Quote of the day

"With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it’s still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem. Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response. My deepest sympathies are with the families of all those affected, and my determination to stop this madness is stronger than ever.”

--Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City

In case you missed Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl commercial

Now, as I've said here before, could we stop being this political party or that one, all be Americans again and work together as one country, one people and solve our problems? Please? New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said virtually the same thing today on NBC's "Meet the Press" from Indianapolis at the Super Bowl:

This made me laugh out loud

You don't even have to be from there to get a laugh.

Missouri 16th worst for air pollution

The National Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org) and Physicians for Social Responsiblity (www.psr.org) came out today with their rankings for the nation, by state, telling of the "most toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants" ranks Missouri in the top 20 at number 16. Yeehaw, eh? The report is titled “Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States.” Additionally, "Nearly half of all toxic air pollution reported from industrial sources nationwide comes from coal- and oil-fired power plants, the largest industrial source of toxic air pollution in 28 states and the District of Columbia" and Missouri is one of those 28. Ohio, for what it's worth, is ranked worst at number 1 while neighboring Illinois is at 17 and Iowa holds the 20 spot. Interestingly, California, who has done so much with legislation and requirements, wisely, is ranked low at number 42. See? Government can work. Then, simultaneously today, with this report comes word that the Sierra Club is likely to get $50 million from Michael Bloomberg's foundation to help them fight new coal-fired power plants so we get into clean, renewable energy, instead. Good on you and thanks, Mr. Bloomberg! We'll get to that "green economy" yet. Links: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/07/the-most-toxic-air-pollution-from-coal-and-oil-fired-power-plants-can-be-found-in-ohio-pennsylvania-and-florida-according.html; http://www.npr.org/2011/07/21/138568843/mayor-bloomberg-donates-50-million-to-sierra-club

Tightening up gun laws

From CNN today:  

New York (CNN) -- A handful of states with weak gun laws are the largest contributors to the U.S. market for illegally trafficked guns. That's the alarming finding of "Trace the Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking," a new groundbreaking report issued by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of more than 500 mayors that I co-chair with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

"Trace the Guns" examines troves of new data released to Mayors Against Illegal Guns by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and for the first time demonstrates the connection between laws designed to deter illegal trafficking and lower export rates for guns used in crimes.

Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada and Georgia were the 10 states that supplied guns used in crimes at the highest rates -- each of them supplying such guns at a rate more than twice the national average.

Okay, right off the bat, let me be clear here.  Neither these mayors nor am I talking about "gun control" here they--we-- are calling for making it more difficult to transfer guns from state to state--just tightening gun laws--decidedly not the wicked "gun control", no matter what the NRA, any of its members or anyone else says.  

Not only do they supply a disproportionate amount of crime guns, but these states are also more likely to be the source of guns recovered in crimes within two years of the original sale, which the ATF said is a key sign of illegal trafficking.


New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is right:  "If one state ignores a gap in its laws, other states have to deal with the deadly consequences."

We need to tighten up these laws to prevent the move of illegal guns--not your gun, Mr. or Mrs. America.

It just makes sense.


And please don't tell me it's a "slippery slope."

Links:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/12/bloomberg.gun.laws/index.html?iref=obnetwork;

You can also see where guns are coming from in your state on the website:  

http://www.tracetheguns.org/#