America’s lobby group for gun-lovers appeared before the cameras and microphones Friday in a display that seemed to catch even the critics off-guard: blaming the media, blaming video games, saying what’s needed is a database of people with mental illness. But since no questions were allowed, we don’t know if that would include people with, say, anxiety disorders or depression or insomnia.
NRA executive Wayne LaPierre insists regulating guns will not prevent mass shootings such as the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown Connecticut.
And given the opportunity to rephrase some of his startling statements. He chose to forcefully stick by them. He told interviewers yesterday the American people think it would be "crazy'' not to put armed guards in every school.
The standout quote from Friday’s news event: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.''
Is that so? Had he forgotten what stopped the mass murderer at Sandy Hook Elementary? It was a gun, sure, fired by the killer. So, was he both the good guy and the bad guy?
Applying the NRA’s logic in other scenarios may help us sort out whether it’s sound reasoning or self-serving nonsense.
Is the solution to cancer to get more cancer?
When smoking was revealed to be a cause of cancer, burgeoning cult leader L Ron Hubbard declared “Not smoking enough will cause lung cancer!”
Could you imagine a national association of brewers and distillers holding a news conference after a drunk driver kills a busload of schoolkids, saying the answer to impaired people on the roads is to put liquor in every car? It’ll never happen.
Some people say you fight fire with fire, but it’s worth noting that the fire department prefers to use water...
The nearest example I can think of...when it comes to a parallel to the NRA’s more guns to fight guns argument... came in 1966 from Bob Dylan on his track "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35" in which Dylan said..."Everybody must get stoned."
NRA executive Wayne LaPierre insists regulating guns will not prevent mass shootings such as the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown Connecticut.
And given the opportunity to rephrase some of his startling statements. He chose to forcefully stick by them. He told interviewers yesterday the American people think it would be "crazy'' not to put armed guards in every school.
The standout quote from Friday’s news event: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.''
Is that so? Had he forgotten what stopped the mass murderer at Sandy Hook Elementary? It was a gun, sure, fired by the killer. So, was he both the good guy and the bad guy?
Applying the NRA’s logic in other scenarios may help us sort out whether it’s sound reasoning or self-serving nonsense.
Is the solution to cancer to get more cancer?
When smoking was revealed to be a cause of cancer, burgeoning cult leader L Ron Hubbard declared “Not smoking enough will cause lung cancer!”
Could you imagine a national association of brewers and distillers holding a news conference after a drunk driver kills a busload of schoolkids, saying the answer to impaired people on the roads is to put liquor in every car? It’ll never happen.
Some people say you fight fire with fire, but it’s worth noting that the fire department prefers to use water...
The nearest example I can think of...when it comes to a parallel to the NRA’s more guns to fight guns argument... came in 1966 from Bob Dylan on his track "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35" in which Dylan said..."Everybody must get stoned."
I couldn't have said it better myself. Well said.
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