by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The Congress of the United States of America is an organization that works for American corporations and interest groups that have the financial power to lobby the members of Congress with cold, hard cash - and chief among those groups who blatantly purchase influence with Congress is the National Rifle Association. The NRA, which is funded by individual member dues and the nation's gun manufacturers, pours millions of dollars directly into the pockets of congressmen and senators to do the organization's bidding - and those political bribes are remarkably effective.
The NRA's money puts the brakes on the impact that public outrage should have on Congress. When twenty six-and-seven-year-old's were gunned down in their elementary classrooms at the Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, America and the world were shocked senseless, but the NRA flexed it's money muscle and Congress responded by doing absolutely nothing. Twenty dead children - and Congress looked the other way!
And if Congress didn't respond to something as horrific as Sandy Hook, is there any conceivable scenario that would force our representatives and senators into action? Obviously not.
But now there seem to be some other big players wading into the gun control debate.
The NRA has also been lathering its cash over state legislatures, and now twenty-six of fifty states currently allow "open-carry" of firearms by individuals both on foot and in vehicles - and it is a wide-open form of open-carry with no requirements for gun training or a license to carry. Just buy a gun and take it any damned where you please. Some American businesses had come out in opposition to these entitled individuals walking into their stores with their guns on prominent display, but they were primarily left-sing enclaves like Starbucks and Trader Joe's.
This week, the list of retailers who are "requesting" that people not carry guns in their stores expanded exponentially when America's largest retailer, Walmart," joined the movement. Walmart was responding to two recent shootings at its stores, including a mass shooting in El Paso, as well as complaints from customers and employees regarding "open carry" in stores. And right on cue, the NRA roared threats of a Walmart boycott.
But almost immediately four other big national retailers followed Walmart's lead. Now Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, and Wegman's have linked their corporate arms and are also asking customers not to openly carry firearms into their stores. Other stores who were already pursuing this commonsense policy include: Target, Panera Bread, Sonic, Whataburger, Chili's, Costco, HEB, and Chipolte - as well as Starbucks and Trader Joe's.
If this trend continues, "open-carry" may soon be relegated to only taverns and churches.
Congress may not work for the people, but perhaps businesses just might!
Citizen Journalist
The Congress of the United States of America is an organization that works for American corporations and interest groups that have the financial power to lobby the members of Congress with cold, hard cash - and chief among those groups who blatantly purchase influence with Congress is the National Rifle Association. The NRA, which is funded by individual member dues and the nation's gun manufacturers, pours millions of dollars directly into the pockets of congressmen and senators to do the organization's bidding - and those political bribes are remarkably effective.
The NRA's money puts the brakes on the impact that public outrage should have on Congress. When twenty six-and-seven-year-old's were gunned down in their elementary classrooms at the Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, America and the world were shocked senseless, but the NRA flexed it's money muscle and Congress responded by doing absolutely nothing. Twenty dead children - and Congress looked the other way!
And if Congress didn't respond to something as horrific as Sandy Hook, is there any conceivable scenario that would force our representatives and senators into action? Obviously not.
But now there seem to be some other big players wading into the gun control debate.
The NRA has also been lathering its cash over state legislatures, and now twenty-six of fifty states currently allow "open-carry" of firearms by individuals both on foot and in vehicles - and it is a wide-open form of open-carry with no requirements for gun training or a license to carry. Just buy a gun and take it any damned where you please. Some American businesses had come out in opposition to these entitled individuals walking into their stores with their guns on prominent display, but they were primarily left-sing enclaves like Starbucks and Trader Joe's.
This week, the list of retailers who are "requesting" that people not carry guns in their stores expanded exponentially when America's largest retailer, Walmart," joined the movement. Walmart was responding to two recent shootings at its stores, including a mass shooting in El Paso, as well as complaints from customers and employees regarding "open carry" in stores. And right on cue, the NRA roared threats of a Walmart boycott.
But almost immediately four other big national retailers followed Walmart's lead. Now Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, and Wegman's have linked their corporate arms and are also asking customers not to openly carry firearms into their stores. Other stores who were already pursuing this commonsense policy include: Target, Panera Bread, Sonic, Whataburger, Chili's, Costco, HEB, and Chipolte - as well as Starbucks and Trader Joe's.
If this trend continues, "open-carry" may soon be relegated to only taverns and churches.
Congress may not work for the people, but perhaps businesses just might!
1 comment:
Just a reminder, the Sandy Hook children were not just gunned down. Their bodies were severed, ripped apart, by the automatic gunfire. First Responders denied parents access to the remains not just because it was a crime scene, their little children's dead bodies were awash in a sea of blood.
Children's bodies awash in a sea of their own blood, and Congress did not act.
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