Gun Control Reform Activism

n2doc

(47,953 posts) Wed Mar 20, 2013, 12:36 PM Mar 2013

The NRA Wins Again

BY ALEX KOPPELMAN

After Sandy Hook, after twenty children were shot and killed at a place where they should have been safe from all harm, there was some optimism among supporters of gun control: perhaps now, finally, both Democrats and Republicans could see the light—and the suffering—and revive the assault-weapons ban. It was a futile hope.

Less than a week after Adam Lanza shot up an elementary school, it was already basically clear that an assault-weapons ban could not pass Congress—that it probably couldn’t even get through the Democratic-controlled Senate, never mind the House. So it was hardly a surprise when, three months later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the ban would be removed from a larger gun-control package that is making its way through the upper chamber and given a separate vote that it will not survive. The scale of the defeat suffered by the ban’s supporters, though, is shocking. This wasn’t a close call; it was a body blow.

On Tuesday, Reid told reporters that, “using the most optimistic numbers,” the ban sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat of California, will come to the floor with “less than forty” yes votes. If that’s true, it means that of the senators who were on the fence and might theoretically have been persuaded to support the legislation—there may have been as many as fifteen of them, and perhaps more—Feinstein and her allies lost almost every single one.

Those gun-control supporters who tend toward the glass-half-full side of things can reasonably view this as Feinstein et. al realizing that the real goal of the post-Newtown anti-gun push was a law making background checks universal—that the ban was just a sacrifice offered up to ease that law’s path through Congress—and letting any Democrats nervous about the backlash against a pro-ban vote off the hook.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/03/the-nra-wins-again.html

14 replies

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Highlight:

The NRA Wins Again (Original Post) n2doc Mar 2013 OP

For now BainsBane Mar 2013 #1

+1000000000000000 Hoyt Mar 2013 #2

And the background checks are the most important thing to get through right now. Squinch Mar 2013 #5

background checks rdharma Mar 2013 #7

SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME ellisonz Mar 2013 #3

Another reasons to send the Mayors against Guns & Mike Bloomberg all the encouragement graham4anything Mar 2013 #4

Well, while the GOP controls the house, not much progressive is getting through congress. DanTex Mar 2013 #6

This is how the NRA is feeling right now.. raidert05 Mar 2013 #8

Liberals need a counterweight to the NRA. Progressive dog Mar 2013 #9

There is the Liberal Gun Club. premium Mar 2013 #10

Thanks Progressive dog Mar 2013 #13

The Great Equalizer is the answer to reply 8,9,10 graham4anything Mar 2013 #11

Actually gun owners won again. ... spin Mar 2013 #12

Damn that Sen Reid for listening to Lurks Often Mar 2013 #14

BainsBane

(54,786 posts)

1. For now

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 12:39 PM

Mar 2013

It's a setback. We fight on.

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)

2. +1000000000000000

Reply to BainsBane (Reply #1)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 12:40 PM

Mar 2013

Squinch

(52,745 posts)

5. And the background checks are the most important thing to get through right now.

Reply to BainsBane (Reply #1)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:02 PM

Mar 2013

If this has to be temporarily tabled to get those, I'll grudgingly say ok.

The background checks gives us a point of sale control from which we can legislate and implement registration. Once we have registration, we can begin having a set of rules that actually impose some kind accountability on gun owners to protect the rest of us from their guns.

I don't like it, but I can live with it.

rdharma

(6,057 posts)

7. background checks

Reply to Squinch (Reply #5)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:25 PM

Mar 2013

Squinch, I agree with your assessment.

ellisonz

(27,739 posts)

3. SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 12:53 PM

Mar 2013

That's my thought. I think when President Obama gets back to Washington he should send Joe Biden up there to get it done.

graham4anything

(11,464 posts)

4. Another reasons to send the Mayors against Guns & Mike Bloomberg all the encouragement

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:00 PM

Mar 2013

so that in 2014, all the cowards in the house and the senate will be able to be secure in
their knowledge that they won't be blackmailed by the NRA.

DanTex

(20,709 posts)

6. Well, while the GOP controls the house, not much progressive is getting through congress.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:12 PM

Mar 2013

But that's not a reason to give up fighting.

Remember, every single specific gun control law that the president proposed polls well over 50%, including the assault weapons ban. In fact, there are a lot of measures that aren't even under discussion (e.g. licensing and registration) which also poll over 50%. The public is on our side, even though the special interest money is not.

One thing that, I hate to admit, the right-wing does better is playing long-term politics. A lot of right-wing ideas start out in think-tanks and then push them and push them and push them until they find an opportunity to get them into law. This is not the only or the last chance to get sensible gun laws passed. If Bloomberg really steps up to the plate and provides a counterweight to the NRA, than a lot of things are possible.

raidert05

(185 posts)

8. This is how the NRA is feeling right now..

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:32 PM

Mar 2013

[url=http://imgflip.com/i/u1np][img][/img][/url][url=http://imgflip.com/memegenerator]

Progressive dog

(7,240 posts)

9. Liberals need a counterweight to the NRA.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 01:33 PM

Mar 2013

I'm trying to see this as glass still half full, but I'm having a hard time with that.

premium

(3,731 posts)

10. There is the Liberal Gun Club.

Reply to Progressive dog (Reply #9)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 02:00 PM

Mar 2013

But it's nowhere near the heavyweight that the NRA is.

http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/

The mission of The Liberal Gun Club is to provide a voice for gun-owning liberals and moderates in the national conversation on gun rights, gun legislation, firearms safety, and shooting sports. We serve as a national forum for all people, irrespective of their personal political beliefs, to discuss firearms ownership, firearms use, and the enjoyment of firearms-related activities free from the destructive elements of political extremism that dominate this subject on the national scale. We also actively develop and foster a variety of programs for the purpose of firearms training and firearms safety education, for both gun owners and non-gun owners.

Progressive dog

(7,240 posts)

13. Thanks

Reply to premium (Reply #10)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 04:53 PM

Mar 2013

but not quite what I had in mind.

graham4anything

(11,464 posts)

11. The Great Equalizer is the answer to reply 8,9,10

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 03:29 PM

Mar 2013

spin

(17,493 posts)

12. Actually gun owners won again. ...

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 04:44 PM

Mar 2013

It's easy to blame the big bad NRA but it only has at the most 5 million members out of 80 to 100 million gun owners.

The fact that 5 million NRA members might show up at the polls nationwide to vote against any politician who supported extremely strong gun control is hardly anything a politician would lose sleep over.

If a politician feels that the majority of citizens in his state supports gun control, he can campaign for an AWB ban without fear. On the other hand if firearms are very popular in his state, campaigning for an AWB is risky. In a few states supporting strong gun control is political suicide.

It could be argued that campaign contributions are critical to a politician and the NRA does contribute to pro-gun rights candidates. Let's take Harry Reid as an example.

The NRA Got Harry Reid Re-Elected
Posted on January 10, 2013 by Gary DeMar Filed under 2nd Amendment, Taxes41

***snip***

“After all, (the NRA) gave Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid nearly $5,000 of their members’ cash to go along with an ‘A’ rating in 2010.
“Now [Reid’s] twisting the arms of U.S. Senators to stay in line for Obama’s anti-gun schemes.
“Democrats Mark Warner, Bob Casey and Joe Manchin all received high marks from the NRA, and are now also jumping off the bandwagon, as well.”

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/8917/the-nra-got-harry-reid-re-elected/#ixzz2O7NSPDe5

Now it doesn't seem to me that the $5000 contribution to Harry Reid was all that big of a deal. Far more important was the NRA endorsement as many gun owners vote for candidates that get high ratings from the NRA. However, if only a few people owned firearms in Nevada the NRA endorsement would be useless.

If for some reason the NRA disbands, another pro-gun group will take up the cause. If you dislike the NRA, you would absolutely hate the GOA (Gun Owners of America) if they ever become the premier gun rights organization.

Gun Owners of America

Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States with over 300,000 members.[1] It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA), and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for allegedly compromising on gun rights issues and thereby selling out the gun rights movement.

The GOA has often been in opposition to the NRA in its endorsements and ratings of politicians and candidates. For instance, the GOA was outspoken in its opposition to John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, describing his gun-rights voting record as "abysmal, wretched, and pathetic"[2] and giving him an F- grade on Second Amendment issues since 2004, while the NRA (through its PAC, the NRA-PVF) gave him a C+.[3] The GOA took issue with the NRA over the 2007 NICS Improvement Act.[4]

The GOA has been described by Congressman Ron Paul as "The only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington." This quote from Paul has long been displayed prominently on the home page of the Gun Owners of America website, and Paul was the only 2008 Presidential candidate to receive an A+ grade from Gun Owners of America.[5]

***snip***

Gun Owners of America is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to preserve and defend the Second Amendment. GOA sees the right to bear arms as a fundamental freedom issue. GOA's stance is to "never compromise" and not to accept the status quo.[6] According to GOA's official website, its board contends that Americans have lost some of their gun rights, and GOA strives to get them back. For the past 30 years GOA has been building a nationwide network of lawyers to aid in challenging gun control legislation in the courts. GOA has been involved in legal proceedings in almost every state in the hopes of maintaining and advancing pro-gun legislation and rights.[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Owners_of_America

Lurks Often

(5,455 posts)

14. Damn that Sen Reid for listening to

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Wed Mar 20, 2013, 06:01 PM

Mar 2013

his constituents, knowing he doesn't have the votes and not wanting to give the Republicans a better chance at the Senate in 2014!

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