Maine Voices: NRA, conservative lobbyists rush extreme gun bill through Legislature [View all]

[jpak]

http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/nra-conservative-lobbyists-rush-extreme-gun-bill-through-legislature_2012-04-28.html

PORTLAND - The tragic shooting death of Trayvon Martin has brought to light the role that the American Legislative Exchange Council and the National Rifle Association play in writing state laws across the country. In 2005, the NRA pushed for the controversial "stand your ground" law in Florida. It then teamed up with ALEC to help pass similar legislation in 24 other states.

ALEC, a conservative lobbying group backed by the billionaire oil industry brothers Charles and David Koch, drafts "model" legislation, bills that not only push ALEC's conservative social agenda but also directly benefit the huge corporations that support ALEC. These bills are then taken by state legislators and introduced, often word for word, into statehouses.

A number of gun bills are on ALEC's agenda, and one of them came to Maine this session. An Act to Protect Firearm Ownership During Times of Emergency was submitted as an after-deadline bill by state Rep. Michael Shaw, D-Standish.

The bill removes the ability of law enforcement officials or the state from prohibiting or restricting the "possession, use, carrying, transfer (sale), transportation, storage or display" of guns during a declared state of emergency.

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The wretched spawn of racial hatred spasm that gripped white conservative America after the "horrors" of Katrina - which never occurred.

Except for the police gunning down unarmed black people trying to flee.

yup