Now is the Time to Talk About This!

As Long as Gun Manufacturers and the NRA Own Our Legislators Senseless Deaths will Continue

The majority of our elected officials are afraid of the NRA. There is no other explanation for the lack of gun control discussion during the last Presidential race, and the counter-intuitive statements from legislators and the corporate media regarding guns and the recently (since the gun manufactures took over financing the NRA) redefined “second amendment.”

I grew up in north eastern Wisconsin in the 1950's and used my paper route money to by a single shot bolt action Remington .22 when I was 12. I later used the money I earned working in high school at the local Dodge dealer to buy a single shot bolt action Mossberg 20 gauge shot gun. The guns were always kept in their cases and the bolts were always kept in a separate room. The .22 was used for target practice and rabbits and the 20 gauge was used for birds. At that time the NRA was a grass roots organization that supported gun safety.

But the last sixty years have changed both the NRA and the influence of money on our government. The corporate money that is funneled through the NRA to organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and to Super PACs has created harmful legislation at the state level (conceal carry, stand your ground) and reduced the restriction on assault weapons on a national level.

Yesterday, in an elementary school in Connecticut a deranged man killed 20 innocent children and six adults using firearms. Meanwhile, in China a deranged man attacked 22 children in an elementary school in rural China using a knife. Tonight 26 families in the United States are mourning the loss of their loved ones while all 22 of the children in China are safely in their homes with minor wounds.

The difference, gun manufactures own the United States Congress and the Statehouses. The NRA has created a society where deranged people can kill more people, faster and more efficiently than anywhere else in the developed world. No other developed nation has the number of firearm deaths as we do.

What can we do about it?

This must be addressed on two fronts;

First, gun control and anti-violence. There are many good people and great organizations that are fighting that fight.

Second, get money out of politics. This is a prerequisite for any movement toward getting our voices back. Getting money out of politics will stop the bribery and threats of the NRA and therefore reduce their influence. It will also stop the influence of corporations and the super rich on multiple issues, such as health care, social security, war, and pollution.

Please, visit the web site "Represent Us" and sign on as a Co-sponsor of the American Anti-corruption Act and then get as many of your friends as possible to also sign on.

Then take the time to visit the local web site http://reclaimourvoice.wordpress.com/ to be in contact with fellow Wisconsinites who are resolved to get money out of politics.