Stephen Lendman

NBC News and the Washington Examiner obtained them. Were they written ahead of Sunday’s incident, knowing what was coming?

The talking points aim to quell arguments for gun control, useless against state-sponsored gun violence.

They stress “gather(ing) facts before…mak(ing) sweeping policy arguments for curtailing the Second Amendment.”

They state Trump welcomes “a reasoned and well-informed debate on public safety” while affirming supporting the Second Amendment, calling gun ownership a constitutional right “meant to protect people’s freedoms.”

“The President believes that our founding principles, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms must be protected while maintaining public safety.”

“The President believes” whatever the gun lobby wants it’s entitled to get.

The Second Amendment is the nation’s most abused constitutional right, a boon for America’s gun manufacturers – merchants of death and injury when their products are used for purposes other than sport or self-defense.

America’s framers had no intention of creating a gun culture. Federal gun laws are pockmarked with loopholes, making ownership of these deadly weapons simple.

The talking points claim “some of America’s cities with the strictest gun laws have the highest rates of gun violence,” referring to Chicago and Baltimore.

Here they are below, intended for Republicans, telling them how to respond to calls for gun control:

“Las Vegas Shooting

The President’s thoughts and prayers are with the hundreds of victims who were killed and injured in this senseless act of violence.

We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers.

The FBI, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security are working with local law enforcement officials to determine the facts surrounding this tragedy, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to start having a political debate before we even know the facts, less than 24 hours after local law enforcement and first responders arrived on the scene.

ISIS:

The FBI has said there is no evidence of a link between the suspect and an international terrorist organization at this time.

Gun Control:

Let’s gather the facts before we make sweeping policy arguments for curtailing the Second Amendment. The investigation is still in its earliest stages.

The Second Amendment has endured for more than two centuries for a reason: it is a key constitutional right that is meant to protect people’s freedoms, and the President understands that.

The President believes that our founding principles, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to bear arms must be protected while maintaining public safety.

We welcome a reasoned and well-informed debate on public safety and our constitutional freedoms, but we reject the false choice that we can’t have both.

And when it comes to gun control, let’s be clear: new laws won’t stop a mad man committed to harming innocent people. They will curtail the freedoms of law abiding citizens.

We’ve seen terrorist attacks committed with knives, by people driving cars into crowds, and hijacking airplanes.

And some of America’s cities with the strictest gun laws have the highest rates of gun violence. Examples include: Chicago last year had over 4,300 shooting victims. Baltimore last year had over 900 shooting victims.

This shows that more laws on the books may not work. The problems in these cities and many others isn’t too few gun laws.

Also, we’ve had examples where concealed carry has allowed people to protect themselves and stop a mass shooting in its tracks, such as last month in a church in Texas.”

Again, we welcome this debate, but in the wake of Sunday night’s tragedy, we shouldn’t rush toward compromising our freedoms before we have all the facts.

WHY WAIT?:

Some of the unknowns we must learn from investigators:

· What motivated this individual?

· Did he have radical ties?

· Did he have mental health issues?

· How was his weapon obtained?”

There you have it, ignoring the most important issue needing to be raised. Was Las Vegas the latest state-sponsored false flag, Stephen Paddock a convenient patsy, dead to tell no tales?

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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