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GUN CONTROL A cruel distortion

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited May 2002 in General Discussion
A cruel distortion
GUN CONTROL



At the same time that biker gangs were exchanging gunshots in a Nevada casino, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, was shooting his mouth off at the NRA's convention in Reno.

The most offensive portion of his speech was reserved for Americans for Gun Safety (AGS) and its billionaire founder, Andrew McKelvey. Mr. LaPierre called AGS members "extremist social guerrillas," and he said the AGS' "network kind of operates and sounds a lot like Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida. A billionaire with an extremist political agenda ... funding an ongoing campaign to hijack your freedom and take a box-cutter to the Constitution. That's political terrorism, and it's a far greater threat to your freedom than any foreign force."

Mr. LaPierre's inflammatory rhetoric is the worst kind of jingoistic tripe. With it, he demeans the traditional goals and members of the NRA -- hunters, farmers and others who believe in safe, responsible gun ownership. And just what have the AGS and Mr. McKelvey done to draw such venom from Mr. LaPierre? Nothing except promote some very sound gun safety practices.

Contrary to the NRA's claims, the Americans for Gun Safety doesn't want to take away your guns. It supports a person's right to own firearms, but wants to take steps to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and children. We are sure most NRA members would agree to this much.

There's plenty of irony in the NRA's target. Mr. McKelvey happens to be a registered Republican whose last political cause was the presidential campaign of the late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. Mr. McKelvey became concerned about the proliferation of guns after the spate of tragic school shootings in 1999, and decided to bankroll an organization to bring some rationality to our gun laws.

Among the AGS' goals are:

* Closing gun show loopholes that allow anyone -- criminals, kids or terrorists -- to buy guns without even a cursory background check.

* Warning Americans about the loopholes in background checks that permit felons and mentally ill people to buy guns.

* Halting illegal gun trafficking.

* Promoting gun safety.

* Educating the public about links between gun shows and crime and the depiction of violent gun use in children's video games.

If this is extremism, we need more of it in the gun-control debate.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial/479688B3E9B705E386256BAD003EE071



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Comments

  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ah yes, who could be against "reasonable gun laws"? This is just the same old tired garbage from the socialists.

    PC=BS
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just love how the author puts words in the mouth of the NRA membership by asserting that the Exec VP of the organization is misrepresenting their views. His points certainly don't contradict mine!
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