USA Today reports that there will be about 20 survivors of gun violence at the State of the Union speech, guests of various gun control supporters in Congress.
Members who say they are providing tickets to gun violence victims include Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Democratic Reps. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, Carolyn McCarthy of New York, Ed Perlmutter, who represents Aurora, Colo., and Elizabeth Esty, who represents Newtown, Conn., where 20 schoolchildren and six adults were killed in a mass shooting at a school last December.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s guest will be a “Newtown resident who was directly affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy,” according to spokesman Nu Wexler.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., lead sponsor of a bill to ban assault weapons, has invited a guest who “was shot as a youngster in a Los Angeles area shooting,” said her spokesman, Brian Weiss.
Former representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, Mark Kelly, will attend as guests of Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., according to a statement on her Facebook page. Giffords was shot in the head two years ago during a mass shooting at a Tuscon grocery store.
Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group co-founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said the constant presence of these individuals with direct experience with gun violence will help keep the pressure on lawmakers to act.
[...]
Tickets to the State of the Union Address are scarce. Each member of Congress receives only one ticket to give to a family member or guest, and few exceptions are made.
Asked whether coordinated invitations had precedent, the Office of the House Historian said it was “unable to find evidence of a coordinated effort by representatives and senators to make a political statement by giving their one pass to an advocacy organization or victim group.”
Not to be outdone, gun rights advocates are looking to make a statement as well. Rep. Steve Stockman has invited noted Second Amendment firebrand Ted Nugent to attend the speech as well:
While other members of Congress are hosting gun-control advocates for Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Rep. Steve Stockman has given one of his visitor’s gallery tickets to Ted Nugent, the conservative gun-rights supporter.
“I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama,” Mr. Stockman said in a statement announcing the choice. “After the address I’m sure Ted will have plenty to say.”
After the Connecticut school shooting rampage last year, Mr. Obama announced he would push for major changes to the country’s gun laws, and he is expected to renew that call in his Tuesday speech.
To add pressure, gun-control supporters in Congress have decided to invite victims of gun crimes to sit in the galleries.
Mr. Stockman’s decision, though, adds a prominent gun-rights advocate and outspoken conservative to the gallery.
Something has to be done to counter the raw exploitation of people’s grief by gun control advocates. It is unprecedented to pack the gallery with supporters of a single issue, and the crass emotionalism that gun control supporters are seeking to elicit from viewers is unconscionable.
The founders warned against arousing the passions of citizens, passing legislation not because it is wise, or needed, but because some politician was able to tap the emotions of the mob and stampede Congress. This is precisely what Democrats are trying to do – and they should be punished for it at the ballot box.
Maybe he’ll get the chance to serenade Obama.
Maybe “Uncle Ted” can perform this “classic” of his at the SOTU when he’s Stockman’s guest. We could then probably kiss the Second Amendment goodbye. I couldn’t come up with a better ad for those who want to crush the Second Amendment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNLmi0_216g
Wow. He sounds almost as unhinged as Louis Farrakhan, Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Tavis Smiley, Toure, Barack Obama, or even Joe Biden.
And only nominally coarser.
Louis Farrakhan and Ted Nugent – brothers from a different mother.
I would like to see the Sheriff from Wisconsin who was encouraging citizens to arm themselves attend, he would be an interesting guest.
Apparently Stockman prefers a clown. I suppose on account of personal experience and heredity.
They’re losing. They’ve already had to sacrifice self-defense and the individual right–things many of them are still against.
Now they will just force something through to avoid the stigma of a loss.
Ted’s excrement adventures.
“Nugent dodged the draft during the Vietnam War. In an interview for the Detroit Free Press (July 15, 1990), Nugent described how he avoided the draft: He claims that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last ten days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside pants caked with excrement and stained by his urine.”
The extreme coward POS Ted Nugent apparently literally $hit in his pants, and for a week, to keep from going to RVN!
He makes Bill Clinton look like Rambo and a class act by comparison, and that ain’t easy. Not easy at all.
When Nugent showed up at the induction center like that, they should have taken him out in the back alley, stuffed him in a barrel, and burned the $hit.
“Not to be outdone, gun rights advocates are looking to make a statement as well. Rep. Steve Stockman has invited noted Second Amendment firebrand Ted Nugent to attend the speech as well’
Not to be outdone in the Bring On The Clowns category.
Even after repeating your sentiment four times, it is still unconvincing. Maybe if you try a few more times, someone will listen. Repetition is an Alinski tactic. Doesn’t work here. So are ad hominem attacks and name calling. Take it to the Huffpo. I’m sure they will be impressed.
Your “shoot the messenger” response is vapid and not worth a tinker’s damn.
Perhaps some Jewish guests could bring pictures of their families who were wiped out by the Nazis. Armenians coud bring pictures of their dead relatives. Coptic Cristians, come to think of it, any Christian from a Muslim country.
There are thousands, nay, millions of victims of gun control. Don’t they have a voice?