“We need in every community a group of angelic troublemakers. Our power is in our ability to make things unworkable. The only weapon we have is our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places so wheels don’t turn.” — Bayard Rustin
The “wheels” that Bayard Rustin, iconic civil rights leader and mentor, referred to were the wheels of oppression with their numerous spokes each representing the various forms oppression takes. Bayard Rustin practiced and taught the power of non-violent resistance. The “angelic troublemakers” throughout our history have stood up, spoken up, and laid down their bodies in the struggle to dismantle these wheels and prevent them from ever again trampling over the rights and the lives of people.
Following the legacy of non-violence, a new generation of committed and talented young activists has begun to change hearts and minds in the growing national movement for firearms safety. In a relatively brief time, they have scored some victories great and small.
In the aftermath of the tragic slaughter and injury of scores of students and educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida, students have engaged in massive school walkouts, and have attended national and regional rallies and marches. They have brought to the fore critical issues sparking discussions regarding the place of firearms in the society and the extent of the gun culture permeating our politics, our businesses, and our institutions.
Within one month of the Parkland shooting, the Florida legislature passed a modest bill signed into law by the governor. It raised the age to purchase any gun in the state to 21. Potential gun purchasers will now have to undergo a three-day waiting period, or until a background check is completed, whichever is longer. The law bans so-called “bump stocks” and other technologies that increase the speed of rifles.
The most controversial provision will allow school superintendents and local law enforcement to arm school personnel. The bill allocates $67. million to train and arm some employees on a voluntary basis, such as counselors, coaches, librarians – though not full-time teachers – in the use of firearms.
Legislators, by the narrowest of majorities, passed the bill despite a massive lobbying effort by the National Rifle Association for its defeat. Following its passage, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida claiming:
“This bill punishes law-abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of a deranged individual,” argued executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action Chris W. Cox. “Securing our schools and protecting the constitutional rights of Americans are not mutually exclusive.”
The NRA was founded in 1871 primarily as a group for hunting and shooting enthusiasts. During the 1960s, in the wake of assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the US Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968. The act regulated the firearms industry and owners by prohibiting the transfer of firearms over state borders except among licensed manufacturers, dealer, and importers.
The enforcement arm of the government was expanded in 1972 when the US created the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. To counter what the NRA perceived as the encroachment of the Second Amendment, NRA board member, Harlon Carter, established a lobbying arm of the organization, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. Today it functions as one of the most powerful and well-funded member- and corporate-supported lobbying groups in the country.
In the year 2016 alone, it spent $35,157,585. Coming in a distant second in lobbying spending was the US Chamber of Commerce at $29,106,034. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NRA spent $51,854,687 during the 2016 federal election cycle helping to put Donald J. Trump and other high profile Republican NRA supporters in Congress. Overall, the gun rights lobbies’ spending far exceeds that of the organizations for common sense gun safety.
When calls ring out for responsible gun regulations, the NRA, for example, falls back on it old effective battle cry of “They’re trying to take away your guns!” to instill fear as a clarion call for the troops to staff the battlements. These conspiracy warriors live and die by the motto that no regulation is good regulation.
As is common in political and corporate advertising – and as we have seen as well in the Russian hacking of our democratic institutions – the gun rights lobby, including the NRA, micro-targets audiences and sites most susceptible or potentially interested in its message and goals, and as a means of contradicting and mediating counter narratives.
In writing about the growing movement for firearms safety, the gun lobby has trolled my articles by unloading an entire series of announcements for readers to take actions against any regulations on the unlimited manufacture, sale, and use of these weapons great and small, from joining the NRA:
And
To contacting members of Congress
To applying for a free map showing all the “Concealed Carry” municipalities across the country.
Though the Senior Editor has continually attempted to block these ads from appearing on The Good Men Project website, dedicated pro-gun propagandists find ways of dumping their muck nonetheless.
Possibly, though, we may be seeing the first tiny glimpses of hope for common sense comprehensive regulations.
Stemming from the passion of the young activists from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, increasing numbers of corporate sponsors are pulling their support from organizations like the NRA. Corporations include Avis Budget Group, Best Western, United Airlines, MetLife and Wyndham Worldwide.
In addition, several local and national chain stores have recently restricted the selling of firearms. For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods will no longer sell assault-style weapons and high capacity magazines, and it has raised the age to 21 for all other firearms. Walmart, which already has ceased selling assault weapons, like Dick’s, it has recently raised the age to 21 for other guns.
Selective states and local communities have been passing legislation, though this must happen on a national level, since individuals can still legally purchase firearms and accessories in many locations and carry them into places where they are outlawed.
But possibly, we are seeing a clearing in the gun smoke coming on the horizon.
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