Gun control group tries to quiet debate

"That is the goal of a North Jersey rabbi and a group of public officials, including some mayors from Bergen County, who plan to show up at the offices of gunmakers in several states and at least one investment firm in Manhattan that has deep ties to gunmakers to discuss controls on weapons.

They plan to submit formal “requests for information” on what the gunmakers are doing — in design or marketing policies — to keep guns from falling into the hands of mentally ill people or criminals.

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One titan — the National Rifle Association — will be noticeably missing. The coalition of clergy and public officials says it is pointedly trying to bypass the NRA in the hope of avoiding the contentious discourse and finger-pointing that has gridlocked most debates over gun control.

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Some public officials involved with Do Not Stand Idly By have told gunmakers that they cannot bid for lucrative police weapons contracts with municipalities and other government agencies unless they support gun-control measures. These range from specific pledges by gunmakers not to sell used police weapons at gun shows to investing in “smart-gun” technology to control who can fire a weapon through the use of digital programming for trigger locks.

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Jersey City has been one of the nation’s leaders in this initiative. After much opposition from gunmakers, including a brief boycott of a police weapons contract, Jersey City signed a deal with a gunmaker for new police guns and ammunition while also exacting pledges for gun control measures."



This is an interesting approach. It seems that Jersey City has had some success with the approach. Now, if the Pentagon got on board along with police forces in major cities the NRA could just go fuck themselves.