Good for those kids.
Shame on those politicians.
Instead, they’re discussing treating assault-style rifles like the one suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz is accused of using more like handguns than long guns. That could mean raising the minimum age to purchase the weapon to 21, creating a waiting period and making it more difficult for people who exhibit signs of mental illness from buying the weapon even without a diagnosis.
Just some observations, not ranked by obviousness and banality:
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The fact that this obvious thing, this thing that leads sane people to say “how is it even conceivable that this isn’t already the law of every state?” is a heavy lift is the problem.
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This obvious thing, if it happened in Florida, would represent an existential threat–literally a threat to the continued growth, power, and long term financial viability of the NRA. The NRA will respond accordingly. They’ll wait for a bit, but they’ll be in with their bags of money and their fearmongering ads and their insane, over the top evil commercials and social media. They’ll demonize by patronization and pull guns on legislators in private.
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And yet, if it doesn’t happen, Republicans swimming against the tide in November face disaster in a redistricting year in a state they’ve had a stranglehold on for a decade, an occurrance that would also represent an existential threat to the NRA.
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Yesterday, I said trying to reach some sort of common ground and consensus to do sensible things was a losing strategy as long as the NRA exists and that there will be no meaningful progress until the NRA has been reduced to the same level of social stigma that attaches to the Klan or MBLA (if there really even is such a thing). I failed to appreciate, however, that if it ever becomes possible to do one of those things and it happens, that in itself is a thing that contributes mightily to the destruction of the NRA as a political force in this country.
So what you’re saying is we need to shrink the NRA to a size where we can drown them in a bathtub. I like the sound of that…
You could probably auction the privilege of drowning Dana Loesch and Wayne LaPierre
Well, since I hate the author of that statement like cancer, I’m sticking with “crushed down to the point that their headquarters is auctioned off by a bankruptcy trustee and the post reorganization entity relocates to a cigarette smoke drenched used mobile home with an old-fashioned rotary dial phone, a dot matrix printer and a mimeograph machine.” On further reflection, though, I think the objective could be stated a bit more precisely by specifying “a used mobile home reeking of decades of cigarette smoke and stale urine.”
That would be one formidable bumper-sticker…
The kind you see among a dozen or so on the back of used Volvo station wagons that can only be read in a parking lot, maybe. We suck at bumper stickers.
“I really think they are going to hear us out,” said Chris Grady, a high school senior aboard the bus.
Ah, the sweet innocence of youth.
Amazingly proud of those kids, but unless they cash in their college savings account, put the proceeds into brown paper bags, and tell the GOP asshats that there’s a “snack” inside, they’ll unfortunately get absolutely nowhere with the GOP criminals.
Sadly, It can, and will happen again and again as long as the NRA exists.
Sensible is what they did in Australia.
Here is the core issue, in my view, with what you are saying. And this dovetails with the radical idea I proposed in another thread earlier.
Yes, the NRA is essentially just a gun lobbying group that works for gun manufactures to sell more guns and ammo. But at its core, its supposed to be about protecting the 2nd Amendment. And most of its adherents that aren’t paid lobbyists, believe that. Probably a sizable number of Americans believe that.
That is a problem for any “anti-NRA” group to grow into power and effectively fight the paper tiger that is the NRA ( and they are a paper tiger…studies have shown that when the NRA actually does step into a campaign and spend money directly…they usually lose the race).
Such a group could, in theory, come into existance by organizing and spending money to support any candidate who runs against NRA funded candidates. And would probably do fairly well.
But as far as a national debate…its hard to overcome “We are for the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution, and they aren’t” styled arguments. So, I proposed the radical argument that we should go after amending the Constitution to repeal the 2nd Amendment. Don’t pussy foot around it…nearly every argument for gun control will inevitably get drawn into a 2nd Amendment rabbit hole. Which is a loser for any gun control advocates who aren’t willing to respond “Well, I think we should repeal the 2nd Amendment then”.
Understand that repealing the 2nd Amendment doesn’t equate to going door to door to remove all guns from people’s possession. Its about taking down the NRA (or at least leveling the playing field) and pulling aside the 2nd Amendment curtain that is trotted against every gun control suggestion.
But without politicians who would offer thoughts and prayers and a moment of silence.
Members of the Florida House observed a moment of silence on Tuesday.