Here are the President’s 23 Big Ideas for limiting gun violence going forward. I’ve numbered them, and beneath each I’ve put some of my thoughts.
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
- So, what? Federal agencies are withholding relevant data from the federal background check system? I’d fire the Attorney General if I found out that was happening!
- And what is “relevant?”
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
- HIPAA used to be sacrosanct. I know a woman whose 18-year old son, who was still in high school at the time, disappeared. She learned from friends that he was in the hospital and when she called for information, she was denied on the basis that her son was an adult and that his privacy was protected under federal law.
- So now I can’t know about my adult child’s health condition, but bureaucrats at the state, the local police department, and gun store owners can?
3. Improved incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
- So, currently states must be getting, like, $5 for every bit of information they share with the background check system. Is that going up to $7.50, or something?
- How does a government “incentivize” others to do what it wants? It’s always a negative. So, they might withhold federal law enforcement resources, funding for Planned Parenthood operations in the state, or federal highway finds when states don’t cooperate, but they’ll never “improve incentives.”
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
- I hope this includes dangerous members of Mexican drug cartels. I’m not sure if Eric Holder has heard about this possibility.
- Also, watch for Homeland Security’s threat assessment on right wing radicals to resurface.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
- Yes, because they can’t run a full background check through the “federal background check system” right now. “Nope! Sorry, Officer. I can only run a partial on that guy. Too bad, too, because I can see some really nasty and relevant stuff here. Just can’t tell YOU about it!”
- Only a partial. What part are they currently running? And what part are they currently not running? And why, or why not?
- Will the “full background check” include the immigration status of the person in question?
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
- See, this is what takes so long when I go to my lo9cal gun shop. The gun dealer has NO IDEA how to run a background check. That guy will bumble around, calling his buddies and searching on Google, trying to figure it out every single time!
- And notice this is how they can run a check FOR A PRIVATE SELLER. So, if I wanted to sell a gun to my friend, he and I would go down to the gun stor3e and pay the federally licensed gun dealer a fee – probably about $50 – to run a check on my friend.
- Would the dealer have to run a check on me, too?
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
- Like the highly effective anti-tobacco campaign? Or the anti-drug campaign?
- Who will fund this campaign; the evil gun manufacturing industry? It worked to have cigarette manufacturers pay for their suicidal/fratricidal ad campaigns.
- But why? Just as making booze and smokes is not a criminal enterprise, neither is making guns and ammo. There is no violation of law here that would justify confiscation of property.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
- Huh?
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
- Yeah, because they don’t do this already.
- And knowing who used to own the gun that killed your family is so comforting. Ask Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family if they feel better knowing that Eric Holder and Barrack Obama gave the gun that killed him to a Mexican drug cartel member.
- News flash, Barry! The local cops run every gun they come across – even in a traffic stop – to see if it’s stolen or legally registered. I can’t imagine that the feds don’ do the same.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
- This would be a sheet of paper covered with serial numbers of guns and addresses of their registered owners that law-abiding citizens reported to have been lost or stolen, right? How would that help?
11. Nominate an ATF director.
- Yeah, because B. Todd Jones is only the Acting Director of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. If he’d been the full director on 20 December, those little kids would still be alive.
- I’m not sure how B. Todd Jones sleeps at night, knowing that if his business card had been a little bit different he could have saved them all.
- And I don’t know how the President can sleep at night, knowing that he’d only put off ONE SINGLE round of golf, and done his FREAKING JOB that day by appointing a real DIRECTOR, he could have saved those kids.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
- Okay. What next, though? Remember in the 1930s? Japan observed that the American Army had no guns. Their spies watched us drill with sticks and concluded that we would be an easy target. And from 1941 to 1943 they kicked our trash all over the South Pacific. We finally got our feet under us and showed them in the end, though.
- Unfortunately, those kids and teachers didn’t have 2 years to “train up”. A school official with proper training and inadequate equipment will die just as fast as one who is untrained.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
- Yeah, because heretofore we’ve MINIMIZED our efforts! Ridiculous.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
- See my response to Point 8.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
- Cool. Like the biometric trigger safety that’s already on the market.
- I only have one problem with that idea. Sometimes my computer’s biometric scanner won’t recognize my finger. And that’s okay because I very rarely need to access a file on my computer in 2 seconds or less to save my life.
- Me? Beta test that idea? No, thanks.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
- Having said that, Mr. President, consider it done.
- My kids’ pediatrician already asks them about guns in our home. He has for years. This isn’t news. It’s not okay, either. It’s just not news.
- A counselor I know asks his patients about guns and suicide. He has for years.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
- Yeah, because they don’t know that already.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
- I thought that was “Crazy Wayne” LaPierre’s idea. I could swear I remember hearing something about how irresponsible and irrelevant that was.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
- See my response to Point 12. Without proper equipment, a school administrator will die just as quickly as one without a plan.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
- Medicaid is a prime example of an unfunded mandate. Now we’ll require more? Who will pay for that?
- The idea of an unfunded mandate should be anathema to someone who faults the No Child Left Behind legislation for the same reason.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
- I thought we’d already passed that bill. All we should need to do is open it up to find out what’s in it. Right, Mrs. Pelosi?
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
- See my response to Point 21.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
- Only a demagogue and a bully would call a parallel series of identical lectures on the same subject a “dialogue.” I guess because there are two of them giving the talks, and “di-“ means “two”…
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
- So, what? Federal agencies are withholding relevant data from the federal background check system? I’d fire the Attorney General if I found out that was happening!
- And what is “relevant?”
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
- HIPAA used to be sacrosanct. I know a woman whose 18-year old son, who was still in high school at the time, disappeared. She learned from friends that he was in the hospital and when she called for information, she was denied on the basis that her son was an adult and that his privacy was protected under federal law.
- So now I can’t know about my adult child’s health condition, but bureaucrats at the state, the local police department, and gun store owners can?
3. Improved incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
- So, currently states must be getting, like, $5 for every bit of information they share with the background check system. Is that going up to $7.50, or something?
- How does a government “incentivize” others to do what it wants? It’s always a negative. So, they might withhold federal law enforcement resources, funding for Planned Parenthood operations in the state, or federal highway finds when states don’t cooperate, but they’ll never “improve incentives.”
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
- I hope this includes dangerous members of Mexican drug cartels. I’m not sure if Eric Holder has heard about this possibility.
- Also, watch for Homeland Security’s threat assessment on right wing radicals to resurface.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
- Yes, because they can’t run a full background check through the “federal background check system” right now. “Nope! Sorry, Officer. I can only run a partial on that guy. Too bad, too, because I can see some really nasty and relevant stuff here. Just can’t tell YOU about it!”
- Only a partial. What part are they currently running? And what part are they currently not running? And why, or why not?
- Will the “full background check” include the immigration status of the person in question?
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
- See, this is what takes so long when I go to my lo9cal gun shop. The gun dealer has NO IDEA how to run a background check. That guy will bumble around, calling his buddies and searching on Google, trying to figure it out every single time!
- And notice this is how they can run a check FOR A PRIVATE SELLER. So, if I wanted to sell a gun to my friend, he and I would go down to the gun stor3e and pay the federally licensed gun dealer a fee – probably about $50 – to run a check on my friend.
- Would the dealer have to run a check on me, too?
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
- Like the highly effective anti-tobacco campaign? Or the anti-drug campaign?
- Who will fund this campaign; the evil gun manufacturing industry? It worked to have cigarette manufacturers pay for their suicidal/fratricidal ad campaigns.
- But why? Just as making booze and smokes is not a criminal enterprise, neither is making guns and ammo. There is no violation of law here that would justify confiscation of property.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
- Huh?
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
- Yeah, because they don’t do this already.
- And knowing who used to own the gun that killed your family is so comforting. Ask Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family if they feel better knowing that Eric Holder and Barrack Obama gave the gun that killed him to a Mexican drug cartel member.
- News flash, Barry! The local cops run every gun they come across – even in a traffic stop – to see if it’s stolen or legally registered. I can’t imagine that the feds don’ do the same.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
- This would be a sheet of paper covered with serial numbers of guns and addresses of their registered owners that law-abiding citizens reported to have been lost or stolen, right? How would that help?
11. Nominate an ATF director.
- Yeah, because B. Todd Jones is only the Acting Director of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. If he’d been the full director on 20 December, those little kids would still be alive.
- I’m not sure how B. Todd Jones sleeps at night, knowing that if his business card had been a little bit different he could have saved them all.
- And I don’t know how the President can sleep at night, knowing that he’d only put off ONE SINGLE round of golf, and done his FREAKING JOB that day by appointing a real DIRECTOR, he could have saved those kids.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
- Okay. What next, though? Remember in the 1930s? Japan observed that the American Army had no guns. Their spies watched us drill with sticks and concluded that we would be an easy target. And from 1941 to 1943 they kicked our trash all over the South Pacific. We finally got our feet under us and showed them in the end, though.
- Unfortunately, those kids and teachers didn’t have 2 years to “train up”. A school official with proper training and inadequate equipment will die just as fast as one who is untrained.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
- Yeah, because heretofore we’ve MINIMIZED our efforts! Ridiculous.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
- See my response to Point 8.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
- Cool. Like the biometric trigger safety that’s already on the market.
- I only have one problem with that idea. Sometimes my computer’s biometric scanner won’t recognize my finger. And that’s okay because I very rarely need to access a file on my computer in 2 seconds or less to save my life.
- Me? Beta test that idea? No, thanks.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
- Having said that, Mr. President, consider it done.
- My kids’ pediatrician already asks them about guns in our home. He has for years. This isn’t news. It’s not okay, either. It’s just not news.
- A counselor I know asks his patients about guns and suicide. He has for years.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
- Yeah, because they don’t know that already.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
- I thought that was “Crazy Wayne” LaPierre’s idea. I could swear I remember hearing something about how irresponsible and irrelevant that was.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
- See my response to Point 12. Without proper equipment, a school administrator will die just as quickly as one without a plan.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
- Medicaid is a prime example of an unfunded mandate. Now we’ll require more? Who will pay for that?
- The idea of an unfunded mandate should be anathema to someone who faults the No Child Left Behind legislation for the same reason.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
- I thought we’d already passed that bill. All we should need to do is open it up to find out what’s in it. Right, Mrs. Pelosi?
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
- See my response to Point 21.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
- Only a demagogue and a bully would call a parallel series of identical lectures on the same subject a “dialogue.” I guess because there are two of them giving the talks, and “di-“ means “two”…
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