When a gun control advocate seeks to decry the lack of progress, they tend to have an old fallback they like to use. They simply blame money.
You see, regulations would easily pass were it not for the evil money of the NRA which buys politicians like the rest of us buy cans of vegetables. These politicians would support gun control were it not for the fact that their political coffers overflow with gun lobby money thanks to their own greed and lack of concern for their constituents.
It really does paint quite a picture, doesn’t it?
And no, I’m not straw-manning anything. People really do seem to think this way, such as this op-ed.
Ya think ya know what ya doin’…
We don’t hold the strings.”- as sung by Cindi Lauper
Try “googling” shootings in Coweta County in 2023. You will be amazed at how many have already occurred. They range from domestic disturbances to workplace events. Is the solution more guns (we have been dramatically increasing the number of guns in the US over the last decade) or more gun control?
We do not have stronger gun control in Georgia and elsewhere for two reasons: a. money-politicians are bought off by the NRA and related groups and b. gun fanatics- a small but very vocal minority loudly declares that gun control will not work and that any contrary fact is “fake news”.
See? Told ya.
Of course, the author goes on with additional tangents, including about how our violent crime rates simply must be because of guns, dismissing the argument that maybe we’re just a more violent society.
He defends this with a quote he claims comes from a MAGA friend, though I’m skeptical. He doesn’t address how our non-gun homicide rate is greater than the total gun homicide rate of many developed nations, though.
However, let’s focus instead on the claims that the NRA and other gun-rights groups have bought off Georgia politicians.
Like I said, it paints an interesting picture.
However, it ignores the fact that gun control groups also spend a buttload of money, including having outspent the NRA at times. Now, with that in mind, if these politicians were interested in supporting gun control, they could do so. I’m pretty sure Michael Bloomberg would be happy to pick up the slack left by gun rights groups.
So why don’t they?
Maybe because a lot of them actually believe gun rights are, you know, rights?
Just throwing that out there.
Not that our intrepid op-ed author would acknowledge that.
You see, what typically happens is people such as him see the money spent by Everytown and Giffords as support for a righteous cause while viewing the exact same kind of spending by the NRA and GOA as buying politicians.
It’s a hypocrisy that won’t be addressed in the media because, well, they tend to agree.
Yet it’s also telling that these people cannot fathom good, decent people actually disagreeing with them. Sure, they might say they don’t think we’re bad people, but the moment someone like us takes office, we’re suddenly corrupt scum grubbing for gun lobby money rather than people who actually believe in the right to keep and bear arms.
It’s infuriating, all the more so because this guy is a fellow Georgian.
However, I rest easier knowing that the real reason why he doesn’t get his way is because most Georgians just aren’t as sold on the idea of gun control as he is. Even if polling suggests they are, that polling is routinely wrong, especially when people learn about the nitty-gritty of a proposal.
And even when it’s not wrong, it fails to account for just how much it matters to the respondent.
After all, if people oppose literally everything else anti-gun candidates are proposing, why would they suddenly support them simply because of one policy they might sort of like?
Or is he thinking we voters are also bought off by the NRA? If so, I’m still waiting on a check.
