My Friday column and a huge step backwards for gun control:
As I watch the Senate’s gun control legislation limp along toward a symbolic vote, I once again have to disagree with crackpot chickenhawk Ted Nugent on something he said on CNN yesterday. Nugent called the bill “a feel-good measure.” But he said it with a sarcastically negative tone when, in fact, Nugent and the rest of the NRA-sponsored gun zealots should be feeling pretty damn good about it.
On one hand, I suppose the bill is the best we can do at the federal level. Following the bipartisan accord between Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Pat Toomey, the bill expands the background check system to close the gun show loophole; it creates a commission to study gun violence; and, well, that’s about it. The rest of this “feel-good measure” actually genuflects to the entrenched gun culture and offers up some startling concessions.
First, the only federal gun control legislation we’re going to see following the Sandy Hook massacre is titled The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act. Most of the title is essentially a sloppy, open-mouthed tongue-kiss to the gun people. [continue reading here]