When It Comes To Guns, K Street Kills
In a particularly revealing moment from a CNN town hall last week, Florida Senator Marco Rubio repeatedly refused to say whether he would stop accepting monetary influence from the National Rifle Association (NRA) when pressed by a student from Stoneman Douglas High School. His incompetent response to a genuine concern from a victim of violence not only revealed his policy to be one of evasion rather than honesty, but also to be indebted to the consistent financial support of the NRA.
As fellow Pensive Post writer David Harbeck explained in his excellent piece from last week titled The Need for Non-Partisan Gun Control, the necessity of thorough gun restriction measures has never been more evident than now. A mandated system of background checks for all gun purchases, restrictions on bump stocks and other deadly gun modifications, and a ban on individual ownership of assault weapons like the AR-15 are all initiatives typically proposed after each national tragedy we endure. We can easily predict the efficacy of these measures, seeing their overwhelming success in other countries. These arguments are made time and time again, as mass shootings occur in remarkably similar patterns over and over — and yet, nothing is done.
This much we know to be true: People are dying because of our government’s failure to protect them, and our politicians need to do something about it if they ever want history to view them favorably. However, what is even more outrageous about the continued suppression of more stringent gun policies by a Republican Congress is how far removed they are from the popular opinion of the American people. In a recent poll released after the Parkland shooting, Americans expressed support for stricter gun laws by a 2–1 ratio. As for specific measures, the American public declared their overwhelming support in favor of an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and an automatic waiting period for gun buyers, declaring by huge margins that Congress needs to do more to prevent further tragedies.
While for many members it is largely a measure of a lack of moral character and governing competence, Congress’ lack of will to act on this issue despite a clear mandate from the American people is also a product of circumstance. As is evidenced by Senator Rubio’s case, the NRA and other lobbying firms they hire wield immense power within the halls of government, having spent over $5 million in total in 2017 alone to suppress governmental action on gun violence.
Through their lobbying efforts, the NRA has a chokehold on public debate around gun control and the Second Amendment. Still, after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, and countless other similar tragedies, the 1996 Dickey Amendment effectively prevents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from researching the causes of gun-related violence as a public health issue — this legislation was lobbied for by the NRA. A lack of research on gun violence precludes nuanced political debate on gun control, and thus allows the cycle of death, thoughts and prayers, and inaction to continue without meaningful consideration. Recently, the work of a single powerful NRA lobbyist in Florida prevented any action by the Florida legislature from being enacted in Parkland’s aftermath. Yet again, a minority of influential businesspeople overrides popular opinion on a matter that takes the lives of Americans not only in schools and movie theaters, but on the streets of cities and towns every day.
The disgusting shooting in Parkland two weeks ago undoubtedly proved the continued need for gun control policy at the local, state, and national level. But what it also did was reveal just how entrenched the influence of lobbyists is on measures that allow the deaths of countless American citizens. Anyone looking to enact meaningful change in our national dialogue on preventing gun deaths should also advocate effective lobbying reform — or else, such widespread death will continue to seem normal.
