Gun Control: Another Shameful Day for Washington as Background Checks Fail in the Senate

“They looked at these most benign and practical of solutions, offered by moderates from each party, and then they looked over their shoulder at the powerful, shadowy gun lobby — and brought shame on themselves and our government itself by choosing to do nothing.” Senator Gabrielle Giffords, nytimes.com.

Her article in the New York Times was in response to the Senate blocking very moderate gun control proposals to improve background checks on gun buyers on Wednesday. Giffords, herself a victim of gun violence, still has not recovered completely from the bullet that nearly killed her. As she said, speaking is still a challenge for her but feeling is not. She’s outraged at the cowardice and hypocrisy of Senators who voted against the proposals but had the temerity to then look her and mothers of victims in the eye.

Gifford was not only shot – the bullet went through her brain - she also witnessed the death of a friend and staff member Gabe Zimmerman who saw the shooter and ran towards the bleeding Gifford, right into the path of more gunfire. He was killed.

“I am asking every reasonable American to help me tell the truth about the cowardice these senators demonstrated. I am asking for mothers to stop these lawmakers at the grocery store and tell them: You’ve lost my vote. I am asking activists to unsubscribe from these senators’ e-mail lists and to stop giving them money. I’m asking citizens to go to their offices and say: You’ve disappointed me, and there will be consequences.”

President Obama was equally devastated. At a press conference outside the Whitehouse, he stood with Joe Biden and families who had lost members to gun violence and said “All in all, today was a pretty shameful day for Washington. 

Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders -- not just to honor the memory of their children, but to protect the lives of all our children. And a few minutes ago, a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasn't worth it. They blocked common-sense gun reforms even while these families looked on from the Senate gallery.”

He pointed out that 90% of Democrats supported the measure, but 90% of Republicans opposed it, despite that it was supported by 90% of Americans and that the measure was put together by a Democrat and a Republican, both gun owners and defenders of 2nd Amendment rights, both with NRA “A” grades. All this measure did was apply the background check laws that already apply to guns from a dealer to guns bought over the internet or at gun shows, so 60% of guns already go through that system. Yet the NRA spread the idea that the new measure would lead to a “big brother” kind of control scenario by the government.

“But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the American people don't give up on it. Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities. We're going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system. We're going to give law enforcement more information about lost and stolen guns so it can do its job. We're going to help to put in place emergency plans to protect our children in their schools. 

But we can do more if Congress gets its act together. And if this Congress refuses to listen to the American people and pass common-sense gun legislation, then the real impact is going to have to come from the voters.”

One of the parents of a child who was killed in Sandy Hook, Mark Barden, who was there with his family, spoke very movingly before Obama did. He said any father in America could go through what he and his family are going through now. He talked about how this is a long road and that he and those he’s working with are disappointed but not defeated. “Everyday, as more people are killed in this country by gun violence, our determination grows stronger…Our hearts are broken. Our spirit is not.”

The grip that the NRA has on lawmakers in the US makes a mockery of everything America is supposed to stand for. But unless that electorate speaks out and acts, as Gifford and Obama have called for, nothing will change for the better.

It’s hard to know from the polls what Americans think. The polls pre the last election all predicted a Romney win most of the time. CNN was predicting it right up to the last moment. The Huffpost was the only one I saw that got it right.

But it doesn’t matter what people say in response to polls, it matters what they do. Enough people voted for Barack Obama twice in succession, so perhaps enough people will be motivated to stop electing Senators and Congressmen who represent corporate interest. It’s people like Barack Obama and Gabrielle Gifford, and those who support and vote for them who remind me that that element of America which is truly admirable does still exist.

Gun Control In the US - Extremists are Losing Ground

Momentum continues to build against the culture of irrational thought and irresponsible behavior in American politics and against the power that commercial interest holds over politicians. It’s happening in economic policies and in the power the weapons industry has had over Americans.

President Obama is hell-bent on restoring health in society and the economy through balanced measures. Hardliner Republicans have put up a fight for four years and have been unable to break his back, or to stop him from making headway. Their efforts have only earned them disgust and ridicule, at a time when their power is waning in any case.

Obama also chose as his Secretary of Defense a Republican who can think for himself, has made mistakes of judgment in the past, admitted it and changed. Like Obama, Chuck Hagel doesn’t believe in war for its own sake. He said of Iraq and Afghanistan, “[They] are not America's to win or lose [and] we can help them buy time or develop, but we cannot control their fates.”

 

He said of the Bush Administration’s handling of conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, "The sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now” and at another time he stated that the US relationship with Israel, important as it is, can’t be promoted at the expense of healthy relationships with Muslims and the Middle East.

And the man who shouted the odds about government spending but earmarked ‘just in case’ extra funds for military spending and openly supported war against Iran, didn’t make President. Without a doubt, the era of war is under siege. And so is that of an out-of-control gun industry and the NRA. The horror of the Connecticut massacre and the lunatic NRA response triggered a reaction that’s spreading like wildfire.

Barack Obama announced that Joe Biden would head a task force to present a blueprint for reducing gun violence, and he pledged to submit new gun control proposals to Congress by the end of January. On Wednesday Biden announced that the President would use a combination of legislation and executive orders to achieve the goal. 

Obama can’t just outlaw high capacity ammo magazines and re-introduce a ban on assault weapons, but he can support legislation for it. Obviously hardliners in Congress will be a problem again, but they’re a weakened body. And Obama can issue executive orders to ensure that a national data base that runs background checks on gun owners is fed updated and accurate information.

He can also improve federal mental health programs – which will tie Congress in a bit of a knot, since the NRA’s big argument is that the problem is mental health and not guns, but Congress wants Obama to cut on spending. Once again they’ll make fools of themselves. But that’s by the bye.

Obama can also order the Justice Department to effectively prosecute people who lie on their application forms for a gun license. He is obviously committed to doing whatever he can. He can’t go it alone, but he doesn’t have to. New York State is about to pass what will be some of America’s toughest gun-control laws. The only potential resistance to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposal is from Senate Republicans, but they have indicated they won’t block it.

Gabrielle Gifford, still recovering from being shot, and her husband Mark Kelly have launched a political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions. They are also calling for contributions to help politicians stay independent of funding from the gun industry and the NRA  who politically exterminate politicians resisting them.

In Connecticut, measures were introduced by State Rep. Stephen Dargan (Democrat) to make the addresses of 170,000 gun owners public information, and by State Sen. Martin Looney (Democrat) to prohibit anybody from buying bullets if they have a restraining or protective order against them, or have been convicted of a misdemeanour or a felony.

Extremists are losing ground in America. The gun industry and gun lobbyists love to use threat, but the more noise they make, the more they expose themselves for what they are, and the more resistance to their brand of lunacy grows. Not just amongst level-headed and courageous politicians, but amongst everybody.  

Collage of images from public domain: Centre, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Clockwise from top left: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Hagel, Gabrielle Giffords, Joe Biden

NRA Gun Fundamentalists Use the Connecticut Shooting for a Sales Pitch

The other day it was with a kind of ghoulish fascination that I watched LaPierre speak about how the only way to deal with the gun violence is with more guns. My fascination lasted a few seconds and then I couldn’t stand any more. Any more than I can stand to watch a film with cardboard cut-out characters being badly acted, badly filmed and badly directed.

In the entertainment world it’s annoying. When it’s reality it’s a violation of everything in you that values what is good about humanity. That level of corruption of the soul is beyond description. Of course he was making a sales pitch. Horrifying that the NRA would use the Connecticut shooting to aggrandize themselves even more.

I don’t think LaPierre achieved what he was hoping to, though. 4.3 million Americans love their guns and want the right to own them and use them. Much bigger numbers are fixated with armed conflict and domination and military might in the movies, games and TV shows. But how many of them actually want it in their daily lives?

I suspect not that many, not enough to carry the NRA on a tidal wave that will wash over the whole of America and turn it into a military state, which is what LaPierre was promoting. What he really achieved was to expose the NRA leadership for what they are – rabid, gun fundamentalists who will stop at nothing to gain power. And make a buck.

The gun lobby has developed huge political clout in America. Gun manufacturers have had and are having a heyday, providing the stock for criminals, gangsters and drug lords within America and beyond its borders. As the violence has spread into what used to be safe areas, the NRA has insidiously spread its message of the right to bear arms.

As if it had nothing to do with the gun and arms manufacturing industry. Painting itself as an angel of deliverance when in fact it’s in bed with the devil incarnate. Grossly but expertly manipulating fear amongst people not noted for their ability to think particularly rationally. Keeping politicians in power who do their bidding. 

Leaders who spearhead fundamentalism are social predators. They always understand how vulnerable their prey is, and where their weak spots are. With the accuracy of heat-seeking missiles they hone in on fears that are understandable and not completely unrealistic, like a parent needing to protect their child, and work them into paranoia. 

They mix liberal doses of national pride with an historical passion for guns that probably has its roots in a highly romanticized Wild West and feed it to a middle class that is struggling to survive and fast losing a status quo that’s been their identity for generations. The internet and all media are wonderful tools to spread the diseased word.

The NRA has succeeded in its mission with some, and that’s frightening enough, but they’re out of touch with the majority of their membership. LaPierre and all the rabids who back him cooked their own goose when they used massacred children and teachers to market themselves. That’s so way over the line of decency that even passionate gun owners are disgusted. 

It’s a scary world now, with so many psychopaths and twisted cults, so many guns and assault weapons in the hands of the violent and spiritually disabled. So much understanding of how to manipulate minds and so many different media outlets to do it with, a fertile and utterly uncontrollable internet. A resurgance of prejudice and fear.

But somehow, what is noble in the human spirit always rises through the muck. 

It’s the most remarkable thing.