While the usual script of public figures "sending thoughts and prayers in difficult times" played out in the aftermath of the horrific murders at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Corey Booker (D-NJ), and other Senate Democrats made a decision we've been waiting years to see. They decided to actually do something. Murphy led a 14+ hr filibuster, stopping all Senate business, and refusing to give up the floor until they got a firm commitment from Republicans on gun legislation. Murphy's state was the site of one of the most horrific shootings in American history...Sandy Hook Elementary. That day, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, murdered 20 1st and 2nd graders, 6 teachers, and then killed himself before police could bring him to justice. Murphy made sure to drive that point home...
Why does it matter?
While it's highly unlikely that the biggest piece of legislation Murphy was pushing for (a bill proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would allow the attorney general to ban gun sales to suspected terrorists) would ever pass, cracks are starting to form in that impenetrable wall of "NObama" the GOP has been hiding behind since President Obama's election 7 years ago. We're reaching a point where the no matter how many campaign dollars the NRA throws at Congress, it can no longer overshadow the rising body count. Even the most ardent defenders of the 2nd amendment are realizing there is no reason for military grade weapons to be available to the public.
"Gun owners who occupy the middle ground complain that they are rarely sought out or heard, yet polls show that the majority of gun owners support universal background checks and other controversial limits. President Obama is reportedly considering using his executive authority to impose new background-check requirements for high-volume dealers in private sales — and many gun owners may support that." -- Most gun owners support restrictions. Why aren't their voices heard?, Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 10/09/2015
This is one of those "controversial" topics that's only controversial because of the amount of money that's been spent by lobbyists to make it that way. Saying "gun legislation doesn't work because it doesn't cover illegal guns" is like saying the ban on murder doesn't work because Chicago is a war zone. Really? Are we really going to buy the argument that we shouldn't save any lives because we can't save them all? We're smarter than that. Well, those of us who won't vote for Trump are...
What can I do about it?
It's not often you see politicians do something that doesn't involve lining their own pockets. While I have no doubt that some anti-gun lobby(s) see this as an opportunity to further their agenda, its an agenda that makes sense to anyone, including myself, that's lost someone they love to a "bad guy with a gun."
These Senators get the Wanderer's Voice Gold Star for standing up for common sense:
Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Dick Durban (D-Ill.)
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Ben Cardin (D- Md.)
Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Amy Kobluchar (D-Minn.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Martin Heinrich (D- N.M.)
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Angus King (I-Maine)*
If your senator isn't here, you should seriously re-consider if he or she is the right person to represent your interests in Washington or if its you they're representing at all.
...Til Next Week!
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