Another SF loon with a newspaper column

[ericire12]

The journalist asks California delegation in Washington to enact tough gun control to reduce this type of crime.  Forget about the fact that murder is illegal or the firearm used is illegal in California.  Forget the fact that the murderer was on parole for a previous weapons charge and probably should have been in prison, not on the streets serving part of his sentence on parole.  That means nothing to the writer of this 'news' article.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/23/BAVF16LQ9U.DTL

If history repeats itself, the fatal shootings of four Oakland police officers on Saturday afternoon will become the next benchmark in the national debate on a federal law to ban assault weapons.

If there is a grain of hope to be gathered from a loss so tragic, it's that last weekend's horrific events will help end the debate on an unresolved policy issue that has resulted in thousands of deaths and helped sustain veritable demilitarized zones in some of our nation's largest cities.

In Oakland, a city already struggling with high crime and gun violence, the deaths of two officers gunned down with an AK-47 qualify city officials to lend their voices to any national debate on the issue.

While the tragedy in Oakland lacks the scale of the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Columbine High School nearly a decade ago, the deaths of four officers in a single incident is a significant event that sends shock waves across the nation.

The use of the deadly weapons - which can fire hundreds of rounds per minute - has become an all-too-familiar feature in the gun violence being played out.

Frank Rose, a community activist who chairs two citizens advisory committees in his East Oakland neighborhood, witnessed the results of such an attack no more than two weeks ago.

Rose watched in utter disbelief as a car drove to the front door of the Oakland Police Department substation at the Eastmont Mall as he sat outside waiting to attend a community meeting.

"The driver jumped out of the car, and the passenger just kinda fell out and crawled around the side of the car," he said.

The driver pounded on the front door until a police officer answered. He immediately came out to help the wounded man.

When Rose stepped from his car to take a closer look, he saw a body motionless in the backseat - and matching bullet holes on both sides of the vehicle.

"How in the world did this happen?" Rose, 70, later asked an officer.

"The guns they got on the street now, Frank, you wouldn't believe it," the officer replied.

Oakland City Council President Jane Brunner said she will seek support from colleagues to pass a resolution calling for federal assistance in finding ways to remove the deadly weapons that leave officers outgunned.

"We don't want officers facing guns they cannot protect themselves from," Brunner said.

Former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who wrote a state law in 1999 that banned sale of the weapons, said President Obama's case to seek a federal ban on a wide array of automatic weapons is only strengthened when they are misused in such horrific ways.

"Maybe this will be enough to rally the California delegation to ask the federal government for help," Perata said. He cautioned that gun control laws remain a hot-button issue in suburban enclaves and rural communities in California and across the nation.

"With a Democratic administration and Congress, there is little political threat, and who knows when we're going to have an opportunity like this again?" he said.

For Perata, it's a question that was asked and answered in his mind more than 20 years ago when he proposed similar legislation as an Alameda supervisor.

"There is a big difference between taking someone's handgun away and taking away an AK-47," Perata said. "They didn't want to ban .50-caliber guns either, but these are weapons of war with no application in civilian life."

In anticipation of the new White House administration's tough stance on assault weapons, gun dealers, advocates and manufacturers reported significant sales increases in handguns, rifles and ammunition soon after Obama's election.

In the Washington office of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a spokesman said the California Democrat had received many calls about the shooting in Oakland. Feinstein helped craft legislation that banned the sale of assault weapons, but that ban ended in 2004.

Callers have encouraged Feinstein to sponsor tough new anti-gun laws, said Gil Duran, a press spokesman. But, he said, Feinstein believes it's appropriate to honor the families' mourning period before she proposes new gun legislation.

"Right now she is mourning with them," Duran said of the officers' family members.

As we wait to see what Feinstein does, Brunner has taken a good first step in asking her colleagues to help pass a resolution to call for stricter gun laws.

Oakland, its residents and leaders would be remiss if they did not use their voice and experience to pressure federal legislators for more gun regulation.

Email:
cjohnson@sfchronicle.com

[jaybet]

I was going to say all that, so..." +1 "!!!

[tombogan03884]

Sent this smug a hole a e mail;
You are despicable and uninformed.
You are despicable for using the deaths of these Oakland Officers to push your anti Constitution agenda. These Officers gave their lives taking a violent felon off the streets to protect the rest of us and you have so little respect for them that you would use their deaths for political purposes.
You are either ignorant of the law, or intellectually dishonest to blame the guns for the actions of a violent criminal. This dirtbag was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon, he was there fore a "prohibited person" secondly, according to your article he used an "assault weapon" ( there is no such thing, there IS a category called assault RIFLE that is defined strictly as SELECT FIRE [not semi automatic] intermediate caliber carbine)
He was committing a Federal felony just by being in the same PLACE as a fire arm so apparently your gun laws against semi autos didn't impress him very much.
Your existing gun laws and the laws against murder didn't stop this guy so you want to pass more laws for his type to ignore ? Are you stupid or just a really slow learner ?
If you want to prevent this type of incident KEEP THE FELONS IN PRISON WHERE THEY BELONG instead of passing more laws that will only effect people who don't commit crimes.
Thomas C. Bogan
Laconia NH

[ericire12]

Ok, Tom, you need to back off with the name calling.... it discredits your entire argument

[twyacht]

Ok, Tom, you need to back of with the name calling.... it discredits your entire argument

Not when your dealing with a grass eating misinformed idiot.

He was committing a Federal felony just by being in the same PLACE as a fire arm so apparently your gun laws against semi autos didn't impress him very much.
Your existing gun laws and the laws against murder didn't stop this guy so you want to pass more laws for his type to ignore ? Are you stupid or just a really slow learner ?
If you want to prevent this type of incident KEEP THE FELONS IN PRISON WHERE THEY BELONG instead of passing more laws that will only effect people who don't commit crimes.
Thomas C. Bogan
Laconia NH

I think a "reality slap" to these kinds of people is the only way they get it. As others have posted, the pressure cooker is getting warmer, and as they spew their BS venomous trash against guns, a return argument at a terminal velocity level will get these weasels discredited.

[Sponsor]

[ericire12]

Nope. You have to win the argument and shut them up with facts. You cant let things digress into juvenile name calling and shouting matches.

[twyacht]

Sometimes it's like yelling at a basketball with these types of people.. Those that won't "see" or "listen" to the facts, will NEVER get it. BUT, if, on occasion, they are reminded with facts, and the notion that they are so wrong, MAYBE they'll at least  remember.

Too many times, arguments have been made in such a polite manner, that those who are blind, will never be enlightened. I agree to never diminish a position to the point of pointless insults, I just get frustrated arguing with a basketball,..

[CZShooter]

The use of the deadly weapons - which can fire hundreds of rounds per minute - has become an all-too-familiar feature in the gun violence being played out.

Man...that's one quick trigger finger (since they are targeting semi-auto firearms). This guy obviousely has no interest in facts and is only interested in using spin to create fear in the general public to push a political agenda.

[WatchManUSA]

The outrage ought to be with finding out how a felon on parole gets his hands on an outlawed automatic weapon!  I believe that (correct me if I’m wrong) current law already makes these actions crimes.  Focus on finding the people involved in this illegal activity and punish them to the fullest extent of the law!

ENFORCE THE CURRENT LAWS!!!!!!!!!

[tombogan03884]

Nope. You have to win the argument and shut them up with facts. You cant let things digress into juvenile name calling and shouting matches.

They ignore facts or make up their own alleged "facts" from the VPC.
Point to one statement I made or question I asked that is not supported by the facts.
Is he using this to push his political agenda?
Isn't that a despicable lack of respect for those Officers who haven't even been buried yet as well as their families ?
Doesn't his column show either an ignorance of existing laws and their ineffectiveness, or an intentional misrepresentation of the circumstances ?
In order to look at this criminals disregard of existing laws and think the answer lies in MORE laws for him to ignore wouldn't you HAVE to be either stupid or a really slow learner ?