Welcome to the first Monday in October, where in Tampa the temperatures began this morning in the upper 60s… Lots going on in pop culture and sports this past weekend, but let’s stick with hard news and talk about the issue of gun violence in America in the wake of the latest mass shooting in Oregon last week.
When it comes to addressing this problem, Republican presidential candidates are responding by throwing up their arms and saying, essentially, “whatever.”
“Stuff happens” was Jeb Bush’s line on Friday, suggesting that government is not always the solution to the issue of what could be called a form of domestic terrorism.
Such shootings in the United States will continue, Donald Trump added yesterday, “no matter what.”
“No matter what you do — guns, no guns, it doesn’t matter — you have people that are mentally ill, and they’re going to come through the cracks, and they’re going to do things that people will not even believe are possible,” Trump said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Not so on the Democratic side.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley laid down the gauntlet against his Democratic rivals last night, releasing a four-point plan:
1 A ban on the sale of combat assault weapons;
2 A requirement that every person who purchases a gun gets a license and is fingerprinted;
3 Using the full power of the federal government—the largest purchaser of firearms in the country—to refuse to buy guns from any company that doesn’t use the latest and best safety technology;
4 Making gun trafficking a federal crime.
Now The New York Times is reporting this morning that Hillary Clinton will respond.
“Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, she would use administrative powers to make anyone selling a substantial number of guns declared “in the business” of firearms dealing, and subject to the same rules as retailers, if Congress does not act, according to the campaign aide.
It was not immediately clear what the bar for being declared “in the business” would be. And use of executive action in connection with guns is certain to face criticism from staunch supporters of the Second Amendment. It is also likely to be applauded by Democrats who have grown weary of gridlock in Congress.
Mrs. Clinton will suggest urging Congress to end another loophole, by which people with felony records who should be barred from obtaining a gun can get one if their background check is not completed within three days. That loophole was how Dylann Roof, the accused killer in Charleston, obtained his weapon despite a felony conviction for a drug arrest.
In other news..
Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are still stuck in the middle of the pact in new polls conducted in Iowa and New Hampshire in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist surveys.
Tampa City Council Chairman Frank Reddick and Mayor Bob Buckhorn finally got a chance to sit down and hash out some of the issues that have been percolating regarding the whole police Civilian Review Board situation.
