This Memorial Day weekend was tragically yet another national remembrance marred by senseless attacks of gun violence. Sadly, we witnessed an all too familiar scene. Someone who had clearly sent warning signs nonetheless remained able to obtain guns legally. The disturbed individual caused untold misery and suffering and, as is often the case, died himself. We are left once again looking for answers.
Perhaps we feel less guilty when we observe how difficult such answers are to come by. And it would be foolish to suggest that any particular policy on guns or any particular approach to mental illness could prevent all such tragedies.
But the reality of our current situation is all too clear. A well-organized special interest group, the National Rifle Association, holds our nation’s gun policy hostage. The NRA must pay for its belligerence. I am all for shame, divestiture and public pressure, but the only place where political bullies can be fought meaningfully, where defeat will sting the most, is at the ballot box.
Over the next 75 days I have made it my mission to make sure that happens. My name is Jason Paul, and I am running for State Representative in Connecticut’s 48th district because my opponent, incumbent Democrat Linda Orange, has aligned herself with the NRA and used their talking points to make the case against gun safety efforts here in Connecticut.
As this campaign progresses we may hear excuses as to why this alignment should somehow be discounted. But the “A” rating Representative Orange received from the NRA says it all. This hardcore base of gun owners, and the manufacturers that benefit from it, are pushing the nation around. Although the NRA claims to speak for the nation’s millions of gun owners, it is mostly a mouthpiece for only the fraction that might be referred to as the vanguard of gun-ownership: the roughly 6 percent of American households with more than one gun, and the gun manufacturers who use the fear of regulation, fear of the other and just generalized fear to sell more guns. If our nation is ever going to see sensible gun policy, we must push back.
The coming primary on August 12th allows gun control advocates to push back and say firmly enough is enough. We will not allow politicians who claim to speak for progress to dance around with the bullying and extremism of the NRA.
There is in fact a middle ground that can be found on gun rights and gun safety. The needs of gun owners and the needs of the public can be properly balanced. But this conversation cannot possibly hope to take place so long as fear of the NRA dominates our politics and the halls of Congress. The NRA must be chastened and they must be defeated, until no one but the rightwing fringe is willing to be associated with them.
Every journey must begin with a single step. Together we can take that step and begin to heal a country that is too often visited with senseless tragedy. My Name is Jason Paul. I am running for State Representative, and I need your help.
Join me.
http://www.jasonpaul48.com/...