We are not going to take your guns away…

President Obama was in Australia and had some interesting things to say about guns. Before we get to his current position on guns, let’s hop in the CurmudgeonCapsule and go back in time to 2008 when the President was talking about guns.

Watch – Obama: I Will NOT Take Your Guns away

“When y’all go home and talk to your buddies…”

“You’ve heard it here, and I’m on television so everybody knows it…”

We would remind you that this was the same time period when “If you like you health plan you can keep your health plan. Period!” We would also note that in his September 9th statement about guns Candidate Obama left off the declarative “Period!” that punctuated his frequent promises on health care, to emphasize that he was laying down a red line that would not be crossed. In the absence of the declarative “Period!” we can only guess that Candidate Obama felt more strongly about letting you keep your health plan and your doctor than he did about letting you keep your guns.

Since his election, President Obama has had a memory lapse worthy of an old, forgetful Curmudgeon.

What were we saying? Oh. Yeah. The shelf life of being allowed to keep the health plan and doctor you like expired on March 23,2010. Fortunately, that event created enough ruckus that President Obama lost control of the House of Representatives and there are enough conservatives in the House to rein in Speaker Boehner’s automatic impulse to give President Obama whatever he wants so the Washington Press Corpse will like him.

Earlier this week, Boehner told his conference that Republicans “need to have a discussion” on guns.

Speaking to his troops at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday, Boehner was mindful of conservatives’ traditional opposition to new gun restrictions, emphasizing that Republicans wouldn’t do “anything knee-jerk,” according to a lawmaker in the room.

But the Speaker also said he wants to “de-politicize” the issue of gun violence, which has been thrust into the national spotlight following the murder of 27 people, including the gunman’s mother and 20 young children, in Newtown last Friday.

The current leadership of the Republican Party starts from a position of needing to be bludgeoned into a conservative position rather than having the conservative – really, the non-Washington-Establishment – position as a default. They start just a whisper away from the Obama-Reid talking points and then move left as they “negotiate.”

At any rate, we come to June 10th of this year in Australia. Before hearing about the President’s biggest disappointment in office, remember that Australia passed an ordinance confiscating all guns, and it’s a felony to own a gun.

Watch – CNN: Obama Comments On Deadly School Shooting

This statement has to hold some kind of a record for Obama dithering.

My biggest frustration, so far, is the fact that this [American] society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do unbelievable damage.

[…]

it happens now once a week and it’s a one day story.

[…]

our level of gun violence are off the charts.

[…]

the idea that we couldn’t even get a background check bill in to make sure you go through a fariiy rigorous process, so that we know who you are, so you can’t just walk up to a store and buy a semi-automatic weapon. It makes no sense.

First, it’s interesting to note that since 2007 the number one priority of US voters has been the economy. Jobs. During President Obama’s term of office, so far, we have seen virtually no growth in people working while we’ve seen record numbers of people leaving the workforce. We have over 11 million people on SSI disability and we set a new record for people on food stamps virtually every month. And the President says we’re in a “recovery.” All that, and his number one disappointment is that he hasn’t been able to ram the equivalent of ObamaCare through a Democratic Congress on guns. Mr. President, your priorities are really messed up.

Now then, with respect to the President’s talking points in Australia.

We haven’t taken basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Excuse me? New guns are sold through federally licensed dealers and require a background check. Only private sales are not regulated and that accounts for a minute number of transactions. In every one the “mass shootings” that the President and Democrats rail about endlessly, the weapons were acquired legally and the purchasers passed a background check. In fact, the Newtown shooter attempted to purchase a gun and was denied because of the background check so he stole his mother’s legally purchased guns.

There is no store in the US where you can “walk up and buy a semi-automatic weapon.” None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. Please point one out.

Mass shootings only happen weekly if you count the ongoing gang warfare in major US cities like Chicago, the President’s home town. Chicago, by the way, has among the strictest gun laws in the US. The President, and Democrats in general, cry at length about little white kids being shot in pricy suburbs, but we have yet to hear one word about the routine gang shootings in Chicago. Those shootings are black-on-black and are happening in poor neighborhoods. It seems that the President and his Party can’t be bothered to care about the poor or minorities who are the overwhelming victims of violent crime.

As for the level of gun violence being “off the charts,” that one requires a hard look. There are two things we have to look at, the first is violent crime, not just “gun violence.” The UK, where private ownership of guns is outlawed, has 2,034 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The socialist haven of Sweden, often cited as a model the US should strive toward, has 1,123 violent crimes per 100,000. Those peace loving Canadians are up there with 935, and even Finland has 738. The French, who are more associated with wine drinking, have 504.

How about the US? Obama’s murder capital of the world? Well, we have 466 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. About one-fifth the rate of the UK.

Now then, let’s take a look a murder statistics, because the US does have more murders than the countries cited above. The linked article is based on a study on youth homicide by the US Government – the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Youth homicide is important, because homicide is the #3 cause of death in youths while it isn’t even in the top ten overall in the US.

There is also a huge disparity in the youth homicide rate (per 100,000) between races in 2010:

Blacks: 28.8
Hispanics: 7.9
Whites: 2.1

Thus, the homicide rate among black youths is nearly 400% higher than the overall youth homicide rate; the homicide rate among Hispanic youths is similar to the overall youth homicide rate; and the homicide rate among white youths is 72% lower than the overall youth homicide rate.

You’re probably thinking that black youth are overwhelmingly victims of racism, but that would not be the case.

Bureau of Justice Statistics data show that from 1976 to 2005, white victims were killed by white defendants 86% of the time and black victims were killed by blacks 94% of the time.

There’s more interesting information, it’s from Wikipedia, but it seems well documented.

According to the US Department of Justice, blacks accounted for 52.5% of homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, with whites 45.3% and Native Americans and Asians 2.2%. The offending [murder] rate for blacks was almost 8 times higher than whites, and the victim rate 6 times higher. Most murders were intraracial, with 84% of white homicide victims murdered by whites, and 93% of black victims murdered by blacks.

It would appear that racism is not a cause of homicide, at least by race.

The US doesn’t have a gun problem. The US has a problem in the “black community.” Heaven help any leader who points that out, see Paul Ryan. When you point out an inconvenient truth, you’re a racist. Unless you’re Algore, but then he avoided the truth, so he gets a pass.

We’re past time to wrap up, so we’ll just point out several obvious facts.

  • President Obama’s “promises” have expiration dates.
  • President Obama, and Democrats, would love a gun confiscation law like Australia and the UK have.
  • The “murder problem” in the US is, in reality, a “black problem.”
  • President Obama’s comment “so we know who you are” should not be taken lightly.
  • No, I don’t give a damn what you call me, facts are facts.

by Steve Foley – The Minority Report Blog

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