alec pushing gun agenda despite promise to stop--the guardian
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Thousands gathered during a rally in downtown Chicago outside the hotel whereAlec hold their 40th convention. Photograph: James Fassinger/For the Guardian
The American Legislative Exchange Council, a secretive alliance of bigbusinesses and largely Republican state legislators who co-operate topush a right-wing political agenda in the American hinterland, iscontinuing to wield outsized influence over gun laws across the USdespite its promise in the wake of the Trayvon Martin furore to stopoperating in this area.
As protesters gathered outside Alec's 40th annual gathering oflawmakers and corporate interests in Chicago, a new watchdog reportfinds that stand-your-ground laws of the sort forwarded by the group andmade infamous by the Martin killing are still proliferating around thecountry. Last year, Alec came under intense criticism that its modelstand-your-ground law, first adopted in Florida in 2005 having beendrafted by the National Rifle Association, had prevented the arrest ofGeorge Zimmerman, Martin's shooter, and made his prosecution moredifficult.
In the wake of the controversy, the group disbanded its "public safetyand elections" taskforce that had been lobbying for stand-your-groundlaws and for the spread of voter ID laws that restrict voter registrationand make it harder for black, elderly and poor voters to cast their ballots.But the new report from the Center for Media and Democracy finds thatthe group's hand can still be felt across the US with the ongoing creep ofstand-your-ground and regressive electoral laws.
The report chronicles how no fewer than 62 stand-your-ground and voterID laws have been introduced so far this year based to some degree onmodel bills framed by Alec. That includes 10 stand-your-ground bills,passed in two states and 52 legislative moves to restrict voter accessadopted by five states.
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US lobbying group Alec pushing pro-gun agenda despite promise to stopAmerican Legislative Exchange Council, group behind stand-your-ground laws, vowed change in wake of Trayvon Martin case
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World newsALEC (AmericanLegislative ExchangeCouncil) · US politicallobbying · US politics · USgun control · UnitedStates · Florida · TrayvonMartin
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A protester is pinned to the ground and arrested during a rally in downtown Chicagooutside the Palmer House Hilton Hotel where Alec were meeting Photograph:James Fassinger/For the Guardian
"Florida's 'shoot-first' law – an Alec model bill – shielded GeorgeZimmerman from arrest for six weeks and ensured law enforcement failedto conduct a proper investigation," said Rashad Robinson ofColorOfChange in a press conference to launch the new report. "Alecnow says they don't work on shoot-first laws or voter ID laws, but theselaws continue to exist around the country, putting black folks in harm'sway, and Alec are doing nothing to clean up the mess."
The annual gathering in Chicago of Alec members – both state-levelpoliticians and business executives – is the 40th such meeting. Foundedin 1973, the group remained largely under the radar until two years agowhen a whistleblower disclosed 800 of its model bills.
Chris Taylor, a state representative in Wisconsin, has been attending theChicago gathering having paid the $575 registration fee out of her ownpocket. She said there remained a "shroud of secrecy" around the event,with very little media present and few details put out about the schedulebefore it started on Wednesday.
Taylor said that neither gun nor electoral laws had been on the formalagenda so far, but the NRA was well represented on the exhibition flooras were groups touting restrictive voting legislation. "Legislators aretreated like the foot soldiers of special interests and are instructed to goout and enact their marching orders," Taylor said.
The Center for Media and Democracy report identifies a total of 466 Alecbills that have been introduced by state legislatures so far this year,spanning all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. Much of theeffort has gone into bills rolling back workers' rights includingcontroversial "right to work" legislation introduced in 15 states and otherattempts to block minimum wage structures.
Bills impacting state education have also been high on the agenda, with139 Alec bills introduced and 31 enacted this year. The legislationfocused on redirecting taxpayer money from public schools to for-profitprivate schools.
Legislation making it easier for energy companies to forward pollutingactivities such as fossil fuel consumption and fracking were identified in77 Alec bills so far this year.
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13 PEOPLE, 22 COMMENTS
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LeenaUSA
Alec has blood on its hands.
Why don't you tell us which businesses and legislators are part of ALEC?
Stand your ground laws need to be eliminated. Until then, boycott Florida and anyother state with them.
RIP Trayvon Martin. This was your country and it failed to give you justice.
08 August 2013 6:57pm32
BlackDogSociety LeenaUSA
@LeenaUSA - If Florida never enacted the SYG law the verdict still wouldhave been not guilty. SYG simply means there is no duty to retreat if thatopportunity is available. If you cannot retreat, like in the Martin case, thethe duty to do so isn't there anyway. Changing the law because Trayvonwas killed is an over-reaction and it will not prevent the next Trayvon fromgetting shot.
08 August 2013 7:42pm23
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Show 19 more replies Last reply: 10 August 2013 4:49pm
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In Arkansas, where there isn't a SYG law, a man shot another man whotried to attack him in from of the police station. The attacker turned out tobe unarmed but because of the nature of the attack and the details of thecase the jury rightfully set the shooter free. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoALOGnl76A (I'd mention the race of the parties but to me that'sirrelevant) Read and understand the laws before you condemn them....
Ricosoavarooski LeenaUSA
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by ourcommunity standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see ourFAQs.
08 August 2013 7:42pm
Justice53 LeenaUSA
Trayvon Martin case was not Stand your ground law. It was self defense
08 August 2013 10:17pm9
4 PEOPLE, 4 COMMENTS
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darquelourd
There is nothing more "Conservative" than killing a friend, family member, or co-worker - apparently.
08 August 2013 7:08pm19
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Ricosoavarooski darquelourd
So, you think the people who make up by FAR the majority of shooters andvictims are REPUBLICANS? CONSERVATIVES??????????????
08 August 2013 7:39pm8
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MacRandall darquelourd
And nothing more "Liberal" than keeping guns out of the hands ofintellectuals:
We regard the whole position as one of considerable gravity.There are two distinct categories of person from whom danger isto be apprehended, viz., (1) the savage or semi-civilisedtribesmen in outlying parts of the British Empire, whose maindemand is for rifles and ammunition, and (2) the anarchist or'intellectual' malcontent of the great cities, whose weapons arethe bomb and the automatic pistol.
There is some force in the view .... that the latter will in futureprove the more dangerous of the two. At any rate, his activitieswill call for unceasing vigilance, and very special precautions willbe necessary to control the trade in automatic pistols, which,apart from their extreme deadliness, are, by reason of their sizeand shape, more easily smuggled than any other type of weapon.[...]Your obedient Servants,15th November, 1918ERNLEY BLACKWELL,Chairman
08 August 2013 7:42pm6
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vermontgn darquelourd
Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history willlook upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as theblackest ... if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a goldenopportunity.
Mahatma Gandhi
09 August 2013 4:21am6
4 PEOPLE, 6 COMMENTS
slackingzac
America wants to arm Muslims in Syria with ties to people we've been told are ourenemies at the same time it's waging a secret war on its own citizens. It's very sadthat a few kids died, but I get so tired of groups using children as shields andpuppets for their cause. Kids are our future and blah blah blah, but things are bad
08 August 2013 7:14pm13
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here now. By giving up more rights, these children of the future will be less free thanwe are. What a gift to give them.
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hawkwoman slackingzac
Oh for Christ's sake - I'm America and I really, really DON'T want to armSyria, and neither do most American citizens that I know - we've had itbetween Iraq and Afghanistan, thank you.
What the fuck do you know about "America"?? I'm America. The Americangovernment may be considering it and if it comes to it, other Westerngovernments are already doing it.
As for the war on its own citizens - if you mean NSA surveillance, I'd checkyour own intelligence service - you'll find they're all doing pretty much thesame thing.
In the meantime, although as an American I'm pretty damn fed up with mygovernment, it still beats being gang-raped in India while the Indiangovernment pretends to wring its hands but is really only concerned aboutthe impact on tourism.
08 August 2013 8:23pm18
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slackingzac hawkwoman
I'd like to think I'm pretty American. As in born and raised, served for fiveyears and was honorably discharged from the Army after a tour inAfghanistan and losing the ability to walk properly. So yeah, I feel prettyAmerican.
08 August 2013 10:17pm9
hawkwoman slackingzac
Then you should know better. "America wants to arm . . ."!!!!
08 August 2013 11:50pm6
9 PEOPLE, 11 COMMENTS
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UglyAmerican66
So, self defence is no longer fashionable in the UK. No surprise, US private citizenssent firearms to England during WWII because they had no arms. At the end of thewar they were collected and melted down. Not a role model I would choose for theUS.
08 August 2013 7:17pm18
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hawkwoman UglyAmerican66
It wasn't self-defense - the kid was unarmed and Zimmerman leapt toconclusions that he should have verified before attacking. I could take out agun and shoot a black teen in a hoodie unwrapping a piece of gum acrossthe aisle from me on bus or subway - would I be justified in doing so? Icould take out a gun and turn around and shoot any man walking behind meon a dark street, too - after all, any woman walking home alone on a darkstreet is nervous, and therefore entitled to shoot any man she hears walkingbehind her, right? Even if he's 25 feet behind her and looking at his IPhoneas he ambles along?
Self-defense is when someone grabs you from behind, or starts charging atyou, or breaks into your home while you're asleep . . . not because 25 feetaway you saw a black kid in a hoodie.
If you can't tell the difference, you're the reason the argument is happening.Crime in the UK is astronomically higher than it used to be 30 years ago -not because self-defense is out of fashion, but because of rising tensions ofa formerly largely non-multiracial culture, a Britain whose citizens no longershare a broad respect for law, and an economic climate that has toldeveryone but the Windsors and the bankers to go screw themselves.
08 August 2013 8:19pm17
BlackDogSociety hawkwoman
No, it was definitely self defense. Lets say you are out walking your dogand you spot a person standing around your neighbor's vehicles, thatperson spots you looking their direction and bolts, aren't you going to besuspicious of that person? Now if you are a neighborhood watch volunteerand you spot a person you don't know hanging around the same vehicles atnight you are going to be already suspicious. Now when they bolt you are
08 August 2013 9:05pm14
Show 8 more replies Last reply: 09 August 2013 5:22pm
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going to want to see where they went. But none of that matters to thequestion of self defense. It was SD because at the time of the shootingTrayvon was beating Zimmerman and Zimmerman could not get away an hethought he could be killed. Sorry but that's SD in EVERY jurisdiction in theUS.
Now about crime in the UK, you do realize that rate of crime skyrocketedright after the 1997 gun ban don't you? Sure that could be a coincident but Idon't believe in coincidences, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duckthen guess what, its a duck...
panpipes BlackDogSociety
Gun ownership in the US is down so there isn't even a correlation between
08 August 2013 9:39pm1
7 PEOPLE, 7 COMMENTS
Show 4 more replies Last reply: 09 August 2013 2:55pm
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MacRandall
Irony Alert:
Note the CREDO logo on the sign in the background of the picture above.
Of lesser note: The continuing attempt to link "Stand Your Ground" with theZimmerman verdict continues to fall flat on the ears of the well educated andreasonably intelligent.
08 August 2013 7:26pm13
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Ricosoavarooski MacRandall
The photo reminds me of old "Communist Party USA protest" etc,
08 August 2013 7:37pm5
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Cognizance MacRandall
Actually the reason why Zimmerman was found not guilty is directlybecause of the "Stand Your Ground" Law - please see The 2012 FloridaStatutes Title XLVI Chapter 776 - JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE : 776.013Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or greatbodily harm. Paragraph 3 - "A person who is not engaged in an unlawfulactivity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a rightto be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground andmeet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonablybelieves it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm tohimself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forciblefelony."
08 August 2013 8:44pm6
BlackDogSociety Cognizance
Since Zimmerman could not retreat the duty to do so is irrelevant, other
08 August 2013 9:16pm7
13 PEOPLE, 22 COMMENTS
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Ricosoavarooski
Rule of law --- Zimmerman was correctly "riled" by burglaries and home invasions inhis community.
08 August 2013 7:43pm8
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Jenny340 Ricosoavarooski
I see some still don't understand rights come with responsibilities.
08 August 2013 7:53pm14
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Ricosoavarooski Jenny340
Yes, as in the right to perambulate and the right to defend your own life andthe lives of others with a handy firearm, as Zimmerman did, howeverineptly in the event.
08 August 2013 7:58pm5
Show 19 more replies Last reply: 10 August 2013 6:51am
Jenny340 Ricosoavarooski
You'll note this poster, like others of his ilk, assigns rights of citizenship
08 August 2013 8:15pm6
7 PEOPLE, 27 COMMENTS
Show 24 more replies Last reply: 11 August 2013 9:58am
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Ricosoavarooski
"US Group Still Pushing Gun Agenda."
Rates of violent crime have been falling for years in the USA.Gun ownership has been increasing.
Is there some intense psychological obstacle which obtrudes between these obviousfacts and the ideological campaign to demonize gun ownership, which on the whole saves lives?Weird --- Guardian workers who mock others for being "hypocrites" should carefullyconsider their own vulnerability to propaganda.
08 August 2013 7:56pm12
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hawkwoman Ricosoavarooski
I'm glad you don't do medical research which, if it has shown us anything,has shown us that linking two statistics as cause and effect withoutcomparing additional factors - such as, for example, that economicconditions in the US during those some of those years, in the 1990s, wasmuch better, which always leads to a downturn in crime; revamped effortsby law enforcement agencies - Boston and New York have both seen bigdrops in crime, not due to "gun ownership" but due to restructured policeefforts . . . and of course, one must revisit comparable scenarios: Vermont,which has always had a very low crime rate, has some of the most liberalgun laws in the country. Its crime rate has remained static.
So, what in your psychological and intellectual makeup makes you capableof accepting such a facile interpretation of two statistics around that amyriad of other factors clearly influences?
It's like saying poverty went up and crime went down, so obviously povertyis a good thing.
For decades women were told by the medical profession for example, thathormone replacement therapy would maintain bone health, heart health, andkeep them young and juicy (the latter was the subtext). Lo and behold, afew decades later, and women are suddenly told that they will also have ahigher risk of breast cancer with HRT, and that the research is nowuncertain on the upsides of bone and heart health.
I don't mock people who hold different views from me, but I do mock peoplewho accept mindlessly facile and usually erroneous conclusions that anyresearcher would immediately call into question.
08 August 2013 8:10pm14
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Corrections hawkwoman
imo, the biggest correlation is with age. The baby boomers have gottenolder. Violent crime is a younger man's game, and 15-30 year olds aresimply a smaller percentage of the total population now.
08 August 2013 9:33pm3
panpipes Ricosoavarooski
The household gun ownership rate has fallen from an average of 50 percent
08 August 2013 9:37pm2
3 PEOPLE, 4 COMMENTS
hawkwoman
ALEC is another poster child for partitioning the nation into the states that soobediently accept its agenda, and the states uninterested in its agenda and capableof refusing them entry.
ALEC is part of the K Street/Wall Street/Citizens United pantheon that has takenover the United States Congress, particularly its Republican and right-wingcomponents.
Those of us who despise them, their agenda, who believe them to be the corporateequivalent of the KGB, STASI, etc., will never be rid of them unless we are able to
08 August 2013 8:02pm11
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secede from the country whose Congress refuses to disown them.
Partition NOW.
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UglyAmerican66 hawkwoman
So, your position is that no one should take responsibility for themselves ortheir families and should rely on the government for everything. . . . Whendo I get my SOMA?
08 August 2013 8:29pm2
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Corrections UglyAmerican66
And THAT is what you think ALEC is about? You're either a shill or a troll.And/or naive.
08 August 2013 9:27pm10
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hawkwoman UglyAmerican66
So, your position is that unelected K Street lobbyists should be writinglegislation that you thought your elected representatives were drafting; thatcorporations really are people; and that Goldman Sachs, which solddefective products to its clients and then get against those products in themarketplace, and when the shit hit the fan got bailed out with middle-classtaxpayer money, is really a free-market capitalist hero, while I, said middle-class American taxpayer, am really the government moocher?
Do please clarify that for us, dear troll.
08 August 2013 11:39pm13
5 PEOPLE, 10 COMMENTS
Show 7 more replies Last reply: 11 August 2013 6:14pm
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D. Aram Mushegian II
trayvon martin had nothing at all to do with stand your ground laws.
im not supporter of SYG laws, but you are just being ignorant to try and associatestand your ground laws with trayvon martin.
and youre not only being ignorant you are deflecting attention away from the actualstand your grounds laws used in the case, that essentially gave george zimmermanthe opportunity to use deadly force on an unarmed teenager, with no warning.
08 August 2013 9:10pm3
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D. Aram Mushegian II D. Aram Mushegian II
and youre not only being ignorant you are deflecting attentionaway from the actual [self-defense laws] used in the case, thatessentially gave george zimmerman the opportunity to usedeadly force on an unarmed teenager, with no warning.
erm, corrected..
08 August 2013 9:14pm0
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Corrections D. Aram Mushegian II
Now go away and read the instructions the judge gave to the jury. Thencome back and apologize for your ignorance.
08 August 2013 9:25pm4
D. Aram Mushegian II Corrections
yea exactly, we want those laws changed.
08 August 2013 11:10pm4
5 PEOPLE, 6 COMMENTS
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The2ndguardsUS
MOLON LABE They will never get our guns without a bloody civil war. Even if theymanage to ban guns it will not be enforceable in most of the US.
08 August 2013 9:12pm5
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Witness1 The2ndguardsUS
Really? You'll go up against a militarized police force using combat armorand automatic weapons? You think you won't give up your guns when theyknock on your door? That is, after you've pee'd your pants.
09 August 2013 2:03am2
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flaguy Witness1
Happens all over the world every year or so by people wanting to get/keeptheir freedom. The government agents don't have much courage when it'stheir families that are at risk
09 August 2013 2:20am3
EdHyde Witness1
The Vietnamese did it, same as the Afghans
09 August 2013 3:41am0
6 PEOPLE, 9 COMMENTS
Show 6 more replies Last reply: 10 August 2013 7:04am
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veritasinverse
I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about the Trayvon Martin shooting resulting in amiscarriage of justice.
The media shamelessly whipped (much of) the country into a frenzy over the caseFOR RATINGS (which is another way of saying FOR MONEY).
People are getting shot every day, all over America. The national media pretty muchignore almost all of it. Let them find a case with which they can manipulate publicopinion FOR RATINGS, however, and they will fixate on it with seemingly non-stopcoverage. Talking heads. TV juries. Reverend Al.
The jury heard all the evidence, reached a decision. That's what happens incourthouses every day. I didn't hear all the evidence, but suspect the jury reachedthe right verdict.
I rather doubt Zimmerman would have even been charged at all but for the media.We'll never know how much all the attention influenced the decision to prosecute, ofcourse, but even after acquittal the drumbeat for a pound of Zimmerman's fleshcontinues.
Calls for civil rights prosecution seem ridiculous, to me anyway. There is noevidence race had anything to do with the shooting. Might Zimmerman have"profiled" Trayvon, at least in part, based on race? Sure, but only Zimmerman reallyknows. Even if that were so, it wouldn't justify subjecting him to double jeopardy.Yet there have been demonstrations all over America calling for just that. Why?Because the national media plucked one case and magnified its significant out of allproportion FOR RATINGS, the result of which was increasing the racial divide.
08 August 2013 9:44pm12
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Witness1 veritasinverse
If Trayvon Martin had been white and Zimmerman had been black do youthink it would have turned out differently? Seriously, do you? Do you thinkthat Zimmerman, had he been black, would not have been charged with andarrested for murder?
09 August 2013 2:01am7
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veritasinverse Witness1
If Zimmerman had been an older, black neighborhood watch guy, andTrayvon a 17 year old white teenager, and if every other circumstanceremained unchanged, I tend to doubt the prosecutor would have broughtcharges. Rightly or wrongly, the event would most likely (imo) have beenruled justifiable homicide. Why? Because the national media would havetaken no interest in the case. There wouldn't have been political pressure tobring charges and "let a jury decide." Can I know for sure that there wouldhave been no charges? Of course not.. Am I pretty confident that any trialwould have resulted in the same verdict? Yes.
09 August 2013 2:50am6
vermontgn Witness1
look up Arizona Phoenix SYG case , shooter is Black , victim was Hispanic
09 August 2013 4:50am1
3 PEOPLE, 3 COMMENTS
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Biffgee
"Thousands gathered during a rally in downtown Chicago."
Bullshit. I count about a couple hundred at most. And remember Chicago is MurderCity, USA, a 'gun-free' zone. How's that working out for you Chicago? I am muchsafer when law abiding citizens are armed. As opposed to the Chicago model wherecriminals are armed and law abiding citizens are unarmed.
08 August 2013 11:19pm9
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LostintheUS Biffgee
There were far more than were captured in the photos...
09 August 2013 3:22am3
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EdHyde Biffgee
Meanwhile gang members in Chicago shoot innocent children every day.Unfortunately the shooters are not white, so the media and activists ignorethe slaughter.
09 August 2013 3:43am9
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KOG2013
Arrest them all, and throw them into Guantanamo for 6 months. Let 'em mix with theMuslim terrorist trash. GOOD TIMES.
08 August 2013 11:23pm0
6 PEOPLE, 6 COMMENTS
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Dave1963
"Continuing to wield outsized influence over gun laws across the US"? How aboutthey're writing legislation and donating/bribing legislators to see that it's passed.Groups with a few thousand members influence laws that affect 300 millionAmericans. And most of my fellow Americans are too ignorant to even know what'shappening. When corporations and government conspire to do what's best for themthat equals fascism not democracy. When media conspires to "sell" the agendathat's called propaganda.
Here's a list of some of the right wing groups influencing public policy:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/organizations
Here's some well researched information on ALEC:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch
09 August 2013 12:09am4
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Witness1 Dave1963
The Supreme Court just threw out the anti-propaganda laws.
09 August 2013 1:59am0
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Bobby_Z Dave1963
Being conservative, or "right wing" as you call it, is not a crime, at leastyet. But the links you post are to true foaming at the mouth left-wingharassment sites. If you want to be honest, why not take a look at somemuch more truthful political analysis on the web.
http://discoverthenetworks.org/
Saul Alinsky - the author of the game plan of your left-wing groups.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314
Obama and the Saul Alinsky connection:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/Rules%20for%20Revolution%20(2).pdf
09 August 2013 5:15am4
thegradycole Bobby_Z09 August 2013 12:13pm
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Show 3 more replies Last reply: 09 August 2013 4:29pm
The point is that ALEC is not an organization of conservative legislators. Do
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Ae00111
How so liberally biased, so self-defense against drugged kids is now looked downupon? How pathetic.
09 August 2013 12:22am3
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Witness1 Ae00111
Waaht?
09 August 2013 1:59am3
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Ricosoavarooski Witness1
The allusion is to the ALLEGED toxicology results support the contentionthat T. Martin's liver showed pathology consistent with use of "Purpledrank" and that he may have been high when he assaulted Zimmerman.Just enter "was Trayvon high on purple drank" and go from there. But givenhow highly charged this case became (and it IS NOT over yet; there is atleast one lawsuit outstanding versus the Florida prosecutor's office forwithholding evidence illegally from the Zimmerman defense) you have to beespecially skeptical and look for multiple, on the record sources to verify orrefute anything posted.
09 August 2013 4:33pm0
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christianasgrand
That idiotic old woman in Texas who shot a seven year old boy who was takingg apee on enbankment,with his family all sitting in an ATV nearby, believed she wasstanding her ground. It was the state's property, however. There is no end to whiteparanoia among the least educated, including Republicans.
09 August 2013 1:14am0
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Jack Eck christianasgrand
That is BS... That woman and her husband were both convicted of murder.White paranoia is a racist thing to say don't you think? The double standardis glaring any your comment is annoying.......
09 August 2013 5:44am4
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KingJamesI
These anti-human rights activists are sad people with sad lives.
09 August 2013 1:33am1
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SueCopeland
FOR THE LAST TIME
SYG was NOT used in the Zimmerman/Martin trial.
09 August 2013 1:51am7
3 PEOPLE, 5 COMMENTS
SueCopeland
The American Legislative Exchange Council, a secretive alliance of big businessesand largely Republican state legislators who co-operate to push a right-wing politicalagenda in the American hinterland
Hardly secretive, Ed Pilkington, it's all over Wikipedia, viz:
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a 501(c)(3) Americanorganization composed of legislators, businesses and foundations which producesmodel policies for state legislatures and promotes free markets, limited government,and federalism at the state level.[3] According to the organization's website,members share a common belief that "government closest to the people" is
09 August 2013 2:04am3
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"fundamentally more effective, more just, and a better guarantor of freedom than thedistant, bloated federal government in Washington, D.C." In a Dec. 2011 opinionpiece critical of ALEC which appeared in The Nation magazine, John Nicholsdescribed ALEC as a "collaboration between multinational corporations andconservative state legislators."ALEC provides a forum for state legislator and corporate members to collaborate on"model policies"—draft legislation that members can customize for communities andintroduce for debate in their own state legislatures. Approximately 200 per yearbecome law.[6] ALEC has produced model policy on issues such as reducingcorporate regulation and taxation, tightening voter identification rules, digital dueprocessnstreamlining or minimizing environmental protections, over-criminalizationand promoting gun rights. ALEC also serves as a networking tool among statelegislators, allowing them to research the handling and "best practices" of policy inother states.ALEC's complete list of model policies are housed on the organization's website forpublic viewing.
for lots more see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council
FOR A LIST OF MEMBERS SEE:
List of members of the American Legislative Exchange Councilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council
The alphabetical list below contains the names of for-profit corporations that areknown to be, or to have been, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)members or supporters
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations
I would suggest it is not really very secret, but I guess that sounds better whenyou are a (somewhat) biased reporter.
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SueCopeland SueCopeland
Ed Pilkington is the chief reporter for Guardian US. He is a former nationaland foreign editor of the paper, and author of Beyond the Mother Country.
Please note that Google, an excellent search engine may be found at www.google.com
09 August 2013 2:07am0
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basedrop SueCopeland
Obviously you didn't even bother to read the pages at wikipedia:
"Arizona Assistant Minority Leader Steve Farley proposed an ALECAccountability Act to force legislators to disclose their ALEC ties.I just want to emphasize it’s fine for corporations to be involved in theprocess. Corporations have the right to present their arguments, but theydon’t have the right to do it secretly. They don’t have the right to lobbypeople and not register as lobbyists."
"The Nation; Publication of leaked ALEC model policies"
" Bloomberg Businessweek compared ALEC's work to that of lobbyists,noting, "part of ALEC's mission is to present industry-backed legislation asgrass-roots work", and that being a non-profit rather than a lobby groupallows deductibility of membership dues, and the freedom not to disclosethe names of legislators who attend its educational seminars or theexecutives who give presentations to those legislators"
"ALEC's membership list and the origin of its model policies were notdisclosed; BusinessWeek wrote that "part of ALEC's mission is to presentindustry-backed legislation as grass-roots work"
Now lets get to your second link with the list of members:"This list includes members whose identity primarily has become knownthrough internal documents leaked to Common Cause and research bymembers of the press. This list may not be complete."
You wouldn't even have this page to reference if its secretivemembership wasn't leaked.
Conclusion: Secretive.
09 August 2013 10:49am0
SueCopeland basedrop
Conclusion:
09 August 2013 1:41pm0
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Show 4 more replies Last reply: 09 August 2013 4:36pm
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NotarySojac
Yet again, an article which mentions the names "Martin" and "Zimmerman" isbesieged by idiot trolls attempting to defend Zimmerman's criminal actions.
As a neighborhood-watch volunteer, Zimmerman was not supposed to carry aweapon. He chose to do so, in violation of the rules.The dispatcher strongly advised him not to follow or confront the person who turnedout to be Trayvon Martin; Zimmerman chose to ignore this advice.Given these two facts which cannot be disputed, it is clearly Zimmerman, and onlyZimmerman, who is responsible for instigating the entire tragedy. Gaining couragefrom the presence of his artificial penis, and in flagrant violation of watch rules andthe dispatcher's advice to remain in his vehicle, Zimmerman chose to follow hisbigotry to tragic self-importance.
Faced with these facts, the Florida justice system tried to do nothing whatsoever;under pressure, they reluctantly brought forward a "case" which omitted the factsoutlined above. Which makes it very hard to believe that the prosecution had anyreal interest in "winning" their case.
All you little trolls can flog your talking points (and bad grammar and 4th-gradespelling skills) all you wish (or are paid to do, by whom?), but sheer repetition cannotmake your lies any truth-ier.
(And don't troll me, because I won't be reading it.)
09 August 2013 2:32am8
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SoAmerican NotarySojac
You were doing good until you started talking about "artificial penis" and"bigotry", which derailed your otherwise legitimate argument.
09 August 2013 3:36am2
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EdHyde NotarySojac
About as tiring as reading followers of Saint Trayvon claiming he was aninnocent child hunted and killed by a racist.
09 August 2013 4:36am4
vermontgn NotarySojac
not supposed to carry is huge difference from barred to carry . You are not
09 August 2013 4:52am0
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Cheryl Llera
Meanwhile, a small group of Americans refuse to become Good Germans, choosinginstead to challenge the real owners of this country, and doing so face-to-face. Longlive the Resistance!
09 August 2013 2:59am6
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carrieanna
Working to keep people from voting is thoroughly anti-American. These lobbyistsshould be ashamed of themselves.
09 August 2013 3:18am4
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NRAFREEDOM
Brits are foolish suckers that gave away their rights to firearms w/o a fight.
We Americans will use murderous revolution against our worthless gov't to protectour rights.
Enjoy.
09 August 2013 3:50am3
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hoyoku NRAFREEDOM
Careful, the NSA's watching you....
09 August 2013 5:04am1
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maias NRAFREEDOM
Do you think your pea-shooter equivalent can take on one of your worthlessgov't's helicopter gunships in your murderous revolution?
09 August 2013 6:55am2
Enid Anderson NRAFREEDOM
Why use violent revolution as a tool when you can simply vote them out?
09 August 2013 8:47am2
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Gman79
Good to see Americans on here pointlessly whining about:
a) the tired ins-and-outs of the Zimmerman case andb) the "right" - clearly abhorrent in a civilzed society - to kill others with guns.
The important issue - the wholesale corporate buying of politics through the likes ofALEC - seems to scarecely raise an eyebrow. But then corruption isn't corruption if ithappens in Murika: it's just good ole capitalism and freedom of speech.
09 August 2013 3:58am6
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Jack Eck Gman79
Murder is illegal here. Gun ownership is not and there is no evidence thatattributes loose gun laws equal more murder...
09 August 2013 4:57am3
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Dave1963 Gman79
Your just mad because you have limited gun rights in the UK, so you haveto beat each other to death like really civilized people.
09 August 2013 5:26am5
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Ricosoavarooski Dave1963
"Youth Screams While Being Hacked to Death with Swords" (stop here andtell me the next part isn't shocking)"In CENTRAL LONDON" --- 28 January 2013, in Pimlico, as allegedly somekind of horrible gang dispute.
09 August 2013 4:39pm1
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labman57
Public protests are an expression of all that is good and Godly -- they are theultimate display of democracy and patriotism against the evils of the establishment,the corruption of the federal government, and the unconstitutionality of decisionshanded down by the Supreme Court.*
* ... unless said protests are conducted by union workers, liberals and progressives,ethnic minorities, gays, senior citizens, women fighting for their health and privacyrights, or participants in an "occupied" rally, in which case they're a non-patrioticdemonstration of unAmerican, immoral ideas by "thugs, hoodlums, andmalcontents" who want to destroy society as we know it!
The preceding announcement was brought you by the corporate-sponsored lobbyistsand Congressional Republican puppetmasters of ALEC.
09 August 2013 4:50am4
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Jack Eck
Look I know most of you guardian readers don't like hearing it but the Americanpeople are pro gun. Also even as all these gun laws are being loosened upAmerica's homicide rate has been dropping since 1993. Despite a recession whichby most people's account should raise the level of violence in a country... This reallyis a non issue here...
09 August 2013 4:56am5
Show 2 more replies Last reply: 09 August 2013 4:43pm
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Bobby_Z Jack Eck
If you want to read the absolute silliness of the modern British attitudetoward guns (after they lost their Empire) - check this out for a laugh - rightoff the pages of the Guardian:
"Bullet found in doorway" - from 9 Nov. 2006.
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1013959.bullet_found_in_doorway/
09 August 2013 5:20am7
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Jack Eck Bobby_Z
Lol... That is to funny....
09 August 2013 5:48am0
basedrop Bobby_Z
I thought I was reading the Onion.
09 August 2013 10:56am1
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hoyoku
Rudyard Kipling wrote of having observed the corporate buying and selling ofpoliticians and their votes in "Notes on America" around a century ago. That'sprogress for ya!
09 August 2013 5:03am1
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Bobby_Z
Guardian, can you possibly be more biased and dishonest? "Watchdog group" - youmean a far left harassment organization? Look at their stupid report - almost asbiased as you are. Stand your ground had nothing to do with the Martin case - whichwas brought on pure racialist grounds - Zimmerman was acquitted on simple selfdefense. You call simple conservative political organizations who want to return toConstitutional limited government"far right" as if they are brownshirts - gee, don't youhave your own little issue with Nazi sympathizers?
09 August 2013 5:07am4
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maias
US lobbying group Alec pushing pro-gun agenda despite promise to stop......
Hey, don't forget George W Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq butattacked him after 45 hours had elapsed - reminded me of stories of cowboysshooting others in the back.
So don't expect too much from Alec, who obviously needs a gun AND laws to givehim the courage to fire it.
09 August 2013 6:49am1
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Enid Anderson
Personally, I don't care how many gun-toting Americans shoot it out with each otherand eliminate themselves. Unfortunately it's the Trayvon Martins who get killed bythe people who think they are invincible/macho/powerful. It's not often two gunowners slug it out - more's the pity.
09 August 2013 8:41am0
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Ricosoavarooski Enid Anderson
Well personally I DO care since there are real innocent bystanders killed bythe stray bullets --- it would be tragic but highly predictable that the usual"gangstas" shoot at each other and sometimes connect, since the lawenforcement methods and community pressure so far haven't totallyclamped that down by any means, but there have been a number of people,including children barely able to walk, killed when these idiots stage a"driveby" shooting in order to settle some kind of meaningless dispute.The death toll is disproportionately black and Hispanic and would never betolerated otherwise, of course.
09 August 2013 4:25pm2
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EdHyde Enid Anderson
Hate to disturb your preconceptions, but I am one of those gun-totingAmericans who has owned handguns for over 30 years. I've never shotanyone, and my guns have never magically jumped from the closet andshot anyone.
09 August 2013 4:31pm3
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Jack Hughes
Republicans love outsourcing so much that they have outsourced legislation tocorporate special interests.
09 August 2013 12:21pm3
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antihegemon
The beginning of the end for corporatism and its cronies.We see you. We know who you are. We know what you're doing.We will stop you.
09 August 2013 2:40pm1
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Justin Brown antihegemon
We should stop labeling congresspeople as democrat or republican andstart doing (ALEC pawn)
09 August 2013 4:19pm0
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Justin Brown
IF people want to stand against american corporatocracy, they need to boycottanybody who has ties to ALEC. We are no longer a democracy when half thegovernment takes its marching orders from corporations.
09 August 2013 4:16pm2
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Justice53
Whites Don't Belong In America Says Latino KKK Brown Berets At Arizona LawProtest
http://www.alipac.us/content/video-latino-kkk-brown-berets-say-whites-don-t-belong-america-2156/
"The video we are releasing again today captures just one of many examples of theracism and separatist movements you will see on every street corner in Americashould we fail to stop Congress from passing amnesty for illegal aliens!"
09 August 2013 5:28pm0
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Landrew
Controversial 'right to work' laws? Amusing. Right to work merely means you cannotbe forced to join a union and pay dues as a condition of employment. No surprisethat the coercion-loving progressives hate this. How unjust that we can't force you todo something against your will! We know what's best for you anyway! Apparentlyquite a few government employees in Wisconsin and Indiana disgree with thismentality, since memberships in govt employee unions there dropped dramaticallyafter these laws went into effect.But that's just wrong! The progressives should have their 'right' to order them back inand cough up dues! Justice!
Laughable.
09 August 2013 6:00pm1
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tastypet
Stand your Ground was not the defense used in the Trayvon Martin case. To evendiscuss it when it was not used is nothing but fear-mongering.
09 August 2013 6:45pm1
MISkid 1
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It is amazing the words thrown in to the when an organization with views contrary toliberals does something. If the writer had researched US case law they would havefound that "stand your Ground" & "self defense" are synonymous. So one mustconclude that the writer is against self defense. Everyone except the writer, knowsstates with right to work laws have created more jobs than states who don't havesuch laws. It is a fact that wind turbines have killed more birds, many endangered,than all other causes. It is a fact that solar cell "farms" have endangered morespecies that any other cause; fracking farming, logging, or coal mining. Don't youwish that there was a news organization that would work with facts & not push anagenda?
09 August 2013 7:25pm
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