The NRA sent busloads of supporters to Hartford last Monday, after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released his package of gun control proposals and a bipartisan legislative panel unveiled competing gun violence recommendations from Democrats and Republicans.
Legislative leaders are considering those recommendations and others as they try to draft a bipartisan bill for the full General Assembly to consider, likely later this month. The leaders met behind closed doors Monday as the gun rights supporters descended on the Capitol.
Since 20-year-old Adam Lanza slaughtered 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook School on December 14, the NRA hasn't had much of a presence in the state. They have been waiting for what NRA lobbyist Bob Welch has called "the Connecticut effect." Speaking in Wisconsin, hesaid, "We have a strong agenda coming up for next year, but of course a lot of that’s going to be delayed as the 'Connecticut effect' has to go through the process."
Back at the park, there it is: the Connecticut effect. [Definition: That moment when a person pauses to consider the sanctity of life and finds him or herself unable to trade it in for the right of the paranoid and angry to own and use military calibre firearms.] The juxtaposition of this plaque honoring local residents who perished in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the green memorial honoring the babies and educators who perished in a home-grown terror attack launched by a young man toting his law-abiding mother's legally held firearms kind of stuck in my throat.
Time to update our Constitution to get amend the anachronistic, much misunderstood, too-often-misquoted second amendment.
21 Comments
We want all to be safe.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post.
ReplyDeletethere's freedom and then license which ignores others freedoms...
ReplyDeleteBeing Canadian, I have never understood the American gun laws.
ReplyDeleteI am an American and I have never understood our gun laws. There has to be an answer, but what it is and who will finally come up with it remains to be seen or continue to frustrate the remainder of us.
ReplyDeleteBless you for your heartful message
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° > <3
I have to ditto what Karen said.. exactly.
ReplyDeleteYes, about time to make some plowshares.
ReplyDeleteI have never understood how a nation that claims on it's currency "In God we trust" could be so fearful to need so many guns.
ReplyDeleteI too do not understand American gun laws.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I live in a safe country where guns are banned and crime rates are kept low.
God bless your country!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
xo
Very interesting. I am against gun ownership.
ReplyDeleteI fully support the gun lobby in their right to carry weapons but only the weapons that were available at the time the constitution was drafted.
ReplyDeleteTo my way of thinking, anything that has a repeater mechanism should not be in the hands of the general public and hunting is no excuse. Hunting with an automatic is just slaughter.
I do agree, the constitution needs to be updated. And Arija is right on about carrying weapons that were available during at that time. I can not understand why people would need to have these automatic weapons in the first place. Great post, Sandy!
ReplyDeleteI just dont understand the whole fascination with owning guns and claiming that you have in case the government tries to oppress the people. What world does the NRA come from?
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I too am against gun culture.
ReplyDeleteGood for you!! Guns are an enabler of violence. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we need assault weapons?
ReplyDeletePeople say it's to defend the public from rogue government.
Do they really believe today an assault weapon could defend them from a rogue government?
The government doesn't need a gun today to put people down.The laws should never put weapons like this into homes with mental problems and if stats are correct, most people live with mental illness today due to the
electricity and magnitism we are in constant contact with. Most people live depressed lives.
Belief in God is the only thing that stops a man from killing, otherwise one can always find a good reason to kill.
If we knew the reason why this young man killed, we would probably cry for him as well as for the victims. It's such a tragedy.I can't get over the idea that his Mother kept such a weapon at home.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Sylvia's comment.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100 percent with you and with Sylvia and I think, with most of your commenters. We need to get the message to those of us who aren't "in the choir" as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteI missed this post earlier...we were away for most of last week. (I have you on Google Reader which is going away. I need to find a substitute for it.)
Thanks for being here.