Gun Control by Ronald Reagan

Londoner

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Why I'm for the Brady Bill
By Ronald Reagan
Published: March 29, 1991


"Anniversary" is a word we usually associate with happy events that we like to remember: birthdays, weddings, the first job. March 30, however, marks an anniversary I would just as soon forget, but cannot.

It was on that day 10 years ago that a deranged young man standing among reporters and photographers shot a policeman, a Secret Service agent, my press secretary and me on a Washington sidewalk.

I was lucky. The bullet that hit me bounced off a rib and lodged in my lung, an inch from my heart. It was a very close call. Twice they could not find my pulse. But the bullet's missing my heart, the skill of the doctors and nurses at George Washington University Hospital and the steadfast support of my wife, Nancy, saved my life.

Jim Brady, my press secretary, who was standing next to me, wasn't as lucky. A bullet entered the left side of his forehead, near his eye, and passed through the right side of his brain before it exited. The skills of the George Washington University medical team, plus his amazing determination and the grit and spirit of his wife, Sarah, pulled Jim through. His recovery has been remarkable, but he still lives with physical pain every day and must spend much of his time in a wheelchair.


Thomas Delahanty, a Washington police officer, took a bullet in his neck. It ricocheted off his spinal cord. Nerve damage to his left arm forced his retirement in November 1981.

Tim McCarthy, a Secret Service agent, was shot in the chest and suffered a lacerated liver. He recovered and returned to duty.

Still, four lives were changed forever, and all by a Saturday-night special -- a cheaply made .22 caliber pistol -- purchased in a Dallas pawnshop by a young man with a history of mental disturbance.

This nightmare might never have happened if legislation that is before Congress now -- the Brady bill -- had been law back in 1981.

Named for Jim Brady, this legislation would establish a national seven-day waiting period before a handgun purchaser could take delivery. It would allow local law enforcement officials to do background checks for criminal records or known histories of mental disturbances. Those with such records would be prohibited from buying the handguns.

While there has been a Federal law on the books for more than 20 years that prohibits the sale of firearms to felons, fugitives, drug addicts and the mentally ill, it has no enforcement mechanism and basically works on the honor system, with the purchaser filling out a statement that the gun dealer sticks in a drawer.

The Brady bill would require the handgun dealer to provide a copy of the prospective purchaser's sworn statement to local law enforcement authorities so that background checks could be made. Based upon the evidence in states that already have handgun purchase waiting periods, this bill -- on a nationwide scale -- can't help but stop thousands of illegal handgun purchases.

And, since many handguns are acquired in the heat of passion (to settle a quarrel, for example) or at times of depression brought on by potential suicide, the Brady bill would provide a cooling-off period that would certainly have the effect of reducing the number of handgun deaths.

Critics claim that "waiting period" legislation in the states that have it doesn't work, that criminals just go to nearby states that lack such laws to buy their weapons. True enough, and all the more reason to have a Federal law that fills the gaps. While the Brady bill would not apply to states that already have waiting periods of at least seven days or that already require background checks, it would automatically cover the states that don't. The effect would be a uniform standard across the country.

Even with the current gaps among states, those that have waiting periods report some success. California, which has a 15-day waiting period that I supported and signed into law while Governor, stopped nearly 1,800 prohibited handgun sales in 1989. New Jersey has had a permit-to-purchase system for more than two decades. During that time, according to the state police, more than 10,000 convicted felons have been caught trying to buy handguns.

Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns.

This level of violence must be stopped. Sarah and Jim Brady are working hard to do that, and I say more power to them. If the passage of the Brady bill were to result in a reduction of only 10 or 15 percent of those numbers (and it could be a good deal greater), it would be well worth making it the law of the land.
 
Why I'm for the Brady Bill
By Ronald Reagan
Published: March 29, 1991


"Anniversary" is a word we usually associate with happy events that we like to remember: birthdays, weddings, the first job. March 30, however, marks an anniversary I would just as soon forget, but cannot.

It was on that day 10 years ago that a deranged young man standing among reporters and photographers shot a policeman, a Secret Service agent, my press secretary and me on a Washington sidewalk.

I was lucky. The bullet that hit me bounced off a rib and lodged in my lung, an inch from my heart. It was a very close call. Twice they could not find my pulse. But the bullet's missing my heart, the skill of the doctors and nurses at George Washington University Hospital and the steadfast support of my wife, Nancy, saved my life.

Jim Brady, my press secretary, who was standing next to me, wasn't as lucky. A bullet entered the left side of his forehead, near his eye, and passed through the right side of his brain before it exited. The skills of the George Washington University medical team, plus his amazing determination and the grit and spirit of his wife, Sarah, pulled Jim through. His recovery has been remarkable, but he still lives with physical pain every day and must spend much of his time in a wheelchair.


Thomas Delahanty, a Washington police officer, took a bullet in his neck. It ricocheted off his spinal cord. Nerve damage to his left arm forced his retirement in November 1981.

Tim McCarthy, a Secret Service agent, was shot in the chest and suffered a lacerated liver. He recovered and returned to duty.

Still, four lives were changed forever, and all by a Saturday-night special -- a cheaply made .22 caliber pistol -- purchased in a Dallas pawnshop by a young man with a history of mental disturbance.

This nightmare might never have happened if legislation that is before Congress now -- the Brady bill -- had been law back in 1981.

Named for Jim Brady, this legislation would establish a national seven-day waiting period before a handgun purchaser could take delivery. It would allow local law enforcement officials to do background checks for criminal records or known histories of mental disturbances. Those with such records would be prohibited from buying the handguns.

While there has been a Federal law on the books for more than 20 years that prohibits the sale of firearms to felons, fugitives, drug addicts and the mentally ill, it has no enforcement mechanism and basically works on the honor system, with the purchaser filling out a statement that the gun dealer sticks in a drawer.

The Brady bill would require the handgun dealer to provide a copy of the prospective purchaser's sworn statement to local law enforcement authorities so that background checks could be made. Based upon the evidence in states that already have handgun purchase waiting periods, this bill -- on a nationwide scale -- can't help but stop thousands of illegal handgun purchases.

And, since many handguns are acquired in the heat of passion (to settle a quarrel, for example) or at times of depression brought on by potential suicide, the Brady bill would provide a cooling-off period that would certainly have the effect of reducing the number of handgun deaths.

Critics claim that "waiting period" legislation in the states that have it doesn't work, that criminals just go to nearby states that lack such laws to buy their weapons. True enough, and all the more reason to have a Federal law that fills the gaps. While the Brady bill would not apply to states that already have waiting periods of at least seven days or that already require background checks, it would automatically cover the states that don't. The effect would be a uniform standard across the country.

Even with the current gaps among states, those that have waiting periods report some success. California, which has a 15-day waiting period that I supported and signed into law while Governor, stopped nearly 1,800 prohibited handgun sales in 1989. New Jersey has had a permit-to-purchase system for more than two decades. During that time, according to the state police, more than 10,000 convicted felons have been caught trying to buy handguns.

Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns.

This level of violence must be stopped. Sarah and Jim Brady are working hard to do that, and I say more power to them. If the passage of the Brady bill were to result in a reduction of only 10 or 15 percent of those numbers (and it could be a good deal greater), it would be well worth making it the law of the land.

You don't really expect conservatives to listen to what the real Ronald Reagan said unfiltered by his myth-makers, do you?
 
The real Ronald Reagan got the energy crisis wrong. He completely reversed Carter's move away from 100% petroleum use. We are now lying in that grave.

Regan also created a very dangerous credit-prosperity which eventually exploded.

Here is how it started.

Keep this in mind as you read. FDR came to Washington to give the poor worker a New Deal. Reagan came to Washington to give corporations and investors a new deal (through low taxes, deregulation, and cheaper labor costs).

Reagan wanted to give investors higher returns. So he initiated all these policies which made it easier for capital to get lower labor costs. He did this domestically by crushing Labor. He did it internationally by making it much easier for capital to get ultra-cheap labor in the developing world.

How did Reagan increase Capital's access to cheap foreign labor?

He used the Cold War as a context of intervention in the global south. He used the threat of the Soviets to open the door, then he found corruptible dictators to take massive structural adjustment loans on behalf of the host country. "Come under the Eagle's protective wing. We'll protect you and loan you tons of money to improve your infrastructure". However, when the host country failed to pay back the loan, the country went into technical receivership, and, as a result, Washington gained control of their policies. This allowed Washington to pry open their economy to foreign investment, which allowed American corporations to leave middle class workers in the dust for oppressed sweatshop workers in places like Taiwan and Grenada.

So, but what happened when corporations left the American middle class in the dust in order to get ultra cheap labor in the developing world?

Reagan had a problem. The domestic economy depended on high wages so people could buy things. When Reagan created policies that lowered the labor costs of corporations, he weakened consumer demand, i.e., when workers have lower wages/benefits, they have less money with which to buy things.

So what did Reagan do? He vastly expanded the credit system so American families could maintain their high living standards through borrowing. Starting in 1980 household debt exploded. Don't take my word for it. This is easy to research.

Morning in America was brought to you by American Express, Visa, Master Card and Subprimes. Americans borrowed like never before and it lead to an incredible credit-prosperity.

The problem with credit-prosperity is that they eventually create a debt-overhang which leads to massive consumer insolvency. Once the insolvency hits, you need to find different ways to loan money into the economy - otherwise consumption stops and there is spiraling job loss. So to prevent the massive collapse that had been prefigured by 30 years of debt-based consumption, we turned to the last thing we had left with any value: our homes.

Now we have nothing left to borrow against, and the debt has come due.

When this happened in the 30s, we built a vigorous domestic manufacturing base with high wages - this lead to the golden age of capitalism where in the 50s and 60s the father could support the entire family on just his wage. We are not going to get so lucky this time. You see, corporations don't want to bring back the high wages and benefits that built the middle class during the postwar years. Corporations and their investors like the cheap labor they get from dictator run countries like China. When Nike sneakers are made for pennies in sweatshops, investors make higher returns.

So we're stuck. The high paying jobs that support domestic consumption are gone for good. The Right has won that battle. Worse: we've run out of credit. The Reagan trick of stimulating the economy through borrowing is dead.

Game over.

We swallowed poison in 1980.
 
Reagan supported gun control and total nuclear disarmament

What a conservative
 

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