Senate Sells Out to the NRA

Today, the United States Senate, or I should say the conservatives in the Senate toed the line for the  National Rifle Association [NRA] and voted down legislation that would be instituted universal background checks for people wanting to purchase guns in America.  The Republican party deserves the blame for this because there were enough votes to pass this bill, were it not for yet another GOP filibuster. The vote was 54-46; not enough to beat the much-abused filibuster rules in the Senate.

This effort to establish a universal background check system for gun purchases was favored by 90% of the voting public. Republican voters supported it. Even NRA members overwhelmingly supported it.

Sad to say, the background check legislation was supposedly the easiest of the mix of actions needed to quell gun violence in America.  The separate Senate efforts to limit gun cartridge magazine size, to restrict assault weapons, and to criminalize 'strawman' purchases of guns all were doomed right along with the background checks.

In the wake of the mass murder of children in Newton, Connecticut, how could the senate naysayers respond so despicably?  Very simply, it comes down to politics.  The conservatives who refused to support Senate action on gun safety are beholden to the NRA, which  ignored it's own membership and stood vehemently against any kind of restriction on guns  Let's call a spade a spade. The NRA is a lobbying organization.   It's gun owner members are being used to shield the NRA's real mission, which is to vigorously shill for gun and ammunition manufacturers.

The whole gun debate is a microcosm for the root cause of the sweeping dysfunction in our system of governance.  American is no longer a democracy. It is a plutocracy; it represents the rich and big corporations, not it's citizens.  Quite simply, he who has the money makes the rules in America.  This circumstance applies across the board. No matter the issue, corporations and wealthy individuals are are able to use their money and influence to manipulate public policy to get the result they want, no matter the public interest.

The conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court has said that money is a form of free speech.  They also consider corporations as persons under the law. As long as these two morally bankrupt legal constructs stand,  democracy in America is a sham. 

The path to much needed gun safety legislation requires a congress that respects the will of  the people.  The same is true for climate change. Whatever the issue, the first step to meaningful action is to push back against the money and influence of the rich and powerful. Best way to do that is to enact a Constitutional amendment that says money is not speech and corporations are not people. Until we do that, nothing much good is going to get done by the people we elect to represent the public interest.

Anyone who wants to be a part of the solution on gun safety should take the time to visit the website for Move to Amend. Become part of the citizen action to take back our government by passing a Constitutional Amendment to end 'money as speech' and corporate personhood.

Here is a link to the Move to Amend website... https://movetoamend.org/



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