On January 20, 2011 at 09:55, Greg C said...
I don't understand how a group made up of less than 1 % of the US polulation can scare our elected officials.
You talkin the unions?
About 50% of Americans own firearms.
The NRA speaks for gun owners NOT its members of 4.3 million.
As soon as I heard about this I wondered WTF happened after the Virginia Tech shooting. Right after that, the Dems offered to immdeiately work with the NRA to push for mandatory instant background checks, updated mental health record, criminal records, etc. The NRA layed the guidelines that they would not budge on and the Dems promised to work within the guidelines and push this thru. It really was a ray of light.
Fast forward and not like promised, but as expected, our elected officials did nothing. Blame both sides of the aisle.
FWIW most crimes like this would have been prevented by simply enforcing laws on the books and keeping reasonable records - both criminal and mental.
I'm all for mandatory INSTANT background checks for the purchase of both guns & ammo. As is sits now, background checks are not mandatory but optional and many states and can take 6 months. There is no need to take months to do this.
