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BREAKING

President Obama Announces Gun Violence Task Force

Group will be led by VP Joe Biden, who got an "F" grade from the NRA

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by Lisa Fine

Staff Writer t

Image: AP

President Obama has created an interagency task force to find solutions to reduce gun violence in the wake of last week's Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre, news reports say.

The task force will be led by Vice President Joe Biden, who's voting record as a longtime senator earned an "F" grade from the National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun rights group.

The president's appointment of the panel is the first tangible step following his promise Friday to "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics." Obama said he wants the group to produce concrete proposals by January that he intends to act upon quickly.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the group would engage with the American people, lawmakers, members of the administration, mental health professionals, law enforcement officials, parents, and communities, to seek solutions, The Hill newspaper reports.

Obama's positions on gun control policies are starting to emerge. Carney said he supports an assault weapons ban, restrictions on high-capacity ammunition clips, and getting rid of the gun show exception for background checks.

But Obama is also expected to examine mental health programs and depictions of violence in entertainment including movies and video games, the Hill said.

Via Politico, and The Hill, and Time Magazine
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Are you pleased that President Obama has created the task force?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • CanisCanemEdit
    !
    Only if you lean radically to the left.

    An "A" grade would indicate you most likely lean radically to the right.

    Too bad we can't figure out how to get level-headed, centerists to look at the problem and come up with solutions that work for both sides.
  • Denizen_Kate
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    @woodtick57 - As a bona-fide "level headed centrist" I must disagree. I would prefer the people on this task force be non-extremists in either direction, and I think there needs to be more emphasis on the mental health aspect.
  • o
    Sonny
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    The Obama "Administration" (not rush limbaugh's "regime")---is clearly NOT "rushing" to anything here. That's the whole point & purpose of having a "Task Force"---so that things are done on a more thoughtful and reasoned basis---and NOT "rushed" into...
  • Jeff_Woehrle
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    Agree. I'm surprised this regime didn't appoint another 'czar' to ram some regulation through without advise and consent.

    On the plus side, this will set up Biden for a boatload of gaffes.
  • u
    seedtick
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    Without a doubt, BHO has an agenda in this "task force." But, Joe Biden is not the person to lead it. There should be a bi-partisan congressional committee appointed to look into ALL FACTORS that led to this tradegy. If BHO was interested in a fair investigation he would not send his attack dog out to "find the answers."
  • View all 23 replies >
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    Sonny
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    I don't really think that our national law makers know exactly how to tackle this problem. So I am glad to see that they are at least willing to put together a group to learn the issues in more depth. Because I doubt that "movies" and "video games" have anything to do with the problem here...So hopefully some of this extraneous stuff will be eliminated, and the issues that can be addressed will be discovered and dealt with.-----Not much interested in anything that the NRA has to say on this issue, though...So them giving Biden an "F" grade...is meaningless to me.
  • Fishbone345
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    It is very telling that the same people who think movies and video games inspire these shootings, say that guns are not to blame.
    Pot meet Kettle?
  • artjeb
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    So you think the movies & vidio games don't have anything to do with the problems??? man i got news for you. During the 60's there was a 6 million dollar man being coppied by a lot of kids. Now that is influence on kids.... My neighbors boy is always on violent video games & i asked him why & he said fun. He now is spending time for copping some of the games... Again influence
  • KoolD
    !
    So this means any of us with a functioning set of Neurons left after listening to this moron it is time to buy a gun. Happening here in Minnesota, more permits applied for in the history of the state. So try and take them away and resistance is what you get. Good luck Jumping Joe. This is a big F'ing deal just like Health Care, thanks for that statement of your intelligence. VP Biden
  • o
    woodtick57
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    Yep, a bunch of sheeple with knee jerk reactions in our state... notice it was in the heart of Bachmann's trailer trash district?
  • View all 12 replies >
  • Keyjo
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    If it leads to more options for parents to get mental help for their ill kids.
    I also favor ending exemptions for gun shows and for limiting magazine capacity.
    But I don't want the second amendment screwed with in terms of limited ownership for law abiding citizens.
    No do I want censorship of entertainment.
    Parents need to pay more attention to what their kids are watching/playing.
  • CanisCanemEdit
    !
    Thank you Keyjo.

    Put the personal responsibility for the problem on the thing in the room with a brain.

    This mentally disturbed kid could have as easily taken the family car and run down the kids a recess.
  • Keyjo
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    @Thunderchicken
    They dude with the AR-15 wasn't actually firing. If he was, when the clip emptied, the slide would be open and have to be close it upon inserting the magazine. It's also best to "seat," (tap the magazine) before closing the slide. It's during magazine changes the weapon is most likely to jam,(assuming the weapon is clean, oiled and well maintained.)
    The dude with the revolver is a competitive shooter who has undoubtedly practiced that for years.
    But yeah, you're right. It doesn't take that long to change a magazine. But still, it does offer a break in the action and it's a whole lot bulkier to carry three, ten round clips than one, thirty round clip. Of course, as always, the bad guys don't care about laws, but it limits the availability of the higher capacity clips.
  • u
    bobrob
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    The NRA could have supported some form of gun control before these horrific incidents
    occurred, but they took a hard line. Now something has to be done, whether they like it
    or not.
  • DerivePI
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    @woodtick57 - An anti-gun task force would not consider the option of arming teachers with guns as an option to prevent this type of massacre. It is worth looking at the other countries to see what is different that prevents this type of violence (Norway would not be one of them).
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @DerivePI

    i'm not anti-gun and I wouldn't consider that either. It just perpetuates the problem. Why wouldn't Norway be one of them?
  • View all 11 replies >
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    coachmongo
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    Glad it's Biden....(ask why ranking generals n admirals nicknamed him "Joe Bite-me") this way at least we can see him earn his VP pay while he shows how not to use Robert's Rules of Order when someone brings up valid counterpoints that don't fit the round peg of reason into his square plug of politics. You saw it when he "debated" Paul Ryan and smiled his way through his foolishness. No, Obama NEEDS to let him be front n center so he's not seen as the jester. Face it, Chicago machine politicians are way smarter than beltway types... keep an eye open tho on how it plays in Chicago.....
  • o
    Sharpshooter
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    I wonder how many times they'll need to use the shock collar of Bozo Biden to keep from laughing when talking about children MURDERED by a CRAZY.

    Of course the discussion won't touch on crazies... it would be like the inmate running the asylum.
  • Jean
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    Joe Biden? Seriously? and we are adressing the "guns" and handicapping our option of protecting ourselves instead of addressing the real issue which is "mental health" and the "funding" that is being "eliminated" through Obamacare?

    A person in the mental health field in North Carolina said on one of the talk shows that according to the cuts in funding to the mental health field from Obamacare and with them deciding who stays and who goes..she stated there would be 9,000 people with mental health issues in her state alone that will be turned out on the street with no one to monitor whether they are getting and/or taking their meds. she also indicated that there are times the meds just don't do it and they need counseling as well.

    This was a problem long before Obamacare...but does it sound like this administration is addressing this problem properly? I don't think so.

    I had a class mate of mine who was living in Chicago show back up here in town. when we were in school ....i always liked this individual...kind of quiet , but nice....he must have remembered that as he showed up in my store one day. he was living in his car and it didn't take 5 seconds to realize that he was totally out of touch with reality.

    My heart went out to him. i started calling all the people i knew in town for guidance as to how to help him. no one seemed to have any answers. the local authorities finally made it so hard on him that he left and I heard later that he went back to Chicago and later shot himself.

    This is seemingly an epidemic. when will the REAL issue on these shootings be addressed? quit furthering your political "agendas" and start making decisions based on real facts.
  • o
    cleverusername
    !
    "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."
    and
    ""President Obama to Announce Gun Violence Task Force""

    Um these are just the opposite of each other. First it is not "meaningful action" and second it is exactly "politics" and nothing more. Sad to see it is politics as usual for our dunderhead politicians with 0bama leading the way.
  • u
    norezen
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    I am so happy I bought my semi-auto rifle earlier this year. And if they pass a semi-auto rifle ban (or even threaten to), I will be even happier when I double or triple my money off of it.
  • u
    theymmy
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    While it takes a mass shooting for people to wake up and realize that guns are an issue, I'm sure this task force is going to be looking much deeper into the issue of guns as a whole rather than looking into them in just these mass shootings. While the mass shootings are and remain a terrible thing, the gun violence that goes on everyday in any major (or even small) city is disgusting. More than 12,000 people die in the US annually after being shot in a homicide. Another 18,000 people shoot themselves.

    So while the mass shooting brings the gun violence to our attention, and especially so when children are murdered, gun violence is and was a problem even without the Newton tragedy. And it's an everyday thing that many people aren't aware of because it's not on the news and focused on.

    Ban assault weapons, close the "gun show" loop, institute a longer waiting period - all these things will help to reduce gun violence and deaths I'm sure, but the real problem is already ingrained into our society and culture - and that is just our overall love affair with guns and violence in general.
  • tiger45638
    !
    Another attempt to undermine our 2nd amendment rights forced on us by those with right wing liberals views. They are moving us closer to a fascist state where the constitutions is looked over like just so much paper. Our American way of life seems to be undermined by those that expect big govt to provide their needs. Big gov't or big corporations are all the same. All they care about are money and power and what better way to accomplish then take away guns so citizens are like so many other countries with dictators. Of course this will be a bonus for the black market sale of assault weapons just like everything else that is banned and there is a market for.
  • SavageMazx
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    @woodtick57 because it's Obama....if his name is anywhere in the article people automatically freak out one way or the other....
  • SavageMazx
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    @woodtick57 because many people see further government regulations on firearms as an infringement. And let's face it Obama is comes from a city that has suppressed gun rights in the past so the natural reaction for someone who is sensitive to thus issue is to assume that this bodes ill for gun owners.
  • o
    woodtick57
    !
    @SavageMazx

    But nothing that was said about the formation of this body to look at the problem suggests more gun restrictions.

    remember back in '08 when the NRA told everyone that Obama would come for their guns (even though he never campaigned on that issue at all) and people went hysterical hoarding guns and ammo and it turns out Obama did absolutely nothing in ragards to gun restriction. Your premise has already been proven false...
  • View all 11 replies >
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