WOW: Guns to surpass car accidents as leading cause of deaths among young people

[spin]

216. Since I hope to see some improvements to our national gun laws ...

that help to reduce gun violence, I see no problem with giving advice to gun control advocates.

I'm very liberal and progressive on most issues but I'm not as extreme as some on the far left of the Democratic Party. A test I took here on DU several weeks ago showed me to be in the middle between the average Democrat and the most liberal members of our party.

I've noticed over the years that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have lost respect for any viewpoint of the other side and refuse to negotiate and compromise. In the past both parties would fight during the elections and then sit down and find workable compromises that they could then create good legislation from. Today both parties seem to simply hate each other and waste valuable opportunities to further the progress of our nation by constantly bickering.

Of course one of the recent big changes in politics and one of the main drivers of the hatred between both major parties has been the rise of the Tea Party which I believe both Democrats and the establishment Republicans intensely dislike. Like the very progressive wing of our party, the Tea Party does not believe in compromise. Hopefully their attempt to take over the Republican Party will fail. Perhaps in one or two election cycles they will break from the Republican Party and form a third party which would work to our advantage.

I have said above that I think that your efforts to pass strong gun control laws are a noble but futile effort at this time. I also feel that the most liberal and progressive faction of our party has noble goals and standing on principles is admirable. The problem is that we need to find a way to move our nation forward.

One thing that I fear is the growing "throw all the bastards out" movement.

NBC/WSJ poll: 60 percent say fire every member of Congress

Throw the bums out.

That’s the message 60 percent of Americans are sending to Washington in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, saying if they had the chance to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including their own representative, they would. Just 35 percent say they would not.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-60-percent-say-fire-every-member-congress-v20903531

In the next few years both parties better find a way to sit down and compromise or many good long term members of Congress will find themselves outside looking in. Their replacements will lack experience and the results for the nation may be disappointing.

So obviously we do disagree on our approach. You prefer to stand on noble principles which I respect but sometimes disagree with. I look for results.

I feel that our nation lost an excellent opportunity to pass some much needed improvements to our national gun laws. I am greatly disappointed.

In a post above you mentioned Obama's gun control proposals.

SUMMARY: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S GUN-CONTROL PROPOSALS

***snip***

The plan:

Requires background checks for all gun sales and strengthens the background check system. This would include removing barriers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act so that states may more freely share information about mental health issues involving potential gun purchasers.
Provides states with monetary incentives—$20 million in fiscal year FY 2013 and a proposed $50 million in FY 2014—to share information so that records on criminal history and people prohibited from gun ownership due to mental health reasons are more available.
Bans military-style assault weapons and limits magazines to a capacity of 10 rounds.
Provides additional tools to law enforcement. The plan proposes a crackdown on gun trafficking by asking Congress to pass legislation that closes “loopholes” in gun trafficking laws and establishes strict penalties for “straw purchasers” who pass a background check and then pass guns on to prohibited people.
Urges Congress to pass the administration’s $4 billion proposal to keep 15,000 state and local police officers on the street to help deter gun crime.
Maximizes efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. The president calls upon the attorney general to work with U.S. attorneys across the country to determine gaps occurring in this area and where supplemental resources are appropriate.
Provides training for “active shooter” situations to 14,000 law enforcement, first responders and school officials.
Directs the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a statement to health care providers that they are not prohibited by federal law from reporting threats of violence to the proper authorities.
Launches a national gun safety campaign to encourage responsible gun ownership and authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission to examine issues relating to gun safety locks.
Helps schools invest in safety. The president’s plan calls for more school resource officers and counselors in all schools through the Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program. The plan also calls for the federal government to assist schools in developing emergency management plans.
Improves mental health awareness through enhanced teacher training and referrals for treatment. The plan calls for the training of 5,000 additional mental health professionals nationwide. The plan also calls for coverage of mental health treatment under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/summary-president-obama-gun-proposals.aspx

I agree with every suggestion in his plan with one exception. The poison pill that killed the chances of any of these ideas was the AWB and the limit on the number of rounds a magazine could hold.

If that one item had not been mentioned a fair number of the ideas in the proposal could be in place today. Isn't that better than nothing?