Courtesy of Mediaite:
Echoing the arguments made by the National Rifle Association, Graham lamented that among the 80,000 people who fail a background check, only 44 people are prosecuted. “What kind of deterrent is that?” he asked. “I mean, the law obviously is not seen as that important. If it’s such an important issue, why aren’t we prosecuting people who fail a background check?”
“Just for the record, from my point of view, senator the point of a background check,” Flynn began to speak before Graham interrupted: “How many cases have you made?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s a paper thing,” Flynn pointedly responded. When Graham continued to interrupt, the exchange became significantly more tense, with the police chief insisting that he be allowed to finish his answer.
“I want to stop 76,000 people from getting guns illegally. That’s what a background check does. If you think we’re going to do paperwork prosecutions, you’re wrong,” he explained as the gallery applauded.
Is it just me or does Senator Graham sound like he is completely missing the pint about background checks? And if he is, is he REALLY that stupid or is he playing stupid in deference to the NRA?
The idea that the background checks are only useful if the individuals who try to purchase guns when they hare not supposed to are then prosecuted is completely ridiculous, and would require a muhc longer police presence in this county.
Chief Flynn of course is dead right the important thing is keeping these individuals form attaining the weapons, not locking them up for trying.
You know I can always tell when all of you REALLY want me to post something. Because you send it to me over and over again until I do.
I actually watched this exchange as it was happening on Wednesday, but instead of this exchange I chose to show the testimony of Neil Heslin, whose little boy died in the Sandy Hook massacre. I guess I thought that was enough coverage of the Senate Hearings from this blog.
I stand corrected.
I wish the captain would have pointed out that with budget cuts Graham champions he doesn't have the man power or resources to be chasing paperwork around.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you are right.
DeleteWhile I am not a big fan of Flynn (being from the greater Milwaukee area myself), Graham comes across as being completely in a separate universe. Graham is SUCH an asshole, and he doesn't even seem to know how much of an utter dipshit he is showing himself to be.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's such a coward...be who you are, Graham. I can't take gay people who are pretending to be straight in this day and age; he's just a moralistic coward.
Some people have to stay in the closet for various reasons but this closeted fat fool will switch his fatass to any anti-gay bill. Those are the gays I can't stand.
DeleteI have family members that are bitching at every opportunity about how they have to get a background check to buy a firearm. And I don't just mean every standard opportunity, but every perceived opportunity their minds can twist up. Flowers outside the house are blooming? "Sure hope no one comes in the middle of the night to steal them, thank you Obama."
ReplyDeleteI tell them if my husband-- active duty military with top secret clearance-- has to wait 3 lousy days for his background check to pass, a friggin' civilian like them should have to wait too. Speaking of my husband, he says that if you can't wait three days to shoot a new gun that you need a severe lesson in patience and self-control ("what, you need that thing right this very second?? is there a squirrel outside Big5 that's harassing you or something?").
My husband has a HUGE stockpile of weapons and ammo. He bought them because he could. They sit in a locked gun safe and he never shoots them. He's always said that it's nuts how easy it is to buy this stuff. He's all for back ground checks, and a ban on assault weapons.
ReplyDeleteHe totally is missing the "pint." I'm guessing he was wishing he had a pint or two right then.
ReplyDeleteLindsay Graham is about as batty as John McCain. The condition must be contagious. I hope other senators learn to avoid the two of them.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Is it a crime to fail a background check? What would be the charges?
ReplyDeleteMs. Lindsey was trying to make it seem that Chief Flynn was not doing his job, instead of holding Senate hearings to gather expert information about the issue of gun control.
Smearing the witness, an asked-to-testify American citizen. Despicable. Does Ashley Judd happen to have a sister living in South Carolina?
Failures of a background check usually are from lying on the form. Lying on a government document is a misdemeanor.
DeleteGraham was trying to emulate Warren who got adulation for her pointed, thoughtful questioning of Wall Street regulators. He (and the NRA) don't understand the difference that the lack of prosecuting Wall Street scofflaws actually impacts Americans while not prosecuting people who fail gun background checks does not impact people, but that it is the process of filing the background check in the part that helps.
ReplyDeleteOkay, we all agree - at least, those of us who are sane - that Senator Graham is an idiot and a sycophant who can't speak for himself. Having said that, I think he needs to be reminded of something.
ReplyDeleteFirst, he wasn't in office - even in the House - in 1993 when the Brady Law was signed by President Clinton.
Second, The Brady Law was an UNFUNDED MANDATE, forced onto the backs of the police departments of the states. Since police departments are notorious for their short funding - unless it's from something like DHS - that which doesn't immediately remove threats from the streets is going to take a back seat.
Third, every gun nut in the country, if denied the right to purchase due to a background check failure, would have sued, which only increases the load on the municipalities of the country
Fourth, as was mentioned by MordacP above, if Graham has his way, the budgets will become even more tight and that will cause even more harm, death and destruction.
He is too stupid to see that! In my opinion, there are certain things that should never be lightly cut from the budgets of any locale. Schools and Public Safety are two of them.
If it can be PROVEN (legitimately, please) that something needs to be cut, fine, but it better be provable - And stop trying to blame the TEACHERS and their unions! Yes, there are problems there, but not THE problems these a**holes are actually creating with their special legislations and vouchers and so on.
I'm sure you can see where I am going with this rant.
Graham is trying to put blame everywhere except where it belongs - in his OWN lap and those of his cohorts in crime.
To my great personal shame, I must admit that Graham is my Senator. I keep voting against him, but the weasel keeps getting back in.
It makes me sick.
This was so ridiculous on Graham's part. How do you violate a background check? Why would anyone apply for a check if they were going to be arrested for something on it? How can this man be a US Senator?
ReplyDeleteMassive Gun Profits Make Firearms Nearly Impossible To Control [INFOGRAPHIC]
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.businessinsider.com/this-infographic-on-massive-gun-profits-shows-why-firearms-are-nearly-impossible-to-control-in-america-2013-3#ixzz2MJYkeMfo
Graham is having superb meltdowns over the sequester. His grandstanding attempts are hysterical. McCain equals him.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans, entire, are as inept as Romney.
The tantrums.
I hope they never stop.
But the country needs them to stop. I'm not sure that they can. Something has happened to elected Republicans. Those who had a shred of human decency or rational thought processes dropped out over the past ten years or so, leaving these shallow, nasty, irrational fools who have been in permanent temper tantrum mode since Election Day 2008. Unfortunately their votes affect our lives and we cannot do anything about it except to work very hard to defeat them at every opportunity.
DeleteBeaglemom
This is the new Benghazi for Miss Lindsey. "Did this Pres Dent pick up the phone? That is what I want to know, did the Pres Dent pick up the phone?" Did he think the President was watching movies or something? What a stupid cracker he is.
ReplyDeletems lindsey was met with the truth and got all flutter. The smack down was a thing of beauty as beautiful as Ellis' smack down on lying hannity.
ReplyDeleteHow far will the NRA go in inciting violence? The answer to that question remains to be seen, but it seems that the President of the gun rights organization is willing to push that envelope. In an Albany, NY gun rights rally, David Keene, the NRA’s President, offered more than a thinly veiled threat to politicians who are pushing for gun control. He told the group that gun owners would do “whatever’s necessary” to “get rid of those in public office” who disagree with their politics. From Raw Story:
ReplyDelete“Because of the fact that we, as believers in the Second Amendment, are willing to do something that most people in this country are not willing to do, which is not just to stand up for our rights, but to support those people who stand with us and work to get rid of those in public office who do not,” the NRA president told the crowd.
“So we’re with you,” Keene added. “We’ll help you defeat the politicians that would deprive you of your rights. We’ll help you overcome these statutes in court. We’ll do whatever’s necessary to make certain the Second Amendment rights that we have had passed down to us are are going to be passed down to future generations.”
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/03/01/nra-threat-to-politicians-gun-owners-will-do-whatevers-necessary-to-get-rid-of-them-video/