What a crock. People are mugged, robbed, raped, and murdered in parks all the time - both local and national.
Self defense is a God given right.
Posted on 06/01/2009 4:05:56 PM PDT by SJackson
This is why the American people believe Congress is among the country's sleaziest institutions.
Recently when the Senate and House were debating the bill to make credit card companies more accountable and to stop them from arbitrarily changing the rules for their customers, Sen. Tom Coburn, the right-wing flamethrower from Oklahoma, decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to play some mischief.
Coburn has been trying for the past couple of years to allow people to carry concealed weapons in our national parks, but even when his party had more power than now, he couldn't get that proposal passed. Understandably, many politicians wondered what in the world was the public interest in allowing weapons in the parks.
Undaunted, Coburn cynically introduced an amendment to the popular credit card bill that would do just that.
He figured -- correctly, as it turns out -- that he would be able to get his amendment attached to the credit card bill with help from his Republican colleagues and a handful of Western state pro-gun Democrats. That would then force the members of Congress who favor some control on guns to either kill the long-awaited credit card reforms or approve them along with the completely unrelated provision to allow guns in the parks.
Likewise, President Barack Obama would have to live with the amendment unless he was willing to veto the credit card reforms.
That's, of course, what happened.
But it has left a bad taste in the mouths of not only many members of Congress, but citizens who believe this isn't the way democracy ought to work. If you want to allow guns in the parks, then vote on it. If you want credit card reform, vote on it. What kind of parliamentary system allows two completely unrelated matters to be joined?
Unfortunately, this is just one example of how the gun lobby plans on getting its way this congressional session. A bill that would give the District of Columbia a representative in Congress, another popular measure, has already been derailed because a gun proposal was attached to it. Other Republican gun zealots are preparing other pro-gun measures to attach to similar bills.
The cynicism is nothing short of obscene. One Republican has already chortled that this is the way the pro-gun lobby will re-enact virtually all the Bush administration gun policies before they're done. Apparently, the 2008 election didn't count for the National Rifle Association and its allies.
The irony may come when the NRA puppets in Congress succeed in adding a pro-gun amendment to whatever health coverage reform legislation eventually emerges this year.
That, at least, would be appropriate. For our unlimited love affair with guns has always added significantly to our nation's health care costs.
Oh and the part where a judge said we can’t have guns in National Parks without doing an “environmental impact study” isn’t obscene?
At least the GOP actually put it into a LAW instead of some appointee making their own law from the bench.
Yeah, RIGHT!
This is the kind of tactic, that the Dems use all the time.
So, apparently, democracy is only supposed to work like this, when they do it.
The man was shot in a church, many states have “no carry” laws with regards to churches or allow churches to self declare “no carry”.
The murder in the church was wrong but the law would have most likely protected the shooter.
An armed society is a polite society.
The kind of parliamentary system that the Dems have been reveling in for decades.
IMO that's a bad law, though individual institutions should have that option. A pass on prosecution would certainly be given to someone saving a prominent abortionists life, maybe a medal. In other circumstances, I wouldn't count on it, but a response is better than being the second victim.
No, progressives.
Yes, it’s the system, which dems have used extensively. But it’s their system, because it’s their country. Obama won the election, after all.
Geez, I’m having a hard time reading between the lines here. I wonder if this author is pro or anti-gun?
What a crock. People are mugged, robbed, raped, and murdered in parks all the time - both local and national.
Self defense is a God given right.
He’s anti.
I was being a bit sarcastic.
Maybe a little off topic, but of regional interest.
And all the crap that was added to the Porkulus Bill wasn't obscene?.........LOL!
My thoughts also.
If this is the first time our author has encountered this very common practice he really needs to get out more.
That was stimulus.
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