Cassi Creek: The
Johnson City Press, printed 13 January 2013, carried a letter from a reader
concerning an appearance by Congressman Phil Roe on WKPT concerning gun
legislation and the 2nd Amendment.
Mr. Roe’s
official web page identifies him as a supporter of hunting and other shooting
sports. I find no reason to disagree
with this position. What does concern me
is the statement attributed to Mr. Roe.
According to the letter submitted by James Bitter of Johnson City, Mr.
Roe said gun owners need guns to protect their selves from the government.
That seems to
be a rather odd position for a member of Congress to take, since members of
Congress are, by definition, part of the government.
The nature of
this comment makes me think that Mr. Roe is less concerned about hunting and
target shooting interests, and more concerned with echoing the pronouncements of
the NRA.
Yesterday’s
political talk shows included an appearance by the NRA President. The manner in which he predicted that there
will be no Congressional action to reduce the availability of assault-style
guns and high capacity magazines displayed the arrogance indicating the NRA
believes it owns Congress. Every other
NRA official who has appeared on TV over the last years has displayed this same
indifference. They make it plain that
they can tell Congress how to vote on any matter pertaining to gun laws.
The statement
by Congressman Roe is a prime example. A
physician with military experience who grew up in Tennessee, Roe knows that
hunting is about careful preparation, patience, and felling the animal with a
single, well-placed shot that conserves the food value of the animal. It is not about spraying bullets as rapidly
as possible. No well-trained hunter
needs a 30 round magazine. A bolt-action
rifle does the trick.
The NRA is
spreading the idea that our citizens will need to rise up and seize the power
to govern from our existing government.
While it is happy to spread such delusional propaganda in order to general
panic buying of guns and ammunition; the NRA leaders know that there is
absolutely no chance that a toy soldier militia will be able to defeat the
various branches of the United States armed forces. The “tyrannical government”
that the NRA propaganda mill warns against will only come about on movie
screens and in the delusional thoughts of teavangelists who slept through high
school civics classes.
If
Congressman Roe honestly believes that we citizens need to own military grade
rifles in order to protect ourselves from our own government, then Mr. Roe
should recall that he is part of that government. Rather than proclaim that government is evil
and that it should be considered as an enemy; perhaps the best thing for Mr.
Roe to do is to end his participation in an agency he fears.
With that
suggestion, we need to find out just how much the NRA and its minions such as
Grover Norquist, are providing into the election and re-election campaigns of
senators and representatives. What does
it cost to buy a Congressperson for the NRA?
What does it cost to purchase a Senator?
Once elected, how much does it cost to keep them in office so that they
can vote as the NRA directs?
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