When It Comes to Enabling the Terrorism of Gun Deaths in America, No One Beats the NRA

When It Comes to Enabling the Terrorism of Gun Deaths in America, No One Beats the NRA


By Mark Karlin

Did you know that the shooter at Fort Hood did not use an army issued gun? No, he bought his weapon legally at a firearms store with the name of "Guns Galore":

Law enforcement officials say a 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting rampage was purchased legally at a Texas gun store.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called “Guns Galore” in Killeen, Texas, well before the attack that left 13 people dead. The pistol has been dubbed a “cop killer” by those who have tried to stop its use.

The most powerful type of ammunition for the gun is available only to law enforcement and military personnel. Gun control advocates call it a “cop killer” weapon because that ammo can pierce bulletproof vests, and its use by Mexican drug cartels worries police.

The National Rifle Association has made all this possible, including using its nearly omnipotent clout to forbid the FBI from stopping suspected terrorists from buying guns. That's right, the NRA believes people believed to possibly be terrorists have a "2nd Amendment" right to own guns!

While the right wing nut jubs revel in the politics of paraonia against anyone who is Islamic, the NRA is enabling around 10,000 gun homicides a year in the United States by good 'ole Americans. Now, that's a far larger death toll than 9/11 or Fort Hood.

The NRA represents a fanatical philosophy that is akin to the fundamentalism underlying terrorism, and -- as a result -- is our chief domestic enabler of terrorism (along with the right wing media) by making sure that guns are readily available to just about anyone with the cash to pay for them.

We have become so numb to everyday shooting deaths in America that we focus on tragic and sensational losses, such as Fort Hood, but can't see the forest through the trees. The NRA is so extremist, it even has kept a military sniper rifle on the market that can assassinate a person (public official) from nearly a mile away with accuracy. Given the heightened number of death threats against President Obama, you would think a .50 caliber sniper rifle would be banned for civilian purchase, but not with the NRA around to champion terrorist weapons. (Only the State of California bans civlians from purchasing the .50 caliber sniper rifle.)

Over Thanksgiving, I read of numerous shootings -- as is daily the case in America. There's always one or two that especially stick out, such as this massacre in Florida in which 4 members of a family were shot dead, allegedly by a cousin: "Six-year-old Makayla Sitton didn't get to act in The Nutcracker Ballet. The night before she was to go on stage, she was shot to death with three others in a home in Jupiter, Florida."

There could be effective regulation of firearms in the United States, but the NRA is more dangerous in terms of yearly homicides by resisting logical legislation than any terrorist acts we have experienced thus far in the United States.

The NRA ensures that there is a ready supply of guns that kill about 100,000 Americans in a decade in homicides, and many more in suicides and accidents.

No terrorists can match that figure, and if they tried, they would likely buy arms in the U.S., as the Fort Hood shooter did, not meant for civilian use and capable of either mass murder or an assassination.

When it comes to the terrorist watch list, the NRA -- which fans the flames of armed militia and white male paranoia in the U.S. -- should be at the top of the list.

They are primarily responsible -- along with the gun manufcaturers -- for turning America into a shooting gallery, with a mind-boggling death toll.
More:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/9917

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