New Gun Control Idea: Take Guns from Senior Citizens

Trump Shakes Up Campaign - Hires Breitbart Editor - August 17, 2016

Brendan Hoffman / Getty

by AWR Hawkins18 Aug 20160

18 Aug, 201618 Aug, 2016

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John Hopkins UniversitysShannon Frattaroli sees danger in gun ownership among senior citizens, and pointed out Thursday that Californias Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs) provide a way that families can have guns confiscated from older relatives.

Senior citizens have been among the most adamant Second Amendment advocates in recent years, such as the late Otis McDonald (above), who challenged Chicagos handgun ban at the U.S. Supreme Court and won.

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But Frattaroli, who works at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has expressed concern over what an grandparent with a gun might do to him or herself via suicide, or the danger that may befall a grandchild who finds the gun.

According to New America Media, Frattaroli said:

So much of the dialogue around guns in this country has been around crime, and lately, mass shootings. And the older population is not part of that. But when you look at the suicide issue, its impossible to ignore older Americans. With that in mind, any conversation about guns has to include a conversation [about] gun ownership among older adults. Theres definitely more to be done on that issue in the United States.

She indicates lawmakers in many states have enacted laws requiring older Americans to show proficiency before being allowed to continue driving, but points out that laws requiring proficiency in firearms are not a topic of discussion. Instead, such citizens continue to own guns and cite self-defense as a common reason for so doing.

But Frattaroli believes the dangers posed by armed older citizens far outweighs any safety they otherwise gain by owning firearms. She said:

Older adults need to consider the risk whether an actual home invasion is likely to occur, versus the likelihood that the [older] person would use that gun to do harm to themselves, or a grandchild would find that gun, or they would harm someone coming into the home whos not there for a home invasion, someone there for a legitimate purpose like a caretaker.

She ultimately cites Californias GVROs as a way that concerned family members can have guns taken from older family members.

Breitbart News previously reported that GVROs can be issued without the gun owner having any say in the process. KPCC reported, [GVROs]could be issued without prior knowledge of the person. In other words, a judge could issue the order without ever hearing from the person in question, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the person is a threat based on accounts from the family and police.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/california/2016/08/18/researcher-use-gun-violence-restraining-orders-confiscate-guns-older-citizens/

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Former Breitbart Staffers Warn Against Trump"s New Campaign Chief

Andrew Breitbart"s epic interview on MSNBC

Members of the white nationalist alt-right may be cheering Donald Trumps hire of Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon, but some of Bannons own former staffers have expressed concerns about their onetime boss.

Several ex-Breitbart representatives and editors warned that Bannon, who was officially brought on as the Trump campaigns CEO on Wednesday, was a combative, volatile figure who would intensify the Republican nominees fraught relationship with the press.

Two of those staffers departed from the conservative news site in March after then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields accused then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of aggressively grabbing her arm. Fields and other Breitbart employees said that senior staff, including Bannon, sided with the Trump campaign and effectively threw their own reporter under the bus.

It signals a dangerous and, even more so, combative and divisive turn, Former Breitbart News spokesman Kurt Bardella told Media Matters on Wednesday about Bannons hiring by the Republican nominee. Its an indication that this campaign, as negative as it has been, is going to be even more so going forward. If the media thought that their relationship with the Trump campaign was challenging before this, its going to be 10 times worse now."

Bardella called Bannon pathological liar who has a temperament that governs by bullying and intimidation and functions very much like a dictator at Breitbart.

Former Breitbart Editor-At-Large Ben Shapiro, who also left the site over the Fields incident, wrote a blog post for the Daily Wire repeating his claim that Bannon turned Breitbart into Trump Pravda.

While Shapiro makes the specious claim that site founder Andrew Breitbart, who built his brand on sensationalist, race-baiting stories, despised racism, he said the sites embrace of extremist white nationalist views blossomed under Bannons leadership.

Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers, Shapiro wrote.

Former Breitbart editor Dana Loesch, who sued the website to be freed from her contractual obligations in 2012 over the hostile work environment she experienced, said that Bannon"s hire spelled trouble for those hoping for a Republican victory in November.

One of the worst people on Gods green earth was just instituted as the chairman and CEO of the Trump campaign, Loesch said Wednesday on her St. Louis-based radio show, in comments flagged by Mediaite. And if you are, as I am, not wanting to see Hillary Clinton in the White House, you need to seriously, seriously be concerned about that.

Source: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/former-breitbart-staffers-criticize-trump-hire-steve-bannon

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Bias alert: Twitter bans Breitbart bad boy, but not ISIS-linked London loudmouth

Milo Yiannopoulos on Breitbart News Daily (8/16/2016)

The Twitterverse has more to fear from a gay conservative than a fire-breathing ISIS recruiter if the social media giants treatment of a pair of prolific and provocative posters is to be squared.

Twitter banned Breitbart tech editor and openly gay conservative Milo Yiannopoulos for life last month after his followers tweeted objectionable comments targeting African-American Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones, but a recent case in Londons Old Bailey shows Twitter took a hands-off approach to the poisonous posts of Anjem Choudary.

Jurors in the United Kingdom were told this week that British authorities repeatedly sought to get Choudarys Twitter posts and YouTube videos taken down after his pledge of allegiance to ISIS surfaced online. Choudary, who in interviews with Fox News and other media has for years made no secret of his embrace of Shariah law and Islamic radicalism, was convicted Tuesday of "inviting support for a proscribed organization," namely ISIS. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced next month.

During the trial, prosecutors complained that despite Choudarys incendiary Tweets and YouTube videos, they had no power to force social media companies to remove the material.

Its a sharp contrast to the treatment Twitter last month afforded Yiannopoulos, who was banned from the 140-character forum after his "Ghostbusters" tweets, but says the ban is a reaction to years of conservative posts.

"An Islamic hate preacher convicted of inciting terrorism: fine," Yiannopoulos told FoxNews.com. "A gay man expressing concern about Muslim immigration: not fine. Welcome to the new, Shariah-compliant Twitter."

In conjunction with a scathing movie review last month, Yiannopoulos referred to Jones as a black dude and pegged her barely literate. His followers then directed a storm of racist tweets at Jones, prompting Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to personally intervene.

Following the Yiannopoulos incident, a Twitter spokesman told FoxNews.com it takes its responsibility of moderating speech seriously.

People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online, a Twitter spokesman told FoxNews.com in an email. We know many people believe we have not done enough to curb this type of behavior on Twitter.

But in the British court, a researcher from the National Counter Terrorism Police Operations Center catalogued a series of failed attempts to get Twitter to rein in Choudary, saying, "the police do not have the capability to remove any material from any platform."

Choudary currently has more than 32,000 followers on Twitter and his account can still be viewed online.

Testimony also showed that YouTube refused a June 23 request to take down a Choudary video titled, "Duties of the Kilafah by Anjem Choudary" which was refused. Another video, titled, "The Caliphate will expand into Europe and U.S.," was deemed "journalistic" by the site, officials said.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/18/bias-alert-twitter-bans-breitbart-bad-boy-but-not-isis-linked-london-loudmouth.html

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