With the Federal Elections Commission launching a probe into whether the National Rifle Association ("NRA") conspired with Russian agents to funnel monies to the Trump/Pence campaign, additional evidence that the NRA is a repulsive organization comes from survivors of the Parkland mass shooting who say the NRA is threatening them because of their efforts to push common sense gun control measures. Already Florida has enacted new gun control laws over NRA opposition. Next weekend will see a mass march in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country - a march is occurring even in Newport News, Virginia - and the NRA seems to be ratcheting up its attacks. As is the norm with the far right's approach to those who oppose their agenda, the students say they have received death threats (something I have received from "godly Christians" for writing this blog and telling the truth about them). A piece at CBS News looks at the situation. Here are highlights:
Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last month, survivors have mobilized the #NeverAgain movement to push for school safety and stronger gun legislation.Two vocal leaders, David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez, spoke with CBSN Monday to discuss the movement and why they believe they can navigate through the partisan divide on gun control and drive real change in policy.
Both Hogg and Gonzalez, who refer to themselves as members of the "mass shooting generation," say they've received death threats in response to their efforts in launching the movement. But they aren't letting threats deter them from making progress.
"There's always been people who are going to want to harm us," Gonzalez said. "I'm not going to pretend that this like opened my eyes to a cruel and harmful world ... When it comes right down to it, we already knew that this world was going to be tough. So getting death threats like that doesn't really faze us."
Asked about the NRA's response to their movement, Hogg responded: "I think it just goes to prove what exactly they are. I don't think NRA members are bad people at all. I think they're responsible gun owners that want to become politically active and make their voices heard in this democracy, and I think that's an excellent thing.
"I think the problem comes in when it's people at the top of this organization that don't listen to their constituents and continue to scare people into buying more guns, creating more violence, so they can scare more people and sell more guns," he continued. "The people at the top of the NRA are no longer working for the people that are in their organization. They're working on behalf of the gun lobby."
Both Hogg and Gonzalez say the NRA has reached out to them, but not in a positive way. "The way that they've been reaching out to us is basically threatening us," Hogg said. "They've been instigating things," Gonzalez added. "And then, when we reply, they like shy back away. They can dish it out but they can't take it."
Meanwhile, nearly 500,000 people are preparing to march on the nation's capital this weekend in support of gun control and school safety measures. Many of those marching will be students. The event follows last week's nationwide walkout, when students from nearly 3,000 schools walked out of their classrooms for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 victims.
During a conversation on "CBS This Morning," Hogg said his message to other high school students is: "Make sure you get out and vote, that you're registered to vote so you can vote in the primaries and stay educated for the rest of your life because the seeds of corruption are always being showed."
No comments:
Post a Comment