Common sense legislation....
Feb. 24th, 2018 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osodecanelaCall me cynical, call me jaded. (Both are true.) Given the economic boost from the reliable bump in sales each time there’s a mass shooting, the gun industry and their unofficial lobby, the NRA see what the rest of us experience as horrific tragedy, as a boon to be taken advantage of, & benefited from. It’s good for business. It creates greater demand for their products. It adds to their bottom line.
Follow the money. The NRA has purchased the support of a huge portion of Congress, predominantly (though not exclusively) on the Republican side, not just with millions of dollars of campaign contributions to individual campaigns, but with the threat of funding opposition to their shills in office, should they not tow the NRA’s party line. There was a brilliant article in the Guardian detailing the top funded representatives in Congress, both House & Senate, and their responses to recent mass shootings. “Our thoughts and prayers from (insert spouse’s first name here) and me go out to the victims and their family/loved ones/community,” is the immediate response, followed by obstruction of any reforming legislation thereafter. The NRA has purchased their intransigence. “It’s too soon to discuss this in a meaningful way,” they croon when people demand action. It’s a stall to allow the period of fervor to blow over & dissipate.
The reality is, WE, the people, MUST take action to take back control of our representatives. WE, the people, MUST organize to reroute our representatives’ (both national and local) attention to us and not the gun lobby, and other deep pocket funders.
Campaign finance reform is at the root of this problem. As long as we continue with our current system, where fund raising for the next election begins on the first Wednesday in November, the status quo will likely remain the status quo. Yet, I am not completely in despair from my current disgust. Change is possible. The drive in the last two decades for marriage equality with its ultimate success in this country 3 years ago gives me hope. As the scales of justice began to tip in our favor, businesses began severing financial ties with states that enacted hurtful anti-LGBT regulations. I pray we’re approaching a similar tipping point for gun reform. The number of businesses that are severing their ties with the NRA recently may be heralding such a social change, with regard to meaningful gun legislation. For the most part, the directors of corporate America aren’t severing these ties out of the goodness of their hearts; they’re doing if out of concern their continued ties will hurt rather than enhance their bottom line. This gives us, the people, another line to move forward in our personal fight. Every letter we send, not just to our representatives, but to the businesses we frequent with out dollars, threatening to take our business elsewhere helps to move our goals further. Alone, we’re tilting at windmills. Collectively, we have the potential strength of an avalanche.
The high schoolers who survived this most recent horror are organizing. They’re out in front of the social media they grew up with and they’re using it to organize. More over, while most of them aren’t able to vote yet, many will be by November, and most of them by 2020. They’ve already headed off to the Florida state legislature and they’re pissed off by the reception they got. They aim not just to get angry, but to get even with their representatives for failing to take action. Just maybe this is one fight they’re going to ultimately win.
Follow the money. The NRA has purchased the support of a huge portion of Congress, predominantly (though not exclusively) on the Republican side, not just with millions of dollars of campaign contributions to individual campaigns, but with the threat of funding opposition to their shills in office, should they not tow the NRA’s party line. There was a brilliant article in the Guardian detailing the top funded representatives in Congress, both House & Senate, and their responses to recent mass shootings. “Our thoughts and prayers from (insert spouse’s first name here) and me go out to the victims and their family/loved ones/community,” is the immediate response, followed by obstruction of any reforming legislation thereafter. The NRA has purchased their intransigence. “It’s too soon to discuss this in a meaningful way,” they croon when people demand action. It’s a stall to allow the period of fervor to blow over & dissipate.
The reality is, WE, the people, MUST take action to take back control of our representatives. WE, the people, MUST organize to reroute our representatives’ (both national and local) attention to us and not the gun lobby, and other deep pocket funders.
Campaign finance reform is at the root of this problem. As long as we continue with our current system, where fund raising for the next election begins on the first Wednesday in November, the status quo will likely remain the status quo. Yet, I am not completely in despair from my current disgust. Change is possible. The drive in the last two decades for marriage equality with its ultimate success in this country 3 years ago gives me hope. As the scales of justice began to tip in our favor, businesses began severing financial ties with states that enacted hurtful anti-LGBT regulations. I pray we’re approaching a similar tipping point for gun reform. The number of businesses that are severing their ties with the NRA recently may be heralding such a social change, with regard to meaningful gun legislation. For the most part, the directors of corporate America aren’t severing these ties out of the goodness of their hearts; they’re doing if out of concern their continued ties will hurt rather than enhance their bottom line. This gives us, the people, another line to move forward in our personal fight. Every letter we send, not just to our representatives, but to the businesses we frequent with out dollars, threatening to take our business elsewhere helps to move our goals further. Alone, we’re tilting at windmills. Collectively, we have the potential strength of an avalanche.
The high schoolers who survived this most recent horror are organizing. They’re out in front of the social media they grew up with and they’re using it to organize. More over, while most of them aren’t able to vote yet, many will be by November, and most of them by 2020. They’ve already headed off to the Florida state legislature and they’re pissed off by the reception they got. They aim not just to get angry, but to get even with their representatives for failing to take action. Just maybe this is one fight they’re going to ultimately win.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-28 04:32 pm (UTC)However, liability insurance doesn’t address the issue of who, IF ANYONE, should have access to weapons of war. There are laws on the books banning automatic weapons, aka machine guns, which have proved constitutional. Why can we not address semi-automatic weapons and worse modifications like high capacity magazines and bump stocks, that enable semi-automatic weapons to function like machine guns?
no subject
Date: 2018-03-03 04:58 pm (UTC)