writings, why don’t you show a level of intelligence and real caring and put up posts with real, specific solutions? And please stay away from the party line. “Stricter guns laws,” “more extensive background checks” – what does that mean? Be specific.

I can tell you what the president means. He simply wants your guns. Period. His words. Not mine. “We need to look at Australia and England.” England’s laws: “The guiding laws for firearms are according to the Firearms Rules 1989 and the Firearms Act (1968). All handguns, semi-automatic and pump-action non-rim-fire rifles are prohibited.” So basically .22-caliber rifles and pistols are what will be OK and probably heavily regulated.

In Australia: “The new law on firearms all but prohibited automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles, stiffened licensing and ownership rules, and instituted a temporary gun buyback program that took some 650,000 assault weapons (about one-sixth of the national stock) out of public circulation. Among other things, the law also required licensees to demonstrate a ‘genuine need’ for a particular type of gun and take a firearm safety course.”

What would a “genuine need” be? Protection of home, family, property? Nope. You basically have to be a police officer, security bank guard, or belong to a security company.

And since the president used these two countries as an example, and since he has suggested no other real plan, I have to assume he wants to emulate their laws.

No thank you, Mr. Obama. We like our laws. We need you to be “The President.” Speak out against the violence – in ALL cities. Speak up in support for our law enforcement. Encourage and give assistance to departments that need it to enforce the laws we already have on the books.

Enough with the emotional reactions immediately following these events. It’s time for common-sense solutions and follow-through. No more gun laws. More enforcement. And no gun confiscation.

 

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.

 

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53 Comments

  1. Dobie Gillis Dobie Gillis says:

    Whine whine whine. Not one gun law has been passed to take away your metal penis. Reagan passed gun laws and not one word. As a gun owner myself, there needs to be stricter laws. He’s opening the floor up for mature discussion.

    As for D.C. and Chicago, those are areas that PROVE that illegal guns magically get in. Those areas (we are speaking inner city…not the comfy suburbs where there seems to be a decrease in violence) do not manufacture guns. Where do they come from? Somehow they are getting in from the manufacturer to the street criminal. There’s a middleman and you know this. It happened in the 70’s with Cointel. It happened in the 80’s with military guns during the Reagan years.

    Lastly this is not a “left/right” issues. It’s a human issue. There is more than black and white but neither of those sides, you included, can’t see any grey.

    The left has no answers, just questions and the right has the mentality of “Guns and Jesus.” The ultimate oxymoron. Meanwhile many of us in the middle just want to have kids safe at school and screw both partisan loons.

  2. Mike Peralta Mike Peralta says:

    City gun laws are irrelevent when someone can goto another city, county or state to purchase. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/29/us/where-50000-guns-in-chicago-came-from.html

    • City and county, yes. State, no.

      Unless you’re active military w/ ID, federal laws prohibit buyers from walking into a gun shop in another state and bringing a firearm back with them.

      However, you can purchase a firearm from a gun shop in another state, they then ship it to your local gun shop, you then pay the transfer fees and fill out all the paperwork once it arrives, go through the background check, and then pick it up after the 10-day waiting period. This is how internet and gun show transactions take place.

      Note: Some states no longer have a waiting period because ATF Form 4473 has been replaced by a computer that allows instant filing and background checks. California DOJ does have this system but lawmakers still require a 10-day waiting period.

    • Mike Peralta Mike Peralta says:

      Yet this map shows guns from every state getting into Detroit. I know how it works, but it isn’t.

    • I just told you how they’re getting to Chicago. All they have to do is buy them online and have it shipped to a gun shop the next town over. There is nothing illegal about it.

      Its also possible a family member from out of state is buying them and transporting them.

      I also know of at least one group in the south running guns on Amtrak trains and shipping them to border states.

  3. Jose Franco Jose Franco says:

    Won’t make a difference for the crowd that agrees with “Filled Diaper” Joe Messina, but here are times the president talked about that. http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/12/01/fox-news-pundit-cant-remember-any-of-these-time/201725

  4. Joe you should read other papers besides the mighty signal

  5. Every time that I see that dumb face on my wall, I expect a flaming pile of dog crap. Thank you for meeting my expectation, Joe! You really hit it out of the park with this rectal wreckage that you spew violently from the butthole of your mouth…

  6. Liberals seem hell bent on laws that won’t really solve anything. “Feel good” laws that actually end up making everyone less safe. All strict gun laws do it make it less likely that a good guy with a gun is nearby to stop the bad guy with a gun.

  7. Johnny Valle Johnny Valle says:

    Jessica RC tu amigo

  8. Javi says:

    Gun Free Zones Kill Children PERIOD.

  9. Kris Kelso says:

    The issue with mass shootings is not cut and dry a gun issue and not cut and dry a mental health issue. Its a problem on both fronts. If you look at the last couple of shootings that got National attention the criminal was a lone wolf and not on anyone’s radar for mental health issues. The Oregon shooting, the Reporter Shooting, the South Carolina shooting were all carried out by single individuals who besides posting on social media sites and sending manifestos were not actively being seen for mental health problems and not in any database that would have indicated they were a societal threat. So the only way to stop them was to make getting guns for them extremely difficult. The argument always comes up about the gun being a tool and the person is the problem, then we hear if you take my guns then take my car because I can kill with my car too. All are knee jerk reactions. The reality is that a gun is a tool yes but a tool specifically created to kill. There are no other uses than to kill. Yes protection , hunting etc. but they all lead back to killing. So we need to make anyone trying to get a gun jump through a lot of hoops to get this tool. Making people go through extensive background checks, mental health evaluations and limiting how many weapons and ammo they can purchase will help weed out those that should not have guns. I also think you make the consumer pay for all these hoops, hitting people in the wallet and making the cost much higher than know will help as well. last we need to change the culture in this country where people stand back and say nothing when we see individuals exhibiting anti-social and extreme behavior. The Oregon killer posted the day before that people should not go to school in the northwest and people egged him on to go through with his plan. Every One of those people should be an accessory to murder. In short, to point the finger one way or the other is just short sighted.

  10. Ugh hippies make my skin crawl.

  11. Travis May Travis May says:

    Is there a different photo you guys could use? Maybe something related to the article instead of this dude’s mug every time he puts words on the Internet.

  12. Allan Cameron says:

    Hi Joe. The approximately 15,000 people killed by guns in our country (compared to perhaps .001 percent of the number, per capita in strict gun control countries), is just the “cost of doing business”. What business? Why, the “business” of our liberty. Of course, the exact same rationale applies to abortion. We will not be anti- liberty when it comes to big government interference with a woman.

  13. Josh Shannon Josh Shannon says:

    Preach on Mr Messina!

  14. jim soliz says:

    I’m beginning to believe that the writer and Hart Board of Trustee Messina must be paying SCVN to publish his venomous characatures of reality. Should he be doing so, I believe that in the public interest of disclosure, Editor Leon Worden should disclose the fact that he is being paid to publish Messina’s “Menudo” and disclose how much.

  15. You are supposed to report “news”….check your facts. The gun violence in Chicago are from guns obtained outside of Chicago because, wait for it, THOSE gun laws work. I’m not sure why I follow this page….

    • Firearms are just like narcotics. If you cant get it from your favorite dealer, you go outside the community. If firearms are made illegal and gun shops start closing down, there are plenty of people working the black market who will make sure their customers get what they want.

      There are also people with the skills and equipment to make quality firearms in their home, legally, they don’t need to go to the black market or a dealer.

    • Wow, I made a comment….one without name calling. Even if you are on the internet, you are still talking to a person and I would hope you wouldn’t talk to someone you don’t even know in that rude manner. If you want to dialogue or convince me to see your side, do that, but there is no need for disrespect and name calling.

  16. Ben Green Ben Green says:

    Dear scvtv. Please review Joe’s articles and reevaluate his status. We Dont need such negativity people writing cause it could send the wrong message to the wrong person

  17. Time to un-follow this site.

  18. If it’s gun free, then how did they get shot?

  19. Jim Jeffries sums it up the best in regards to control! http://youtu.be/bHY48Q2UBVk

  20. Joe, you and your opinions are gross. I hope you’re the first paranoid faux news junkie that gets your gun taken away due to your mental health evaluation.

  21. Frank Rock Frank Rock says:

    Maybe Joe missed or just shut it out, as he often does, POTUS referencing the huge number of gun related deaths in the country in the past year. Wouldn’t that include Chicago?

  22. Chet Mehra Chet Mehra says:

    Mr. Right wing crack pot gives no explanation for why Canada, Australia and UK have way lower gun related deaths if gun control is so ineffective at preventing it. We don’t need gun free cities, we need a gun free nation. That will not only saves lives in U.S. But also in Mexico.

  23. Peter Bishop Peter Bishop says:

    Where do the terrorists and crazy people go to massacre? Where they are garuanteed not to have guns. Schools, parks, etc. Soooooo, how is gun control a good thing? You don’t see anyone shooting up a state with open carry laws do you? Let’s get a brain and think about these things

  24. Lee Uber Lee Uber says:

    As usual, for Repubs, gun violence is never about the gun. Anything but guns!
    Love the straw man arguments, Joe! “Obama wants your guns”. No, he doesn’t. ” I have to assume”… how about you stop assuming? Your assumptions are ignorant and wrong.
    Want specific proposals that would help curb gun violence?
    Implement magazine capacity restrictions.
    Close the gun show/online sale loophole.
    Require the use of trigger locks.
    Close the “Charleston” loophole (look it up)
    Repeal laws that give gun manufacturers and dealers immunity from negligence.
    Make “straw purchases” a crime.
    Want more, Joe?

    • William Tds William Tds says:

      Damnit Lee. Warn people before you post something so stupid and ignorant. I totally just shot beer from my nose laughing at your stupid comment. Everything you mentioned is already in place in Chicago and Los Angeles. Mag restrictions, locks, private and gun show sales must go through licensed ffl, registration 10 day waiting periods etc and every day I turn on the news and someone is murdering someone else. How is this possible? I thought you said with those types of laws things would be fixed? Your a dip hole, a clueless, mindless sheep who believes that taking away someone’s ability to defend themselves somehow in your liberal mind fart makes them safer. Your a cancer on this nation and you a sad American.

    • Lee Uber Lee Uber says:

      Incorrect. Try again, genius.

  25. You certainly braved your IQ with that article.

  26. I see his face and I brace myself, because I know I will end laughing out loud at his ignorance… Don’t ever stop writing this factually wrong “news”….

  27. Gary says:

    Joe, do they pay you to be such a tool?

    Do you get talking points sent you you in the email every day so you know what to think and regurgitate?

    Have you ever had an original thought?

    Have you ever traveled outside the SCV and seen what works so well in better managed countries?

    PYHOOYA.

  28. Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D. says:

    I believe this article brings up a reasonable question between mass murders in public places to individual murder in urban places.

    Recognizing there is a connection between the two might lead to a common solution.

    Within the article lies a possible answer. Looking at models around the world where civilized societies have implemented effective gun laws is critically important and should not be marginalized as this posting attempts to do.

    Many countries have almost zero murders. Why? What makes them different from us? Whether it be Australia or England as alluded to in this article, exploring their laws might allow us to extract pertinent rules applied to our country. (Realize, Henry Ford adapted mass production from the Japanese industrializing the US a century ago.)

    I believe there will be a solution without reinventing the wheel. We just can’t be afraid to look for it.

    Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.

  29. Dear Mr. Messina! Thank you so much for another example of how closely you follow the teachings of Jesus! You do know that He said He gave us a new commandment (meaning we are still supposed to follow God’s laws about bearing false witness and not killing) that we are supposed to love one another! He even said we should turn the other cheek! I truly regret that I once voted for you! (Believe what you want, but please don’t portray yourself as a Christian!)

  30. What will it take for him to not be able to write for this site anymore?

  31. james gurdine says:

    Once again, parroting the right like the good little minion d-bag you are. If it were simply a matter of mental illness, we could just ask about any and every other western nation on the planet how they deal with mental illness because none of them have this kind of problem with guns and mental illness. Apparently, all those other countries must have their mental illness problems under control. They don’t have people regularly shooting other people like we do. And I’m confident they have their share of mentally ill folks walking around. Sit down and STFU up, Joe. You’re an embarrassment.

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