Posted: 8/31/2009 9:46:04 PM EDT
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Protesters brought guns, left common sense at home
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2009/08/29/20090829cieslak30.html
by Dave Cieslak - Aug. 29, 2009 08:27 PM "Does that guy have a gun?" Now that's something I didn't expect to hear during an otherwise peaceful march in downtown Phoenix. It was Aug. 17, the morning President Barack Obama visited the Valley to address the VFW convention. As the Arizona communications director for Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign, I went to support my old friends and talk with folks about health-care reform. People began leaving the rally, and some of us decided to check out the counterprotest. Amid an onslaught that included a Confederate flag and giant swastikas, my friend spotted a man with a sidearm - one of at least 12 people carrying guns in downtown Phoenix that day. Others had the unique pleasure of seeing 28-year-old Christopher Broughton, the guy who looked like a commando on patrol with a loaded rifle strapped to his back. You might remember Broughton from the non-stop coverage he received on national television and Internet news outlets. What a tourism boon for Phoenix. "He was demonstrating his Second Amendment rights," Ruben Gallego, an Iraq war veteran and chief of staff to Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski, told The Arizona Republic. "But he was clearly there to intimidate people who were there exercising their First Amendment rights." Well said and very true. I'm not going to argue that Broughton and his comrades-in-arms didn't have the right to carry their guns in public. Modern interpretations of the Second Amendment and current state laws allow this type of behavior. Whether they're acting within the spirit of the law is another story. We don't live in the Gaza Strip, and most Americans aren't dodging bullets when they head to the supermarket. There's no reason to have a military arsenal at your disposal, and there certainly is no justification for carrying automatic weapons through a peaceful march with our president standing a few hundred feet away. It's easy to forget the staggering number of kids murdered in gun-related incidents. In 2005, an especially heinous year for gun violence, 3,006 American children were shot to death - including 69 preschoolers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At this very moment, I'm sure the card-carrying NRA folks are muttering, "Guns don't kill people - people kill people." I'm glad your convictions are strong; I just hope you have the guts to approach one of those 3,006 grieving mothers and tell her the same thing. It's pointless to expect Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican governor to rein in the state's gun laws. These are the same lawmakers who cleared a path for drunkards to carry handguns into bars and made sure our children attend some of the worst public schools in America. That's why it's time for Congress to intervene. We finally elected a president who puts people before politics, and there might be enough lawmakers who aren't on the gun lobby's payroll to join him. I'm hopeful that we've reached a breaking point in this country, one that Broughton helped ignite with his little charade. I'm hopeful our lawmakers will realize enough blood has been shed defending a skewed interpretation of the Second Amendment. And I'm hopeful our president, a father of two, has seen enough kids gunned down to take action. As we said throughout last year, it's time for change. And that's change I can believe in. Dave Cieslak is a Phoenix public-relations executive who served as communications director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. He can be reached at [email protected]. |
Actually, he was a reporter for the Republic. 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davecieslak |
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Quoted:
Protesters brought guns, left common sense at home and there certainly is no justification for carrying automatic weapons* through a peaceful march with our president standing a few hundred feet away. just gotta point this out, but where is his proof that any weapons there where class 3 firearms? Just because he noticed an AR15 doesn't mean it's a fully automatic firearm, which i'm sure is what he intended for that to sound like. I do believe I may be writing him and pointing out that he has his facts wrong. *- Bolded for ease of viewment. |
| I thought it was a very slanted article. You should also read the front page from Monday if you didn't like that one....apparently Arizona is a huge armed population in which we drive around in cab-less pickups with Soviet machine guns. You watch the travel industry is panicking because of this guy exercising his rights and starting conversations. I bet they start with some new laws very very soon.....I hope we don't become a mini-Kalifornia |
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These people who are so concerned about "The Children!" should really look at what is leading our youth to an early grave.... Cars...
If we outlawed privately owned vehicle do you know how many lives would be saved, especially of people under the age of 18? It would be tremendous and actually ALOT easier to enforce then ANY firearms laws. They would never even think to propose it though,because not only would it inconvenience them all personally, but it would affect everyone they know as well. |
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whatever lame..... i assume those 3006 "children" were not shot by gangbangers and crack heads with stolen guns right? i carry my glock why? because i can.  Accually that number was picked from a CDC report about 2005. It defined "child" as anyone under the age of 18 and included "children" shot by police (gangbangers) which accounted for a large number |
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These people who are so concerned about "The Children!" should really look at what is leading our youth to an early grave.... Cars... If we outlawed privately owned vehicle do you know how many lives would be saved, especially of people under the age of 18? It would be tremendous and actually ALOT easier to enforce then ANY firearms laws. They would never even think to propose it though,because not only would it inconvenience them all personally, but it would affect everyone they know as well. Or swimming pools 
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Quoted:
These people who are so concerned about "The Children!" should really look at what is leading our youth to an early grave.... Cars... If we outlawed privately owned vehicle do you know how many lives would be saved, especially of people under the age of 18? It would be tremendous and actually ALOT easier to enforce then ANY firearms laws. They would never even think to propose it though,because not only would it inconvenience them all personally, but it would affect everyone they know as well. Or swimming pools
ETA: color for emphasis Seems like there is at least 1 per day on the news, on average. 
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Ban water. Do it for the children and the minorities. (Cuz water is racist!)
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.htm In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 710 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents. More than one in four fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger.ยน For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries. Children: In 2005, of all children 1 to 4 years old who died, almost 30% died from drowning. Although drowning rates have slowly declined, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years. Minorities: Between 2000 and 2005, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans across all ages was 1.3 times that of whites. For American Indians and Alaskan Natives, this rate was 1.8 times that of whites. Rates of fatal drowning are notably higher among these populations in certain age groups. The fatal drowning rate of African American children ages 5 to 14 is 3.2 times that of white children in the same age range. For American Indian and Alaskan Native children, the fatal drowning rate is 2.4 times higher than for white children. Factors such as the physical environment (e.g., access to swimming pools) and a combination of social and cultural issues (e.g., valuing swimming skills and choosing recreational water-related activities) may contribute to the racial differences in drowning rates. If minorities participate less in water-related activities than whites, their drowning rates (per exposure) may be higher than currently reported. |
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Quoted:
Protesters brought guns, left common sense at home by Dave Cieslak - Aug. 29, 2009 08:27 PM "Does that guy have a gun?" "He was demonstrating his Second Amendment rights," Ruben Gallego, an Iraq war veteran and chief of staff to Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski, told The Arizona Republic. "But he was clearly there to intimidate people who were there exercising their First Amendment rights." Well said and very true. Interesting perspective / analogy right there...... WE "demonstrate" our Constitutional Rights.......where they seem to "exercise" theirs. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Dare I detect the thought process of this IDIOT thinking "his" Rights are legitimate and "ours" are not?
That's it; when I become King and take over he's on my list. |