No Surprise Here

A Democratic presidential candidate wants to ban GUNS and spend our tax dollars on government babysitting programs? Say it isn't so!
Via just about everyone, we have this, from the Associated Press:

CHICAGO (AP) - Standing before a church congregation that has witnessed inner-city violence firsthand, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday that more must be done to end a social ill that is "sickening the soul of this nation."
Obama told churchgoers at the Vernon Park Church of God on Chicago's South Side that too many young lives are being claimed by violence and more must be done to combat the problem.
"From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois senator told the crowd. "The violence is unacceptable and it's got to stop."
Nearly three dozen Chicago students have been killed this year, according to Chicago Public Schools. Obama said that figure is higher than the number of Illinois serviceman who've died in Iraq in 2007.
"We need to express our collective anger through collective action," Obama said.
He said the government needs to permanently reinstate an assault weapons ban and close regulatory loopholes that protect unscrupulous gun dealers.
He also said government should support and fund more after-school programs to keep kids off the streets. But some of the burden must also be shouldered by residents who need to do more to raise and protect at-risk children, he added.

I really don't understand where the Scary-Looking Weapons Ban comes into play here. As has been pointed out by just about everyone with an interest in the actual facts of the matter (as opposed to overblown, emotion-fueled rhetoric), the vast majority of crime committed with guns in the inner cities of this country is perpetrated with ordinary handguns, more or less just like the one I keep under my pillow for the uninvited 3 A.M. visitors. I'm guessing the ban on the so-called "assault weapons" would most likely apply to said handguns as well.
And one more time, once again with feeling -- why don't more people see these criminals offing each other as a good thing? Call me a heartless bastard, but I can't help but think that once someone gets to the wrong end of a gun in the places Obama talks about, that means someone dropped the ball somewhere along the way. By the time most of these kids are getting cut down by their inner-city brethren, they should have at least some sort of clue that certain actions have certain consequences and that maybe running with the gangs and the drug dealers isn't the best thing for their long-term well-being. And when they don't get the aforementioned clue and they end up eating a bullet because of the aforementioned actions, why are said actions NEVER addressed? Maybe I do sound like a heartless bastard, but I am sick and tired of panderers like Barack Obama telling me that my right to keep and bear arms is causing the violence in this country. And how is it that when I was these kids' age, I managed to find things to do after school, most of which consisted of things like homework, TV or books -- none of which required a dime of taxpayer money?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- this guy is nothing but an empty suit, a smiley-faced socialist, and proof positive that Dan Seals was dead-on -- everything that glitters is certainly NOT gold.