Giffords/Kelly’s veterans’ gun control group

Chief Tango sends us a link to a CNN article about the new group of veterans being sponsored by the Gabby Giffords/Mark Kelly organization, the misnamed Americans for Responsible Solutions, calling it Veterans for Responsible Solutions. From their own press release, here is their list of members;

Founding Members
Veterans for Responsible Solutions
November 8, 2013
Major General Vance Coleman, US Army (Ret.), Sun City, AZ
Rear Admiral James A. Barnett, US Navy (Ret.), Arlington, VA
Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, US Marine Corps (Ret.), Alexandria, VA
Brigadier General Evelyn “Pat” Foote, US Army (Ret.), Accotink, MD
Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr, California State Military Reserve (Ret.), Santa Rosa,
CA
Captain Joan E. Darrah, US Navy (Ret.), Alexandria, Virginia
Captain Gail P. Kulisch, US Coast Guard (Ret.), Reston, VA
Captain April F. Heinze, US Navy (Ret.), Coronado, CA
Captain James Jordan, US Navy (Ret.), Fairwood, WA
Former Captain John Gillies, US Navy, Lynden, WA
Former Captain Howard Christofersen, US Navy, Chesterton, IN
Former Captain Bill Kingston, US Marine Corps, New Castle, NH
Former Captain Frank Quinn, US Marine Corps, Bay City, MI
Colonel Thomas F. Field, US Army Reserve (Ret.), Arlington, VA
Commander Beth F. Coye, US Navy (Ret.), Ashland, OR
Commander George Trotman, US Navy (Ret.), Philadelphia, PA
Former First Lieutenant Colonel Frederic Stephens, US Army, Roseville, MN
Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, US Air Force (Ret.), Dayton, OH
Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, US Air Force (Ret.), Dayton, OH
Former Lieutenant Commander Jim Engelking, US Navy, Golden, CO
Former Lieutenant Commander Phil Green, US Navy, Portage, MI
Former Lieutenant Commander John Gadzinski, US Navy, Virginia Beach, VA
Former Lieutenant Commander G.K. Desjarlais, US Navy, Drummonds, TN
Major Michael Almy, US Air Force (Ret.), Dayton, OH
Major Colleen Jew, US Army (Ret.), Oakland, CA
Former Major Schwartz Malibu, US Army, Los Angeles, CA
Former Major Charles Arnold, U.S. Air Force, Lompoc, CA
Former Captain Susanne Scott, US Air Force, Sequim, WA
Former Captain Joe Wiederhold, US Air Force, Bellingham, WA
Former Captain Jacobo Van, US Army, San Juan, PR
Former Captain Anthony C. Woods, US Army, University Park, MD
Former Captain Kenneth Richards, US Army, Evergreen, CO
Former Captain Joe Meyer, US Army, Amery, WI
Former Captain and Vietnam veteran Ralph Siewers, US Army, Sedgwick, ME
Former Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel Cripe, US Navy, Missoula, MT
Former Lieutenant Junior Grade Gary Bogle, U.S. Naval Reserve, St. Helena, CA
Former Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Austin, US Navy, Norwalk, CT
Former Lieutenant Junior Grade Glenn Nichols, US Navy, Philadelphia, PA
Former First Lieutenant Marx Bowens, US Naval Reserve, Worchester, MA
Former First Lieutenant Barry Wolfer, US Air Force, Houston, TX
Former First Lieutenant David Small, US Army, Middleboro, MA
Former First Lieutenant Cooper Wood, US Army, Casselberry, FL
Former First Lieutenant Ann Marie Briggs, US Air Force, Kennebunkport, ME
Former First Lieutenant and World War II veteran Edgar Peara, US Army, Eugene, OR
Former First Lieutenant Ronald Wos, US Army, Chicago, IL
Former First Lieutenant Craig Richmond, US Air Force, Cincinnati, OH
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Vincent W. Patton III, Ed.D., US Coast
Guard (Ret.), Alexandria, VA
Former Sergeant Major Jerry Corbin, US Army, Jonesboro, AR
Senior Master Sergeant Rick Etheridge, US Air Force (Ret.), Port Angeles, WA
Former Sergeant First Class Camelus Walker, US Army, Clinton, MD
Former Petty Officer Joe Fouts, US Navy, Avon, OH
Former Senior Chief Petty Officer Nelson Miller, US Navy SEALs, Tucson, AZ
Former Private First Class Earsell Leslie, Sr., US Army, Los Angeles, CA
Former Radarman 1st Class Michael Taccardi, US Navy, Norwich, CT
Former Staff Sergeant Eric F. Alva, USMC, San Antonio, TX
Former Sergeant Paul Madarasz, US Air Force
Former Sergeant Frank Gifford, US Navy, Oakland, ME
Former Sergeant Martin Wong, US Army, Boulder, CO
Former Sergeant Mel Pontious, US Army, North Platte, NE
Former Sergeant Edward Silha, US Army Austin, TX
Former Sergeant Larry Butler, US Marine Corps, New York, NY
Former Sergeant and Vietnam War veteran Bob Buckman, US Air Force, Houston, TX
Former Sergeant Dave Ogilvie, US Army, Santa Barbara, CA
Former Sergeant Neil Friedman, US Army, Brooklyn, NY
Former Sergeant Thomas Adamski, US Air Force, Oxford, CT
Former Radarman 2nd Class John Schaefers, US Navy, Seven Fields, PA
Former Staff Sergeant Laura Giblin, US Air Force, Alexandria, VA
Former Sergeant Shane Gibney, US Marine Corps, Alexandria, VA
Former Engineman 2nd Class Francis C. Hynds, US Navy, Upper St. Clair, PA
Former Staff Sergeant John Brophy, US Marine Corps, Vista, CA
Former Sergeant Michael Alexander, US Army, Northville, MI
Former Sergeant Nelson Van Brunt, US Army, Kensington, MD
Master Sergeant Douglas Poore, US Air Force (Ret.), Vacaville, CA
Former Staff Sergeant Christel Holcomb, US Air Force, Amery, WI
Former Sergeant and Vietnam veteran Joseph Thomas, US Air Force, Holt, MO
Former Staff Sergeant David Hall, US Air Force, Washington, DC
Former Sergeant Tony Kourtakis, US Marine Corps, Novi, MI
Former Storekeeper 2nd Class Robert Houseman, US Navy, Liberty, MO
Former Sergeant Ruben Neria, US Army, Dallas, TX
Former Sergeant Bob Simons, US Army, Ardmore, PA
Former Sergeant Thomas McKenna, US Army, Lake Forest, CA
Former Sergeant Mara Solberg, US National Guard, Fargo, ND
Former Sergeant Michelle Wilmot, US Army, Athens, GA
Former Specialist Guy Stoddard, US Army, Los Altos Hills, CA
Former Petty Officer Third Class Don Morgan, US Navy, Magalia, CA
Former Senior Airman Emory Stevens, US Air Force, Las Vegas, NV
Former Petty Officer Third Class Robert Hadden, US Coast Guard, Cincinnati, OH
Former Specialist William Herrera, US Army, Walnut Creek, CA
Former Petty Officer Third Class S. Scales, US Navy, Buda, TX
Former Corporal David Farwell, US Marine Corps, San Jose, CA
Former Senior Airmen Richard Anderson, US Air Force, Milwaukee, WI
Former Petty Officer Third Class Leonard Banaszak, US Navy, Saint Louis, MO
Former Specialist Vivian Ghazarian, US Army, Penn Wynne, PA
Former Specialist Odis (Chuck) Tanner, US Army, Russellville, AR
Former Corporal Rickie Byers, US Army, Lynnwood, WA
Former Specialist Larry Barton, US Army, Crookston, MN
Former Corporal Kevin McGowan, US Army, Danbury, CT
Former Aviation Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Arthur McDonald, US Navy, Gilette, NJ
Former Petty Officer Third Class Thomas Futch, US Navy, High Springs, FL
Former Petty Officer Third Class Dave Elvin, US Navy, Seattle, WA
Former Specialist Tom Herr, US Army, Westerville, OH
Former Specialist Third Class Hooker Horton, US Army, Raleigh, NC
Former Corporal John Helfrich, US Army, Burbank, CA
Former Senior Airman Dave Ogilvie, US Air Force, Santa Barbara, CA
Former Specialist Victor Daub, US Army, Tucson, AZ
Former Specialist 5 Howard J. Kendall, US Army, Yarmouth Port, MA
Former Corporal Robert Parson, US Army, Tucson, AZ
Former Buck Sergeant Frances Kellogg, US Army Air Corps, Gwynedd, PA
Former Corporal Earl Nikkel, US Marine Corps, Denver, CO
Former Seaman Albert Rossignol, US Navy, Seal Beach, CA
Former Airman First Class Leon Demars, US Air Force, Ajo, AZ
Former Private First Class Sidney Cholmar, US Army, Berkshire, MA
Former Private 1st Class Dennis Kreiner, US Army, Carpentersville, IL
Former Airman First Class Rennie Ferris, US Air Force, Newport, OR
Former Lance Corporal, Robert Raiche Sr., US Marine Corps, Manchester, NH
Former Private Second Class John Stickler, US Army, Los Angeles, CA
Former Private First Class Richard Meader, US Army, Austin, TX
Former Airmen Robert J. Stedman, US Air Force, Las Vegas, NV
Former Private 1st Class Eric Serati, US Army, De Sotto, IL
Former Seaman Apprentice Mercer Gewin, US Coast Guard, Country Club, MO
Former Seaman Jeff Nisbet, US Navy, Waterford, WI
Former Cadet Devon Maness, US Army, Rainbow City, AL

From the CNN article;

“We’re for gun rights,” said James Barnett, a retired rear admiral.

Instead, Veterans for Responsible Solutions wants commonsense actions like universal background checks, Kelly said.

These are background checks an overwhelming majority of Americans have said they support, polls show.

Vance Coleman, a retired Army major general, said on the call that he also owns guns. But not everyone should, Coleman continued, namely criminals and the mentally ill.

“They should not own guns and the Congress needs to do something about that,” Coleman said.

No one who joins forces with the crackpots at Americans for Responsible Solutions is for gun rights if they have a measure of common sense. It’s not the “gun lobby” that opposes the ownership of guns by criminals and the mentally ill. Jared Loughner who shot Gabby Giffords, should have been in the national background check system, but the police who had contact with him never arrested him in previous encounters, so he was never on the list.

It’s the doctors and law enforcement who aren’t putting the criminals and mentally ill in the system – background checks are working in their current form, but when the people responsible for putting names in there aren’t doing their job under the current law, the solution isn’t making new laws – unless you want to make doctors and law enforcement do their job and hold up their end of the bargain.

This is yet another exploitation of the “veterans” brand, using our the honor and trust that Americans have for their veterans to force some vacuous ideology into the national discussion that we never had after the President promised us that we’d have a discussion.

The CNN article says that Veterans for Responsible Solutions “will be doing little more than lending their names while others will be pursuing a greater measure of activism, perhaps by writing newspaper editorials” – attention whores all. It’s nothing more that VoteVets, IAVA, March Forward – organizations that used the “veterans” brand to influence politics, mostly in conflict with our own interests.

Category: Gun Grabbing Fascists, Veterans Issues