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House Republicans have decided to postpone a vote on their Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act a bill that would not only "gut the 1964 Wilderness Act and the protections afforded to every unit of America's 110 million-acre National Wilderness Preservation System," but also potentially make deadly mass shootings like the one just experienced in Las Vegas even worse. That's because it would roll back 80-year old restrictions on the sale of gun silencers.
The NRA and other supporters say rolling back 80-year-old restrictions on silencers would be an "important safety-oriented aspect of the bill that will help protect the hearing of America's hunters."
Because we must protect the precious ears of "hunters." The legislation would also "expand gun rights on public lands and shield people transporting guns across state lines from local laws." Because some states like Nevada—the ones with minimum gun regulation—have more rights than other states, of course. The former co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsman's Caucus, Rep. Mike Thompson, (D-CA) calls all this "absolutely ridiculous." It's also absolutely deadly.
Some lives were unquestionably saved Sunday night by the fact that people in the crowd could hear the shots raining down on them, then recognize where they were coming from, giving them half a chance at getting out of the line of fire. The "miracle" Donald Trump talked about of first responders being so quick on the scene and in locating the shooter would not have happened.
The bill is postponed for now, and another that would force states to recognize other states' concealed carry permits—because, again, states' rights—has possibly been slowed down as well. You can bet they will come up, though, because the gun lobby wants them. There's a mint to be made, according to the American Suppressor Association (because gun silencers have their own lobbying group). With the SHARE Act, "the silencer market could grow ten times bigger." That's what matters most.
It matters more than human life to the gun lobby. To our Republican leadership, those lives lost are just collateral damage.