Father of Columbine Victim Pushes For Stricter Gun Laws

[wj11]

DENVER (AP) – The father ( Tom Mauser ) of a Columbine shooting victim who has since become a prominent gun-control advocate is pushing for increased background checks for guns.

A rally at the state Capitol launched a “Fix Gun Check” two-day tour through Colorado. Gun-control advocates planned to drive a mobile billboard calling for congressional action.

more details available at CBS Denver

 

[MACGYVR]

Well that's great. Another moron that ignores the facts....THE KIDS STOLE THE GUNS!
How the F would increased background checks have prevented Columbine??????????????????

 

[Mike S]

I'm guessing that there will be a long parade of victims parents marched out to ask for the same thing, softening up the beaches so to speak for whatever Obama has in store.

 

[FrugalFannie]

Maybe we should pass stricter "pay attention to your kids" laws! These kids planned this attack for over a year and were building bombs in their kitchens. Where were the parents? How did they not know something was going on with these kids?

 

[FrugalFannie]

Well that's great. Another moron that ignores the facts....THE KIDS STOLE THE GUNS!
How the F would increased background checks have prevented Columbine??????????????????

They bought them off friends who bought them legally.

 

[vicpinto]

Father should be cited for breeding him.

 

[drgrant]

They bought them off friends who bought them legally.

At least in one case this wasn't true- the girlfriend of one of the shooters strawed him a shotgun, I believe. Some fat guy also got bagged by the authorities for violating some kind of law after it was discovered he sold a handgun to a minor. The girl served no time, IIRC, although the fat guy got sent to prison.

Regardless, gun laws (that the antis want more of) were "in play" and they accomplished absolutely nothing.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

Well that's great. Another moron that ignores the facts....THE KIDS STOLE THE GUNS!

Maybe this was true for some of the guns they had, but not for others, as I just mentioned. I know one of the shotguns they used was strawed, and the Tec-9 or whatever it was, was purchased from some fat guy who had sold it to them illegally.

Regardless, gun laws did nothing here.

-Mike

 

[ShadeWPI]

http://www.vpc.org/studies/wgun990420.htm

How Firearm(s) Acquired

Robyn Anderson, a friend of Klebold and Harris, bought the shotguns and the Hi-Point 9mm Carbine at The Tanner Gun Show in December of 1998 from unlicensed sellers. Because Anderson purchased the guns for someone else, the transition constituted an illegal "straw purchase." Klebold and Harris bought the TEC-DC9 from a pizza shop employee named Mark Manes, who knew they were too young to purchase the assault pistol, but nevertheless sold it to them for $500.

Oh no, they were purchased illegally at a gun show by an unlicensed vendor! The Gun show loop hole. Of course Robyn Anderson could have legally purchased them for himself, would have passed a background check and could have purchased them from a licensed seller - they were just cheaper from the unlicensed vendor at the gun show.

 

[wahsben]

People intent on murder and mayhem ignore the laws but these jerks just want to pass more. Multiple laws were broken by klebold & harris.

 

[xtry51]

We need to hurry and make those illegal guns even more illegal!It's for the BAAAAAHHHH, err children.

 

[Jose]

Where are all those gun control laws that were gonna come out of the congresswoman getting shot in the head?

Some of you people amaze me in your inability to see the political landscape for what it really is.

 

[Garys]

Where are all those gun control laws that were gonna come out of the congresswoman getting shot in the head?

Some of you people amaze me in your inability to see the political landscape for what it really is.

The posturing for more gun control by leftist politicians is just PR for the chumps, but you know that. Even Obama's comments about a conversation on gun control are just his attempt to shore up the base, but you know that too. Gun control is political poison right now.

 

[Pete85]

Well that's great. Another moron that ignores the facts....THE KIDS STOLE THE GUNS!
How the F would increased background checks have prevented Columbine??????????????????

They didn't steal the guns. They had Eric Harris's girlfriend Robyn Anderson buy them three of the four guns. She was of age, and had a clean background. She broke nearly 40 laws by purchasing the 3 guns for the two boys, and that's before you factor in any of the accessory to murder or other related charges that she could have also been charged with. She even admitted to police that she knew what she was doing was wrong, she knew the boys' plans to murder people, and she helped them plan the attack, but if she didn't think she'd get in trouble for it. She should be spending the next few hundred years in jail. However, due to the politics of the time (the desire to expand gun control) she was never charged with anything to make it look like there were no laws to prevent what happened here.

 

[ShadeWPI]

Here's another interesting piece regarding the Gillford shooter.

Many people are calling for changes in reporting Mental Health issues since the shooter was "deemed" dangerous by at least two people, but he wasn't barred from purchasing the handgun because those weren't reported.

A few things people seem to be forgetting in those calls:

1) Neither the Army Recuiter nor the College Dean are mental health professionals. Neither could make a legal call about his mental state.
2) While the Army Recuiter said he questioned the man's mental state, it was a failed drug test that barred him from recuitment.
3) Even if the laws were changed to allow these untrained professionals to report him, due process would protect his constitutional rights until a court decision.
4) Court Ordered medical treatment for mental health would have barred him from purchasing the firearm.

So, what people are really calling for is:

The ability for people with no mental health training or professinonal credentials to report questionable mental health issues to law enforcement authorities
- in most cases a REQUIREMENT to report
The ability of the government to suspend constitutional rights based on statements from un-trained professionals
The ability for the government to release confidential test results to law enforcement(again, possibly the requirement)
The ability for the government to circumvent due process (another contitutional right) based on statements from untrained professionals.
Allow unlicensed individuals access to criminal background checks as a condition of a private sale or bar all private transfers of firearms

 

[xtry51]

Shade, none of those things should surprise you.

 

[EC1]

Yeah, maybe we could have the gov open re-education camps like the ChiComs did. NOT.

 

[piman]

Where are all those gun control laws that were gonna come out of the congresswoman getting shot in the head?

Didn't the President quote that in his letter? I think it had just taken time.

Some of you people amaze me in your inability to see the political landscape for what it really is.

I think you are right here. Something silly might get done at some state levels, unfortunately maybe MA, but not at the federal stage...

 

[davemata]

Would it be wrong to mail a ball gag to this chump?

 

[piman]

DENVER (AP) – The father ( Tom Mauser ) of a Columbine shooting victim who has since become a prominent gun-control advocate is pushing for increased background checks for guns.

I must say for the first time I internalized an argument against background checks when I heard Jim Wallace on the radio. If a person has something in his background that indicates clear and present danger, that person does not belong in the public.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[piman]

Would it be wrong to mail a ball gag to this chump?

If you are referring to Tom Mauser, I'd say it's harsh. The guy has lost a child. I'd think the NRA or an org like that should do an outreach to victims' families and survivors after a shooting. They could explain facts, support them thru an understanding of the what & why. Wouldn't it be nice if Tom was questioning why the girlfriend isn't in prison instead of asking for meaningless more checks/laws?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[MACGYVR]

Woops. Sorry I was thinking of Jonesboro. In that shooting the kids stole the guns from the grandfather and father.

Too many shootings to keep straight....

Kids need to go back to playing Castle Wolfenstein

 

[MisterHappy]

A lock will only keep an honest person out.

Unless the professional Antis keep beating the drum, they'll lose whaever relevance they have with their supporters.

That's the point of this sort of exercise.

 

[Maxpower]

If you are referring to Tom Mauser, I'd say it's harsh. The guy has lost a child. I'd think the NRA or an org like that should do an outreach to victims' families and survivors after a shooting. They could explain facts, support them thru an understanding of the what & why. Wouldn't it be nice if Tom was questioning why the girlfriend isn't in prison instead of asking for meaningless more checks/laws?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

It sounds good on internets, but I am willing to bet the NRA is like any other business. Make as much money as possible while doing the least amount of actual work.

 

[ShadeWPI]

Shade, none of those things should surprise you.

Xtry,

No, none of it surprises me, but I've also found that it does surprise many of the layman (and at times political) gun control advocates who are talking this point up. Many of their supporters don't seem to realize what they're actually supporting.

 

[davemata]

If you are referring to Tom Mauser, I'd say it's harsh. The guy has lost a child. I'd think the NRA or an org like that should do an outreach to victims' families and survivors after a shooting. They could explain facts, support them thru an understanding of the what & why. Wouldn't it be nice if Tom was questioning why the girlfriend isn't in prison instead of asking for meaningless more checks/laws?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Let me go get a tissue. He lost a child, that sucks, but shit happens.

Now he's gone off the f***ing deepend and is now trying to step on my rights, and the rights of my friends just because of one bad event. I also don't think it's the NRA's job to help him get his head right, he has health insurance for that so he can go call a head shrinker and gtfo of public spotlight. (But why, it's so profitable?)

Shit happens, every day. The only reason he's prominent is because his kid was a victim in the most affluent white school shooting to date. Not every one who survives a murdered family member has suspended rational though to rail against inanimate objects.

 

[Pete85]

If you are referring to Tom Mauser, I'd say it's harsh. The guy has lost a child. I'd think the NRA or an org like that should do an outreach to victims' families and survivors after a shooting. They could explain facts, support them thru an understanding of the what & why. Wouldn't it be nice if Tom was questioning why the girlfriend isn't in prison instead of asking for meaningless more checks/laws?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Regardless of the fact that he lost a child, Mr. Mauser is taking the wrong approach to this. Instead of demanding that justice be served against the girlfriend, he's demanding that the government cause harm to innocent citizens. How is his attempt to deliberately cause harm to other people any different than the three people (Harris, Kelbold and Anderson) who actually caused the death of his child?

If this is any kind of sane or rational approach to take, why don't we let Seung Hui Cho and Jared Laughner go free and lock up the pieces of metal that they used to murder people.

 

[drgrant]

If you are referring to Tom Mauser, I'd say it's harsh. The guy has lost a child. I'd think the NRA or an org like that should do an outreach to victims' families and survivors after a shooting.

The reason they don't do this is because it's disrespectful and it smells like political pandering. The bradyites do it all the time and get away with it, which is why they get people like this kid's dad to "suck" for anti rhetoric. The NRA, as much as I loathe it most of the time, tries to take the high road on these kinds of things. I think the reason is because the mostly libtard press in this country would spin it badly if the NRA did it, but they let brady/vpc/etc get away with it all the time. It's not much different from the media coverage where moonbat pols only get mild scrutiny for running gay brothels or whatever it is they do, but when a republican cheats on his wife, the media will burn him at the stake in comparison....

The other problem with your idea is the NRA even responding to things like wackjobs shooting up malls or whatever in that fashion, is that the act of them responding to the victims or whatever, implies this notional that they were somehow responsible, in some way or another... and that's just bad juju. The NRA and other advocacy groups should not, in any way shape or form, conflate their responses with the actions of violent criminals.

-Mike

 

[CRSIII]

Tom Mauser, oh the irony.

 

[piman]

Regardless of the fact that he lost a child, Mr. Mauser is taking the wrong approach to this. Instead of demanding that justice be served against the girlfriend, he's demanding that the government cause harm to innocent citizens.

That is exactly my point as well. The question is does he know any better? I doubt if he is seeking out people to talk too but as Mike wrote in an earlier post, it is ok for gun control advocates to reach out to him but the NRA doesn't (at least apparently) because of the possible reaction.

Let me put it this way, I'd argue that a significant number of people that today agree with requiring background checks for gun transactions would see the light of the day if they actually listened to a seasoned advocate like say Jim Wallace. Would Rosenthal change? No, cause that's his job but many might but don't otherwise have a chance or reason to listen to a counter argument...