NRA’s Cox Claims ‘Gun Laws Don’t Deter Terrorists’

Chris W. Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action says that gun control laws will do nothing to prevent terrorist attacks.

In an op-ed posted in Tuesday’s USA Today, Cox breaks the NRA’s recent silence and goes after President Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s call for more gun control.

They are desperate to create the illusion that they’re doing something to protect us because their policies can’t and won’t keep us safe. This transparent head-fake should scare every American, because it will do nothing to prevent the next attack.

In fact, he blames the Obama administration for not doing anything about it:

The terrorist in Orlando had been investigated multiple times by the FBI. He had a government-approved security guard license with a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security. Yet his former co-workers reported violent and racist comments. Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s political correctness prevented anything from being done about it.

According to Cox, “radical islamic terrorists” will not be stopped by a ban on assault weapons anyway (don’t you remember Paris and Brussels?), so we might as well just have access to them. After all, semi-automatic rifles are very popular among gun lovers.

Radical Islamic terrorists are not deterred by gun control laws. The San Bernardino terrorist attack wasn’t stopped by California’s so-called “assault weapons” ban. The gun ban in Brussels didn’t prevent the terrorist attack there. And France’s strict gun control didn’t stop the two attacks in Paris, committed with fully-automatic rifles and grenades.

Repeating the same thing but expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Law-abiding gun owners are tired of being blamed for the acts of madmen and terrorists. Semi-automatics are the most popular firearms sold in America for sport-shooting, hunting and self-defense.

Congress banned their manufacture for 10 years, from 1994 to 2004. The law also mandated an independent study on its effectiveness. The study proved the ban had no impact because criminals and terrorists are not deterred by gun control laws. To suggest otherwise provides a dangerous sense of false security. We don’t need false promises. We need real leadership.

It’s time for us to admit that radical Islam is a hate crime waiting to happen. The only way to defeat them is to destroy them — not destroy the right of law-abiding Americans to defend ourselves.

Cox was not the only one who wanted to use the days following the worst mass shooting in U.S. history to explain why military-style assault weapons in the hands of civilians are not really the problem.

Sean Davis, co-founder of the influential conservative blog The Federalist posted an essay Monday and argued that the assault weapons ban is a stupid idea pushed by stupid people. He seems appalled by “silly people like Seth MacFarlane and Susan Sarandon” who went on social media to advocate for a ban on automatic weapons” after the Orlando massacre, and he believes that people’s reaction “was as predictable as it was pathetic.” And that, he recalls,  always “happens like clock work: as soon as there’s a mere whisper of a terrorist attack or a mass shooting.”

Hillary Clinton tweeted the same message she had tweeted a day before, advocating for “gun violence prevention laws.”

Gun violence prevention laws might not stop every shooting or terrorist attack—but they will save lives. pic.twitter.com/raNqMJ4ez8

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 14, 2016

Photo credits: NRA News’ Facebook page

The post NRA’s Cox Claims ‘Gun Laws Don’t Deter Terrorists’ appeared first on Towleroad.

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FBI Will Investigate Whether Orlando Shooter’s Sexuality Motivated Attack on Gay Nightclub – VIDEO

The FBI will reportedly investigate what role, if any, the Orlando shooter’s sexuality played in motivating his attack on the gay nightclub Pulse.

The news comes following preliminary reports from survivors and Pulse regulars who said they believe the shooter was gay. Those individuals said they had seen the shooter before, both in the club and online on gay dating apps. 

The Guardian reports:

A conference call held late on Monday pulled together representatives from the FBI and departments of justice and homeland security with 358 civil-rights-minded leaders, particularly from the LGBT and American Muslim groups, a senior US official told the Guardian, to share information and hear concerns from communities reeling from one of the worst incidents of gun violence in recent US history.

FBI officials on the call “indicated they would follow up” on reports that shooter Omar Mateen had on a number of occasions visited the LGBT nightclub Pulse where he killed 49 and wounded 52 on Sunday.

Muslim leaders on the call reportedly expressed “condolences and significant support” for LGBT communities.

Watch an interview with one Pulse regular who said he saw the Orlando shooter at Pulse before the night of the attack, below.

The post FBI Will Investigate Whether Orlando Shooter’s Sexuality Motivated Attack on Gay Nightclub – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

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Rachel Maddow Looks Back at the History of Attacks on Gay Bars – WATCH

Rachel Maddow on Monday ran through a timeline of hate-motivated attacks on gay bars carried out in the last half century, the same period when gay communities began to organize and associate publicly.

As we reported yesterday, the brutal massacre in Orlando wasn’t the first time gay Americans have been the target of violence.

RELATED: 25 Violent Attacks at Gay Bars That Preceded Orlando’s Horrific Nightclub Massacre

From the Stonewall Riots, to the horrific attack on the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans in 1973 (where 32 people lost their lives), to the bombing of a lesbian bar by Atlanta Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, to the arson, “The gay community in the United States knows from violence,” as Maddow said. Maddow points out, “Stonewall is not a place [where the LGBT community] had meetings. Stonewall is a place they had a riot.”

She added, “The gay community in this country is forged in fire to a certain extent. And it’s therefore a tough community. But what just happened in Orlando it isn’t just an attack on the gay community. This time it’s the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”

Watch as Maddow explains how the Orlando massacre may have been the worst anti-gay attack in U.S. history, but was far from the first, below.

You can also watch a clip in which Maddow recaps some of the vigils held around the world yesterday for the Orlando victims.

The post Rachel Maddow Looks Back at the History of Attacks on Gay Bars – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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HRC Recognizes World Blood Donor Day

As health officials plead for blood donations following the horrific attack in Orlando over the weekend, HRC marks World Blood Donor Day. However, it is important to note that there continues to be a ban preventing men who have sex with men from donating life-saving blood.

“Now is the moment to lift the ban. It’s dated, unfair and stigmatizes the LGBT community,” said David Stacy, Director of Government Affairs. “Dozens of LGBTQ people are in need of urgent care in Florida today. So even as we honor World Blood Donor Day, we need to be honest about a policy that’s no longer justifiable.”

In Orlando, there is an urgent need for O Negative, O Positive and AB Plasma blood donors. To find a donation center or Big Red Bus near you visit www.oneblood.org or call 1.888.9.Donate.

Earlier today, Congressmen Mike Quigley, Xavier Becerra, Jared Polis, Sam Farr, Brian Higgins, Alcee Hastings, and Sean Patrick Maloney and Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Norma Torres, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Diana DeGette held a press conference on Capitol Hill and call on the Food and Drug Administration to end this discriminatory policy banning blood among gay and bisexual men once and for all. HRC Director of Policy David Stacy also spoke.

The American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers, and the American Association of Blood Banks have characterized the blood ban as medically and scientifically unwarranted as far back as 2006.

The federal policy that bans gay and bisexual men from giving blood is unfair and outdated. Based on the most recent science, it’s not only unjustifiable — it’s stigmatizing. If there was ever a moment that shows the blood ban should be lifted, it’s right now– when dozens of LGBTQ people are lying wounded in hospitals across Orlando in need of urgent care.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-recognizes-world-blood-donor-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#SayTheirNames #WeAreOrlando

www.glaad.org/blog/saytheirnames-weareorlando

The Baptist Pastor Who Cheered Orlando Murders Isn't Alone

Orlando is better off without LGBT people, the pastor said on a videotaped sermon.

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/6/14/baptist-pastor-who-cheered-orlando-murders-isnt-alone

Watch Fla. Attorney General Pretend She Didn't Stab Gays in the Back

Anderson Cooper wouldn’t let the Republican litigator off the hook for perpetuating homophobia in the Sunshine State.

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2016/6/14/watch-fla-attorney-general-pretend-she-didnt-stab-gays-back

Lady Gaga: 'Orlando, We Are United With You'

The “Born This Way” singer delivered a powerful speech at a Los Angeles rally for the victims of the Orlando shooting.

www.advocate.com/people/2016/6/14/lady-gaga-orlando-we-are-united-you