Our friend Sarah Palin may have topped herself in the verbal gaffe department, and that’s saying a lot.
In an interview with The Wrap yesterday, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee essentially threw the entire concept of law and order under the bus.
Palin dismissed calls for stricter gun control in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater massacre because “bad guys don’t follow laws.”
"The bad guys, the criminals, don’t follow laws and restricting more of America’s freedoms when it comes to self-defense isn’t the answer,” Palin told the entertainment website. “Not when you consider what the reality is. Bad guys don’t follow laws.”
OK, here's some reality right back at ya. The suspected “bad guy” in this case, James Holmes, did LEGALLY obtain all of the firearms used in the massacre.
Holmes broke no laws when he purchased an assault-style rifle, a shotgun and Glock handgun, and he passed the required background checks, according to The Associated Press.
Still, gun proponents argue no amount of gun laws would have stopped Holmes from getting firearms.
True, the government cannot prevent every single mass shooting incident. But why make access to these weapons so easy? Why not do something like ban assault weapons (as we did before), regulate ammunition sales and/or restrict mail-order sales?
And if you follow Palin's "bad guys don't follow laws" belief to its logical conclusion, then why even bother? After all, the crime rate is determined by how many "bad" guys and "good" guys happen to be walking around on a given day, not by laws, right?
We bother, Mrs. Palin, because laws inhibit conduct that is considered harmful to the social order. Laws are by no means foolproof, but are clearly an essential tool for creating and maintaining a civilized society.
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Seems to me the tragedy in Aurora was bad enough without bringing Sarah Palin into it.
Does anybody want to hear anything Sarah proposes? This is a woman who shoots wolves from a helicopter. To this animal lover, she is one of the bad guys.
Count me out. She has never said anything I care to hear.
I'm with you there, India. That woman's voice grates on my nerves.
Agree, India. The woman is a nut case and the shooting of wolves thing is a major issue with me. I too am a great lover of all animals.
Me too, Kv6707, We could do worse than follow the example of wolves. Matter of fact, we have done worse, since time immemorial.
IF sarah palin shoots wolves from a helicopter, i doubt if she does it alone. on her show, "sarah palin's alaska", she needed the help of her dad and another guy to prop up the gun and tell her when to shoot.
c'mon. how many shots and how many people does it take to bring down an animal-one that was herded into their sites for the show.
Gee, who pulls up these subjects to talk about. Palin is best just ignored.
SHE IS SUCH AN idiot. can we have her deported to another planet called PLANET STUPIDITY.
A big problem there, Palin and those like her are funny, or are at least great to make fun of. Limbaugh/Beck proved there's career in that.
Also they shine a light on the like minds they speak to/for. A problem the world ignores at it's own risk.
This is about mass murder and all you simple minded people are worried about a wolf...Proves how stupid you Libs REALLY are.
Well we are not the ones who think Palin has a clue about anything important. Why in Palin history Paul Revere was warning the British that the Americans were coming. Oh yeah and don't forget that it was Palin that put Cross hairs on Giffords and ran around telling people to not retreat but reload. Yeah Palin should be keeping her mouth shut and stay behind her 10 foot wall after what she caused. Stupid republicans open their mouths and people die then like sniveling cowards try to lie their way out.
you should try flying a helicopter and shoot a gun
slacker, that was not my point.
of course someone else is "flying" the helicopter.
even on solid ground sarah couldn't hold her gun and shoot it by herself. her dad and some other guy propped up the gun, pointed it in the right direction, and told her when to shoot.
it took forever.
i'm surprised the animal was still hanging around after all that, you know, after being herded in and all.
perhaps you didn't see that episode.
Is the writer of this article saying that holmes couldnt get the guns illegaly? If so I suggest he take a look at Chicago and New York. Palin is right on this one folks bad guys dont follow laws. News flash to the writer of this article they were signs at the theater baning guns. Holmes failed to obey these and brought guns in anyway.
That woman is an idiot enough said, now go back to making out with Bullwinkle Sarah your 15 minutes of fame was over 4 years ago.
A big A-men to all of you!
Her voice is like fingernails on a blackboard to me! What she says is nonsense. She'll take any opportunity to get on camera. She's a narcissistic egomaniac.
And for reasons only she can see apparently!
Whom she can't seem to be able to get into the news headlines enough any more so this is just another try for attention.
She's a legend in her own mind.
Delusions of Grandeur.......OMG!
Sarah needs to stick to shooting wolves from helicopters. It's just too bad they can't shoot back... with AR-15's!
Hey...I can shoot back...Come'on down....FOAD!
Jimmy, now I know your posts here prove you're a smart guy and all, but just a reminder, next time you clean your guns and load them, be sure and look down the barrel for anything that might impede the bullett leaving the gun. Safety first!
You may as well try to explain geometry to a Chimpanzee, note I apologize to all chimpanzees for mentioning your species along side this nitwit.
Chimps have bigger brains than Palin, Jim. I'm sure they will accept your apology.
All the entertainment she provides us.
To me it says EVERYTHING about our gun laws that Holmes got these weapons legally!!!
Where has common sense gone? Has the T-party stripped us of the last vestige of even common sense?
No, it's just everybody without common sense decided to start their own party and call it T-party.
I have to shut down, a bad storm coming here. India out.
Stay safe and come back when you can.
How the hell did she get in office in the first place. Boy we really need to watch who we vote for in the future. We need voters who are more educated in politics, or at least pay attention to whats going on before they waste their vote. That is why I have a big problem with some of these polls that have come out. How can someone so much better be even with garbage....?
Jill, you are absolutely correct. Palin is the perfect example of being 'Stuck on Stupid.' (SOS)
Up in Alaska, there is a scarcity of pretty women... So, when one shows up running for office, flirting with all and sundry for their votes, the male voter tends to think with his 'little head' rather than his big one... Meanwhile, women see one of them challenging the status quo, so she picked up the female vote...
Notice, she 'retired' as governor before she even thought of getting re-elected, so no one in Alaska ever really had the chance to vote on what a horrible governor she was...
That is a thoought, but from other experience in Alaska, a lot of the male inhabitance stay so drunk, I don't think they know the difference.
Why do you say "Shes Stupid"?? Because the Dems say so...FOAD Commie!
Because she hasn't a very good education and she keeps saying stupid things, gee keep up, Oh yeah thats right you have the poster of SP in a bikini holding an AK-47 in your closet that you try to hide the stains from mom.
jimmy,
i know repubs aren't big on education. but have you EVER listened to sarah palin?
I am sorry...but that is too funny...Whom criticizing someone else for not being very well educated by saying..."because she hasn't a very good education"....
that one will keep me laughing the rest of the day...Thanks Whom...
just saying...
Oh look its capt re reg still trying to prove he is smarter then a 5th grader and still fails. Boy capt re reg funny how you admire someone who knows about as much history as you, what was Sarah one of your students. Poor capt re reg doesn't know sarcasm or an attempt at talking to him at his educational level.
Good try Whom, but having suffered through the reading of too many of your postings, I know your style and that was you giving your best effort...and even then it fell woefully short.
I did like the fact that you admitted you had just a 5th grade education...however, I will admit that was three years more than I thought you had...
just saying..
Oh poor capt re reg thinks his opinion carries any weight but who cares what capt re reg has to say he isn't even able to do a good imitation of his dream Boat Glen.
"Bad guys don't follow the laws"...Takes one to know one Palin....
"Bad guys don't follow the laws"......so why make them or change them? Just throw out the laws.....and the good guys and the bad guys can all just raise hell together.
tell that to south chicago, um obamas town right?
So now Obama is responsible for what is going on in the city he no longer lives in. Boy talk about delusional.
Ah Mama Moose to rescue!
Yeah bad guys don't follow laws so lets get rid of them, not the gun all the laws....'cuz bad guys won't follow them so why even try?
Naturally cutting down on the availability of high grade weapons won't cut down on the availability of high grade weapons in criminal hands because the amount of those guns out there will drop thus will be easier to acquire them because there would be less of them.......makes perfect sense
Bad guys won't follow the laws so lets not even try and do simple things that endanger no one's second amendment rights like close the gun show loophole...........
Mama Moose I think Blunder Woman(Michelle Bachmann) needs back up beating up on those muslim americans solely for their religion and funny sounding names........
CC, Bachman is so out of control with her accusations of Muslim Americans who serve this country. Abedin and others. Even her fellow congress persons are on her for it.
bachman is a dangerous nut case and if someone doesn't stop her someone will get killed.
I gotta get out of here...you idiots are making my brain bleed....Everyone on here and MSNBC especially ED should be tried for treason...Knowing they will NOT print this because its not spoon fed dribble...Bye...Enjoy your lil make believe world you have goin here....after November you all are going to be forced to realize THE REAL WORLD...is NOT on MSNBC
I welcome your hatred. People talking about violently overthrowing the government and leading an armed rebellion if Obama is president or that he isn't a citizen but naturally....it's the people who don't like Romney who are the traitors. Well my friend if that's the criteria most of nation is treacherous.
JimmyG has serious anger issues and is spiteful and radical. He often wishes for people to "FOAD" (blank and die). Perhaps he is part of a right winged militia group or some other radical anti-government organization? He says "FOUD" repeatedly to me and others everywhere on the blog sphere. He is nothing but a pussy and a little yellow coward like most right wingers are. Guess what JimmyG, I lived in the real world for 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Army including war service during five conflicts and combat in the Persian Gulf war with the 1st Infantry Division FT Riley, Kansas. I will gain no insights about the real world from a little pussy like you.
What makes a decent person? You don't have to be a veteran to be a decent person. Someone who has empathy towards their fellow citizens is a decent person. We have 50 million people without health insurance who need health care so we passed the Affordable Care Act. Our infrastructure is falling apart from age and overuse. We need to rebuild our infrastructure and this will require tax revenues. We do this because our kids deserve a better country than the one we inherited. The world is warming so we need to seriously start building up a green energy economy otherwise the industrialized BRIC's will take all of our jobs away from us. Right wingers have no empathy for anyone except their own wallets and bank accounts. All right wingers want are tax cuts during two wars causing trillion dollar budget deficits for our country. How patriotic of the conservatives to do this to America.
The people in the Aurora theater deserved a better country. Our entire system failed these families this last weekend. We need to double down on our gun laws and start getting very strict firearms safety laws that are enforced. We need the assault weapons ban. The Aurora gun massacre will cost $100 million plus for medical care for the wounded, burial and civil legal costs for the dead, and the huge costs of the overtime for the trial etc. So will your cronies at the NRA/ALEC get out their check books to pay for those $100 million plus gun massacres their laws and policies caused? Somehow I don't see Wayne La Pierre paying for his gun massacres anytime soon. Right wingers like you are such hypocrites that you remind me of dog feces in the backyard. Go dry up and blow away little Jimmy dog pile.
just when my ribs settle down heeeeeeere comes teapub wisdom.....Palin....oh my ribs....after all he did follow the laws to get weapons........ohhh Palin only teapubs could listen to you....ohhh my ribs.........
I think the squirrel's lost her nuts.
O please @!$%# Sodomy pick Sarah for V.P. Please we beg you. She is so popular and good gosh we need the damn intertainment in our lives.
O please Mitt Sodomy pick Sarah Painindaass for VP
Everybody just STOP IT!!!
Think back to Election Eve 2008.........
Think about how you felt ..... facing the possibility of Sarah Palin as VP.......
OK ... back to present .... now ask yourself if you want to feel that way again.
My answer - NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!!
[Just for the record I think it is wrong to mess with people's names.]
Please don't wake her up.
OMG we cant afford to have Romney represent the United States of America, he have no clue when his wife HORSE is participating in the Olympics the man have no CLUE whatsover>>> EMBARRASING!!!
Please FOCUS....
You are supposed to be commenting about Palin and Gun Control. What does Romney have to do with it?
Burn one to many ?????????
So who are you, the self proclaimed blog monitor?
What is with you people? Please go read Rampage Killers on Wikipedia and you find the deranged with kill with what ever they have on hand - swords, cars and even airplanes. The events in CO are about the GUY not the TOOL.
Yeah and the funny thing is they all got support from the GOP tea bagged base up until they made the news.
So why didn't Holmes use a sword, car or airplane?
Are you aware of what the Federal Firearms Laws states?
If you don't want the Federal Government to enact some of those restrictions, I suggest you contact the NRA and tell them to use their money to create a think tank instead of sticking in it the pockets of some lobbyist and come up with some solutions/suggestions for people like Holmes. And don't tell me it's not a NRA problem. It IS a NRA problem. It's also your problem, my problem, "his" problem and "her" problem. People like Holmes is EVERYBODY'S problem.
Yeah and those guys should have easy access to high powered weapons....good talk guys. Brilliant ideas.
Most of our mass killing have not been done by people with criminal backgrounds!
calif. native,so take the tool away or make it hard to get!
Not to speak for james but I'll guess that's wrong. Folks like you always want to portray any attempt to tighten gun laws like closing the gun show loophole as a intention to take all guns from all people. It's why the discussion always goes nowhere one side is listening to a strawman not the otherside.
I have a list of things that must be done to curb gun massacres. We have 250 million firearms in this country so no one suggestion will stop the gun violence problem at once. What we need to look at is overtime how can we stop these sorts of attacks from happening. The lone wolf gunman scenario is one of law enforcement's most difficult problems.
1. We need to immediately put back into the place the assault weapons ban. Semiautomatic pistols with large 30 round ammunition magazines are assault weapons as are AR-15's, AK-47's, and other military style weapons.
2. We need a full frontal legal and political attack on the coalition of the NRA/ALEC. All the "stand your ground" laws pushed by this megalomaniac collaboration must be beaten back. Carry and conceal laws must be eliminated all across the country. Stand your ground laws should be called their real names: "kill at will" laws.
3. We need to start taxing ammunition used in popular semiautomatic rifles and semiautomatic handguns at very high rates. $10 per round would be a good start. People could still own these weapons but could not afford to shoot them. We could make exceptions for shotguns, black powder rifles, and a hunter with a license could buy a couple hundred rounds of rifle ammo annually for hunting at a greatly reduced rate. We could exempt .22 caliber rifles because these are used at target ranges and many rural people use this common caliber to shoot pests around their buildings. So most sportsman and plinkers would not be affected by the law. We would also tax reloading ammunition supplies as heavily as regular ammo at a rate.
4. We could require all firearms owner's to get a license just like a driver's license. In fact we could make this part of high school graduation. When you go get your car driver's license you go and get your firearm's license too. You attend a class on firearms laws and safety practices. Then you take a written test and go to a range to shoot a variety of firearms from revolvers, pistols, shotguns, and rifles. If you want to own any guns you have to have a firearm's license period or else you face huge problems with the law. People with serious alcohol problems with DUI's, drug, and/or criminal or mental health problems would immediately lose their firearm's license and all their guns go to the local police or sheriff under a court order. The person would never get their guns back either they just forfeit them and the court would pay the former gun owner the going price for each gun. So if you want to own guns you had better obey the law or wave good bye to your license to own guns.
5. We need a strict system of having a national data base of criminals, the mentally incompetent, for background checks for all criminals. A stiff tax on ammunition by the federal government would give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms enough personnel and revenue to keep this data base current.
None of these suggestions will immediately end America's gun massacre problems. We have an estimated 250 million firearms in this country. We can educate, license gun ownership, tax ammunition at a very high rate, and reinstate the assault weapons ban, and have national data bases that prohibit criminals and incompetent or chemically dependent/alcoholics from getting firearms. These suggestions will not end all lone wolf attacks and murders in America but overtime they will make these lone wolf attacks a lot harder to pull off.
There is merit to your list (above), especially should we institute new gun guidelines (State and Local, or Federal) and are a few generations removed.
Furthermore, I have been doing some reading on the "issue of the day - gun control" It seems there is a significant opening developing between gun lobbyists/NRA leadership and its membership.
Perhaps, there can be some flexibility on this matter, at last.
While were at it Rex we should make herion coke pot and opium illegal too.
Let's just let more Americans die from idiotic gun violence that makes our country a 3rd world cesspool. This is the conservative way: turn America into a cesspool of violence because everyone should have the constitutional right to buy an automatic rifle to shoot down innocent kids at the theater. Conservatives bring out the worst in America every single day.
I agree Rex lets just let more americans die of drug overdose as well. Rex did you know that in the cites that have the strictest gun laws there is more gun crimes than the cities that have the looest gun laws. Crimanls just dont abide by laws that is just the way it is. Look at what just happened in the theater the law abiders didnt bring their guns in because they had signs up telling them they were not allowed. However the crimnal Holmes brought his in and killed and wonded a bunch of people.
HR: The idiocy of your statement is simply overwhelming. Most people do not want to carry firearms into public places. You are saying then that the people in Aurora deserved to die just because they wanted to watch a movie in public without carrying firearms? No one should be allowed to carry guns into a public place unless they are a licensed security guard or in law enforcement.
Colorado has had carry and conceal laws for many years. Yet we are short on finding very many instances where this prevents massacres such as Columbine and Aurora. Colorado has multiple homicides all the time yet the carry and conceal laws seldom cause any measurable lowering in the crime rate. So the burden is on you. Imagine a movie theater full of armed people then someone shoots and the whole place erupts in gun fire. Everyone would become wounded or dead with your thinking. The reality is that most people are like me, I have no desire to carry firearms into public places. Canada has rifles and shotguns for hunting but has strict registration laws. Canada's firearm murders in 2009 were about 0.5 firearm homicides per 100,000 population while America in 2009, had 3.7 firearm homicides per 100,000. Canada is a much safer place with gun registration and strict gun laws than the American cesspool we live in courtesy of ALEC/NRA/GOP policies and laws shoved down our throats in this country. Look the information up yourself. Facts are inconvenient truths for conservatives aren't they?
Sources: Unsigned. 2009. "Fast Facts, Homicides." Center for Disease Control. www.cdc.gov
Tina Hotton Mahony. 2010. "Homicides by most common type of method, 1980 to 2010." Homicide in Canada, 2010. www.statcan.gc.ca
What about New York and Chicago where gun laws are just as strick as Canadas? Just think Rex if one person had had a gun and shot Holmes in the crouch how many people would be alive today. I got news for you a gun might just save your life one day. They need to ban semi automatic weapons but not pistols and hunting guns. Drugs are illegal but people still use them that was the point I was trying to get across.
The larger point is that our entire system failed those people in Aurora. We need to put families first and those families need to be safe from gun violence. I am fed up with right wingers and their baloney about guns. Most people want nothing to do with carrying a gun into a public place such as a bank, school, college, or other public place like a shopping mall. What good does the gun do you in these places in the normal course of your life? Guess what? When you shoot a gun in a public place you are legally responsible both for criminal and civil liability for the damages those bullets cause in public period. Notice I am talking strictly about carry and conceal laws in a public place not defending your house from a burglar.
For the sake of discussion, let's say you were in the movie theater and by some miracle you had a hand gun and shot at the madman with rifle. If your gun misses the madman and the bullet goes through the wall and kills someone or injuries them you will still get sued. Then there is the problem of you are the guy who shot at the gunman and the police arrive. Who is to say they won't confuse you for the real gunman and shoot you instead? In a dark chaotic situation stranger things have happened.
So there are terrible disadvantages to carrying a gun in a public place and wanting to use it for any reason. If getting sued for two million dollars is your idea of a fun day go for it. But I am telling you that carrying a loaded gun around in public is a real bad deal unless you are in law enforcement or are a licensed security guard. You can forget about any sympathy from courts when your bullets hit an innocent person and kill or paralyze or cripple them your life is ruined period. The judge just says "guilty" and they talk next about decades in prison or a million dollars in legal costs in civil litigation. Either way your life is as ruined as the person who got shot by your bullet.
So what the hell is the anal fixation of the right wing conservatives for carry and conceal laws? Remember your gun with your bullet going off in a public place is a "million dollar" bullet that you get to pay for. When you look at it from this point of view its just a hell of a lot smarter to not carry a loaded weapon and simply apply common sense ideas to minimize your exposure to potentially dangerous parts of town or potentially dangerous places with nasty people like rowdy bars etc. I don't have a million or two million dollars laying around to pay for the civil, legal, and medical costs caused by a bullet going off from my gun in a public place. The larger point is that you don't either and neither does anyone else in the U.S. not even Warren Buffet.