Thread: Gun buyback holds rare economic opportunity for one Tucsonan

The illegals have a comfortable government income where I live, I have assume that they do in Tucson also if they produce enough children and work off of the books.
Older US citizens on the other hand have a very hard time getting assistance if they are in that limbo age of too old to get hired and too young for Social Security.
This woman's story didn't fit the media narrative so it seems from this story that KGUN News and The Arizona Daily Star "edited " it. JMO

Gun buyback holds rare economic opportunity for one Tucsonan

January 13, 2013
By Sergio Arellano-Oros for ADI News Services

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures are so powerful that there are not enough words to spin away their message.

One scene that the media hoped you would never know about played out before their cameras at the political stunt gun buyback held by Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik last week.

The crews got the pictures, learned the story, and then deliberately tossed them in an online gallery with a hundred others pictures, or left on the television newsroom cutting floor.

She said she came to sell a gun to feed herself for two weeks. The $50 Safeway gift card held the promise of food that she could not afford.

When you are hungry and afraid, the safety a gun might provide, or the fact that you are a bit player in some political hack’s melodrama probably doesn’t enter your mind.

If you live in Tucson, ranked as the 6th poorest metropolitan area in the country, the prospects that you can hold on to what little you have are slim to none. If you live in Tucson, the ravaged roads pitted from neglect and graft help remind of your dim prospects every time you must use your precious gas to get to the unemployment office.

The gun buyback might have been one of the few economic opportunities provided by the City of Tucson in a long time.

According to witnesses, she said she came to sell a gun to feed herself for two weeks. She said she was widowed and wanted to turn her husband’s gun in for food. The $50 Safeway gift card held the promise of food that she could not afford. Now, because of a wonderful system called capitalism, she could feed herself for a month, she said. As she stood in the line which would lead to Steve Kozachik with his stack of gift card a man called out to her and asked if they would be interested in buying her gun for maybe a little more than what the gift card would provide. The man she talked to told her that he would give her $250 cash on the spot for it, if it was legal to sell.

It was. She wept.

The Arizona Daily Star photographer captured the scene, a reporter from KGUN News captured the scene. According to sources, when asked why they didn’t think the story should be shared with the general public, both “news” outlets claimed it wasn’t newsworthy.

They went with the tragic story about the man who turned in the evil gun his brother used to kill himself. That was newsworthy. The hungry woman wasn’t. Perhaps they didn’t run the story because it didn’t serve their anti-gun agenda. Perhaps they didn’t run the story because there are just too many hungry families in Tucson these days………

From the Arizona Daily Star (Mike Christy)


Gun buyback holds rare economic opportunity for one Tucsonan | Arizona Daily Independent

It was probably a $500 gun! One of the things about these "buyback" programs is that the guns they are "buying" are worth much much more than $50 and a free flu shot!

You can barely buy a decent hand gun for under $200 these days and even a low end shotgun costs more than $100!

W

One scene that the media hoped you would never know about played out before their cameras at the political stunt gun buyback held by Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik last week.

It seems that Steve Kozachik received a lot of free air time from conservative radio during his campaign.The Monday show should be pretty interesting at 104.1

Steve Kozachik Officially Changes Party Registration to Democrat

By Ryan McCredden
CREATED JAN. 11, 2013





After months of speculation Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik is officially changing his party affiliation to Democrat. Below is a letter Steve K sent out to explain his actions. Listen to Jon Justice Monday morning for reaction.

Open Letter to my Constituents:

In 2009, when I was first approached by the local Republican Party leadership to considerrunning for the Tucson City Council, there was a clear mutual understanding that my politicalinclinations are to the center. I committed to looking at each issue on a one-by-one basis,studying the merits of all sides and voting based on the set of facts, not on the basis of a rigidideology. From the standpoint of being able to win cross-over votes, and drawing out the center
of the Republican Party, leadership felt my candidacy would be attractive to the voters. From apersonal perspective, I entered the race comfortable believing that if elected, my role would be to demonstrate that bi-partisanship could work. My hope was to be a standard bearer for what I believed to be a large, centrist component of the party.

During the past three years, I have maintained my commitment to study issues individually,invite to the table the diverse set of voices that make up our community, and participate incrafting public policy that attempts to reflect the varying points of view I have heard. Simply applying hard work and common sense, and not starting from a preconceived notion of the 'right answer,' I've dug into the complex issues we face and have tried to vote in ways that reflect the
greater good of the community. I have heard supportive comments from members of both the Republican and Democratic party, and from registered Independents as well. I thank each person who has acknowledged the work ethic I have tried to demonstrate.

And yet, over the past two election cycles it has become clear that the local and Arizona State Republican Party is being driven by a small, but vocal faction that has taken it far to the political right. That faction has effectively taken over the Party leadership and is driving an ideological agenda that I do not believe reflects the common will of the community. I continue to believe that there is a healthy contingent of registered Republicans who gravitate to the center and are
willing to listen to all sides of an issue before forming a position. I hear from them, and they voice both a frustration and an embarrassment over the image the Party has brought upon itself in this State.

In the past two years I have made an effort to resist the lurch to the right that the Party leadership has embraced. I have written, spoken out and voted in ways that I believe reflect not only the centrist approach the voters supported in 2009, but I have also openly attempted to prevent the erosion of the Party label that has now occurred throughout the State. In that time, the local Republican party leadership has disengaged from its involvement in local issues. The Pima County GOP was completely silent throughout our 9 month Ward Redistricting process, has
played no role what so ever in our budget prioritizing discussions, and has not engaged at even a minimal level when we have addressed other significant issues such as our water policy, public safety or transit. Instead, what is heard from Party leadership is extreme partisan rhetoric that serves no productive role in crafting good public policy on the bread and butter issues with which the Mayor and Council deal.

With that approach, the leadership does not reflect those who wear the Party label but who are not inclined to embrace a far right wing ideology. There is a centrist element in the Party, but it is not allowed a seat at the table at which the Party agenda is set. Party leadership cannot expect that group to continue to wear a label that does not reflects its central values.

The Arizona Republican Party is an ideological outlier. I am not, and I see nothing that indicates that leadership is inclined to move in any direction but further away from what I believe are the values of this community. I appreciate the support I have been given by those in the Party who share these feelings. I also appreciate the support I have been given by both Independents and Democrats who have openly recognized my efforts to craft common sense public policy, untethered from an extreme ideological position. But the Republican Party leadership cannot
expect those of us whose purpose it is to reach common ground across varying political interests to continue to wear a label that rejects that core principle.

I will therefore be changing my party registration to Democrat. In doing so, I will not change the manner in which I have approached the study of each issue, and I will not abandon the common sense, hard work I have shown that I have committed to this seat on the Council. My colleagues and I will continue to agree on many issues, and we will disagree on some as well. What is most
important though is that as we craft public policy, we each respect the fact that every person at the table brings a unique perspective, and each deserves a voice in the discussion. That dynamic does not exist within the leadership of the Arizona Republican Party.

Sincerely,


Steve Kozachik

Steve Kozachik Officially Changes Party Registration to Democrat - www.1041thetruth.com