Remember when Sarah Palin used a 7-Eleven Big
Gulp as a prop to mock Bloomberg’s ban on large sized soft drinks during
the CPAC? This time, at the NRA event she displayed a pack of cigarettes to
make fun of the Mayor’s call for banning store displays of tobacco products.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and her fellow
Republican politicians addressed the National Rifle Association’s annual
meeting in Houston on Friday, celebrating the defeat of gun legislation in the
Senate. In her speech, Palin attacked President Barack Obama, New York’s Mayor,
Michael Bloomberg, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, stating that gun control measures
are only an attempt to reduce all personal freedoms. Palin accused Obama and
other gun control supporters of manipulating voters and “exploiting emotion for
their own agenda” as a result of the Newtown Connecticut shootings.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said, “We must do
everything we can to stop violent crime.” Cruz accused the Obama administration
of not doing enough to impeach convicts and fugitives who try to buy guns. He
also challenged V.P. Joe Biden to an hour-long debate on how to stop crime. Just
a couple of weeks ago, the NRA succeeded when the Senate rejected an amendment
sponsored by Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Pat Toomey who had been given NRA
support in their past campaigns. Even though most Republican senators opposed
the Manchin-Toomey amendment, three GOP senators did vote for it while five
Democrats refrained, including a couple that are preparing for re-election next
year, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska.
We think this is an issue that American citizens
should be voting on—not just the senate. If 90% of Americans want strict gun
laws, then it should go without saying that those laws should be passed without
the threat of a filibuster. What is the harm in having background checks when
purchasing firearms? It’s no more incriminating than having a background check
when applying for government employment, (or any employment for that matter). Registering
guns is comparable to registering your vehicle. Should the government put a ban
on registering vehicles since it infringes a person’s privacy?
Family members look at hand guns at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the site for the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston, Texas on May 4, 2013. Organizers expect some 70,000 attendees at the 142nd NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, which began on Friday and continues through Sunday. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
A main problem that surrounds gun laws in
America isn’t necessarily the Constitution itself, but rather, people who simply
are not clever enough to interpret it the way that it was originally designed
to be interpreted. However, that being said, the American Constitution was
adopted in 1791, that is, 222 years ago. It’s about time that it has a few
updates and that some of the Amendments are modernized. Republicans are clearly
afraid that this is just opening the floodgates for firmer gun laws, when really,
they should be getting on board with Obama and embracing a safer America.
