To the paranoid NRA, everything is a ‘slippery slope.’
In 1871 concern over poor marksmanship during the Civil War led to the creation of the National Rifle Association (NRA). By the 1950’s its stated goals were Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, and Shooting for Recreation. Today, it is a far different group, though only slightly more than 5 percent of gun owners belong to the NRA.
The NRA has evolved into a radicalized organization opposed to all gun regulations, whether common sense or not, and is seemingly incapable of expressions of humanity. In the 1970’s an NRA lobbyist dared suggest that the assassinations of the 1960’s might be part of some gun control conspiracy.
With each mass shooting, not to mention the other 30,000 gun deaths in America each year, it becomes glaringly evident that the NRA’s love affair with firearms precludes even the slightest acknowledgement of the suffering and emotional toll victims and families must endure because of gun violence. To the paranoid NRA, everything is a “slippery slope.”
I mistakenly thought that something might change after the December 2012 massacre of 20 innocent children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary. But instead of supporting reasonable gun measures that grieving families called for, and which would have surely been seen as a positive gesture, the NRA went on the offensive pushing for fewer restrictions.
As with our latest gun tragedy in Orlando, and I am sure in subsequent ones, we should not expect any outpouring of genuine concern from the NRA. Heartfelt sympathy, so desperately needed, cannot come from an organization that has lost its soul.
Perhaps, then, we could use an amendment to the Amendment: "The right of the people to bear witness to the terrible destruction of citizens by arms and to offer constructive compromises, shall not be infringed." LARRY BROWN, TIPP CITY
About the Author