Plan B Forum

US gun rights advocates have signed a White House petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported for allegedly attacking the Second Amendment rights of ordinary Americans.


The outspoken former British tabloid editor has launched something of a personal crusade for greater gun control measures in the wake of the December 14 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

On Tuesday, Morgan held an especially contentious interview with executive director of Gun Owners of America Larry Pratt, appearing to become incensed and incredulous when Pratt suggested more, not fewer, weapons as the solution.

"You're an unbelievably stupid man, aren't you?" Morgan said at one point during the heated debate. "You have absolutely no coherent argument. You don't actually give a damn about the gun murder rate in America."

Following the interview, a Texas journalist posted a petition on the White House website alleging Morgan "is engaged in a hostile attack against the US Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment".

Many Americans believe in the literal interpretation of the Second Amendment, which enshrines the "right to bear arms" in the US constitution.

Morgan insists America can outlaw military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines without infringing on people's constitutional rights and says he has no quarrel with the Second Amendment.

Two days after the petition calling for Morgan's deportation was posted, it had already garnered more than 19,000 signatures, closing in quickly on the 25,000 required to get a response from the White House.

A defiant Morgan refused to back down from his position.

"Ironic US gun rights campaign to deport me for 'attacking 2nd Amendment rights' - is my opinion not protected under 1st Amendment rights?," he posted on his Twitter feed on Saturday, referring to freedom of speech provisions.

Morgan continued to post incendiary comments on the gun control debate, including a response on Sunday morning to an NBC interview with a top official in the powerful pro-gun lobby group, the National Rifle Association.

"Watching davidgregory expose Wayne Lapierre for what he is - a dangerous, dim-witted, deluded menace to American safety. NRA," Morgan tweeted.

At least some Americans have come out in support of the British citizen.

In one message, reposted by Morgan, Lee Cox in Arizona wrote: "I'm a native-born US citizen, and I agree 100% with Mr Morgan. If he goes back to the UK, should I go with him?"



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv- ... z2Fv8Qc9s8

Brits have responded to the petition calling on the White House to deport Piers Morgan for his anti-second amendment stance by lodging a petition of their own with UK Home Secretary Theresa May entitled ‘Stop Piers Morgan from being deported back to the UK from America’.

The original petition to deport Morgan for his unconstitutional rhetoric following the Sandy Hook school shooting has now achieved almost 70,000 signatures, well beyond the 25,000 required to mandate a White House response.

However, a counter-petition which features on the change.org website calls on the UK government to prevent Morgan from returning to the UK.

“We got rid of him once and why should we have to suffer again. The Americans wanted him so they should put up with him. We washed our hands of him a long time ago,” the petition reads.

The petition is authored by a user named “hackergate” and includes a YouTube video of the former News of the World editor testifying before the Leveson inquiry into the phone hacking scandal.

dgs49 wrote:
Like it or not, it makes NO SENSE to fuck with significant freedoms in response to something that happens once every couple years in a country of 300 million people.

2012

Feb. 21: Norcross, Ga.
4 killed, plus shooter

Jeong Soo Paek, 59, a man with a history of violence and who had been asked to leave the family’s spa, returned later in the evening and killed his sisters and their husbands before shooting himself. The gun was purchased legally.


Feb. 27: Chardon, Ohio
3 killed, 2 injured

T.J. Lane, 17, a sophomore at another area school, reportedly walked into the Chardon High School cafeteria and fired 10 shots at four students sitting at a table. Lane has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; his trial is scheduled for January. Lane reportedly stole the gun from an uncle.


March 8: Pittsburgh
1 killed, plus shooter, 7 injured

A former Duquesne University teaching assistant who had been barred from campus, John Shick, 30, began shooting as he marched through a psychiatric hospital. He was shot dead by police. Police said at least one gun was stolen.


April 2: Oakland
7 killed, 3 injured

Former nursing student One L. Goh, 43, who had dropped out of Oikos University, returned to the school, reportedly pulled an administrator into a nursing classroom, lined up students against the wall and began shooting them. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial. Goh purchased the gun legally.


April 6: Tulsa
3 killed, 2 injured

Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 33, are accused of targeting random black men in four locations as they drove around town in an Easter weekend shooting spree. They are awaiting formal arraignment. A handgun is suspected but no weapon has been found.


May 30: Seattle
5 killed, plus shooter, 1 injured

Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, who had a history of mental and behavioral problems, was asked by a barista to leave a coffee shop before he stood up and opened fire. He fled and killed himself as police closed in hours later. The guns were purchased legally and Stawicki had a concealed weapons permit.


July 20: Aurora, Colo.
12 killed, 58 injured

Grad student James Eagan Holmes, 24, reportedly entered a mall theater during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” set off gas canisters and opened fire. He awaits trial and has not entered a plea. Holmes bought the guns legally.


Aug. 5: Oak Creek, Wisc.
6 killed, plus shooter, 3 injured

White supremacist Wade Michael Page, 40, walked into a Sikh temple and opened fire just before Sunday services. Police wounded Page, who then fatally shot himself. The gun was purchased legally.


Aug. 13: College Station, Texas
2 killed, plus shooter, 4 injured

Thomas Caffall III, 35, opened fire on police who approached his house to serve an eviction notice about two blocks from the Texas A&M campus. Police shot the gunman and he died in custody. Police have not publicly stated how Engeldinger acquired the guns.


Sept. 27: Minneapolis
6 killed, plus shooter, 3 injured

As Andrew Engeldinger, 36, was being fired from his job at a sign-making company, he pulled out a gun and shot his two managers, the owner, other employees and a UPS driver as he walked around the building before shooting himself. The gun was purchased legally.


Oct. 21: Brookfield, Wisc.
3 killed, plus shooter, 4 injured

Radcliffe Franklin Haughton, 45, a former Marine whose wife had obtained a restraining order against him three days earlier, entered the suburban Milwaukee spa where she worked and shot her and six other women before killing himself. The restraining order made it illegal for Haughton to buy a gun, but he bought it from a private seller so no background check was required and no waiting period was enforced.


Dec. 11: Happy Valley, Ore.
2 killed, plus shooter, 1 injured

Former gyro shop employee Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, wearing a white hockey mask, opened fire randomly inside a shopping mall. Officials said his gun, reportedly stolen from an acquaintance, jammed during the spree but he killed himself with a final shot. Police said Roberts stole the gun from someone he knew.


Dec. 14: Newtown, Conn.
27 killed, plus shooter, unknown number injured

According to police, Adam Lanza, 20, entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children, and then himself. Police said that Lanza killed his mother at a secondary crime scene. The guns were legally purchased by Lanza's mother.


Dec. 21: Frankstown Township, Pa.
3 killed, plus shooter, 3 injured

A gunman shot a woman through a church window, a man in a nearby home and the driver of a car he had hit while fleeing. He then hit a police car and was killed in a shootout. Three troopers were injured.

My argument with guns is not based on some universal, pathological hatred of them. I’m not a pacifist. Guns win necessary wars and defeat tyrannical regimes like the Nazis.

Nor do I have a problem with those who use guns for hunting or for sport. I also understand, and respect, how there is an inherent national belief in America, based on their understanding of the 2nd Amendment, that everyone should be allowed to have a gun at home for the purposes of self-defence.

But where I have a big problem is when the unfortunately ambiguous wording of the 2nd Amendment is twisted to mean that anyone in America can have any firearm they want, however powerful, and in whatever quantity they want.

This has led to the absurd scenario where I can’t legally buy six packets of Sudafed in an American supermarket, or a chocolate Kinder egg, or various French cheeses, because they are all deemed a health risk.

Yet I can saunter into Walmart – America’s version of Tesco – and help myself to an armful of AR-15 assault rifles and magazines that can carry up to 100 bullets at a time.

Piers Morgan replies to his critics, long article here.

Lord Jim wrote:Sometimes pseudo-scientists from Santa Cruz make themselves look bad