Whoever said "You get what you pay for" could well have had purchasing Senators and Congressional Representatives in mind. During the past couple weeks there have been several votes on gun control in the Federal Legislature and in 94% of the votes, the congressperson who received NRA funds voted the way the NRA told them to. Only two Senators who accepted NRA money dared to vote their consciences.
That's a pretty effective lobby.
What about the Senators like Slade Gorton (R-WA) who say that the government cannot solve the problem of gun violence? They want the government to enforce current laws. Actually, I agree that the police should enforce existing laws. The problem is that the existing law allowed criminals, drug-addicts and children to buy guns! As long as you make your purchase through a private citizen at a gun-show. Read that again, this is what Slade Gorton wants to keep as the Status Quo. So would-be presidential assassin, John Hinkley is out of prison to visit his wealthy family can swing by the local gun-show and purchase an assault rifle or pretty much anything else he wants. This is the existing law. This is what the NRA was buying-off congress to keep in place.
Is it an unreasonable infringement on our freedom to restrict convicts, drug/alcohol addicts, children and the insane from obtaining guns? I hope not, because these are groups of people who have a hard time distinguishing right from wrong. Hinkley tried to kill President Reagan because he thought it would make actress Jodi Foster love him. And now Slade Gorton and the NRA are fighting for Hinkley's right to purchase automatic weapons? Come on guys, give us a break.
The Columbine High School killers used the gun show circuit to get weapons without background or age checks. Would closing that loophole have saved any lives in Colorado? Maybe. But the people who use that loophole to obtain weapons are EXACTLY the people who shouldn't have guns in the first place!
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