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Why the NRA Is Still Winning the War on Guns
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Dec 14, 2012 06:50pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Elspeth Reeve |
| News Date | Friday, December 14, 2012 07:30:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The National Rifle Association has been able to maintain its reputation as a respectable organization by portraying itself as a defender of the right to own weapons as a crime deterrent — a means to a less violent society. That's the genius behind its little slogan "guns don't kill people, people kill people." But in the wake of the Newtown school shooting — and a year full of gun violence — it's worth remembering that the NRA has been unmistakably advocating for a more violent society, one in which there are more and more scenarios in which there are no consequences for killing people. And the NRA's favorite laws are passing. The NRA is winning.
It's not just that the NRA has pushed for the end of a ban on weapons that are very effective at killing a lot of people in a few minutes — like the assault rifle that reportedly was used to kill more than two dozen people in Connecticut Friday morning. (Photo of a .223 Bushmaster at right.) The NRA has pushed for laws allowing people to bring guns to work in 17 states. It's pushed for "Stand Your Ground" laws in more than 20 states that encourage the use of those weapons. These laws expand the "castle doctrine," which once allowed people to use lethal force in self-defense in their homes when they fear their lives are at stake but now allow lethal force to be used outside the home, or just to prevent someone from entering a home, without requiring the shooter first retreat. The most famous case this year was in Florida, when George Zimmerman shot to death the unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (Defenders of Zimmerman suggested he must have felt his life was threatened because Martin used curse words on Twitter.)
As Slate's Emily Bazelon points out, the people actually in charge of making sure we have a less violent society — cops, prosecutors — hate these laws. |
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