McConnell Plans to Filibuster Gun Bill

I can't remember the last time 92% of Americans agreed on anything.

But that's the number most polls show want universal background checks for gun purchases. Currently about 40% of gun purchases take place with no background checks whatsoever.

Polls show even most Republicans want background checks. And the majority of NRA members want background checks. Yet the Regressive republican holdouts in Congress refuse to do the will of the American people.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, and 14 other Senate Regressives, have vowed to join the filibuster, which would not allow Senator Harry Reid's legislation to even come to a vote.

A CBS News poll says universal background checks for potential gun buyers continue to receive very strong support, with 90 percent in favor of that measure (similar to results in January and February). Eighty-six percent of Republicans, and 86 percent of gun owners themselves, support this proposal.

An ABC News / Washington Post poll shows that 65% of all American adults favor a ban on high capacity magazines, including a majority of Regressives (59%). 

A Qunnipiac poll shows that 56% want a ban on assault weapons -- the rapid fire military style guns that are used in military situations.

Despite all polls showing the majority wants background checks, bans on assault weapons and limits on clip capacity, 15 Regressive Senate republicans, including their leader, are turning their backs and saying "screw you" to the American people who voted them in and are paying their salaries. These Regressives are bought and owned by the NRA, the lobbyist group for gun manufacturers.

And to make himself look even worse, McConnell announced his filibuster at the exact moment President Obama was giving a speech in Hartford, Connecticut, and meeting with the family members of the 20 kids shot to death in that state. You can clearly see where Obama's and McConnell's priorities are.

Keep it up, Mitch. You have the lowest approval ratings of any US Senator. Your job is on the line next year. Hopefully the people of Kentucky will send you back to your terrarium to spend the rest of your days nibbling on lettuce.

100 More American Gun Deaths In a Week

Since the Connecticut elementary school shooting, one week ago, where 20 six-year-olds and 6 adults were massacred by a crazed gun nut with military-style assault weapons and huge clips that could enable one to shoot and kill dozens of people in seconds, another hundred people have been killed by guns and gun nuts.

The National Rifle Association, which has only 4 million members yet holds Regressive republicans in congress in a choke hold, has done the typical cowardly thing: they hid in the closet for a week before peeking their heads out and making a statement.

Wayne LaPierre

And what a statement that was. It came yesterday afternoon, when Pepe LePew, or whatever the name of their CEO in charge of promoting gun sales, said that he could not back one more law to restrict gun ownership, and that the problem is that there simply aren't enough guns in circulation. This insane coward actually stated that the only solution to "a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." His ingenious idea? Have an armed guard at every school in the country.

Yes, let's make every elementary school a maximum security prison, complete with armed police, armed teachers and an arsenal of weapons in every classroom. That sounds safe.

If only the teachers and all those 6 year olds were armed, this could have all been avoided, right Pepe LePew?

So now the very same teachers that the far rightwing blowhards and Foxbots refer to as "union thugs," the very same ones who are "paid too much" and need to be fired by the thousands, these same teachers now have to take on the additional responsibility to act as SWAT team members and sharpshooters.

And since all schools have multiple entrances, there will need to be multiple armed guards. And what about movie theaters? What about shopping malls? Should there be dozens of armed guards at all those locations, too?

What the NRA's CEO in Charge of Gun Sales has conveniently forgotten in his insane rant carried by every cable news network yesterday, is that there was an armed guard at Columbine High School. That didn't stop a mass murder. Virginia Tech had its own police department. That didn't stop a mass murder. And most ironic of all, Fort Hood is loaded with guns and experts in their use -- it's a military base! And that didn't stop a mass murder.

Turning elementary schools into armed camps seems very reasonable to this insane rightwing gun nut, but background checks making sure the mentally ill don't get their hands on guns is not reasonable, right? Banning high powered, military-style assault weapons and large clips that can kill 100 people in 30 seconds is out of the question, right Mr. LePew?

The NRA is a lobbying organization that represents gun manufacturers, not gun owners. Reasonable, common sense gun laws are favored by the great majority in this country -- including most members of the NRA, according to recent polls.

Doing background checks to make sure guns don't end up in the hands of the mentally ill is a common sense gun law. Banning high powered, military-style assault weapons that can -- with huge clips -- kill 100 people in 30 seconds, is a common sense gun law.

Nobody's taking guns away. Nobody's infringing on the Second Amendment. But there are necessary, reasonable restrictions.

Even the First Amendment -- you know, that "free speech" thing -- has RESTRICTIONS, dealing with inciting violence, slander, lying in a court of law, etc.

You can't do that.

The Second Amendment DOES NOT give you carte blanche to own just anything you want. You can't have grenades, rocket launchers, tanks, drones or nukes. And you can't have military style semi automatic weapons.

If you like, you may own as many muskets as you want. Those weapons, which allowed you to shoot once or twice in a minute, are what was available when the Second Amendment was written.

Last night's Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell summed it up perfectly:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy