Category Gun control
The Phlip Side: Gun Politics
The massacre in Orlando has filled me with shock and sadness. I will never understand what would drive a human being to commit mass murder. I refuse to accept that it is ever okay, or acceptable on any level, to discriminate against people because of who they love. The thing that makes me saddest of […]
Orlando terror attack: Time for moderation and listening to prevail
The left and the right in the United States have both once again raced to politicize a tragedy after the terror attack on the LGBT community in Orlando by an alleged backer of Daesh (known as ISIL in the west). On the right, conservatives have run to blame President Obama and his “softness” on terrorism […]
Fear of a media fiasco? Repubs table heinous “stand your ground” bill
This is what’s it’s come to in Florida. Right-wingers and the NRA not only want an environment in The Gunshine State where killing people is convenient — they’re also demanding that victims’ families must fight legal barriers to seeking justice when they’ve lost a loved one. A bill that petered out today (SB 344), would have forced State Attorneys to prosecute “stand […]
Are Democrats fundamentally mispositioned on law enforcement and guns?
Gun control and police brutality are two of biggest domestic issues facing the country currently. President Obama has made gun control a center piece of his agenda at the same time as the views of law enforcement are probably at an all-time low on the left. While personally I hold the the liberal view on […]
Democrats need to realize guns are not the only issue related to a violent America
Guns. Every time we have a tragic shooting in the United States, the left says that guns are the problem and the right claims an armed society is a safer society. Obviously the influence of the NRA on many politicians has created a situation where it is difficult to regulate guns in a logical and […]
Guns Are Not the Great Equalizer Between the Sexes
In Tallahassee, the debate over guns on campus is heating up again, with more committees passing the bill through this week. Tallahassee-based State Representative Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda has taken a lot of pressure from the FSU community to listen to their concerns, yet instead she signed on to co-sponsor the bill. While she is term-limited out […]
Florida featured in Brady Campaign parody video
“Brady background checks have stopped 2.4 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers, but only 60% of current gun sales include a background check.” (from the http://www.crimadvisor.com site). But of course here in Florida, we spend each March and April discussing guns and watching the legislature continue to pass laughable gun measure after gun measure. Background checks […]
Theatre of the Absurd: Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda endorses Guns on Campus
UPDATED: Representative Rehwinkel-Vasilinda did vote for the guns on campus bill, along with Representative Katie Edwards. The guns on campus bill is one of the more contentious issues being debated this session. Although this issue has come up before, Senator Thrasher has always managed to defeat the bill. Now that he is gone to […]
The NRA makes endorsements and rates legislators
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has made its endorsements for the 2014 General Election and rated legislators. As would be expected most Democrats fared poorly on the NRA scorecard while most Republicans were rated highly. The organization endorsed every Republican for the statewide cabinet and gave Charlie Crist who at one-time was an NRA backed […]
What Leader Chris Smith got right about the “warning shot” debate
The debates over the so-called “warning shot” legislation in both the House and Senate have been impassioned and contentious rounds of sparring, revealing harsh divides between and within the parties. The bills were an ideological mire for Democrats. And for Republicans, it was another opportunity to manipulate the very real and pressing imbalances created by SYG, which disproportionately […]
The Florida Squeeze 