I'm a gun dealer and I am already required to do backround checks , so I have to assume Obama doen't feel the NICS system that is currently in place is working or "effective".

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Are you a spineless slave to political correctness?

For some, the background check system will only be "effective" when everyone is prohibited from buying a firearm.

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Well, I guess I'll just have to strap my .45 onto my hip in full view.

That'll probably make 'em nervous when I go to the bank, but nothing I can do about that...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

Well, that was very nice of Mr.Obama to take time out of his busy schedule and email you, Matt.



On the topic: I think this is a bad move for Obama and one I cannot get behind. Like O'Sullivan, I'm not a one issue voter and 'gun rights' don't really top my list of issues that are important to me in this election. So while this won't dash any chance of me voting for him, I will certainly consider it when deciding my vote.

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"Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn’t want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first on my to-do list"
-Gnarls Barkley, "Going On" lyrics

Not a real bright campaign declaration. I know almost as many democrats as republicans who carry concealed.

Yes. I'm one of those rural raised Blue Dogs who wind up swing voters because neither side gives us what we want. Voting is often picking your left or right hand, and the one who leaves you with the most usually walks with the vote.

I carefully noted that Obama is not giving an answer on this subject when at one time he did quite vocally (against concealed carry). The cynic in me says he is trying to conceal that view now, but that doesn't make as much sense given his past comments are long out there and he must know they will come back at him.

What I did notice in researching this topic is how since he has gone to Iowa he and his wife took very much notice of how life and the region are different than where they live. His wife even noted that she understands why they would want guns given the different geography, rurality (especially for self-defence), etc.

A main concern I've expressed about Obama is whether he is ripe for the job. He's a first term Senator who served as an urban Chicago politician beforehand. Now that he is seeing the larger country, his awakenings are sharpening his understandings of the broader issues at hand. This includes guns.

I like that he recognises the 2A as an individual right and not a state militia only. That opens the door. Militia-only types aren't even open to debate. His gun rhetoric has long followed a very typical perception of urban/suburban people on guns. Unlike rural people, they relate guns to crime and killing. That is very understandable given there is no hunting there by tradition, police are a quick call, and poor neighbourhood are filled with druggies, angry people and gangs that commit violent gun crimes, abuse legal purchasing laws (strawman purchasing for gangs, etc). The news helps further that image because the daily news covers so much gun crime. Obama's support for concealed carry permits for ex-cops fits perfectly into that because of copkilling that get so much media attention. Again, it feeds that horrible image of guns so often felt by those who live in the metropolises.

But, going out to the country, one sees and develops a whole new outlook and reality that blows the whole urban/suburban relation out of the water. Instead, one comes to see it as part of the traditions, necessities, etc, and generally fine.

My thinking is that he is currently rethinking and processing his new experiences travelling in relation to the subject and hence buying a bit of time with evasive answers and silence to reflect. He is eventually going to have to decide to modify or hold firm--and sooner rather than later if he wins the nomination.

The gun groups also deserve some flak here. Too many of them have become GOP mouthpieces or compromised that way. That benefits the GOP, but doesn't advance the objective.

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James Hoban. Irish Architect. Member of the Royal Dublin Society. Hoban designed and built the White House and based it upon the top exterior and interior two floors of Leinster House, then known as Kildare House, which is now the current Irish Parliament building. He was also a supervisory architect of the US Capitol Building.

Honestly, that sounds more like an auto-generated response. I wonder how many thousands of emails the campaign receives weekly; it may not be possible to actually read them and reply individually.

A written letter would more likely receive a better response, but there's no clear guarantee.

I'd also bet that if you wrote similar letters to any of the top candidates from either side, you'd receive similarly vague responses.

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So many cowards.

You know who you are.

I think that he is trying to make it look like he is pro-gun, so as to not lose Iowa. He's on the Board of Directors for the Joyce Foundation, which donates funds to gun cointrol advocacy groups. I think he is trying to downplay that right now, but if elected, he will show his true colors, just Like our current president did.

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If common sense were common, we would all have it (including me).

Let me ask you a question, something I've never really understood. If a person has a permit to carry a weapon, why do they feel they need to hide it under a jacket or whatever. It seems to me that if a person feels the need to carry, why not just do it plain sight? Could cause less hassle.When I see someone with a weapon under a coat it makes me wonder just what they are up to and I pay extra attention to them and what they are doing. I have a permit and very seldom carry and when I do it's in sight of everyone I don't hide it. Of course where I live it's not unusal to see people with weapons strapped on.
And I could be wrong about this, but I thought it was against the law to carry a weapon into a bank or Gov. building

It is automated because I saw someone post the same response on another site.

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James Hoban. Irish Architect. Member of the Royal Dublin Society. Hoban designed and built the White House and based it upon the top exterior and interior two floors of Leinster House, then known as Kildare House, which is now the current Irish Parliament building. He was also a supervisory architect of the US Capitol Building.

I'm not so sure I want to wear my gun strapped to my hip! I'll end up carrying mine in my purse once I get my CW permit. As for now, it stays in my car or my house within easy reach.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

I'd say you're in the minority. I think most people would prefer not to see a weapon...

Yeah; I just used it as an example. Substitute "grocery store"...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

If I remember correctly from some of your past posts you work in a bar? I can see where that would make for some nervous customers. If your purse is anything like my wifes, it would take her atleast 10 minutes to find anything
On a serious note if you needed it quickly, how long would it take to get to it?
On the other hand if it's in the open then that person that may want to do you harm may think twice.

Maybe thats why my town has not had a gun related crime in 20 years.ie armed robbery and such. We just don't have gang/drug problems here. About 6 years ago a gang tried to pull some BS at the local school but soon found out it was a really stupid thing to do.

Having resided in major cites and rural settings I'm very aware of the difference in attitudes regarding gun control and the reasoning you specify is accurate. To most metropolitan dwellers of both major political parties carrying a concealed weapon is on the level of keeping a horse in one's living room. In a major city violent crime is generally confined to ghetto areas people avoid where in a rural or semi-rural area it doesn't have that convenience of containment.

I also agree Obama suffers from the same lack of personal exposure to cross sections of the various sociodemographic groups in this country as do the majority of contemporary politicians groomed for high office. What most voters are unaware of and even those who are often forget is a candidate being a package, carefully groomed by experts to speak, breath and perform to specific audiences. On a local/state level that's not difficult for the handlers to determine, but when faced with say CA and TX on the gun issue it becomes more of a matter of where can electoral votes from CA be replaced if a candidate advocates personal gun ownership.

The law prohibits me from carrying my gun into the bar (as an employee) however, the owner can have one behind the bar. For now, I don't go any place that would require me to carry it on my person other than from my car into my house at night. Anytime I leave the bar at night, security walks me out but it's really a safe area.
When I do get my permit and have to carry the gun, I'll have one purse designed to allow easy access to it.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"