Arming Sister Margaret!

If the GOP agrees to sticking out their necks:

Call for comprehensive, universal background checks,

Give police authority to take somebody's gun,

Raise the legal age to purchase them to 21,

I think we should let the teachers in a school decide

If they want to have a loaded pistol by their side...

If they did - and if they're trained on how to use their guns -

I'm prepared to compromise and let them arm the nuns.

(Sister Margaret was armed... She had her rosary.

She'd begin to swing those beads when she was mad at me.

With that heavy, metal cross that dangled from the end

She was not a woman you would argue with, my friend.)

'though, not everyone is Sister Margaret - Thank God! -

My sons had two State cops coach their Varsity Wrestling squad;

I'd trust guys like them with guns if they brought them to school.

I would make that bargain any day...  I'm not a fool.

If the President's sincere and starts to back away

From positions long supported by the NRA

I think that he'd see his polls dramatically increase.

He would have my full support...  Will wonders never cease?

Too Soon?

 

Still too soon for talking about gun control, I guess...

Haven't finished cleaning - yet another - tragic mess.

Now is not the time to ask why 26 more died.

Maybe we're supposed to wait until the blood has dried.

At the rate that things are going though, there's one small hitch,

When we say we're too close to the situation - Which?

Were we still too close to Vegas?  When's the proper time

To discuss prevention of the next mass shooting crime?

There'll be lots of "thoughts and prayers" and silences observed

But, we future shooting victims would be better served

If, instead of waiting, in respect for all our dead,

We insist that Congress passes gun control, instead.

Universal background checks...  Is that too much to ask?

It gives us a fighting chance by helping to unmask

People who should not have guns...  Like guys who beat their wife;

If someone is dangerous they should be banned for life.

Biometrics? Not A Shot

It would be a start. (Photo/www.thefirearmblog.com)

Massachusetts' Senator Ed Markey just proposed

Making guns more safe...  Surprise!  The NRA's opposed.

Wouldn't want to make it hard for kids to shoot a gun;

NRA wants weapons free for use by anyone.

Biometrics guaranteeing only owners may

Use their guns could, possibly, get in somebody's way.

Plus, it wouldn't work at all, the NRA insists;

Suicidal teenagers would simply slit their wrists.

Wouldn't want to violate their rights; prevent mistakes.

Accidental deaths are rising?  Oh well, them's the breaks.

Can't blame Ed for trying but it is a waste of time:

NRA would fight this if it took their final dime.

Markey wants to make a point I guess, and yet, the flaw

Is he doesn't have a prayer he'll make his point a law.

NRA blocked background checks so what would make Ed think

Safety measures have a shot?  I think his chances stink.

Olympia Snowe - 2016

I'd vote for Olympia Snowe.

Republicans suffered a blow

When she chose to quit;

Became sick of it.

Found change in the Senate too slow.

Recently, she wrote a book.

I bought it and then had a look.

She says it's on us

To cut through the fuss

And put government on the hook.

Her argument's fair and well-spoken.

But I think that Congress is broken.

They're not above board.

The people ignored.

The background check issue's awoken

A frustrated public who sees

That, not just a slow-down, but freeze

Is now underway

In Congress today...

Won't fix it by just saying "Please."

The 113th Congress and The Golden Rule

The Manchin-Toomey Amendment called for background checks and required 60 votes to pass.  (Photo/Mercury News)

NRA is quite relieved; their Senators stayed bought.

Voted not to implement reforms the country sought.

Politics as usual; the famous Golden Rule...

If you've got enough of it, the Congress is your tool.

Lobbyists with money tell the Congress how to vote -

Wishes of the population given little note.

This, in my opinion, is a national disgrace.

One I hope we don't forget in the next Senate race.

The 113th Congress and the Newtown Parents

Newtown parents joined the President on Air Force One,

Vowing they will never rest until their battle's won;

Flying down to Washington to lobby on the Hill;

Fighting for reforms the NRA would like to kill.

Universal background checks which, most of us agree,

Make good sense and is a measure we'd all like to see

May not pass the Senate which will, seemingly, ignore

Changes that the vast majority are asking for.

How did things get so messed up that it's the NRA

With the only voice that seems to ever get a say?

Newtown parents - those who've buried daughters, wives, and sons -

Speak with more authority on legislating guns.

The 113th Congress - Who Are You Working For, Anyway?

Pistol packin' teachers stationed in the nation's schools;

That's the only change the NRA wants to the rules.

They'll agree to background checks for teachers who are armed...

After all, they wouldn't care to see more children harmed.

That is the extent of any changes that they want.

NRA has always had the influence to daunt

Any politician who attempts to compromise

'cause Wayne LaPierre, their spokesman, stoops to spreading lies.

They're opposed to background checks; they call them registries.

Say we'll come to take their guns away but, honey, please...

That is simply crazy talk. There are no men in black.

We just need a change after the Sandy Hook attack.

Most of us want background checks; that seems the place to start.

We want mental health professionals to play a part.

If the Congress represents The People's will, then they

Need to show us they're not working for the NRA.

Dear NRA... There's a New Sheriff in Town

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gabby Giffords, and Mark Kelly are gambling that they can make a change.

Looks as if the Congress won't ban instruments of war,

Which is what a semi-automatic weapon's for.

Won't restrict the magazines to 15 rounds or less.

Even background checks have caused Conservatives distress.

Claim that it's a registry so we'll know where to start

When we come to pry their guns and cold, dead hands apart.

NRA is threatening to "throw the bastards out."

In the past it's been the only group that's wielded clout.

They should know, another sheriff just rode into to town

And he's got the cash to back the bets that he lays down.

Lately, he and other groups have said they plan to spend

Money on elections and the message that they'd send:

Is that the majority, according to the polls,

Want to see those 3 reforms, want help for tortured souls,

Don't want politicians' specious arguments on rights...

Want them to address concerns that keep us up at nights.

The NRA - WTF? (Wants to Forget)

Since the Newtown massacre the NRA has tried

To deflect attention from the numbers who have died.

(Meanwhile we Americans run out and purchase guns...

Makes me want to swear but I am still afraid of nuns.)

This is what a lobbyist can do when they have cash;

Politicians are afraid the NRA will thrash

Anyone who even tries to bring the issue up.

Is the NRA creating paranoia? Yup.

Once they thought that background checks for everyone was cool;

Advocated for a weapons-free zone at a school.

Now  they say that any list allows our government

To disarm its citizens - with little effort spent.

Now  they want to arm our teachers.  My, how things have changed.

I've begun to fear Wayne LaPierre's become deranged.

Fostering conspiracies appears to be his aim.

Cash is needed if we hope to beat him at his game.

Guns, by Stephen King

Available through Amazon.

Stephen King has written a new essay titled Guns.

Bought it on my Kindle so I didn't freeze my buns.

Only cost a little bit and all the proceeds go

To a fund for gun reform (which could mean lots of dough.)

I would read a laundry list if that's what Stephen wrote.

If he ran for office in a state where I could vote,

I would send him to the Senate; quite a sacrifice...

No new books and I've already read his old ones - twice.

One of them I read before he pulled the book from print,

(Didn't like the Bachman books; they never had a hint

Of the light that's at the core of things that Stephen writes.)

Didn't have  to pull the book; his 1st Amendment rights

Offered him protections which he limited himself.

Thinks it's time we take high-powered weapons off the shelf,

Universal background checks, keep bullet counts to 10,

Funding for our mental health but says that, even then,

We can't ever stop the boys determined to succeed.

Wonder if an age limit is something that we need?

Seems to me these murderers are young and angry men.

Something must be done before it all shakes out again.

Dear Alex Jones, et al. - Really?

(Alex Jones)

Gun enthusiasts - afraid we'll take away their guns...

So far out of touch that their obtuseness simply stuns -

Threatened that they'd go to war in case Obama tries.

Why on earth would anyone sell weapons to these guys?

They're the kind of people who, I think, should be disarmed.

Add them to a registry before someone gets harmed.

Not that it would matter. They could purchase guns at shows.

They won't need a background check...  Thus, on and on it goes.

It's been said; "If everyone is armed we're more polite."

Look across the pond and you'll discover that's not right.

Too late now, that genie's out and it's not going back;

But, we must try something to prevent the next attack.

I don't want to take your guns, but - high round magazines?

They're the kind you often find at massive murder scenes.

Keep the bullet count to 15 lives some killer wrecks,

And we should require universal background checks.