Word: nra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...deny that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is a highly motivated minority that outguns its opponents out of all proportion to public opinion on this issue. But the vote last week in the House actually represents some old fashioned horse trading and some setbacks for the NRA, much of it thanks to the efforts of Rep. Peter Rodino (D-N.J.), chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee...
...newly approved bill repeals key provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, passed after the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It permits the interstate transport of all firearms, as well as most interstate sales of rifles and shotguns--deregulations the NRA claims are essential to sportsmen but which really do more to stifle law enforcement efforts...
Looking at another provision of the new bill--an easing up on record-keeping requirements and police inspections for gun dealers--it appears that more than Second Amendment rights and sportsmanship are at stake. The NRA, it seems, is worried about the welfare of gun dealers, whose sales are the biggest victim of gun control. Cash flow in the gun market, rather than "civil liberties" of hunters and "honest citizens," is its overriding concern...
Existing gun regulations were loose enough to allow the needless deaths of over 20,000 Americans last year. Congress, were it brave enough to ignore the campaign money the NRA waves, would see that gun laws should be strengthened. A mandatory federal waiting period and licensing of firearms--especially easily concealable handguns--would better keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, without violating anyone's rights...
Eighteen years after the assassinations of King and Kennedy, Congress is willing to forget about what happened without serious gun regulation. Public opinion hasn't changed; only Congress' willingness to risk the wrath of the NRA and prevent needless gun-related deaths...