Here's an article that provides some staggering facts about just how grave this firearm issue in America is becoming. It indicates that, while the overall crime rate in the U.S. has been declining, at the same time the slaughter of Americans by gun violence is rapidly escalating. It states that the annual toll of deaths from firearms is currently running at 32,000 and climbing; and, can you believe that since 9/11 there have been fewer than 20 terror-related deaths in America while there have been 364,000 deaths caused by firearms.
For those who continue to try to minimize this problem, who say that crime rates are in the U.S. are declining, that guns don't kill people, that a background check would do no good, that there must be no restrictions of any kind on gun ownership, here's my message to them: do you understand that mass shootings in America are drastically increasing and reaching a point of crisis in this society? Take a look at this article from CNN identifying the 20 worst mass shootings in U.S. history and the fact that 13 of them have occurred since the year 2000; that must be considered to be an epidemic in the making.
Only about 30% of Americans are said to have firearms in their homes. Now let's say that most Americans and even a majority of NRA members want to see reasonable gun safety regulations, including background checks and that about 10% of gun owners in this country are the ones that are absolutely insistent that there be no restrictions of any kind. What we have here is a great example of what is commonly called "the tail wagging the dog", i.e., that 10% of Americans totally dictating the rules on firearms for all Americans.
Of course, this 10% of the American population is not nearly powerful enough to dictate these gun policies on its own but when it is connected to the mighty power of the gun manufacturers and those who distribute and sell firearms, together with the NRA, the lobbyists and the members of Congress who grovel at the feet of the gun lobbyists, this pro-gun movement has proven to be invincible.
What these apologists for gun violence are doing is very troubling and downright appalling as they never show any great sorrow or alarm over what is happening to their fellow Americans and, in fact, use every excuse at their disposal to deny that guns are the primary contributing factor to this societal violence. They aren't outraged about the people and kids that are being slaughtered, they only care about pursuing their own agenda.
This is a situation that makes no sense whatsoever. When a typical person in America must obtain a drivers' license to operate an automobile, when that person must buy insurance to cover the vehicle and obey all the rules of the road or pay a penalty, why in the world should an individual in America, including the mentally disturbed, be allowed to purchase a firearm without an extensive background check; why will that person, in the very near future, be allowed to carry a concealed firearm into public places? What kind of pure stupidity, what kind of uncivilized behavior is that? Only in America!
We are living in a nation in which the wishes of the large majority of Americans are being negated by those who profit from the sales of firearms, by those in Congress who, more or less, accept bribes to refrain from doing anything about instituting effective, reasonable gun safety laws; these members of Congress are no more than Corporate whores, they are despicable, pathetic individuals who deserve nothing but the contempt of the people of America.
This situation illustrates the extent to which this country is now controlled by Corporate America and not the people of America. Congress acts according to the dictates of the masters of Corporatism and not those of the American people. That 90% of the people who want appropriate gun safety measures are being totally overwhelmed by the massive power of Corporate America and, at least so far, they have no way to fight back.
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