Ladies and gentlemen, it is now “official.” We have turned away from the United States of America, and we are now known as the United States of the National Rifle Association.
Need proof? Check out the crudely recorded, sideways video below of Republican New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte from earlier today. The woman Ayotte is speaking with is Pam Simon, a former staffer to former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Simon was shot alongside the congresswoman in 2011 at a strip mall in Tucson.
Their conversation turned to Wednesday’s vote in the Senate which turned back efforts for expanded background checks on gun purchases. Ayotte was one of the minority of 46 senators who voted against the measure, which fell six votes short of passage. The key part of the conversation is as follows:
SIMON: I know that you voted no yesterday, and I wanted
to ask, is there anything that could be fixed or changed that would make
you more comfortable with gun legislation…AYOTTE: You know obviously I’d have to look at the legislation. I
can tell you that just the logistics of the legislation, the
Toomey-Manchin one, the way it prioritized gun show checks over retailers. I mean just on a sort of implementation level. A
lot of concern from retailers about that their the way they prioritized
it putting aside the checking of it that amongst retailers there was a
lot of concern from just actually gun shop owners. Which I know is sort
of a different kind of group than you guys… […]SIMON: So their feeling was to burden others? People would be coming in doing background checks on them…
AYOTTE: Yes, yes a different burden on them, so that was one piece…
So the bottom line here is that Ayotte’s concern had nothing at all to do with protecting Second Amendment rights, allowing anyone and their dog to purchase a military-style rifle or a 200-round ammo magazine, the unfounded fear that it would mean the big, nasty government is coming to take away everyone’s guns (by the way, I’m putting the challenge out there for any gun advocates to show me anywhere in a piece of legislation outside of NRA propaganda where law-abiding, sane gun owners’ weapons would be confiscated through background checks … no takers yet), etc.
You certainly heard no mention from Ayotte of concern for gun safety, or the burden that gun violence places on victims and their families, or about dealing with mental health issues for those wanting to purchase a gun which certainly needs to be part of any overall deal.
No, Ayotte’s concern came down to what she felt was a burden the measure would put on gun retailers. And who is it that the NRA is really representing these days more than anyone? Gun retailers.
Welcome to the USNRA!
Click here for more on this story
UPDATE: Major NRA member resigns after gun control defeat in Senate
Related articles
- NRA Rejects Toomey/Manchin Deal On Expanding Background Checks (patdollard.com)
- Common Sense Time Congress−Stand up for the USA, Not the NRA (elect2care.com)
- Courage in short supply (bangordailynews.com)
- The Gun Lobby Wins Again (esquire.com)
A View From The Middle (Class) 