When you heard that Republican's blocked passage of a laws trying to restrict teenagers and criminals from buying guns at "Gun Shows" you probably said, "DUH! Of course!" Afterall, the republicans received nearly $2 MILLION in "soft" money from the gun lobby last year alone. The fact that it was "soft" means that it doesn't apply to the restriction on how much a candidate can accept from any one person, thus evading campaign finance restrictions.
But when you heard that a day later they (almost unanimously) reversed course and ENDORSED a so-called gun control law, you probably joined me and said "What gives?"
A more appropriate question would have been "Who gives?" The turn about was the result of tremendous outrage that the Republican Senate would be so callous. Plus, why were they risking the public's ire to protect underage and criminals' rights to buy automatic weapons? Well, they did it because of a knee-jerk "any restriction on guns is bad" reaction fueled by millions and millions of dollars from the NRA.
So now they do an about face and support SOME restrictions on criminals and kids getting guns, but the reality is, we don't even know if they will let the watered-down bill pass. Rumor has it that the Republicans voted for it hoping they could either prevent it from ever gaining final passage (or tacking something so odious onto it that our President has no choice but to veto it.) Such is the world we live in.
When Orrin Hatch (R-UT) says of their actions "The National Rifle Association hasn't had a thing to do with it. I don't care whether they accept it or not." You can see he's lying. If he didn't care what the NRA thought he and his partisan brothers wouldn't have accepted the millions. If you want to learn about your Congressperson's motives, check the money trail first. I recommend www.opensecrets.org.
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