I don't call the National Rifle Association the 'Neocon Racist Assciation' or other less flattering names for nothing. But at the same time, I admire their ability to 'scurr' congresscritters into backing off on or efficiently killing any gun legislation they don't like While I don't have a problem with people exercising their Second Amendment rights to own guns, I draw the line at assault rifles that only have the purpose of killing mass quantities of human beings in a short amount of time.
I also don't see the harm in requiring background checks and short waiting periods for people that wish to purchase guns o ensure they are mentally stable enough to do so or aren't convicted felons.
But you can count on the NRA gun fetishists to do something extremist and racist in their zeal to pimp for the firearms industry, scare 'real Americans' and put more guns in their hands.
Another exhibit of their racism just happened the other day in relation to the District of Columbia's long time efforts to get a voting representative in Congress.
The District of Columbia has not had representation in Congress since it was established in 1801. At the time of its creation, leaders were concerned that the nation's capital not be located in any one state. DC residents can vote in presidential elections, serve in the military, and pay taxes but don't get the opportunity to vote for a congressional representative to help determine how those dollars are spent.
In 1978 a constitutional amendment was passed by Congress that would have granted the city a House vote, but it died because was not ratified by a sufficient number of states in the allotted time.
If the District of Columbia were majority white, the Republican Party, the conservative movement and Fox News long ago would have been championing the cause of DC voting rights and screaming bloody murder about the 'unfair and unconstitutional' disenfranchisement of large numbers of 'Real Americans.' But since it's majority African-American, they don't care.
To add insult to injury, the NRA and their GOP acolytes couldn't resist whipping out their white privilege card and using this an an opportunity to jack with DC's strict gun laws. As a condition for DC getting what it wanted in terms of federal representation, Republican lawmakers attached amendments to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's bill designed to weaken those gun laws.
"We just had nine kids shot by an assault rifle in our city," said D.C. councilmember at large Phil Mendelson, speaking about a recent drive-by shooting in Southeast D.C. that left four dead and several wounded. "Under the gun amendment, weapons like the AK-47 would be legal… That's unacceptable."
Several members of the DC City council in addition to Del. Norton were not happy about the games played with the DC Voting rights bill "We should not trade a piece of democracy for a piece of democracy," said council member Michael A. Brown, who chairs DC's committee on statehood and self-determination. "It was a bad deal for the residents of the District of Columbia," he said of the bill's gun control provisions.
As always, the struggle continues.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) suggested that unrelated issues such as gun rights — are once again holding up an agreement to bring the D.C. voting bill to the floor. Hoyer had originally hoped to bring the bill to the floor this week, but now believes the legislation may be done for the year.
Hoyer said he's "profoundly disappointed" that the legislation will not be brought up, but said the bill should be about voting rights, not local D.C. crime issues or adding a House seat for Utah. Both these issues have held up D.C. voting rights in the past.
Delegate Norton said, "We have begun to develop new strategies to get a voting rights bill through Congress that can pass. "I am full of promising ideas about how to move forward not only on voting rights but on every right D.C. residents are entitled to as American citizens."
This despicable political drama adds another layer to the negativity that many African Americans feel towards the NRA and ossifies the impression in our community that they are a racist organization.
And it's another reason why I can't stand the NRA.
