I thought it ironic that it was reported that yesterdays hearing on gun control was canceled, until I read the CNN article that revealed the discussion was to support relaxing controls to make it easier for gun owners to own silencers, transport guns across state lines and ease restrictions on armor-piercing bullets.
Yet the majority of Americans believe gun controls should be more strict or at least stay the same according to data provided by the Gallup organization.
Why is the gun lobby so effective? Why does the minority of gun owners have so much influence?
These shooting are sad when they happen no matter who the victims are. Unstable people and guns are a terrible mix.
ReplyDeleteFor me it would be uncomfortable to have a gun nearby regardless of who is carrying it. We do have quite a lot of guns here in Finland, most of them for hunting purposes, but relatively few shooting incidents, at least compared to the United States. According to Wikipedia, the firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population per year is 3.25 in Finland and 10.54 in the United States. For comparison, in Japan the death rate is 0.06 incidents.
ReplyDeleteThe NRA may be the most effective lobbying organization in the country, and that is what it has become, a lobby group for gun/ammo corporations, not an association of marksmen and hunters, which it was when I was in fact a junior member as a kid in the late 50s-early 60s.
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