In the wee hours of the morning today, the hundreds of thousands of dollars "invested" by the National Rifle Association (NRA) in recent weeks paid off. Congressional Representatives diluted their crime bill to the point where it was actually worse than if they had just gone home and done nothing.
Instead of requiring background checks at gun shows, the favorite place for kids, felons, and others who cannot legally purchase weapons, they crafted the proposed law in such a way that background checks would be all but impossible. How? By reducing the time police have to perform the check from three days down to a mere 24 hours. If you happen to be from a country other than the U.S. let me explain that most American "Gun Shows" are essentially flea-markets or bazaars held in large indoor auditoriums on weekends (when courts and government offices are closed). If the cops can't get the info on the felons, then the sale is permitted.
Even worse, the NRA inspired representatives still want to allow individual sales to proceed without regard for age, criminal history, insanity or drug use. Is this surprising to anyone? It shouldn't be.
What about the critical votes occurring after midnight? Well, again for our foreign readers, in this country we are especially wary of laws passed in the dead of night. As Americans, we know that the main reason for these sessions is usually to prevent average citizens from learning about what was done until it's too late. By scheduling votes after most decent people have gone to bed, the Republican leadership made certain that few would be watching and even if the media reported it instantly, who would see it? How could citizens be heard?
The Senate tried initially to derail sensible and meaningful changes to our gun laws, but the public outrage was great enough that even some Republicans switched their votes and agreed that there is no good reason for children, felons and the insane to be allowed to purchase guns.
The U.S. House of Representatives disagrees because one of the groups that pours money in to their coffers ordered them to disagree. Oh, maybe it wasn't a direct order. And I'm certain you won't find any written evidence of the dirty deed. But there are certainly some interesting correlation's between who the NRA gives money to and how they voted. Don't believe me? Fine, go to opensecrets.org and see for yourself!
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