Sheer Stupidity

Earlier this week Governor Bob McDonnell responded to the recent shooting that occurred in New Town Connecticut by urging the Virginia legislature to pass legislation that would allow teachers and principals in the Commonwealth to arm themselves with guns in Virginia schools.

This proposal by the Governor will only put more lives in danger. As I stated last week in a blog and a video, the real answer to reducing gun violence in not only the Commonwealth of Virginia, but in the country as a whole, is to enact an assault weapons ban in the Commonwealth and reinstate the assault weapons ban at the Federal level.

We must strengthen the background checks for people who want to possess guns legally in the Commonwealth as well as the rest of the nation and we need to close the gun show loophole.

I also believe that magazines of the type that are used with assault weapons, like the ones used in Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia Tech, should be subject to a stiff tax until they are completely banned.  Each assault with an assault weapon has extraordinary societal impact. Not only do these assaults cost lives, but they also raise the cost of healthcare.  Not only do they raise the cost of healthcare, but the survivors will very likely suffer severe emotional and physical injuries which mandate expensive care for the rest of their lives.  Simply put, it is better to ban these high caliber ammunitions and assault weapons completely because in the long run banning them will be savings to us.

I also will, once sworn in as Governor, institute a recurring gun buy back program for weapons of every kind in Virginia, and these buy back programs will occur twice a year.  Some people have stated that guns do not kill people - people kill people.  What is true without a doubt is that high caliber ammunition in these assault weapons does in fact kill people.

ENOUGH

How many more killings will it take? How many more parents must bury their children? How many brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, and husbands must be buried because of the senseless gun violence? How many more children are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Second Amendment?

In a given year, there is an average of 20 mass shootings in the United States.  The moral question before us, is how many more killings will it take for us, as a nation, to conclude that the Second Amendment does not give us carte blanche permission to kill at will? The latest example of this is the mass killing of innocent school children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newport, CT.

For far too long, our society and our leaders, both at the Federal and State levels, have turned a blind eye to the increasingly violent society we find ourselves in.  Whether it is the Virginia Tech shooting of several years ago, the Columbine shooting, or the rash of shootings we have seen in 2012: such as the mass killings at the movie theater in Colorado, the shooting that occurred at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, and the shooting in New York City right outside the Empire State Building.  Also just a few days ago, a shooting occurred at a popular mall outside Portland, Oregon in which 3 people were killed. 

I know that it not a popular stand to speak out against the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is really not an issue. The right to bear arms in this country is a Constitutional right, but even rights can be reasonably regulated.  Many in the Conservative movement believe that there should be no restrictions on the right to bear arms.  Yet, it is this very theology, this true belief on the part of Conservatives in this country, that has led to an increasing number of mass shootings. This increasingly violent behavior has struck both the well known as well as the unknown. 

As you may remember, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was severely injured by an individual who had a mental illness, and who had obtained assault weapons.  While the former Congresswoman survived, others did not in that shooting, including a Federal District Judge.

Once elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I will move with full speed to ban assault weapons of every type in the Commonwealth.  Assault weapons are the most used in mass killings.  Assault weapons are of no use in hunting. 

I am not proposing a ban on all guns.  However, I think it’s more than reasonable for the next Governor to propose regulations that would completely ban all assault weapons including the glock, which was one of the weapons used in the shooting at the elementary school in Connecticut. 

Proposing such a reasonable ban will, I am sure, cause a political uproar in the Commonwealth.  But it is the right thing to do.  As your next Governor, I will propose such a ban.

Keep the Ban on Uranium Mining in Virginia

I want to discuss with you today an issue of critical importance to the well-being of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and our environment. Over the next several weeks the state legislature will decide whether or not to lift the 30 year ban on uranium mining in Virginia.  A few powerful uranium mining businesses are spending millions of dollars in an effort to have the ban lifted.  If the ban is lifted, it would cause severe damage to our environment here in Virginia.

• Our water and food systems would be contaminated.
• We would see increasing rates of cancer and other health problems throughout the Commonwealth.
• The mined uranium would be shipped out of state, while the radioactive waste would remain in  our environment here in the Commonwealth for centuries.

Our environment should not be raped for the benefit of a few large uranium mining corporations.

As your Governor, I would do everything that I can to ensure that the ban against Uranium is maintained.  If the ban is lifted before I become Governor, I will lead a full-fledged effort to reimpose such a ban as soon as possible.

A useful fact sheet can be found here.

Sign the petition to keep the ban on Uranium mining in Virginia here.

Matt The Democrat Famiglietti
Candidate for the Democratic Nomination for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
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