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G_j

(40,366 posts)
20. to start, the NRA lobbied to have gun-trace data exempted from the Freedom of Information Act.
Thu Dec 27, 2012, 12:22 PM
Dec 2012
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022053947

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/why-does-the-nra-fear-the-truth-about-gun-violence-.html

A week after the gun massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association is speaking out. As well it should. If only the NRA believed in the right to free speech as fervently as it believes in the right to bear arms.

Faced with government-funded research that contradicts NRA claims on gun safety, the gun lobby moved to defund the research and silence the researchers. When news reporters tried to learn which gun shops repeatedly supply violent criminals with firearms, the NRA lobbied to have gun-trace data exempted from the Freedom of Information Act. When advocates of transparency in campaign finance proposed the Disclose Act in Congress to require disclosure of top donors to political advertising campaigns, the NRA once again marched to the beat of its own 100-round drum: The organization obtained an exemption to keep its information secret.

The list goes on. The NRA-backed Tiahrt Amendment requires the Justice Department to destroy records after gun-purchase background checks, making it harder to identify and catch straw buyers who work for criminals. As part of its war on information, the gun lobby has blocked efforts to put sales records into an integrated database, making the data more difficult for law enforcement officers to retrieve and organize, and complicating efforts to analyze gun trafficking patterns. After visiting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Tracing Center in West Virginia, which is the nation’s sole facility tracing guns used in crimes, Washington Post reporter James Grimaldi described the place as “something like out of the movie ‘Brazil,’ where you could literally see boxes and boxes of documents that pile up.”

You might think, as we do, that the gun lobby’s aversion to information, and its success in securing congressional support for secrecy, poses a threat to public health and law enforcement (not to mention democracy). There is surely a case to be made to that effect. Yet it’s harder to document that argument thanks to the successful suppression of information.
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Especially with all of the hatred and rudeness in today's America. And all of the crazy talk all of RKP5637 Dec 2012 #1
when we have religious leaders saying liberals G_j Dec 2012 #4
That's why I've come to avoid religion like the plague. I see it as nothing RKP5637 Dec 2012 #5
it is a shame G_j Dec 2012 #6
It could be used as a very positive force whether or not one believes in the whole RKP5637 Dec 2012 #10
agreed G_j Dec 2012 #12
Its also possible to push hate with one hand and use the other to help madokie Dec 2012 #18
Most of them are harmless goofballs BeyondGeography Dec 2012 #2
I don't know what kind of pleasure comes from G_j Dec 2012 #3
If the past 20 years are any indication hack89 Dec 2012 #7
what kind of guns? G_j Dec 2012 #8
Rifles are the least likely murder weapon there are hack89 Dec 2012 #9
how about mass murder w/ military style weapons G_j Dec 2012 #11
Holding steady - still very rare. hack89 Dec 2012 #13
the NRA has made sure we cannot find out G_j Dec 2012 #14
The NRA has no influence on DOJ and FBI crime reports hack89 Dec 2012 #15
and the ATF? G_j Dec 2012 #16
The FBI annual Uniform Crime Reports hack89 Dec 2012 #23
I assumed with your knowledge of the subject G_j Dec 2012 #17
I don't assume you know anything about guns hack89 Dec 2012 #25
you are right I don't, which is probably why you think G_j Dec 2012 #27
So feel free to actually prove it hack89 Dec 2012 #28
show me how NRA lobbying has not limited G_j Dec 2012 #29
You made the claim. You prove it. hack89 Dec 2012 #30
I never mentioned the FBI report you refer to G_j Dec 2012 #31
But the FBI reports show which weapons are used in crimes hack89 Dec 2012 #32
to start, the NRA lobbied to have gun-trace data exempted from the Freedom of Information Act. G_j Dec 2012 #20
None of which has any bearing on the DOJ and FBI crime reports. hack89 Dec 2012 #21
This message was self-deleted by its author OneMoreDemocrat Dec 2012 #26
Still With The Quotation Marks? Paladin Dec 2012 #19
I was merely quoting the poster. hack89 Dec 2012 #22
I wonder what percentage are first time buyers and... Kaleva Dec 2012 #24
Some people buy these guns as a gesture of defiance MicaelS Dec 2012 #33
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