America it’s Time to Make Congress Work for us not the NRA
This Time has to be Different
This time it can’t be business as usual. This time the
outcome has to be different. That seemed to be the prevailing sentiment
throughout America following the tragic killing of 20 children and 6 adults in
Newtown, Connecticut in December. The heinous nature and sheer brutality
of the murders and the timing-right before Christmas- seemed to galvanize the
nation to finally take meaningful action to curb the scourge of gun violence
that has plagued our country for far too long. Although 34 Americans are killed
by gun violence everyday which means over 11,000 die annually by someone
wielding a deadly weapon, those sobering statistics never seemed to be enough to
move the average American to demand action. After all, those individual murders
could be dismissed as local urban violence, gang related, domestic violence,
home invasions and somehow acceptable. But the Newtown incident in Connecticut
was different. These were little children some as young as 5 years old gunned
down and shot multiple times by a madman using an assault weapon. Surely this
would be a watershed moment. President Obama convened a task force chaired by
vice president Biden. The task force included police commissioners, gun rights
advocates and even the National Rifle Association. Momentum and public opinion
appeared to be favoring a major change in gun laws. Even the NRA membership
favored a new direction. The membership understood that what was best for
America was best for their organization. Following the recommendations of the
task force, the president signed an unprecedented number of executive orders into law. However more meaningful action like an assault weapons ban would be
left to Congress. Now truly meaningful change will be left to the same members
of Congress whose deafening silence spoke volumes in the immediate aftermath of
the killing of all of those little children. While there were several senators
and representatives that spoke out in favor of stricter gun laws and background
checks in the days following the murders, it is telling that those members of
Congress cowed by the NRA remained silent. Members of Congress that crave any
opportunity to seize the national spotlight were nowhere to be found on the
Sunday morning news programs. But now a mere 4 weeks after the murders-roughly
one day for each victim-the voices of opposition are emerging. Perhaps buoyed
by the disgraceful NRA ad campaign that dragged the president’s daughters into
the argument, members like Rand Paul have begun spewing rhetoric right out of
the NRA’s playbook. Others dismiss the incident as a mental health issue and
nothing more. Although assault weapons were used in most of the mass killings,
there are those that argue that implementing an assault weapons ban won’t
matter citing the fact that their use in murders is uncommon. I guess all of
those people killed with assault weapons don’t matter. A common sense measure like limiting the
number of rounds that can be placed in a cartridge to 10 is nearly laughed off
by the NRA as shortsighted because the NRA argues that even an amateur shooter
could reload in about a second. The NRA and their representatives in Congress
and yes I did say their
representatives will argue that this is just another attack on their second
Amendment rights. Of course to the NRA any attempt to implement common sense
laws like stricter background checks is an attempt to restrict their rights. To
them there cannot be any compromise on this issue. To some gun rights
advocates, gun ownership will somehow provide protection against a tyrannical
government. They believe that any compromise is a slippery slope toward the day
when no American can own a gun. They make this argument despite the fact that
there is no serious proposal or discussion to outlaw the ownership of guns.
They use these talking points to energize their membership and to defeat any
legislation with which they disagree. And I must say it appears that it is
working again. The NRA is counting on time passing, the news media shifting its
attention to other issues and the short attention span of Americans to win. But
that formula which has worked so well in the past doesn’t have to work this
time. The NRA can be defeated. Their greatest fear is that they will be exposed
as weaker than the public believes they are. It is very analogous to the bully
in the schoolyard. No one stands up to the bully because of his reputation.
However once the bully is challenged and publicly defeated the perception of
his invincibility is destroyed. America it is time to stand up to the bully. And
if your congressional delegation doesn’t have the backbone to do it, we need to
help them grow the backbone. Here is what you can do. It is time for all
Americans that support stricter gun laws to stand up and let your voices be
heard. You must call, write, visit or e-mail your senators and
representatives and let them know that you will not stand for business as
usual- Not this time. Their contact information can be found online. Take a
page out of the Tea party playbook and protest at the offices of your elected
officials. If you belong to an organization like a fraternity or sorority or a
civic association focus your energy on this issue. Disrupt their events if you
must. Do whatever you need to do to let them know that you want this time to be
different. Remind them that they work for you- not the NRA. After all you are
far more powerful than any lobbyist, organization, PAC or caucus. We must honor
those children, teachers and all Americans that are killed by gun violence,
including the 34 that you will hear about tonight on the newscasts throughout
the country. We must do our part for them. We must reassure their families that
they did not die in vain that their murders aren’t business as usual. Because given
the circumstances of 20 children gunned down in a peaceful New England town 11
days before Christmas, if we can’t win this time when can we?
Michael S. Nixon
