Guns: The Political Fiasco

Nine out of 10 Americans are in favor of tighter controls over the purchase of firearms. Since the Newtown horror, the renowned “background checks” are seen as a logical and simple way of preventing a mentally unbalanced person from stocking up at a gunsmith’s. Just as Obama is currently scouring the country calling for “sensible” restrictions, will the elected representatives of Congress, in particular the senators, draw their own democratic conclusions from this? Absolutely not.

Thirteen Republican senators, including the leader of the party’s minority, have even decided to bring the debate to a standstill on the pretext that such controls could fuel a future national database of weapon-holders, considered prejudicial to constitutional liberties. To put it plainly: In light of the poor electoral turnout, the opinion of a majority of voters has little weight when faced with the activism of a minority of extremists, whether they be organized and financed at the local level by the NRA or simply come from the radical fringe of the party, which is extremely influential during the primaries.

With the 2014 election approaching, many Democrats are also driven to take caution, particularly the elected representatives of the western states — such as Harry Reid, Democratic majority leader of the Senate — and the members of the House of Representatives. The Democrats’ only chance of winning back a majority in the House is to go looking for votes in districts that were hitherto held by Republicans — hence their moderate line on the firearms question.

This explains why the ban on assault weapons — semi-automatic rifles such as those used in Newtown — was swept under the carpet last month. The complexity of the bill, especially regarding the definition of “assault weapons” and pressure from manufacturers for whom these guns — similar to the military’s M16s — are a commercial cash cow, doomed the measure. The NRA contributed toward this astounding political climb-down. However, public opinion has not been scandalized; as we know, they favor controls on buyers, but far fewer — barely 43 percent — favor bans on gun sales. On this matter, through lack of understanding, many have a tendency to trust those close to the NRA, who assure them that all that is required is a better application of the laws which are already in force. This is not true; these laws are so full of holes that it is almost laughable. Anyway, no matter. If, by some miracle — and once the shock of Newtown has passed — Americans really were to question the pervading “gun culture,” they still need to vote at the midterm election to make their views known.