Recent arguments that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is not to blame for the mass shootings plaguing our schools and country are full of holes.
How? Because whenever sensible citizens even propose the regulation of the military-style assault weapons used in these massacres, the NRA dangles its cash until just enough legislators acquiesce and block or otherwise subvert the proposed regulations.
For the regulations that do happen to slip through and get passed by majorities of local voters? NRA-backed lawsuits employ disingenuous arguments that regulating assault weapons violates the Second Amendment and individual rights. The qualifier “a well-regulated militia” aside, who in their right mind really believes our Founding Fathers would have favored granting individual rights to the unforeseen lethal capabilities of weapons like the AR-15? Does the NRA also believe I should be able to own and practice out back with rocket-propelled grenades? How about a howitzer tank?
Imagine the death toll in our neighborhoods in the face of zero auto traffic regulations. Let’s get rid of stop signs and traffic lights while we’re at it. Now imagine an organization whose main purpose has morphed into preventing regulation of traffic because—say—fast cars sell, time is money, and individuals have the right to get from point A to point B as fast as they can or want, public safety be damned. Don’t tell me that organization would not be responsible for the mounting death toll.
Until the NRA leadership does an about-face and endorses buy-back programs and the common sense gun regulations the majority in our country now demand, their organization is very much to blame and should be ostracized and boycotted as an unethical sponsor of domestic terrorism.
Jeff Goddard
Los Olivos
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 6, 2018.
No one cares
As we know, guns don’t kill people. People kill people. We don’t have a gun problem, we have a people problem. I agree that in-depth mental screening should be required to purchase a gun, but we should not have to tread on the RIGHT to own a gun. When someone runs down a crowd do they blame it on the automobile or the driver? There were over 40,000 automobile deaths in the US last year, but no one is talking about reducing the number of cars. The NRA, like a lot of people, are under the believe that our rights are slowing being taken away, and that’s why they fight against gun control, but have been promoting mental screening for years. BTW, when the %#@& hits the fan, I hope you’re lucky enough to have a good friend with the right tools to save you and your family. Oh, what is this “common sense” gun control that you’re talking about? Please let me know of one gun control law that is directly died to saving a life. Chicago has the most strict gun controls in the nation, but that doesn’t stop the daily killing does it?