LOOKS LIKE WE’RE STUCK

It’s Clear:  “We The People” Want A Solution To Gun Violence!

Poll after poll indicates that a vast majority of Americans favor expanded background checks for all gun buyers, including gun show and online purchases: 

• 94% – Quinnipiac University Poll, including 90% of gun owners; May 22, 2019; 
• 89% – NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey; August 19, 2019; 
•  89% –  July NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, including 84% of Republicans; 
• 91% – POLITICO/Morning Consult, Aug. 7, 2019 

Once again bills addressing gun violence will go before the House and Senate this fall, and once again we can expect them to fail.  With a Democratic majority in the House we can be optimistic the bills will pass there, but according to Sen. McConnell they will be DOA in the Senate, probably never reaching the floor for a vote.  It defies logic, something that Republican majorities seem to have, at best, a tenuous hold on when talking gun violence.  We need to make a change.

Below is a list of legislation before Congress this fall.  If things are to change for the better, we need to demand that our legislators stand up for what’s right and quit knuckling under to the loud, angry, fearful minority that spreads their inaccurate mantra: “they want to take our guns away.”   (Legislation details follow this article).

• The Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2019  H.R. 674, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY and S. 184 introduced by Sen. Edward Markey, D-MA

• Expanding Brady Background Checks  H.R. 8, introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-CA and S. 42 Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT 

• Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2019 (H.R. 1236 Introduced by Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-CA and S. 506 Dianne Feinstein, D-CA

• The Enhanced Background Checks Act (The Charleston Loophole)  H.R. 1112 Introduced by Majority Whip Rep. Clyburn, D-SC and Rep Peter King, R-NY ¹⁾

WHY ARE WE GETTING NO WHERE?

A good place to start is NRA interference with the CDC and the NIH!  In 1993 the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of their study on firearms in the home.  Approaching the study from a public health prospective, the CDC found that rather than offering protection, firearms in the home increased the risk of homicide by someone in the household.  The NRA called the study anti-gun propaganda and “junk science” and sprang into action with a political campaign.  In 1996 Rep. Jay Dickey successfully inserted an amendment into a federal spending bill prohibiting the CDC from using any of its budget to study gun violence.  By 2009, the prohibition was extended to all Dept. of Health and Human Services agencies, particularly the NIH’s study on alcohol and gun violence.  Much too late, Jay Dickey has come to realize he was wrong, telling the Huffington Post in 2015, “I have regrets.” ²⁾  The damage has been done.

Next Money- NRA Money- Right Chuck and Joni?

 The NRA and other gun rights groups outspent those  supporting gun violence legislation 40 to 1. ³⁾ Republican candidates received almost all of the NRA’s $800,000 contributions in 2018.  In addition, the NRA spent $10 million in lobbying and $9 million in television and other supports, plus $4 million in opposing Democratic candidates.  ⁴⁾

As one of the top ten NRA recipients, Joni seems only too glad to do the NRA’s bidding.  As a first time U.S. Senator, the NRA’s contribution to her election was $3,124,273, according to the Feb. 28, 2018 issue of Business Insider.  Three days after the anniversary of the Parkland shooting and two days after a workplace shooting in Aurora, Illinois, Sen. Ernst launched a fundraising effort for her “National Right to Carry” bill.  The proposal allows anyone with a concealed carry permit issued by their home state to carry a concealed gun without restrictions in states that allow concealed firearms, regardless of differences in regulations and requirements. ⁵⁾

Sen. Grassley’s financial support is minimal because he has always been a staunch gun rights defender and a sure thing.  NRA finances campaigns in hotly competitive races, such as Ernst’s, hence her hefty NRA assistance. 

The Biggest Reason We’re Getting No Where – They Get Out The Vote!

The NRA is a highly organized, well-funded organization, with a communication network that knows how to motivate their radical, angry and fearful constituency.  They promote the false belief that their guns will be taken away and they won’t be able to protect themselves from some nebulous enemy. 

That is not to say that all NRA members are part of the radical element; it just seems like it because they are the one’s we continually hear from, which is unfortunate. The NRA was founded in 1871 due to General Ambrose Burnside’s concern that…”Union records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1,000 rifle shots for each Confederate soldier hit.”  Originally, the purpose was to promote competency and safety in gun ownership, plus police training, marksmanship and hunting.  From 1934 through 1968 the NRA helped create a system for licensing gun dealers and imposing taxes on private ownership of machine guns. It wasn’t until 1977, at the annual convention in Cincinnati, that Second Amendment rights became an issue.  Called “The Cincinnati Revolution,” a group of activists bent on eliminating firearm regulations and weakening the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives gained control, giving us an NRA that now focuses on political issues and supports mostly Republican conservative politicians. ⁶⁾

Let’s Face It, Money Talks — And They Have A Lot Of It

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

We Can Talk Too!   And Write!  And Send EMails!  And Stay Informed!   

Two excellent sources are Brady United Against Gun Violence, https://www.bradyunited.org, and Gifford’s: Courage to Fight Gun Violence,  https://giffords.org/.

AND WE CAN VOTE.