To the editor:
Keep in mind a few things about the NRA:
1) More than half of its $350 million income comes from the weapons industry, either through direct donation or through them purchasing NRA memberships for consumers buying their product, making the NRA a powerful weapons lobby using “Second Amendment rights” as a patriotic catch phrase to sell the product. There was a time when its priority was gun safety not gun sales.
2) The NRA spent more than $50 million on the 2016 election through positive ads for Republican candidates or negative ads against Democratic candidates.
3) Gun sales go up after mass shootings.
4) About 1,300 children die each year due to gun violence.
5) CDC states gun violence resulted in 38,658 deaths in 2016 alone.
6) Deaths on 9/11: about 3,000
8) Money spent on the Iraq war since 2003: $818 billion.
9) President Barack Obama had several points he wanted for gun control: improved background checks and improved ability to respond to mass shootings.
Yes, the most recent school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, was with a shotgun that anybody can buy. In addition to the points that Obama tried to make, perhaps greater legal responsibility should be placed on gun owners. If one of their weapons is used in a homicide, stronger legal action should be taken against them, not just the shooter.
Jim Flavin
New Sweden
