NBC Frames Doctor's Call to End Violence as Plea for Gun Control

In an interview on Tuesday's NBC Today with Dr. Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer for Medstar Washington Hospital Center, co-host Matt Lauer seized on her call for an end to gun violence following Monday's Navy Yard shooting as a demand for gun restrictions: "You say you didn't want to wade into the issue of gun control and yet your comments are resonating with people..." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Though Orlowski never specifically mentioned gun control, Lauer fretted: "...but we also heard emotional comments after Newtown and Aurora, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Are you worried that your comments will be soon forgotten, as it seems some of those other comments have been forgotten?"

Orlowski replied: "Am I worried? Absolutely. What are we gonna do as an American people to take care of this? Let's stop this now."

Via: Newsbusters

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Security under scrutiny over vetting of U.S. Navy Yard gunman

(Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday ordered a review of security at all of its facilities as questions arose about how a former serviceman with a history of violence and mental illness received clearance to work at a base where he killed 12 people before police shot him dead.

The suspect, Aaron Alexis, 34, a Navy contractor from Fort Worth, Texas, entered Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning and opened fire, spreading panic at the base just a mile and a half from the U.S. Capitol and three miles from the White House.

Alexis' employer said he worked in at least six installations in July and August without incident. Alexis was employed by a company called The Experts, a subcontractor for Hewlett-Packard that serviced computer equipment, the company said.

He had been given clearance to enter the base on the Anacostia River despite two gun-related brushes with the law and a discharge from the Navy Reserve in 2011 after a series of what a Navy official described as "misconduct issues."

CNN reported that Alexis had contacted two Veterans Administration hospitals recently and was believed to be seeking psychological help.

"It really is hard to believe that someone with a record as checkered as this man could conceivably get, you know, clearance to get ... credentials to be able to get on the base," Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray told CNN.

In the wake of the latest mass shooting in the United States and questions about security at guarded buildings, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Tuesday ordered a review of physical security at all Navy and Marine Corps installations.

A Navy official said authorities would first take a "quick look" at installations to ensure existing physical security standards are being met. The second review will be larger and more in-depth, the official said.

Via: Rueters

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Piers Morgan Tears Into Pro-Gun Panel in Epic Shouting Match Over Navy Yard Shooting

Piers Morgan is getting sick and tired of having the same “ridiculous debate” every time there is a mass shooting, and made that abundantly clear when he unloaded on conservative radio host Ben Ferguson and gun rights activist John Lott during a heated argument over gun control Monday night.

Ferguson told Morgan the Navy Yard was a gun-free zone, so gun control was “a failure in this base with all the best security in the world.” Morgan complained that the bigger failure is the “failure to do anything” in the wake of countless tragic shootings. After Richard Feldman brought up the lack of a real conversation on mental health, Morgan cried, “You guys just never accept that the gun itself can never be part of the problem!”

Lott argued that gun-free zones are “magnets” for tragedies like this to occur, and fought with Morgan over the accuracy of gun massacre statistics. Morgan also shouted down the idea that a military installation was a “gun-free zone,” pointing out the armed security the NRA wanted after Sandy Hook was present at the base “and it made absolutely no difference!”

Ferguson shot back that if someone is in the Navy and being trusted with hi-tech equipment and classified information, “why the hell wouldn’t we trust you to bring your weapon to work with you?” Morgan sighed and scolded the panel for being so intransigent in their views about guns. He shouted, “Think about your position! Think about how it helps save American lives! Because it doesn’t! More guns is not the answer!”

Via: Mediaite.com

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Limbaugh: Media Can’t Bring Themselves to Condemn Obama’s Post-Shooting Partisan ‘Assault’

President Obama shocked many politicians and pundits on Monday when, after delivering brief remarks on the Washington Navy Yard shooting, he proceeded to give his planned speech on the economy, replete with Republican-bashing. Rush Limbaugh was also disturbed by Obama’s “assault” on the GOP in a time of crisis, and found it beyond unbelievable that even though the media was clearly uncomfortable with it, they couldn’t quite bring themselves to outright condemn it.

Limbaugh echoed a similar point made by Joe Scarborough, namely that George W. Bush would have been taken to the woodshed if he had made that kind of partisan address during a crisis. But, as Limbaugh noted, most of the media is only going so far as to call it “tone-deaf,” and simply calling it a big screw-up instead of using the opportunity to understand who Obama really is.

And so the Drive-Bys [go], “No, we gotta somehow explain this and cover for Obama.” Because they see everything through the prism of, “Oh, gosh is it gonna help Obama or is it gonna hurt Obama?”

He also ripped apart Jay Carney for defending the appropriateness of Obama’s address, mockingly declaring that “that even in the midst of such a disaster like this, we cannot lose sight of the focus of the real important matter in Washington, and that’s what a bunch of creeps the Republicans are.”

Listen to the audio below, via WABC:

Via: Mediaite.com

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Navy gunman had federal clearance despite disturbing history

Aaron Alexis, the Navy veteran who gunned down 12 people at a Washington military facility, had his federal security clearance renewed just two months before his rampage, despite a disturbing history of psychological problems and violent behavior involving guns.

Although Alexis was not a direct employee of the federal government, working as an IT subcontractor required that he obtain “secret” clearance, according to Thomas Hoshko, of The Experts, a Hewlett Packard subcontractor working at the Washington Navy Yards. Alexis had previously worked for the company under clearance, but when he returned in July, another background check was conducted, Hoshko said.

"We had just recently re-hired him,” Hoshko told Reuters. “Another background investigation was re-run and cleared through the defense security service in July 2013."

Alexis, 34, went on a shooting spree early Monday at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters in southeast Washington, killinng 12 and injuring eight before being killed by police. No motive had emerged as of Tuesday morning as to why he went on a rampage in the very complex where he worked.

It is not clear what that second background check consisted of, but just weeks earlier, Alexis’ roommate in Fort Worth filed a criminal complaint with the police after becoming suspicious that Alexis had tampered with his car’s fuel tank.

Via: Fox News

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Steny Hoyer: Navy Yard Shooting Will Renew Gun Control Debate

WASHINGTON -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that he expects the tragic shooting at the Navy Yard will renew the debate around gun control, although he was pessimistic about prospects for passing new restrictions.

"I'm sure that it will renew the discussions about access to weapons that can be used to kill a lot of people quickly," he said at a breakfast discussion hosted by Politico's Morning Money.

On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) -- one of Congress' strongest gun control advocates -- put out a statement calling for just that.

"When will enough be enough? Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country," she said. "We must do more to stop this endless loss of life."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, however, said it was "inappropriate" to talk about the issue at this point.

"In almost every one of these instances [of mass shootings], we've seen the perpetrators be people who individuals thought were unstable," said Hoyer on Tuesday. "In this case, apparently this guy was prone to violence. He had apparently shot the tires out of a neighbor's vehicle. He'd shot through the ceiling of another neighbor. He was given a general discharge from the Navy. So there was no doubt that this was somebody who had a record of instability and certainly should have been, I think, subject to closer scrutiny, particularly in access to the facilities at the Navy Yard."

Additionally, the AP reported that Alexis had been suffering from various mental illnesses and "had been hearing voices in his head."

Via: Huffington Post

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Scarborough slams Obama for harsh partisanship in post-Navy Yard shooting speech [VIDEO]

Joe Scarborough went on a three-minute rant about President Barack Obama Tuesday morning after the president used a White House address on Monday to slam Republicans immediately after the Navy Yard shooting tragedy in Washington, D.C.

From the backdrop to the content of the speech, the MSNBC host insisted Obama’s remarks were poorly timed and very insensitive.

“It was props — he brought his props along and he had this political,” Scarborough said. “And it was a harsh, partisan speech from the president of the United States on any day. But you know what? This president is frustrated and there is — he certainly has every right to do that. But on the day while people were hiding, while people were bleeding, while people were dying, while the nation was locked in on this — he’s talking about harsh partisanship and Republicans wanting to hurt people.”

“Mike [Barnicle], what is more partisan than not being able to put aside one of these stupid Washington battles — [postponing it] for a day,” Scarborough continued. “Never came under consideration. Never considered it. There’s not one person in the White House that said, ‘You know right down the block, people are dying right now and there’s a gunman on the loose and there’s local schools shutdown. The Capitol is on shutdown. And there may be a second or third gunman. And you know what? Maybe we’ll just give this speech tomorrow.’ Really, nobody even considered that? You believe Jay Carney — it never came under consideration? It’s unbelievable.”

Watch:

He went on to ask what if it had been any other president, particularly George W. Bush, who was a favorite foil of MSNBC personalities throughout his second term.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Lesson of Navy Yard shooting echoes lessons of Camp Liberty, Fort Hood

Spree shooters at military installations prey on Americans serving America, disarmed by America—but, not in the heavily armed neighborhoods of Washington

Yesterday’s shooting spree at Washington’s Navy Yard reminds us that disarmed military personnel are made-to-order victims for spree shooters.

When Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire Nov. 5, 2009, on soldiers preparing to deploy overseas, I was at Camp Basra, Iraq, a combat historian mobilized with the Army Reserve.

To the soldiers in my circle, it was similar to the May 5, 2009 shooting spree at Camp Liberty, Iraq, when a joe burst into that camp’s combat stress center (!) and fatally shot five other soldiers

.

Understand: All military personnel in Iraq were armed, with either a rifle or a handgun, and sometimes both. Living in a universally armed society created an unspoken atmosphere of respect and caution in personal relationships. It also meant any spree shooter inside-the-wire was instantly surrounded by equally armed personnel.

Unless you went to a combat stress center, where the soldiers turned in their “pole” for their visit. There were other places one left their weapon at the door, such as the gym or chapel. But at the combat stress center, there was also a good chance that the guns belonging to the clients had their firing pins removed—a precaution that allowed the a soldier to go about his day as if he could be trusted with his weapon, as he sought help.

The Fort Hood victims were absolutely unarmed. This is normal for garrison life, even for soldiers deploying, who may have a weapon, but no rounds. It was also a certainty for Hasan, who would have known that Clinton-era rules severely restricted military personal carrying firearms on duty.

Via: Canada Free Press

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DC Mayor Blames Sequester For Navy Yard Deaths

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray (D) on Tuesday suggested that the cuts made by sequestration may have hampered the response to the shootings at the city's Navy Yard on Monday.

"It's hard to know (what could have prevented it)," Gray said on CNN. "We're continuing this investigation. But certainly, as I look at for example sequestration, which is about saving money in the federal government being spent, that we somehow skimped on what would be available for projects like this, and then we put people at risk. Obviously 12 people have paid the ultimate price for whatever -- you know, whatever was done to have this man on the base."

Officials say 12 people were killed, as was the shooter, who has been named as 34-year-old Aaron Alexis.

Gray said the the Navy Yard is a very secure military installation and that Alexis, who reports indicate has been arrested and has a history of mental illness, shouldn't have been allowed access.

"It really is hard to believe that someone with a record as checkered as this man could conceivably get clearance, could get credentials, to be able to get on the base," Gray said. "I just met with the commandant of the Washington Navy Yard last week. We were talking about the security and we know this is one of the most secure facilities in the nation. So how this could happen is beyond belief."

Via: Washington Post
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