When I was leading Handgun Control, Jim and Sarah Brady's national gun control organization, in the 1990s, we studied everything the NRA did. We wanted to know exactly how they thought, what their tactics were to sneak through legislation, and who their go-to people were when they needed something done.
After a while, we were almost able to predict what their next move would be -- which helped us out-fox them and pass the Brady Bill, assault weapons ban, and ban on large clips.
Well, the calendar may have changed but the basic game remains the same today: the NRA's modus operandi is to find gun limits and try to overturn them through whatever clandestine methods possible. And you can usually tell they're up to something based on who is sponsoring and co-sponsoring a given piece of legislation.
Such was the case when I heard that over 20 senators led by John Thune [R-SD] (almost all Republicans) are hoping to get enough Democratic support to push through a potential amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would enable residents of states with lax gun laws to carry loaded, concealed weapons in states that have stricter regulations.
This federal legislation would effectively allow the weaker concealed carry laws of one state to override the limits put forth in other states.
That means that in the over 30 states that ban concealed carrier permits for those with misdemeanors or alcohol abuse on their records, the more lax gun rules of other states could nullify those restrictions. It's amazing how the same folks who are for state's rights on almost everything else, suddenly don't trust states like New York to decide what's right for themselves when it comes to helping combat gun violence within its own borders.
Having studied these laws and pored through the data on gun violence for years, I can tell you that dumbing down gun safety laws written for urban areas to match 'Wild West' standards from another century is beyond stupid -- it's dangerous.
It's time for New Yorkers to declare war on the NRA before their lobbying leads to one more gun death in our city. Let's send a message to the NRA that we will out-fox them once again.
Updated on 7/22