No, it doesn’t have to be related to Obama, I’m just saying that’s what would be said. In fact, it’s something that’s already said in some circles. Ted Cruz is even raising funds off the false meme: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/16/ted-cruz-fundraising-pitch-obama-wants-your-guns/

It doesn’t have to be related to Obama at all. What’s needed is a campaign to amend the Constitution that passes in 3/4 of the states. I don’t underestimate how difficult this would be to achieve.

I agree that what Sanders is saying is important. I hope he’s the start of a change in the way US politics is done.

While an amnesty is what’s needed, I just can’t see it working in the US. We’ve got all the weirdos now saying “Obama’s coming for your guns.” An amnesty would make that true. They wouldn’t hand them in, and make huge political capital off the nanny state meme. No politician would be prepared to go there in the current environment.

Yes – what you guys did after Dunblane was excellent.

You might not get this before you go, but I hope you have a great break, and I look forward to seeing you back next year. 🙂

That’s just how a coin-operated Congress works. It’s only one of many examples of those being regulated writing the laws and relates in a major way to the discussion in the other thread about what’s gone wrong with US democracy. In the 70’s, the Republicans complained about “special interest group demands”. That was their term for campaigns run on behalf of the public. Now we have real, mainly corporate special interests running the entire show. Sanders isn’t perfect, but this is what he is challenging and why his candidacy is important. Whether he is successful or torpedoed by the establishment (both Democrat and corporate though there’s not that much difference) will provide a good indication of whether the game will begin to change.

As for guns, I don’t see why the US can’t do what they did in Oz and have a huge collection of firearms made under an amnesty. Certainly worked for them. Politics aside, the one admittedly large barrier is that it would have to be done at the federal level so would probably require another Constitutional amendment. I can’t see that trying this would make things any worse than they are now.

I’m glad that in the UK we have gun-control, which was tightened up even further after Dunblane. Not having a gun-culture and being a small country surely helps.

I’m off, I hope you have a great 2016!

I feel at a bit of a loss about what to do about the US’s gun problem too because, as you say, there are already so many guns there the situation is virtually beyond help.

I like your suggestions – I think they’re good. One of the statistics gun nuts always point to though is that violent crime is actually decreasing in the US. They, of course, say that’s because of the increasing number of guns. It’s difficult proving they’re wrong in the US because the NRA has managed to make it illegal for a lot of statistics related to gun violence to even be collected. I find that absolutely unbelievable that they’ve managed to do that.

So the alternative we are left with is to have stricter controls over who and who cannot buy guns. The reality however is that those who want to do bad things will still be able to get guns on the black market.

Instead of controlling access to guns, maybe the US can cut down on their defence budget and spend more on improving their society so that less people feel the need to commit violent crime.

Sorry I wasn’t clear – it’s not Rachel Maddow, it’s some others on MSNBC. I think she’s great!

It’s not capacity that’s the problem – I’ve got plenty of that, and am on broadband, I just don’t like it. It’s not that easy for me to get physically comfortable in order to watch things. It’s harder on a computer.

You don’t have to thank me for responding – I like it when people take the trouble to respond to my posts. 🙂

May I ask what it was that hurt your confidence in Ms Maddow? I understand the problem of having capacity to run video. Without the help from my brothers I wouldn’t even have a PC to use.

DN has been on radio for a long time. Only recently have they gotten an internet show with video on them. You can listen to them if it works better for you. They are right now in France during that important Climate Summit which most of the news shows barely cover.

Thank you for your response to me.