NRA Board Member Blames Charleston Shooting Deaths on Pastor
Disclaimer: I'm not blaming the NRA for the Charleston shootings. Unlike certain NRA board members linked above, I think it's far more complicated than that.
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Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Innocent people died because they were shot by a racist thug with a gun. It makes about as much sense as me claiming that they might be alive if the NRA board member had not armed the shooter. But if you're an NRA board member, I guess everything is fair game if it can be politicized and used to sell more guns.
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So now you're telling people that they have to carry a gun to be safe in a place of worship, and that the NRA's continual battle for the right of gun manufacturers to sell as many guns to as many people as possible with no regard to whom they're being sold does not contribute to this in any way? Your relentless fear-mongering* serves no purpose but to sell more guns. Your continual support of the most ludicrous conspiracy theories serves no purpose but to sell more guns. If your goal was truly to protect the rights of gun owners, and our right to bear arms (which you may be shocked to find that I support), then you would support sensible gun control legislation that at least made it difficult for those who shouldn't have guns to get them. Why are background checks a burden? Why is waiting a few days for a thorough review a burden? Why is a gun license a burden, but a fishing license is not? Why do you insist that the solution is to force everyone to participate in an arms race? Because you've allowed your purpose to become working as a lobbyist for gun manufacturers rather than gun owners, and making sure manufacturers can sell as many guns as possible.
If you want to stop feeling like you're a target every time mass gun casualties occur, then show your support for responsible gun ownership. Promote gun education programs for all gun purchasers. Stop insulting people that might otherwise work with you by using blanket terms like "gungrabbers". Show some real backbone, tell the gun manufacturers to stuff it, and work with gun owners and legislators to find a solution that does not involve gun proliferation. Start working for the responsible gun owners who are getting unfairly smeared by all of this, and clearly call out the idiots who (so bravely!) parade around suburban Targets and Chipotles armed to the teeth with rifles strapped to their backs for no other reason than they can. Stop using fear to sell guns, because guns aren't just another "As Seen On TV" consumer product. And stop blocking every effort to study the problem and find a solution. We all bear some responsibility for what is happening; it's time the NRA claimed their fair share and dropped the "Who, me?"charade.
In 2008, the Supreme Court stated that the adjective in the phrase "well-regulated militia" in the Second Amendment "implies nothing more than the imposition of proper discipline and training.", thus reaffirming the right of individual citizens to bear arms. Assuming the NRA agrees with this definition, then they should stop blocking efforts to make sure this proper discipline and training take place, and work towards making sure that those who ignore proper discipline and training (like making guns easily available to irresponsible teens) are held responsible. Take a lesson from the brave families of the victims and reach out for a solution instead of pointing a gun in everyone's face.
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* I recall, for example, a billboard in Ohio that went up shortly after Obama was elected telling me to hurry to an upcoming gun show before Obama could take away my guns.
