Mashable
After each mass shooting, gun control activists, bereaved parents and
lawmakers reissue a call for more restrictive gun control laws.
However, eight years after the shooting at Virginia Tech University that
killed 32 and two years after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary
that left 27 dead, Congress has not enacted substantial legislative
changes.
The latest mass shooting in Oregon on Thursday again raises the issue of gun control and why efforts to pass gun law reforms have failed.
A simple reason is, perhaps, money. In 2015, the gun rights lobby outspent the gun control lobby about 6 to 1.
In addition many don't give a shit unless it's them.
ReplyDeleteThe membership of gun rights groups outnumbers that of gun control groups. The rebranding from gun control to "gun safety" [curiously without an actual gun safety component] doesn't seem to have fooled the citizenry.
ReplyDelete"In 2015, the gun rights lobby outspent the gun control lobby about 6 to 1. "
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall sometime in the past, former Mayor Bloomberg claiming that the gun control lobby could outspend the NRA.
“You think you can really outspend the NRA and gun manufacturers?” Couric asked.
Bloomberg didn’t hesitate.
“Oh, sure,” he replied. “I’m not the only funder of this. All of these groups
raise money. There are other people who understand. They want their kids to be
safe.”
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/18/bloomberg-ready-to-take-on-the-nra-in-midterms-we-can-outspend-them-107122
However, no matter how much lobbying money they take, the final determinant of whether they keep their jobs are the voters. If the elected representatives don't do their jobs and properly represent the values of their constituents, then that lobby money will just become a severance package when they lose in the next election to someone who will do the job.
Some examples off money not being everything in elections is the reelection of Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke. The gun control lobby heavily outspent the NRA and other groups and was unsuccessful in ousting him. And of course, if money was more important than the voters and pro-gun groups outspend the gun control lobby, how do you explain various gun control bastions such as New Jersey, Maryland, and DC?
I'm confused. Who's outspending whom?
DeleteIt depends on who you talk to Mike. The former Mayor claimed they could outspend the evil gun lobby, yet you can see the losses of candidates who lost their seats who backed gun control and the wins by those that oppose it. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the next election.
DeleteI know Bloomberg SAID he could outspend the opposition, but that's not the same thing.
Delete"I know Bloomberg SAID he could outspend the opposition, but that's not the same thing."
DeleteYou mean he made a claim he couldn't or wouldn't follow through on? I'm shocked. That would suggest that he doesn't have the support he claims to have.
Well...
ReplyDeleteThe gun lobby has a hell of a lot more "skin" in the game. The gun control advocates are trying to save lives. But the gun lobby is trying to maintain a multi-billion dollar private arms industry. The fact that these legally manufactured weapons end up in the hands of crime syndicates, terrorists and ordinary criminals must not deter the growing demands of an expanding gun economy.
Of course, we usually just go back and forth about weapons legally owned by U.S. citizens on this blog. But the world arms trade is a far more sinful and lucrative market. Death for profit. There can be no denying it. Whether the arms are purchased by radical militants, war-mongering megalomaniacs or despotic totalitarian dictatorships that oppress their peoples, the result is the same. The shedding of innocent blood to fuel the profits of the international arms industry.
Did anyone else notice the Pope go off on this in his address to the U.S. congress?
"Everybody knows the reason why the arms trade is allowed to continue. For money. Money that is drenched in blood. Often in innocent blood!"
That's what I call one helluva pope!
Since gun control (even simple background checks) have failed many times. it's clear it's not the money.
ReplyDeleteHow is that clear?
Delete