Is Enough finally enough?
For years, those demanding stricter gun control in America have been asking the question, "Is this enough? Through all the mass shootings and casualties, they are basically asking how many have to do before enough is enough?
No matter how horrific the tragedies, law makers have been seemingly unwilling to make any changes to gun control legislation because that means taking on the NRA.
Surely, they have hid behind the 2nd Amendment but the reality is they really are unwilling to take on the NRA. There is no doubt that the founding fathers of America never envisioned mass shootings on innocent civilians when they were drafting the 2nd Amendment.
So, after decades of protests, petitions, etc, stricter gun control advocates have been unsuccessful.
But, now we have some hope. Enough is enough is the rallying cry of students who were attending Stoneman Douglas School at the time of the shooting. There is some hope that enough is finally enough.
These students have accomplished more in two weeks than gun control advocates have accomplished in years.
They were able to get a "listening" session with President Trump to present their data and their feelings. It was powerful. They talked. He appeared to listen. Whether he is able to process what he hears and not put his own spin on it is debatable. But, they have been the only group to attain such an audience.
His statements afterwards didn't indicate much hope but he did instruct the Attorney General to push for a bump stock ban. I had to look this term up because I had no idea, even though it appears to be in everyone's else's vocabulary. A bump stock is something that promotes rapid firing, essentially turning a rifle into a machine gun. These have been legal up until now? Really. Why would anyone need such a thing? To me, this should never have been legal, but, atleast now a ban is proposed.
They have also pressured corporate America to stop funding NRA. Two major airlines and four car rental agencies have announced that they will no longer offer discounts to NRA members. They were? Again, what a mixed message that was. We want no weapons on our planes, yet they have been discounting people who are proud to carry guns? Ugh. Well, again, this is significant.
Today, one of the major retailers of guns announced changes to their policy inspired by the students. They have said they have to do better. Now, this is moving in the right direction.
This "spell" that the NRA has over the American legislation has always been fascinating, but today, I decided to check out their website.
First of all, I was surprised that they only have 5 million members. That is a big number, but in the greater scheme of things in terms of American voters, it really is not a huge amount. Why have everyone been so scared of them?
They have all levels of membership; you can buy a lifetime membership, a 10 year membership, etc. But, for only $40, you can buy a 1 year introductory membership. That is pretty cheap. It would be interesting how many of the membership is casual and not that committed.
With your membership, you are entitled to join their wine club. I'm not making this up. I mean alcohol should be paired with people carrying guns. What could go wrong? If you want to join the wine club, they will send you 4 bottles of "nice" wine for $29,99. So, this is about $7.50/bottle. That is pretty cheap. It is possible that some members are joining just for the discounts on wine.
Not only wine, but you can get discounted home owners insurance, gun insurance, life insurance, etc. I am assuming that with all these discounts, not to mention the previous flight and car rental discounts, start adding up and it may make economic sense to be a member of the NRA. It is possible that a whole group of people join the NRA without any ideological affiliation.
There was another sign on the weekend that the NRA senses that enough is enough. They now have a new face that is handling their press interviews. A younger attractive woman is now providing their voice rather than grumpy creepy looking guys. This is a very positive sign.
Perhaps the NRA is not as scary as we think it is. There is only one way to deal with a bully and that is to stand up to the bully and then they are not as powerful as we thought. I sincerely hope the America people, led by the future generation, tests this hypothesis with the big bad wolf known as the NRA.
#enoughisenough
No matter how horrific the tragedies, law makers have been seemingly unwilling to make any changes to gun control legislation because that means taking on the NRA.
Surely, they have hid behind the 2nd Amendment but the reality is they really are unwilling to take on the NRA. There is no doubt that the founding fathers of America never envisioned mass shootings on innocent civilians when they were drafting the 2nd Amendment.
So, after decades of protests, petitions, etc, stricter gun control advocates have been unsuccessful.
But, now we have some hope. Enough is enough is the rallying cry of students who were attending Stoneman Douglas School at the time of the shooting. There is some hope that enough is finally enough.
These students have accomplished more in two weeks than gun control advocates have accomplished in years.
They were able to get a "listening" session with President Trump to present their data and their feelings. It was powerful. They talked. He appeared to listen. Whether he is able to process what he hears and not put his own spin on it is debatable. But, they have been the only group to attain such an audience.
His statements afterwards didn't indicate much hope but he did instruct the Attorney General to push for a bump stock ban. I had to look this term up because I had no idea, even though it appears to be in everyone's else's vocabulary. A bump stock is something that promotes rapid firing, essentially turning a rifle into a machine gun. These have been legal up until now? Really. Why would anyone need such a thing? To me, this should never have been legal, but, atleast now a ban is proposed.
They have also pressured corporate America to stop funding NRA. Two major airlines and four car rental agencies have announced that they will no longer offer discounts to NRA members. They were? Again, what a mixed message that was. We want no weapons on our planes, yet they have been discounting people who are proud to carry guns? Ugh. Well, again, this is significant.
Today, one of the major retailers of guns announced changes to their policy inspired by the students. They have said they have to do better. Now, this is moving in the right direction.
This "spell" that the NRA has over the American legislation has always been fascinating, but today, I decided to check out their website.
First of all, I was surprised that they only have 5 million members. That is a big number, but in the greater scheme of things in terms of American voters, it really is not a huge amount. Why have everyone been so scared of them?
They have all levels of membership; you can buy a lifetime membership, a 10 year membership, etc. But, for only $40, you can buy a 1 year introductory membership. That is pretty cheap. It would be interesting how many of the membership is casual and not that committed.
With your membership, you are entitled to join their wine club. I'm not making this up. I mean alcohol should be paired with people carrying guns. What could go wrong? If you want to join the wine club, they will send you 4 bottles of "nice" wine for $29,99. So, this is about $7.50/bottle. That is pretty cheap. It is possible that some members are joining just for the discounts on wine.
Not only wine, but you can get discounted home owners insurance, gun insurance, life insurance, etc. I am assuming that with all these discounts, not to mention the previous flight and car rental discounts, start adding up and it may make economic sense to be a member of the NRA. It is possible that a whole group of people join the NRA without any ideological affiliation.
There was another sign on the weekend that the NRA senses that enough is enough. They now have a new face that is handling their press interviews. A younger attractive woman is now providing their voice rather than grumpy creepy looking guys. This is a very positive sign.
Perhaps the NRA is not as scary as we think it is. There is only one way to deal with a bully and that is to stand up to the bully and then they are not as powerful as we thought. I sincerely hope the America people, led by the future generation, tests this hypothesis with the big bad wolf known as the NRA.
#enoughisenough
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