Guns vs. Ebola: The Great Republican Hypocrisy

Since the dawn of conservatism, the one belief that’s been a constant is their staunch anti-government stance. This nation fought a Civil War because southern conservatives believed that their states had the right to own human beings as property. These Confederate states seceded from the United States over what they claimed was an “illegal” push by the federal government to end slavery and grant slaves their freedom.

And whether it’s been their opposition to women’s suffrage, desegregation, civil rights, interracial marriage, gay rights or women’s rights, these same states, supported by conservative ideology, have held the constant belief that the government is bad and our Tenth Amendment (states’ rights) matters more than federal law.

When it comes to guns, most conservatives are very anti-government regulation. In fact, if it were left up to most conservatives, we would have little or no regulations on guns. After all, according to many of these people, the reason why gun violence is such an issue in this country is because we need more guns. 

Apparently over 300 million guns aren’t enough.

Any time there’s any mention from anyone at the federal level that we need sensible gun reform (universal background checks, limits on magazine size, the banning of certain kinds of military-style semi-automatic rifles) conservatives and their NRA brethren go berserk. Perhaps their most famous line is the one that makes absolutely no sense – “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.” The theory behind that seems to be that once a “bad guy” shoots someone with a gun, then the “good guy” can stop them. This rarely ever happens of course, nor does it help the first victim claimed by the shooter, but why let facts or reality stand in the way of some good old fashioned right-wing gun-loving propaganda?

But when it comes to guns, and the 8-10k American lives lost every year due to gun related homicides, conservatives don’t want the government anywhere near this issue.

However, have 4 people within the United States get diagnosed with the Ebola virus (with only one death among the four), and suddenly many of these same anti-government conservatives can’t get enough of the federal government. In fact, not only can they not get enough of the federal government, they’re wanting the government to do more to regulate travel.

Who would have ever thought, conservatives feverishly pushing for the government to implement more regulations.

Between 8-10k Americans die every year due to gun violence, but we shouldn’t do anything to try to regulate guns. Four people get diagnosed with Ebola and all hell breaks loose.

But here’s a fun fact: Every single American - every single one of us - is more likely to be killed by a handgun today than to catch Ebola. In fact, around 25 people die every single day from gun related homicides.

Look at the right-wing panic following four cases of Ebola (with only one death). Now imagine if 25 Americans per day were dying from Ebola. And with over 300 million guns in this country, don’t even tell me we have a “lack of guns” problem that’s allowing gun violence to run rampant.

Now, are these two situations exactly the same? No. They’re two different threats. One is actually killing 25 Americans every day, whereas the other is a disease that’s typically very hard to transmit unless you’ve been in direct contact with the infected bodily fluids of someone showing signs of having the virus.

Though what I’m trying to do is point to a glaring hypocrisy from the right. They claim the government is worthless and too regulatory – until it’s something they want the government to regulate. Then suddenly they’re big fans of the federal government. Take same-sex marriage for example. Conservatives would love a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.

And while it’s rational to be cautious about Ebola, the outrageous and irrational fear-mongering being pushed by many conservatives is laughable. But again, between Ebola and gun violence, which one will claim more American lives today?

Ebola: 0

Guns: 25

In fact, if you look at the over 4k people who’ve died from Ebola in Africa, that’s about on par with how many Americans have died since March (when this outbreak began) from gun violence.

And we won’t even get into heart disease or cancer, which kill over 1 million Americans every year. Two problems that could be greatly reduced if every American had access to health care – another issue conservatives vehemently oppose.

Just imagine how much greater this country could be if we didn’t have to constantly deal with Republican ignorance and propaganda.

This Is Republican America: Man Causes Panic With Gun At Kids’ Baseball Game

A man in Georgia caused a panic by menacing people at a children’s baseball game with a gun that he was carrying. The sick thing is that it was all legal.

Video:

According to WSBTV2:

Florida’s Zombie Apocalypse Gun Bill

In case of riots, emergencies, or World War Z, the Sunshine State may throw out all rules on guns. This is crazy, even by Florida standards.

How do you take an unstable situation, be it a Hurricane Sandy-ish storm making shore, an accident causing mass casualties or a riot, and make it even more fun (read: awful) for those unlucky enough to be caught in it? Why add in the carte blanche right of amateurs to carry assault weapons and pistols with high-capacity magazines, and that ought to do it. Of course an idea this ridiculous could only happen in one place: Florida.

Once a century, it turns our presidential elections into The Gangs of New York, an astronaut has been known to put on an adult diaper for a scenic 950-mile drive along the Gulf Coast to threaten a romantic competitor, and the state knowingly elected as governor a Medicaid mass fraudster who's balder than Mr. Bigglesworth, even though the voters knew all of this ahead of time. Florida is what you might call a special place. There’s a reason why when you type “Why is Florida…” into the Google Machine, among the first options that pop up are “crazy” and “so crazy.” 

But gun insanity, my friends, this is where Florida really and truly excels. Whether it’s their pioneering effort in passing racist Stand Your Ground laws (Thanks to former Gov. Jeb Bush—The Smart One!—and pint-sized troll-cum-gun lobbyist Marion Hammer) or applying them to non-whites possessing the audacity to get their groove on while gassing or munching too loud on rainbow candy treats. 

House quietly bans plastic guns

Under current federal law, there is a ban on the “manufacture, sale, import or possession of guns that are undetectable by metal detectors and X-ray machines.” President Reagan signed the Undetectable Firearms Act into a law 25 years ago, and it’s been renewed with bipartisan support ever since.

 

To that end, the House “quickly” approved an extension of the status quo today, though the way in which the bill was passed was interesting.

By a voice vote, members passed the bill to extend the Undetectable Firearms Act for another 10 years. […]

 

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), said the law has had “overwhelming bipartisan support” in the past. However, he was the only Republican to speak on the bill, and the voice-vote approval prevented a detailed examination of how many Republicans opposed the bill.

So, House GOP leaders recognized the importance of keeping existing law in place, but didn’t want to deal with the political hassle of having an untold number of House Republicans take a bold stand in support of undetectable firearms in the hands of consumers. Instead of the usual roll call, then, we saw a voice-vote on the floor in a largely empty chamber.

 

As best as I can tell, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kan.) was the only member to object to the measure – a detail about which he was eager to boast.

 

Looking ahead, does today’s vote make an extension a safe bet? Not so fast. Many Democratic lawmakers in both chambers believe the House bill is far too narrow and fails to take technological breakthroughs into account, most notably weapons parts created by 3D printers.

 

To that end, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will reportedly push legislation when the Senate returns on Monday – the day the current law expires – that would require that every essential part of a gun include at least some detectable metal component. “The House bill is better than nothing, but it’s not good enough,” he said yesterday. “We absolutely must close the loophole that allows anyone to legally make a gun that could be rendered invisible by the easy removal of its metal part.”

 

If Schumer’s bill passes – we do not yet know how much resistance it would face from GOP senators – the House would have to act quickly to keep the status quo intact.

 

For what it’s worth, the NRA has not yet lobbied on this issue, though the even-more-conservative Gun Owners of America wants current law to expire altogether.