I just read the statement by the NRA and there response is worse than I thought it would be. I had thought that the NRA would take the lead offered by many of its own members:
- improved accuracy and efficiency of background checks,
- make background checks necessary at gun shows (closes a loophole that permits 40% of gun sales to avoid background checks,
This would have been a significant step in the right direction.
However the NRA, which believes that people who have been identified and treated for mental illness can regain the right to own firearms, offered a long list of ideas that basically says, "It's not our fault, it's the rest of society's problem."
Here's a summary of the NRA's position and a few comments:
- Our schools are undefended and like airports and banks they need armed guards,
- Be afraid,
- Crime is rampant everywhere,
(untrue, crime rates have been going down steadily for years)
- There are an unknown number, perhaps hundreds, of copycat killers lurking behind every bush and tree waiting to kill our children,
- We need a national database of our mentally ill,
(we can have a database for the mentally ill but not for all gun
owners)
- Violent video games are a shadow industry that promotes violence,
(repeated studies show little or no impact of video games on
behavior - Canada has as many weapons per capita as the U.S.
and they have the same video games, yet their murder rate is
far less than ours)
- Violence in music, videos, and movies is another cause,
(same comment as for video games)
- It is the Media's fault for not reporting on all these causes for violence,
- Critics and Media are factually inaccurate in describing the weapons which negates their comments,
(when all else fails argue about minutiae rather than intent)
- The word GUN has become a bad word,
(inaccurate, intentionally misleading, and inflammatory: there has not been a cry against hunting rifles and self-defense handguns, its the military style weapons and magazines that are the problem)
- "THE ONLY THING THAT STOPS A BAD GUY WITH A GUN IS A GOOD GUY WITH A GUN"
(if all you have in your tool kit is a hammer, every problem
looks like a nail, the idea is that we stop the gunman before he
becomes the killer, sparing his life as well)
- Let's hire all those old retired cops to police our schools and, by the way, the bill goes to the U.S. tax payer,
(since this an issue concerning the use of guns, why shouldn't
the gun industry be given the bill for turning every school in the
U.S. into an armed security zone?)
- The NRA is the preeminent trainer of police and security personnel in the U.S., is willing to help,
(I'm assuming that all NRA efforts will be free)
- The NRA will create a model program for arming our schools,
(the statement makes its sound as if the NRA is being a good
citizen even though they assume no responsibility for the
problem and suggests that costs born by school districts be
reduced by the use of VOLUNTEERS - Gee, I guess the NRA
or the gun industry are willing to shell out $$$$ to protect our
kids from lunatics using their products)
It is my belief that the NRA just abdicated their responsibilities to act as a genuine citizen in this debate. Even when a sizable number of NRA members take a more realistic approach to the problem of gun violence, the NRA leadership has clearly taken a non-productive path. Before the NRA can regain a meaningful place in the discussion, the membership must force out the old guard and put in place leadership fit for the 21st century.
Here is a link to the transcript of the NRA statement:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...