# Surprising? No "pro-gun rights" Senators would go on Meet the Press Sunday **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 17, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325 "2012-12-17T18:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/81 "2012-12-18T14:17:37Z")
On the other hand, there are some differences this time compared to previous events: [[Dick’s] Sporting goods chain suspends sale of certain semi-automatic after shooting](http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/justice/connecticut-dicks-guns/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) [Equity group to sell Bushmaster maker](http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/18/news/cerberus-bushmaster/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) [Pro-gun Dems warm to tighter controls](http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15973117-pro-gun-dems-warm-to-tigher-controls-but-gop-stays-silent?lite) [Some senators show willingness to take on gun laws](http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/12/17/167468213/some-senators-show-willingness-to-take-on-gun-laws) So maybe, just maybe, there will be a tiny bit of action here. I won’t hold my breath but actual discussion of restrictions will be an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/82 "2012-12-18T14:21:46Z")
> [@Scarborough](#): > > But the symbols of that ideological struggle have since been shattered by the harvest sown from violent, mind-numbing video games and gruesome Hollywood movies that dangerously desensitizes those who struggle with mental health challenges. Well, I’m glad he’s adopted a reasonable position now. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/83 "2012-12-18T14:23:10Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Then it shouldn’t be hard for you to provide something besides your assertion to show that is the NRA’s raison d’être. Follow the money, show me the money, all those cool movie phrases. Or, is this just something you mystically _know_? [Sure thing boss.](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/01/17/wayne-lapierre-falsely-claims-all-the-nras-mone/186266) > [@](#): > > The reality is that under LaPierre’s leadership, the NRA has built extensive financial ties to the gun industry and other corporations. These arrangements have netted the NRA tens of millions dollars according to a recent Bloomberg News account and the gun companies funneling cash into the NRA’s coffers have greatly benefited from the NRA’s lobbying efforts. One former president of the NRA credited NRA-backed legislation that limited the legal liability of gun makers with saving “the American gun industry from bankruptcy.” > > The NRA pitches itself as a low-dollar, grassroots organization – an annual membership currently costs $35 – and maintains it is “not affiliated with any firearm or ammunition manufacturers or with any businesses that deal in guns and ammunition.” However, the NRA has formally established many lucrative arrangements with “corporate partners.” > > Last April, the Violence Policy Center issued a report, titled Blood Money: How the Gun Industry Bank Rolls the NRA, which details these intimate ties between the gun industry and the NRA. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/84 "2012-12-18T14:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Since 2005, corporations–gun related and other–have contributed between $19.8 million and $52.6 million to the NRA as detailed in its Ring of Freedom corporate giving program. Going with the higher figure, that is $7.5 million dollars per year. NRA has an [annual budget of $220 million.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061605341.html) What’s that work out to? 3%? Gee, that’s pretty damning evidence that the NRA depends on gun sales.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/85 "2012-12-18T14:41:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Former Congressman Joe Scarborough [has been shaken to his senses](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/conservative-joe-scarborough-stuns-call-gun-control-article-1.1222198): No he hasn’t. He’s just trying to throw up a smoke screen (nonsense about “video games” and “Hollywood movies”) until the storm blows over. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/86 "2012-12-18T15:03:54Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Do you know what the word “semantics” means? Of course. Do you know what the word “sell” means? For example, to sell the idea that guns equal freedom? It doesn’t have to involve a cash transaction between a buyer and a seller. That’s semantics for you. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/87 "2012-12-18T15:20:20Z")
“My freedom to own a toy that makes me feel good is worth any number of lives of people that I don’t know.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/88 "2012-12-18T16:05:54Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > It shows a cowardly lack of courage. Is there such a thing as an uncowardly lack of courage? 😉 I don’t see that any of them have some obligation to take part in a commercial effort by television executives to discuss this issue. This is like Bill O’Reilly get all blustery when some Democrat won’t go on his show. There is going to be debate in Congress, and that’s what really matters. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/89 "2012-12-18T16:21:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In some ways the NRA parallels the union movement. Having won virtually all the basic requirements, unions have been forced by political logic to improve their hand and demand greater and greater concessions. This overreaching has undermined public support for them. If you’re not old, you probably can’t remember how strong unions used to be in a time when mass public opposition would have been unthinkable, even unAmerican. The NRA has won too often and now settles for nothing less than absolutism. That’s politically unstable as a position. Going to agree with you on this one. Their insistance on fighting every minor side battle that even the majority of their members don’t agree with and the shrill fearmongering tone under the Wayne LaPierre regime is what caused me to declare, 8-10 years ago, that they wouldn’t get another fucking dime of my money until this shit stopped. Absolutist regimes are absolute right up until the day they fall and become irrelevant. I’d prefer that the NRA not become irrelevant in the long run, which means they have to back away from the absolutionist position and start picking battles, preferably based on how their own damned members feel. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/90 "2012-12-18T17:22:04Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Accepting this particular invitation would have been foolish. There’s an feeding frenzy of gun-grabbing hysteria at the moment. The invitation wasn’t really for a reasoned debate, it was a request for a public whipping boy. As a card carrying liberal, I agree. Why would pro-gun advocates accept an invitation to defend themselves at their own trial? The invitation was not sent in good faith. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/91 "2012-12-18T19:23:09Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > The invitation was not sent in good faith. That’s a lame excuse. Like I said, I understand why they declined these invitations. But saying they weren’t sent in good faith is nonsense. The issue was that they didn’t want to look bad, and that’s all there is to it. The NRA has taken this to extremes: they shut down their Facebook page and stopped using Twitter after the shooting spree. If they believe that shootings like these are just a tragic price that our society pays as part of a more important, broader freedom, they should say so - and if they think that sounds bad, let’s admit it’s a matter of timing and appearances instead of blaming people who ask them to defend their own position at inconvenient moments. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/92 "2012-12-18T19:48:04Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Why would pro-gun advocates accept an invitation to defend themselves at their own trial? … to get the opportunity to defend themselves ? Spitballin’ here. They must know the trial’s gonna happen with or without them present. Would \*you \*opt for zero representation at your own trial, willingly choose to be tried _in absentia_ without a lawyer ? ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/93 "2012-12-18T20:07:57Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The NRA doesn’t sell **guns**. > [@Scumpup](#): > > Do you know what the word “semantics” means? > > [Here](http://www.nrastore.com/nrastore/Products.aspx?c=New) is the NRA store. They do sell, I see, an air soft revolver and the Daisy Red Ryder BB **gun**. If you can find any firearms for sale by the NRA, please point them out. > Otherwise, I’ll be forced to conclude you don’t really know what you are talking about or you are knowingly just making shit up. Just semantics, I guess. (bold and underline added by me). ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/94 "2012-12-18T22:02:43Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Just semantics, I guess. (bold and underline added by me). Ooooh, aren’t you the clever girl? Thank you for the value you added to this conversation. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/95 "2012-12-18T22:38:49Z")
The NRA has released a statement: > [@](#): > > [The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.](http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/18/nra-shocked-saddened-and-heartbroken-by-newtown-shooting/) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/96 "2012-12-18T22:46:49Z")
I ask this as no great lover of the NRA, but I don’t suppose we could hold off on the scorn until we hear what they actually propose at the press conference, could we? No, I didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/97 "2012-12-18T22:49:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I ask this as no great lover of the NRA, but I don’t suppose we could hold off on the scorn until we hear what they actually propose at the press conference, could we? > No, I didn’t think so. You know, if you want to talk to yourself, you can just go do that. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/98 "2012-12-18T22:50:27Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > You know, if you want to talk to yourself, you can just go do that. Actually, I was addressing those who will comment on your post, not you. I could have been clearer on that, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/99 "2012-12-18T23:03:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Der Trihs** > They don’t have an entire industry like the gun industry to fund them, for one thing. > > Because money, passion and ruthlessness are better at getting an agenda passed than being in the right is. > [@Scumpup](#): > > No, but they have people like you who should be willing to put some cash on the line when there are all these lives you could be saving. How much did you donate last year? How many times did you participate in a calling campaign? Did you hold, or even go to , any fund raising events? What, really, did you do other than complain on the internet in a most heartfelt manner? I’d really like **Der Trihs** to return to this particular conversation and expand on what he does to make “being in the right” more than a topic for impotent internet kvetching. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325/100 "2012-12-18T23:12:27Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I’d really like **Der Trihs** to return to this particular conversation and expand on what he does to make “being in the right” more than a topic for impotent internet kvetching. I’d really like this thread to be about the political fallout of Sandy Hook rather than some personal bitchfest between the two of you that could be happening in any one of the dozen gun control threads currently raging. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-no-pro-gun-rights-senators-would-go-on-meet-the-press-sunday/644325.md?page=6)