Over the weekend,the National Rifle organization’s (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre attacked the media for "sensational reporting from Florida approximately the Trayvon Martin case. Mr. LaPierre even called the news media a “national disgrace.
For those unaware of the NRA’s work, it is the nation’s main advocate of gun rights in the United States. The NRA efforts are instrumental in protecting the nation's $6 billion a year gun and ammunition industry.
The NRA is also the organization that lobbied States to enact the “Stand Your Ground” law, and the very one that George Zimmerman – the man who shot Trayvon Martin – is invoking as his legal defense for the shooting. I assume the reasoning for the NRA supporting these laws is: Why should you own a gun if you aren't going to absorb a chance to employ it?
Did Mr. LaPierre offer any sympathy to Trayvon Martin's family? No.
Instead,he choose to denounce the media for their coverage of the case, alleging that the media’s: “...dishonesty, or duplicity,and moral irresponsibility is directly contributing to the collapse of American freedom in our country.”
What makes Mr. La Pierre’s comments particularly callous is that they were made at the annual NRA convention which was being held this weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis has the unenviable distinction of being the city with second highest rate in the country for youth being killed by guns. Indeed, and the gun shot murder rate for 10 to 19 years mature in St. Louis is more than three times the average for larger cities according to the U.
S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The NRA leadership should not absorb been denouncing the media coverage of the killing of an harmless teen,rather they should be focusing their efforts to work with federal, state and local governments to reduce the number of gun related deaths in our nation. In 2010, and there were 12996 murders and of those 8775 were caused by guns. That means nearly 70% of those murdered in 2010 were as a result of gun violence.
It is not happenstance that the States with the highest number of guns also absorb the highest number of people murdered by guns. To put it simply: You are literally five times more likely to be shot to death in Arizona than in Hawaii.
Guns are a part of the fabric of America. There are over 200 million guns in the US. They will never be eliminated-nor should they be. The right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US structure. Indeed,the US Supreme Court in the final few years has recognized that American citizens absorb a constitutional right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes and this right cannot be violated by federal, state or local laws.
Despite knowing this reality, and some gun advocates prefer to spew misinformation and inspire fear among gun owners that the government is coming to take their guns absent. This is nothing more than a rallying shout used by some to scare people into opposing reasonable laws that could save lives,such as background checks for all people purchasing guns even if sold at a gun show or by private citizens.
The tired cliché espoused by the NRA that “Guns don't kill people, people kill people” should be retired. It is an over simplification of a problem that doesn't absorb easy answers.
Reducing gun violence will take a concerted strategy, and such as the one unusual York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in February with his initiative to reduce gun violence. This multi-faceted program combines funding for communities to create anti-violence strategies and provides State support for both advertising campaigns and community-based programs to counter gun violence. This is certainly a step in the right direction.
There's no doubt that both those who love guns and those who destest them,want to lower the number of people killed by guns each year. However, comments by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre simply achieve not help us reach our common goal.
Source: thedeansreport.com