Time to talk about guns

My first tweet on the Newtown shootings and the inevitable cry to put off politics:

Actually, today is a great day to talk about gun control, mental-health funding, and America's cult(ure) of violence. Let's do it. #newtown

The most unhinged reactions to the shooting

Conservatives are adamant about not "politicizing" the tragedy. Perhaps they should look at their Twitter feeds

By Alex Seitz-WaldAs Joan Walsh and many others have noted, now is exactly the time that we should be talking about guns, as it’s a question of how to prevent the next tragedy. And saying you can’t “politicize” a tragedy is in itself a form of politicizing it.Now’s the time to talk guns

Sorry, Jay Carney. With at least 18 school children dead, today is absolutely the day to have this conversation

By Joan WalshGuns in national parks. Guns in church. Guns in schools and day care centers. All over the country, the spaces that used to be gun-free zones are now open to them. According to Mother Jones, in 1995 there were an estimated 200 million guns in private hands. Now there are about 300 million, a 50 percent jump. Yet BuzzFeed found that President Obama only mentioned gun control three times in the last campaign.Don’t talk about gun control!

Gun rights advocates tout "political correctness" to shut down talk of gun restrictions. We can't let them continue

By David SirotaFor all the conservative histrionics decrying liberal “political correctness,” the most powerful and most committed “p.c. police” in America are on the right—specifically, those on the right who claim that any critical discussion of the limits of the Second Amendment must be suppressed because they insult the political ideology of conservatives.Is Today the Day to Discuss Gun Control?

For many pundits, yes it is

By Mary Noble"White House spokesman Jay Carney's right," tweeted CNN's Piers Morgan. Today's not the day to debate gun control. YESTERDAY was the day to debate it."President Obama, Today Is the Day To Politicize This Tragedy

We don’t need you to cry at the podium. We need you to do something.

By Allison Benedik

No, let's continue to do nothing about these massacres: "Because no one likes a president who would immediately and decisively stand up to stop something like this from happening again. That’s just too political, and you are a statesman."

When Democrats gave up on guns

The NRA’s attacks on Barack Obama are a reminder of the futility of his party’s 2nd Amendment strategy

By Steve KornackiThis does raise a question for Obama: If the NRA is going to pretend that you’re aggressively pursuing gun control anyway, then why not actually do it?For anyone who says it's "too soon," give us a specific date on which you'll start discussing guns.



And a final tweet from Bill Maher:Sorry but prayers and giving your kids hugs fix nothing; only having the balls to stand up to our insane selfish gun culture will.For more on gun control, see Republican Jesus™ and Why Americans Keep Killing.