Somewhat Hopeful News on the Gunfront

Saw this article on CSM this morning.

Just two days before the Orlando shooting, a prestigious group of US military veterans launched a coalition to urge elected leaders “to do more to prevent gun tragedies.”

Recommended:How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz.

The group, called Veterans Coalition for Common Sense, includes on its advisory committee Petraeus, as well as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan and longtime head of US Joint Special Operations Forces (the command responsible for Delta Force and the Navy SEALS), and Adm. Eric Olson, the first Navy SEAL ever to be promoted to a four-star rank.

Don't skip the quiz! We must be well-informed gungrabbers. I got a disappointing 80%. The average was 71%, though.

Here's the money-quote. 

“The NRA can decry most other groups, that they’re hippies or soft on crime” – but not veterans, VanDiver says. What’s more, many NRA leaders like to claim a kinship with the US military. “The last time I checked, [NRA leader] Wayne La Pierre didn’t go to war with us.”

Really? But he seems so manly standing up there holding his manhood gun. The Guardian has an article as well. 

“This is a group of leaders who support the second amendment and who believe in the rights of responsible people, law-abiding people, to own guns,” said Mark Prentice, communications director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the parent group of the initiative.

Retired Nasa astronaut and navy veteran Capt Mark Kelly pioneered the initiative as co-founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions. His wife, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founded the advocacy group, which seeks to improve gun control laws, while respecting constitutionally protected rights.

Prentice said that veterans are the nation’s experts on firearms because of their military training and experience in combat. “But we also believe that we should be doing everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands and help address gun suicides as well,” Prentice said.

Approximately 22 veterans commit suicide each day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The department’s data also shows that nearly two-thirds of veteran suicides were carried out with guns.