NRA Demands Convicted Stalkers And Abusive Boyfriends Be Allowed To Own
Guns
The night is dark,
every breeze stirs the summer bushes and startles her. Is he there? Or is she
imagining things? If only the street light were closer to her car. She tells
herself that she only needs to make it 12 more steps to her car.
And then she
is there. Her hand trembles so badly that she drops her keys. But finally she
is inside her car, locks the doors and leans back letting out a slow sigh of
relief.
“I’ve been waiting for
you,” comes a familiar voice from the backseat. She can feel the cold muzzle of
his gun pressed hard against the back of her neck. It is a guy she dated just
twice. The one who beat her so badly that she went to the hospital the last
time. The man who said if he couldn’t have her no one could. The stalker who
has been terrorizing her for the past six months.
Who is this woman?
She’s you. Or she’s someone you know. Your sister. Your cousin. Your daughter.
Even your mother. She can be anyone. And she’s probably going to die from a
gunshot because her stalker was able to buy a gun despite having a history of
domestic violence.
American women, who are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than women in other high-income countries.
Bill S.1290 closes up some huge gaps in
the existing federal law. Klobuchar would make sure the law included “dating
partners” and prevent convicted misdemeanor stalkers for obtaining weapons.
Although Federal law protects woman (and men) from people convicted of
“violence and stalking,” it exempts convicted stalkers and “individuals in a
current of former dating relationship who never lived together or had a child
together” to buy guns.
Klobuchar understands
the dynamics of stalking.
As a former prosecutor, I know how domestic violence and stalking can take lives and tear apart families. This is a commonsense bill that would protect victims and keep our families safe, and I will continue to work to move this legislation forward.
But the National Rifle Association (NRA) opposes her bill, allegedly because
the restrictions might work against, “partners of the same sex.”
They’re kidding, right?
Since when has the NRA cared about gay people?
Believe it. The gun lobby sent Congress an e-mail regarding that the
law, including
expansive and vaguely defined “dating relationships” and individuals “similarly
situated to a spouse.”
If that isn’t enough to
convince people the NRA is pro-gay, the email continues,
Under S. 1290, for example, two men of equal size, strength, and economic status joined by a civil union or merely engaged (or formerly engaged) in an intimate “social relationship,” could be subject to this prohibition for conviction of simple “assault” arising from a single shoving match.
The email wonders if
the law really needs to be under federal restrictions, because stalking
behaviors “do not necessarily include violent or even threatening behavior.”
That would be funny if
it were not so dumb. By definition stalking threatens a person’s sense of
security. Clearly the NRA people have never been stalked. That’s too bad,
because they cannot related to the person being terrorized. Perhaps it would be
a good idea to set up a “month of stalking,” especially for them so that they
can relate.
The Center for American Progress (CAP) reports
that some states have already been wise enough to close the gaps in the
existing law and limit “domestic abusers’ gun access.” But only 10 states will
prevent dating abusers from buying guns if the couple doesn’t live together or
have children together.
According to Hayley Zachary, executive director of Americans
for Responsible Solutions,
Protecting women from gun violence means ensuring we have laws that keep guns out of the hands of stalkers and domestic abusers. By opposing this commonsense bill, [NRA chief] Wayne LaPierre and the NRA leadership has once again shown it is out of step with the vast majority of Americans and responsible gun owners.
CAP analysis suggests
all convicted,
abusers, stalkers, and people subject to related restraining orders from possessing guns…(and policies) ensure that abusers surrender any firearms they own once they become prohibited.
Stalking isn’t a game
of slap and tickle. The NRA make to sense. What difference does it make to the
stalked woman or man whether they live separately or have no children?
Stalking is stalking.
Shot dead is shot dead.
Gloria Christie writes The United States of Kansas. This
is a political column with a humorous bent. And as Kansas goes, so goes the
country. Christie wrote a column on community-building for the Kansas City
Star, a column on Where High Technology Meets Politics for the IDG-Connect Blog
and one about life in the late '50's/early '60's for The Best Times, a Johnson
County (KCMO Metro) publication. She has a total readership of over 5 million.
Christie holds an MS in radio-TV-film and an MPA in business/government
relations. She is also a systemic problems consulting expert for Fortune 100
and 500 businesses both here and off-shore. And she invented and implemented
the first computerized patient chart. Christie lives in Fairway, KS.
