After Parkland, everything is different: NRA's in decline and gun control is possible

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.salon.com/2019/02/13/after-parkland-everything-is-different-nras-in-decline-and-gun-control-is-possible/

After Parkland, everything is different: NRA's in decline and gun control is possible
House Democrats will pass a gun control bill this week — amazingly, Senate Republicans may go along. It's a new day

Sophia Tesfaye
February 13, 2019 12:00PM (UTC)

The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee is expected to pass a gun control bill on Wednesday. Some of the most vulnerable House Democrats, including those elected in previously red districts, have said they would support gun control bills as expansive as a ban on assault-style weapons. Many of them ran on an unabashed push for increased gun control in the midterm elections and beat GOP incumbents backed by the National Rifle Association. This sweeping shift in the gun debate comes on the one-year anniversary of the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That's no accident.

Gun control measures failed to gain traction in Congress in the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting. But that was with Republicans in complete control on Capitol Hill. The activist movement driven by Parkland survivors has clearly of shifted the political climate around gun-safety legislation, and was a major factor in flipping the House to the Democrats last November.

An Associated Press survey found that 8 percent of midterm voters called guns the top issue facing the nation. While that's not a remarkable percentage in itself, those voters broke for Democrats over Republicans better than four to one. Nearly 80 percent of the 62 freshman Democrats elected in the midterms ran on increased gun control. According to a Reuters analysis, that figure far outstripped the proportion of candidates who did so in 2016. The NRA was even outspent by gun control groups in last year's election, for the first time in recent history.

Parkland has served as a watershed moment, and gun control advocates have seized it.

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[Wellstone ruled]

1. Well,the Gunners lost their Boogie Man

and with out that Boogie Man,you can not keep the lie alive.

BTW,those Gun shows,well they are loosing their Collective Butts money wise.

[Aristus]

5. How are the gun shows losing money?

Glad to hear it. I just don't know how it would happen.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Sellers at these shows

buy a booth or table to display their items for sale. Booth and table prices have increased as a result of diminishing sales and these Folks are not about losing money.

The larger item not talked about is,the total group the engages in this arena,are for the most part are older White Guy's and that crowd is doing what,dying off.

And the High end Collectible items are not selling do to constraints of the economy. Example,say you have a Collection that is valued at 300k-700k or more,your survivors if having to liquidate that collection in order to convert it to cash,well,you most likely have to consign this collection to a Auction House in order to make it happen at a 15-30 percent selling fee. And one has to hope for every thing to fall into place. I say this from being near one of these scenario's. And the Widow recouped about 30% of the appraised value.

And these Gun Shows biggest money maker used to be the Ammo Sales,by the pallet loads,well every gunner has a old refrigerator full of ammo after the Boogie Man scare of 2009-2017.

[Aristus]

7. Thanks for the info.

I hope the trend continues.

Every time there's a gun show at the local fairgrounds, they always seem to be well-attended. And this is in liberal Western Washington.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Yes,you are seeing the Hanger-oners

and the wannebe's at these shows. Especially if it is free admission,or someone is handing out Coupons for some item or items for-sale.

And you live in a Gunner Area as well as I. But,having a Collector family member an he being a true Trumper,he is already planning on a Auction of his Collection some time this Summer. And that is after our experience with the Widow going through her experience last year. Do know this,five of his Collection did not get a bit at five Shows last fall and early winter. So there is a Reality Time that has to be dealt with.

[zipplewrath]

2. The NRA lost Russia

We may never know how much Russian money kept the NRA afloat the last few years. With declining gun sales, and declining membership, the NRA finds itself having trouble keeping up.

[mikeysnot]

3. only 200 gun massacres after Columbine.

but I will take it.

[billh58]

4. The NRA and ALEC's drive to

spin the Second Amendment into a malignant symbol of murder, mayhem, and violence over the past few decades brought us to the gun violence epidemic we face as a nation today. The Founders never meant for the Second Amendment to become an excuse for vigilantism disguised as "self-defense." The purpose and original intent of the "right to keep and bear arms" was for national defense by a well-regulated militia.

The right-wing and its Second Amendment absolutists, and their apologist gun crazies across the political spectrum, have turned this nation into a shooting gallery where thousands of innocent victims are killed and injured in the name of "Liberty and Freedom."

The upcoming generations of citizens see the gross harm that the unregulated spread of lethal weapons has done to this nation and are demanding change. There is hope for future generations of Americans to see a nation not afraid of crazed gunners attacking our children in schools, or our citizens not afraid to exercise their legitimate freedoms in other public settings.