“Shame on you,” words uttered by an observer in the Senate when a washed down version of gun legislation failed to pass. I didn’t believe it when Senator Reid said taking out the teeth of the legislation, banning automatic “war type” weapons and clips with a greater than 10-bullet capacity would make the law’s passage more likely.
Unlike Senator Reid, I wasn’t willing to trust this version of the GOP; it is their actions that should be judged, so they filibuster forcing the vote to be 60 members not the majority rule like any other piece of law would need.
This is how democracy dies if we are not vigilant. When a majority of polled Americans support it, how do the NRA and a minority of the Senate keep it from becoming a reality? When did we walk through the looking glass into this Wonderland, where as Senator Rubio said today, “I have stuck my neck out for gay marriage and immigration. I don’t have the cover to do this.” When do you need cover to do the right thing? When did we let that happen, America? How can we allow folks to become lifetime politicians who represent the funders of their next reelection campaign and not “We the People?”
Well, for those of you living in Mass. cheering this setback, know this. The efforts of our FBI, BPD and the attorneys general are being hampered because the NRA successfully helped defeat a bill that required taggets in gun powder so it could be tracked back to its point of sale.
Yes, it appears the NRA is a terrorist’s best friend whether they are wielding a gun or a bomb. Rather than protect us, the Senate has decided to sacrifice us to their greed. Believe me they are making money and at the end of the day you better believe for the NRA that is what it is all about.
Tell your reasons to the Richards who lost their eight-year-old Monday in that bomb blast, whose five-year-old sister lost a leg, whose mother suffered a concussion. Tell that to the seven people who had amputations today. The 176 wounded and the families of the three dead. Why not track gun powder so that our law enforcement, under so much pressure to bring people to justice, have the tools to do so.
Why not background checks for all weapon sales no matter who the buyer or seller is? The GOP is happy to go back when it suits them. Won’t consider equal pay for women, gays should have no rights and should march back to the closet; abortion, Head Start, Social Security, turn all of that back. But go back and reinstitute the automatic gun ban of the ’90s that they can’t hear.
Well, we need to speak louder and vow not to give up on this fight; 2014 is coming and we need to know how everyone voted and do our best to help the opponents of the ones who got it so wrong today.
FAYE MORRISON
Ayer
