Showing posts with label Chris Cox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Cox. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

MANDATE: Gun violence needs the NRA


PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

Suicides are up in the United States and over one-half of the victims use a gun to kill themselves. These data in themselves corroborate the current epidemic of gun violence in this country, but there is more. Right here where I live in Arizona, where all it takes to own a gun is a warm body, Phoenix police fired at more people than law-enforcement officers did in any other city in the United States. Every five days an Arizona cop shoots someone.

Police forces throughout the country have been put in a critical position and my theory is that with so many guns on the street 393 million guns in civilian hands), especially in the state of Arizona, cops simply do not know who might have a weapon. They proceed cautiously but the minute there is a suspicious move, there is a reaction, perhaps in some cases over-reaction. But who do we thank for those 393 million guns on the street, the National rifle Assn. (NRA)

There are 40,000 people in the U.S. killed by guns each year, so the NRA's head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre should be proud of himself for fulfilling his promise to gun manufacturers that he will promote the sale of all types of guns until every household in the country has at least one. Currently, some have an arsenal. But wait, America's biggest sellers of guns and ammo are suffering from a lack of "fear-based buying," and that is because of Donald Trump's tenure in office.

The gun nuts think they are safe from any major gun control--even reasonable ones--as long as Republicans control the Senate and White house. And they are right. So, let's say we elect a Democrat for president, and take control of the Senate while maintaining a lead in the house, just how much will that figure of 393 million guns nationwide zoom to. Unless, the Democrats get off their butts and pass the gun regulation that is needed.

Here's a laugh, Trump fighting for gun rights...


So, thanks to Donald Trump the NRA has been exposed as one of the largest con-games in the country in its efforts to convince its membership it is working for them, while their focus is really on helping gun manufacturers sell more guns. And further, attempting to convince the American public that more guns in the hands of the civilian population will make America safer. Not so. Yes, the Trump effect has actually backfired and gun companies are going out of business.

The NRA is experiencing problems today, the like of which they have not had to face for years with banks cutting off their cooperation and companies no longer participating in their programs. Wayne LaPierre is accused of over-spending on expenses, like $51,000 on personal clothes in Beverley Hills. LaPierre just ousted his number two man, Chris Cox, for his attempts to expose his boss. There are numerous problems that just may be insurmountable this time.

One can only hope that the demise of the National Rifle Assn. comes quickly to prevent too many more days of 100 shot dead with a firearm and hundreds more wounded.







Tuesday, April 24, 2012

NRA member’s “Obama assassination joke” shows the insanity of this organization

Pres. Lincoln's assassination
At the recent NRA meeting in St. Louis, a reporter had the luxury of witnessing first-hand just what a bunch of morons make up at least a portion of the membership of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).  Alexander Zaitchik, writing for Media Maters for America, was on an airport shuttle bus when this idiot, who is an attorney by the way, dropped the bomb:

“What do Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama have in common?"  The answer, "Nothing. Yet."


Gun wacko Wayne LaPierre

According to Zaitchik, the quote came from a professional Second Amendment extremist named Stephen Burke, who is a buddy of Wayne LaPierre, Exec. V.P. and CEO of the NRA.  In his day job “Burke specializes in getting guns into the hands of ex-cons whose licenses have been revoked or downgraded for criminal activity.”  A shining example of the NRA’s mission to put guns in the hands of everyone, no matter their background, allowing them to carry them anywhere.

What is chilling about this group of gun worshippers is the fact that most of the shuttle bus erupted in laughter, except for the “soft-spoken” father from Long Island who was going to the convention with his teenage daughter; he just looked out the window, “embarrassed.”  Yes, there are NRA members who believe in moderation and don’t wish to participate in the lunacy of these double-digit red necks.  They are apparently few, however.  Pathetic!

Zaitchik cautioned, though, that parents who want to shield their children from this kind of low class humor should keep them away from NRA conventions.  He added, “The group's leadership has in recent years expertly cultivated a very profitable hatred and paranoia among its membership.”  We all know that the use of hate and fear-mongering has a distinct appeal to conservatives.  And it keeps the NRA coffers full from the dull-witted among its members.


NRA 2012 convention

At the convention, NRA members and their leaders described President Obama as an “enemy of freedom,” with the same old tired phrase that he wants to take away all their guns.  This bunch of deadbeats will be after the President in November, but it’s not clear if his GOP rival, probably Mitt Romney, will be their saving grace.  Romney has vacillated on his support of gun control since he was the Massachusetts Gov., and wasn’t a surefire at the NRA convention.

But did you know that the NRA was almost bankrupt in the mid-1990s?  Considering the donations of only two gun manufacturers at this year’s convention, Ruger and MidWayUSA, who gave up $8 million, that’s hard to understand.   And in 2007, one of its former lobbyists, Richard Feldman, “…described the organization as a "cynical, mercenary political cult."  Zaitchik is more conciliatory of the group today, but I say it hasn’t changed.  Nada.

 The NRA’s official battle cry for November is “All In.”  Zaitchik says it works when you consider the group’s extreme, even “insane” interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.  The organization has gone on the offense in recent years which is plainly obvious in the states of Arizona and Florida.  Arizona has the loosest gun laws in the country allowing guns in bars by owners who had no background checks.  And Florida passed the original “Stand Your Ground” law.

The NRA has as its steadfast partner the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in passing its absurd gun laws.  ALEC is a pro-business, anti-consumer group composed of U.S. corporations and state legislators that pass legislation designed for the profits of American companies while leaving consumers to fend for themselves.  In many cases the legislation is passed by states verbatim of what ALEC proposes. 

"Shoot-em-up Charlie" cartoon of the NRA and ALEC

But currently the NRA is focused on a federal bill to allow gun owners to carry nationwide, according to their state’s laws.  As an example, under this proposed law, a gun totin’ cowboy from Arizona with no background check, nor any training in firearms whatever, could carry his or her handgun to any U.S. state, no matter what the state’s gun laws say.  It’s another of the NRA’s licenses to kill. 

Thirty years ago there were discussions of a national handgun ban.  Today we’re talking about universal right to carry, brags the NRA’s Chris Cox.  Will this conglomeration of misfits still be bragging when some of their own are killed by the guns they want everywhere?

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