GUNS: The geography and demography of guns

Richard Florida, who is a Senior Editor with Atlantic magazine and Director of Martin Prosperity Institute of the University of Toronto, has done a study that determines the circumstances that run parallel with firearms deaths at the state level.  He recounts all the accusations that might have caused Jared Loughner’s massacre in Tucson, Arizona, just over a year ago, some blaming politics others the shooter’s mental state.  Florida says we must look deeper for the answers.

Arizona then and now is the center for the fight against immigration with known bigot and racist state senator Russell Pearce, author of the state’s anti-immigration bill, SB-1070, recalled and voted out of office, while his buddy, neo-Nazi J.T. Ready, continues to foster hate against all ethnic groups.  Arizona also has the loosest gun laws of any state in the U.S.  Richard Florida asks if “tighter gun control laws” could have made a difference.  Arizona ranks eighth nationally with 15.1 firearms deaths per 100,000 population.

Florida decided to go to the state level to analyze “…the statistical correlations between firearm deaths and a variety of psychological, economic, social, and political characteristics of states.  But he cautions, “…that correlation does not imply causation, but simply points to associations between variables.” 

Findings: no statistical association between gun deaths and mental illness or stress levels; no association between illegal drug use and death from gun violence at the state level; no evidence in association with unemployment and higher levels of inequality.  So what are the elements associated with firearms deaths at the state level?



Dr. Richard Florida



According to Florida’s study, poverty is one. The correlation between death by gun and poverty at the state level is .59.  An economy dominated by working class jobs is another.  Having a high percentage of working class jobs is closely associated with firearm deaths (.55).  And, not surprisingly, firearm-related deaths are positively correlated with the rates of high school students that carry weapons on school property (.54).

Based on politics and the 2008 presidential election, firearm-related deaths were positively associated with states that voted for McCain (.66) and negatively associated with states that voted for Obama (-.66).  Firearm deaths were far less likely to occur in states with higher levels of college graduates (-.64) and more creative class jobs (-.52).  And states with more immigrants have lower levels of gun-related deaths, which runs counter to the fact that Arizona ranks eighth nationally with 15.1 firearms deaths per 100,000 population.

So back to the question of gun control and whether tougher laws could make a difference.  Florida’s analysis suggests that they do.  He says if you look at the second U.S. map on the above link, “It highlights states which have one of three gun control restrictions in place - assault weapons' bans, trigger locks, or safe storage requirements.”  The highest injury states, Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have none.  Even Texas has at least one.

Though admittedly with some small sample sizes, the study says “Firearm deaths are significantly lower in states with stricter gun control legislation.”  Correlations are substantially negative when considering firearms deaths in states that ban assault weapons (-.45), require trigger locks (-.42), and mandate safe storage requirements for guns (-.48).  In other words, with more control you end up with less gun injuries and deaths.



The Pew Research Center also did a survey on the demographics of Americans who have views on protecting guns rights and those who feel the need for more gun control.  50% of the country felt more gun control was necessary compared to 46% who didn’t.  52% of those preferring more control were under age 50, 56% under 30.  54% wanting more gun freedom were white compared to 30% black and 21% Hispanic.  The more educated wanted more gun control

Those who were married wanted less control as did registered voters.  70% of Republicans want less control compared to 30% Democrat and 46% Independent.  67% of evangelicals want less control but 63% of Catholics want more.  Mountain states like AZ, CO, ID, MT NM and NV want less control compared to CA, OR and WA that want more.  Naturally, 78% of Tea Party members want less control in contrast to 18% who don’t.

It isn’t exactly overwhelming but it is abundantly clear that more gun control is needed.  As I have said before, it should start with strengthening background checks to catch the mentally ill before purchasing a gun, closing the gun show loophole and drastically limiting the concealed carrying laws for handguns with federal legislation.  Agreed, it won’t sit well with the gun fanatics but I do believe there is a rational faction of gun owners who agree somewhat with my thinking.

RELIGION: How will evangelicals affect the vote in November 2012?



Thou shalt not not conceive



If the Catholic Church outburst over President Obama’s healthcare bill order for religious companies to provide birth control protection, joined now by evangelicals across the country, is any indication of the level of their impact on 2012 voting, it would appear that the White House and Democrats have a fight on their hands.  Add to this the fact that Rick Santorum is not only a Catholic but also an evangelical. 

The question remains just how much reaction there will be from voting religious beliefs if they aren’t necessarily good for the country.

California megachurch pastor Rick Warren said "I'm not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure."  I hate to break this to both Warren and the Pope but 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women practice birth control and those same figures apply to evangelicals and other Protestants.  This comes from a recent report by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit sexual health research organization.

What it appears the Obama administration is trying to do is keep certain factions from taking away a right for women who opt for contraception, not simply exert government pressure.

The following Bill Maher video is hilarious:



Southern Baptist minister Phil DaCosta from Atlanta says, “I vote on Jesus first.”  He is a Tea Party member whose priorities are Israel, abortion and marriage.  As a TPer he does want lower taxes and smaller government.  But these people invariably miss the point completely when their emphasis is based on their religious beliefs with no outright concern for the economy and its problems like the jobless, foreclosures, Afghan war, the state of U.S. education and the pitiable Congress some of which the religious right stuck us with.

Jaweed Kaleem, writing in the Huff Post, says DaCosta is just what Ralph Reed, a political strategist and former Christian Coalition director, is looking for.  Reed’s new organization, Faith and Freedom Coalition, wants to “…unite under his relatively new organization that aims to fuse the Bible-based value voting of traditional social conservatives with the grassroots momentum of the Tea Party to form a bloc of voters big enough to influence state and national elections.”

Ralph Reed buddy Jack Abramoff

According to Wikipedia, “in 1996, the Christian Coalition's chief financial officer, Judy Liebert, ‘went to federal prosecutors with her suspicions of overbilling by Ben Hart, a direct-mail vendor with close ties to Reed, then the coalition's executive director.’"  Ralph Reed resigned later during an investigation.  Reed wasn’t charged but the Christian Coalition later sued Hart's firm. 

In June 2005 it was revealed that Reed secretly accepted payments from Jack Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery.  Abramoff pled guilty to three felony counts in federal court.  So you have to wonder why the Tea Party would want to get mixed up with Reed unless you consider the fact that the Tea Party itself is a fraud.  The Huff Post exposes the “ugly underbelly” of the tea party movement” and the deceit of its stands on taxes and government tyranny.

Rick Santorum branded "Loser"

According to a survey from Reed’s faith and Freedom Coalition, “…32 percent of all voters in 2010 were Christian conservatives, and 72 percent of them voted Republican.”   They helped the GOP gain 63 seats to control the House.  Reed himself asks, “So it is that a presidential campaign that is largely about the economy is nevertheless deeply shaped by issues of faith and morality.”  He adds that the evangelical vote made up 44 percent of Republican primary voters in 2008.

Now enter Catholic evangelical Rick Santorum who appears to have put Mitt Romney on the defensive with his recent wins in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.  The comment was made that Santorum made them “swoon” at the Conservative Political Action committee (CPAC) meeting recently, even though Romney also delivered an outstanding speech. 

But one political analyst says Santorum won’t survive and the conservative crowd will eventually end up falling in behind Romney.

The GOP may very well end up tossing a coin for the nomination.

UPDATE: Romney wins Maine caucuses and CPAC straw vote.

States try to legislate unions out of business

I have heard before that there is a cycle between unions and corporate management where one prevails in power for a few years, then the other takes over.  It is clear that big business has been in control for several years now thanks to the support of the GOP.  Labor unions have been diluted by the right to work laws, the latter which seem reasonable if unions are allowed to continue to organize and encourage membership.

Enter the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), headed up by the Koch brothers, and started some 30 years ago to draft state (sometimes national) legislation that favors big business.  You might know it best from its backing of Arizona’s anti-immigration law SB-1070, because ALEC was helping promote private prisons in the state to house the arrested illegals.  Arizona’s mock Governor Jan Brewer supported the private prison movement, as did the Republican controlled state legislature.

The fight over union rights has been going on for some time. A bill passed in Ohio was overturned in a public referendum last year.  Wisconsin passed a similar bill that would eliminate most union collective bargaining rights.  As a result, enough signatures have now been collected to recall Gov. Scott Walker.  He actually went to Arizona to promote corresponding legislation for that state that some have said is even more radical than Wisconsin’s.

Brewer met with ALEC this past December during its meeting in Scottsdale, AZ.  Wisconsin Gov. Walker was also there talking to ALEC groups who were meeting at the Phoenician hotel, one of the poshest resorts in the world.  This bunch of bozos basking in opulence while they attempt to deny working people their rights is yet another example of Republican arrogance in putting the desires of the corporate world ahead of the American public.



Jan Brewer, wicked witch from Arizona



The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is taking on Brewer and other extreme right-wing lawmakers in retaliation for her assault on their Arizona members.  Her attack is to limit the ability to negotiate of teachers, fire fighters, police and other public service workers.  In their petition they said, “Where you see public workers and unions as a nuisance to get rid of, we see a movement.”  Once again Arizona has opened a can of worms with an ALEC ring in their nose.

The Huffington Post picked up a recent comment from Phoenix TV reporter Brahm Resnik who lists what the proposal includes;

Make it illegal for government bodies to collectively bargain with employee groups.

Public safety unions would be included in the ban.

End the practice of automatic payroll deductions for union dues.

Ban compensation of public employees for union work.

The sham Gov. Jan Brewer also wants to take away all civil-service protection for state employees so she can fire them at will.  Shades of Donald Trump.

Wisconsin’s Gov. Walker made a bizarre statement at the annual Goldwater Institute dinner.  It said that, “…compromising with unions was ‘bogus.’”  If that doesn’t send union members postal, nothing will.  But the Ohio vote proves that the union vote is still important to political elections and can still be persuasive in the outcome.  At this point the GOP has both Hispanics and unions to look out for in November.

One last point.  Recall papers have been filed to recall Gov. Jan Brewer, in some part obviously due to her support of limiting union rights.  You can help by spreading the word and signing the petition if you are an Arizonan. 

More…gun sense and nonsense

ARIZONA: Where else to start but here.  Back in November of 2011, a Surprise, AZ 4-year-old boy was injured in the face while playing with a gun.  In the headline of this story it said “only in Arizona.”  The article also stated that over the years there have been “scores of scientific studies documenting the fact that guns in homes tend to decrease, not increase, the safety of the occupants of such homes.”  What kind of idiot parent allows a 4-year-old to play with a gun?  Of course, only in Arizona.

CALIFORNIA: In Salinas, CA, councilwoman Gloria De La Rosa’s AK-47 was stolen.  In this state the assault rifle is against the law, except for those privileged like De La Rosa due to her position.  But wait, the weapon was actually brought into the state by her late son-in-law who bought it at, where else, a gun show in Arizona.  Of course, assault rifles are legal in Arizona just like anything else gun-related.



Start em out right

 ARIZONA…AGAIN: The Secret service is investigating a photograph posted on the Internet showing what is apparently a bullet-riddled image of President Obama’s face.  In the photo are seven men, four of whom are holding weapons and a t-shirt with holes and gashes with an image that also looks like Obama.  The photo with remarks was posted on the Facebook page of Sgt. Pat Shearer, a police officer in Peoria, AZ.  Any takers on a bet that this nitwit is a NRA member?

GEORGIA: Some guy shot himself in the leg at a Savannah, GA, gun show.  He was reloading his pistol outside the show because you aren’t supposed to bring a gun inside.  Sounds like the gun shows don’t even trust the gun nuts.  Charles Lake had purchased the gun the day before and had returned to buy another weapon which is probably just the beginning of another great American arsenal.  The moral of this story is that apparently Georgia firearms education doesn’t teach you how not to shoot yourself.

ARIZONA…AGAIN: A Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff’s deputy was killed by a man who, when confronted by deputy William Coleman, came out of the van shooting, hitting the deputy below his bulletproof vest and he later died in the hospital.  Coleman had a wife and two young children.  The cold-bloodied murderer used a rife, which actually isn’t the killing weapon of choice in this state.  Just another day on the streets of Arizona.

NRA taking aim

NEVADA: A teenage relative of Edwin Green turned him in to authorities in Reno, Nevada for having 16 firearms in an underground bunker at his home.  He was arrested because he has a felony conviction in California, which makes having a gun against the law.  The 14-year-old relative said Green didn’t trust the government and that he was tied to the Arizona militia.  Apparently all “gun” roads lead to Arizona.

What is most pathetic about this post is the fact that in all but one case, regardless of the state where the incident occurred, there is an Arizona connection.

U.S. open carry bill, HR 822, more of the same insane gun legislation



Typical squirrely NRA member



The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) must be stopped and whoever accomplishes this feat will be a hero, at least in my book.  They have ramrodded a new law through the House, HR 822, that would allow anyone in a state with loose concealed carry laws (like Arizona) to carry their handgun in any other state in the country, no matter what the laws of that state are.  This is the first piece of legislation this inept Congress has come up with since the Giffords shooting.

That means other wackos like Jared Loughner from the Tucson massacre and Seung-Hui Cho from the similar disaster at Virginia Tech—and they are walking around out there with guns in their pockets—could take their firearms to a state with stricter laws and hold their own massacre.  Pure idiocy.  “The Second Amendment is a fundamental right to bear arms that should not be constrained by state boundary lines," said GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in the Huff Post.



My 2nd Amendment right



Bullshit.  I am not even convinced that the 2nd Amendment literally includes the right to carry a concealed weapon and I think with the recent momentum of gun control advocates, this very point may be up for consideration.  It is sheer insanity to pass a law that makes one state law—especially one passed by deranged legislators like those in Arizona—a national law.  The latter are now trying to push guns on college campuses; you can already take them into bars.

Video on bullet hits White House, below:



The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report tells us that 8,775 people were killed in shooting incidents in 2010.  Barry Krisberg, a criminalist from Berkeley’s School of Law, says we can expect an increase in 2011.  He adds, in an article from The Telegraph in the United Kingdom, “Overall violent crime rates in the US are going down but comparatively, shootings and homicides are going up a little bit.  Last year we had both an increase in police officers shot and killed and also an uptake in citizens being shot and killed.”



The gun show loophole



Krisberg also said that a dilution of weapons legislation has led to people who are mentally ill and who have criminal convictions being able to go out and freely buy guns.  This is a result of the lack of background checks and the gun show private sale loophole. 

In another example of a deranged gunman that shouldn’t have had a firearm, he ended up shooting and killing a park ranger in Washington state.  According to the mother of his toddler daughter, he “was a former soldier who owned many knives and guns despite an emotionally unstable, vindictive and anger-prone mind-set.”

And the NRA wants to turn more of these lunatics loose across the country with guns hidden their pockets.  HR 822 is designed to do just that and it must be stopped now.

Obama shift on immigration policy good news for Hispanics

Some in the four border-states with Mexico may not like it but Latinos are encouraged by the fact that President Obama plans to concentrate on law-breaking undocumented immigrants for deportation.  But also because he has now proposed that those illegal immigrants closely related to U.S. citizens do not have to leave the country to attempt to get their legal status.  This would reduce time measurably in the actual separation of family members.

Critics cry that it is just another way for the Obama administration to weaken the immigration laws.  Others think it is simply election-year grandstanding for the Hispanic vote.  As an example of the current situation, if you are an illegal immigrant married to a U.S. citizen, you must return to your country of origin first.  But what many haven’t taken into consideration is the record number of illegal immigrants Obama has deported, much higher than former Presidents. 

The Pew Research Center has some interesting facts about the length of residency of unauthorized immigrants.  Almost 10.2 million unauthorized adult immigrants in the United States have lived in this country for at least 10 years and nearly half are parents of minor children.  Pew Hispanic found that 35 percent of this group has been in the U.S. for 15+ years; 28 percent 10 to 14 years; 22 percent 5 to 9 years; and just 15 percent less than 5 years. 

They are younger than their legal counterparts; average age of 36.2 years for illegals and 46.1 for those legal.  U.S. native adults are 46.5.  The U.S. Hispanic population is 50,477,594 living in 14,110,760 households, according to the Census Bureau.  Their median income is $44,404 with a high income average of $217,851.  Over 6 million of the U.S. Hispanic population is making over $50,000 annually, almost 2 million $100,000+.

There was an interesting article on CNN, “Want jobs? Encourage immigration,” quoting the phrase, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of immigrant entrepreneurs yearning to breathe free," expressing that that should be the message from Lady Liberty.  The author, Amy Wilkinson, goes on to say, “Inviting immigrants in to create jobs may seem counterintuitive, but the facts are clear. Immigrant-led innovation is key to creating U.S. jobs.”  She backs this up, below.

“According to statistics from Partnership for a New American Economy, 40% of Fortune 500 companies were created by immigrants or their children. Further, between 1995 and 2005, 25% of high-tech startups in the United States had at least one immigrant founder, and these companies have created more than 450,000 jobs.”  Inc. magazine lists the top ten Hispanic entrepreneurs in 2010 you can see here.  Wilkinson comments that while the U.S. often kicks out immigrant innovators, other countries welcome them.

The point is that immigrants, in general, and Latinos in particular, with their fast growing population can and have made their mark in the American marketplace.  Congress and the U.S. public will have to deal with this soon, making amends and negotiating for rights that are currently being denied Hispanics or the white citizenry could very well find itself voted out of Washington, state and local offices.  I am not sure this faction could handle being in the minority.

As long as the gun rights fanatics won’t negotiate, the killings will go on

NCCI Holdings, a company involved in workplace data, just released a new report on workplace violence.  According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, nearly 2 million American workers each year report that they have been involved in some kind of violence where they work, which includes threats, physical assaults and homicides.  The Bureau of Labor Statistic says 11 percent of those incidents were homicides, the fourth-leading cause of occupational injuries.

An important NCCI finding which has not been played up by the media is the fact that 80 percent of workplace homicides were caused by guns, compared to 10 percent by stabbings.  This report was released just two days before the Tucson massacre where a mentally ill gunman injured U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, also injuring 14 others and killing six.  No particular connection to the workplace but an example of loose gun laws that allow a deranged gunman to buy a weapon.

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) is even for keeping guns out of the hands of individuals trying to purchase a firearm but they aren’t championing the cause.  They are afraid that it will show weakness and their message is one of fear (that someone will take their guns away) rather than negotiation on things like background checks, the gun show loophole and concealed weapons laws.  So they whip their membership into a frenzy to deny anything that smacks of sane gun control.



A recent post I did on the issue, “New York’s strong gun laws make state safer than weaker states of Arizona and Texas,” brought me a conglomeration of comments from these NRA trained fanatics.  Some of their points are worth considering because there are always two sides to every argument.  Many are just very inane and an affront to any intelligent human being.  But not once does either group admit there are major problems with our gun laws like a lack of background checks, the gun show loophole and concealed carry.

There was a recent article by Leonard Pitts, Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Miami Herald that blames firearms for much of the political change in this country.  Like the fact that Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords was forced to leave Congress due to the reckless use of an easily available handgun. 

He recounts past instances in our history with similar outcomes like the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Huey Long, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, the Kennedy brothers, George Wallace, Martin Luther King and others.



Glock 19



Citing Jared Loughner’s easy access to the semi-automatic Glock 19 he purchased at the Sportsman’s Warehouse outlet in Tucson, Arizona, Pitts exclaims that Loughner was able to acquire the gun despite the fact that he had been rejected by the U.S. Army and kicked out of a community college due to his behavior.  Pitts continues this line of thought with, “Which suggests that, while Loughner may be unbalanced, American gun laws are downright insane.”  I couldn’t have said it better.

Pitts also has an opinion on the refusal of the gun lobby to allow the banning of automatic high-capacity magazines: “The hunter who needs a gun that fires hundreds of rounds a minute isn’t much of a hunter.”  Amen!  And he even cites the political left for its crusade to get rid of all guns instead of concentrating on the specific issues of just making it harder for the bad guys to obtain them.  Just like the political right led by the NRA won’t give an inch.

Yes, the killings will go on if we don’t find some means for conciliation, and that includes both sides of the issue.  Pitts comments that this whole fiasco reflects the will of the people and that is tragic because they are the ones getting killed.

Animal abusers should be required to register like sex offenders

Animal abusers are the bottom of the barrel just like sex offenders.  Both take advantage of the innocent who trust us to love them and provide a secure place for them to live.  Not take advantage of them, in some cases actually causing harm, even death.  Maryland may well be the first state to launch such a registry, if State Senator Ron Young has anything to do with it.  Young plans to introduce a bill that would require convicted animal abusers in Maryland to submit their information to a registry.

Abusers would be photographed, fingerprinted along with their address and would have to pay $50.00 per year to fund the registry.  They could be taken off the list if they are abuse-free for 10 years.  All the data would end up on a Web page run by the state.  Other states working on similar legislation are New York and Florida.  I am thinking more along the lines of a federal law that would make animal abuse a major offense, including what happens in puppy mills and backyard breeders. 



Typical puppy mill



64.5 percent of victims are dogs, 18 percent cats and 25 percent involve other animals.  Domestic violence seems to have an impact on animal abuse.  According to the Animal Humane Assn., 71% of pet-owning women entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims.  Abusers  even kill, harm, or threaten children’s pets to coerce them into sexual abuse or to force them to remain silent about abuse.

In one study, 70% of animal abusers also had records for other crimes.  And in case you didn’t know, more U.S. households have pets than children, which helps account for the number of animals that end up in shelters.  It is estimated by The Humane Society that 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter animal shelters every year.  3 to 4 million are euthanized, 3 to 4 million are adopted out and some are rescued by their owners.  Many would say the abuse starts in normal homes where pets are allowed to run away or are deserted by owners.



The Humane Society has released its 2011 "Humane State Ranking," a comprehensive report rating all 50 states and DC on issues ranging from animal fighting to farm animals to wildlife to companion animals.  The results are interesting with California as number one with its laws compared to South Dakota which is last.  SD is one of only three states with no felony level penalties for egregious acts of cruelty, and also has some of the weakest laws against cock fighting in the country.

Unfortunately some individuals treat animal like their property and think they can do with them as they please, including maltreat and/or murder them.  Yes, it is murder and in many states in this country you are executed for it.  When you see what has happened to some of these loving little creatures, it makes you wonder if execution is too good for the abusers.

Support your local animal shelters!

New York’s strong gun laws make state safer than weaker states of Arizona and Texas

The gun nuts, especially in Arizona, will argue with you until they are blue in the face that because the state’s gun laws allow just about anyone to own a gun and carry it around concealed to just about anyplace they want, including bars, that the state is a safer place for it.  They would be wrong.  In a recent Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor, Richard Reay of Riverdale, NY, made his point by using the 2010 FBI Violent Crime Statistics report.



NY Mayor Bloomberg for gun control



As an example, there are 408.1 violent crimes and 6.4 murders/manslaughters in Arizona per 100,000 population compared to 392.1 and 4.5 in New York.  In the same comparison, Texas is 450.3 and 5.0.  Reay’s letter was reacting to the typical inaccuracy of a gun freak who spews out whatever garbage the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) tells him to.  The guy, a Californian named Dave Culver, was ranting over the fact that the people of New York were less safe because they had been disarmed by their civic leaders.

To add to Culver’s misinformation, Reay tells us that gun-related robberies and aggravated assault in New York were around 20 percent and 25 percent that of Texas and Arizona, respectively.  (also in FBI Crime Statistics)  With the population growth of cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Houston, the density rate is adding to the problem, and when you give anyone in those metropolitan areas a handgun that asks for it, you are just asking for trouble.

If you want to check out gun laws by state, Wikipedia has excellent access to the data with facts on each facet of buying and carrying a handgun.  For example, New York requires a permit to purchase, the owner must register the weapon, assault weapons are not allowed and there is a limited conceal carry law; you cannot carry a gun into a bar or state offices or government buildings. 

AZ concealed permit no one needs

In direct contrast, Arizona requires no permit to purchase, registration is limited to federal laws, assault weapons are allowed, and anyone, literally anyone, can walk around with a concealed weapon.  Texas laws are very similar to Arizona but the latter stands out as the state with the most lax gun laws in the U.S.  In a ranking by The Daily Beast, Arizona ranked second in gun deaths per 100,000 pop., Texas 23 and New York 45.

The facts don’t lie and don’t talk to me about recent reports that overall crime is down in the U.S.  That would be right but there is still absolutely no excuse for even one murder due to a handgun being in the wrong hands, much less the recent massacres in Tucson and at Virginia Tech.  The above reports even came with the news that shootings—yes, that would require a gun—of law enforcement officials has increased for the second year in a row, 23 percent in 2011.

Common sense suggestions on gun control from Delaware Gov. Jack Markell below:

Paul Helmke, former Mayor of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and also a recent President of The Brady Campaign, exclaims that an astonishing 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check.  To illustrate this, the state of Indiana does not require documentation to either sell or buy firearms.  On the other hand, California is ranked number one for its universal background check system, dealer regulations and assault clip ban. 

And there is where we should start with more gun control.  Ban large capacity magazines like the ones used in Tucson and at Va. Tech.  Require a background check for every firearm purchase to stop mentally ill from getting them.  Close the gun show loophole where private dealers have to require little or no information to purchase a weapon.  By the way, Indiana is tied for 38^th according to the Brady Campaign when it comes to laws preventing gun violence.

With the above revelations, you would think that at least progressive congressional Democrats would get behind legislation for at least the three issues above.  And where has President Obama been on gun control since his election and his reaction to Gabby Giffords shooting?  The American public has also softened on gun control, that is until one of their own is taken from them.  Yes, hindsight can be a great thing but in this case, it is too late.

2 confirmed racists, one a neo-Nazi, run for high Arizona offices

It’s not enough that the valley of the Sun has its “affected” Gov. Jan Brewer, but now there are two other nutcases, one of them recently forced out of office, that aspire to help run the great state of Arizona.  And it is a great state.  Former Governor Carl Hayden once said, "I built this state. Don't let the GOP destroy it!”  Unfortunately, this statement turned into factual intuition on the part of the author.



Russell Pearce recall



Former state senator Russell Pearce, who is a Mormon and the first Arizona legislator ever recalled (last November), has been elected to the top Arizona GOP Party post of 1st Vice Chairman.  In the face of those folks who unanimously voted to oust Pearce from office, state Republicans decided he was fit to be in the party’s No. 2 leadership role, according to spokesman Shane Wikfors.  On Saturday, Wikfors commented, "I will tell you that the two biggest generators of applause at today's meeting was Russell and Sheriff Joe (Arpaio),"  Pathetic.

Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny said, "Arizona has moved past the divisive and corrosive politics of Russell Pearce -- but the Republican Party hasn't," sealing the fact that this pack of fruitcakes does not learn from experience.  There was a movie back in 1948 named The Snake Pit, which portrayed a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum.  I remember scenes from the film as a teenager at the time that depicted patients completely out of touch with reality constantly babbling incoherently.

Following is a must-see Russell Pearce video:

Bingo!  The GOP dominated Arizona state legislature.  These vipers have proceeded to pass laws and practice a type of political suicide that has made the state laughable, placing it at the top of the ‘Who do we ridicule today’ list.  The state’s five Republican congressmen attended the meeting, apparently placing their sign of approval on Pearce’s appointment. 

Russell Pearce was fired from Arizona Motor Vehicles in 1999 for allowing subordinates to tamper with a woman’s driving record.  In 1980 Pearce’s wife Luanne accused him of beating her and said she wanted a divorce.  His two sons have been accused of domestic violence, one, Josh, who allegedly fractured his daughter’s skull and sports a Nazi eagle tattoo on his neck/chest.  Sounds like the perfect Mormon family.

JT Ready 2nd from right

But an even better story is Russell Pearce chum, racist and neo-Nazi J.T. Ready running for Arizona’s Pinal County Sheriff…as a Democrat.  Once a registered Republican, Ready’s answer to why he switched was, "It's the party of Jim Crow, [late U.S. Senator and one-time KKK member] Robert Byrd, and [late Alabama Governor and one-time segregationist] George Wallace.  Exemplary company.  I once asked Ready if he was a member of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and he replied he was but behind on his dues.

However, it is Stephen Lemons Feathered Bastard column in the Phoenix New Times that captures the essence of J.T. Ready.  He supports legalizing marijuana and has referred to Adolph Hitler as a "great white civil rights leader."  He once was a member of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) and still marches with them.  As a one-time close buddy of Russell Pearce, Ready is known for his armed patrol in the Arizona desert looking for illegal immigrants.  His committee chairman is NSM member Harry Hughes, another neo-Nazi racist.



Dept of Justice boots Arpaio



And it wouldn’t be right not to give a nod to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is up for reelection in November.  When you talk about racism along with anti-immigration policies, Sheriff Joe ranks right up there at the top.  The U.S. Dept. of Justice has charged the Sheriff with human-rights violations and the Phoenix Human Relations Committee has just unanimously voted to ask Arpaio to step down. 

This basically completes the inner circle of Arizona’s notoriously best known bigots in politics.