Quote:
Originally Posted by xenigo
I heard on NPR yesterday while I was driving home... a bit of news talking about the NRA and their lobbying power to limit the ATF's access to tools and as a result their oversight is set permanently in the stone-age. They basically make it forbidden for ATF to have any kind of computer database that makes them able to track the history of sales, or supply chain, etc. They're forbidden from using computers so everything is done over the phone. Apparently due to having their hands completely tied, thousands of weapons end up stolen every year... and there's no real way for them to figure out how to stop it.
Here's the article... it's a good one!
http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/01/08/114114/gun_control_advocates_say_atfs_hands_have_been_tie d |
I read a similar article on CNN when I first woke up this morning. The NRA prevents all government agencies from doing any kind of research on firearms statistics.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/09/us/nra...iref=allsearch
The NRA used to be about promoting gun safety. I remember their ads from the 1970s; They used to have gun safety classes. But in the late 1970s they became heavily politicized and were less interested in gun safety and more interested in ramming our rights to own assault rifles down our throats.
Firearms used to be all about hunting and target practice - I remember going clay shooting when I was a kid. Now, even though the crime rate is down over all over the past forty years, firearms is all about protection. Which is ironic, because this article claims gun owners are 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault then someone who does not own a firearm.