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Guns, the Gun Lobby, George Bush and scores of deaths.....

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings some interesting facts:

- some 33,000 Americans a year die from the use of a firearm

- on the ABC's TV Lateline program tonight the father of a slain student at Columbine, now an advocate for curbing the availability of guns, asserted that every day in America double the number of people killed in Virginia [32] die from the use of a firearm.

Even more disturbing is to remember that despite all the hype and pr of George Bush attending the memorial service at Virginia Tech that it is he who is responsible for this extraordinary situation in America - as reported in Jurist Legal News & Research:

"Americans have always cherished certain ideals about our justice system. You may win or you may lose, but you are entitled to have your day in court.

Last week, President Bush created a significant exception to that principle when he signed the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” a federal law that gives the gun industry a broad, nationwide immunity from legal responsibility for its actions. If the legislation survives constitutional challenges, gun makers and dealers will enjoy a level of protection from tort liability shared by no other industry.

The NRA, gun companies, and their allies have been pushing hard for this immunity law ever since Bush took office in 2001, and the only real surprise about its enactment is that it took so long. Supporters of the legislation insist that imposing liability on gun makers is an absurd notion akin to saying that manufacturers of pens should be blamed when people write bad checks."

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