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Merchants of death
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I called the National Rifle Association on Friday to submit a public comment in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school and was for some reason directed to its "legislative action" line.
As I waited for over a half-hour on hold, I mulled over NRA legislative initiatives which the group lobbies for with the funds it receives from members and the multibillion-dollar gun industry.
One is the "kill at will" laws, now back in the news with the November slaying in Florida of a teenager shot to death inside a vehicle by a man who claims he was threatened but drove off after the shooting and never alerted authorities.
Others are repeal of "one handgun a month" limitations, opposition to bans on high-capacity ammunition clips, supporting of bills that further open public spaces to guns and opposing reinstatement of the assault weapons ban.
The NRA never picked up, so I left a voice mail. I said the news was reporting that the children were led out by first responders who told them to close their eyes so they would not see the carnage all around them. I asked if that was how they managed to do their jobs, by closing their eyes morally to the victims and the carnage which are the inevitable results of their work as paid lobbyists on behalf of the merchants of death.
It's time for all of us to open our eyes. Our souls are at stake.
DAVE NINEHOUSER
Ambridge
First Published December 19, 2012 12:00 am
