Democracy or Lobbycracy

The recent defeat of the gun control bill to make background check mandatory in the US congress has made me wonder, do we really have a democracy or we are living in an illusion of democracy.

All through this year, all the news media that I follow have been reporting that more than 90% of Americans are in favor of gun control and are in favor of background check and the only organization that is firmly against is the NRA which has an active membership of close to 4million people.

So, if most of the American people wants one thing why is the elected representatives are against it?, aren’t they worried about their re-election (ideally that’s what should happen if democracy were to be working in its full sense). But what I am witnessing is that senators are worried about the lobbying group (read NRA) than the people who elected them. Another way of looking at it, the media reported it wrong and only the urban elite who form the 10% and not 90% want the background checks . 

To think further, the bill at question is background check. People are scared of being in a federal registry of owning guns. But aren’t you in some form of registry when you own a car, when you get a drivers license or for that matter when you get a speeding ticket, granted not everyone will have any of the above. Its mind boggling that anybody can walk into a gun show and buy a gun without probably even have to show any id before buying while you need all sorts of documentation before one can buy a car (insurance and all such).

To an extent, I feel people are getting paranoid for no reason and it is a shame that the senators are so scared of the NRA that they refuse to talk about Guns and Control in the same sentence. 

A letter to the NRA

Dear NRA,

Your recent ad criticizing the president “are presidents kids more important . . . . “, I think is fairly foolish. Yes the president and his family are more important to America as a whole. You know history better, if not just re-visit the way President Lincoln was assassinated and the formation of the secret service.

That said, I am not following your argument of armed guard at every school. I want to send my daughter to a school and not a jail. Besides, your short sightedness on this issue is pretty remarkable. Here is why, every day I pass by a school near my neighborhood and almost everyday I see a bunch of kids (20 to 30 of them) playing in the play scape/park and the play scape is visible from the road, what do you think prevents someone to open fire from a moving car and kill a bunch of kids and get away even before your armed guard posted at the front door can make his way back to the play scape area. Or for that matter what about all the daycares and private pre-schools that operate in the country, do we need armed guards for them too?.

Ok, even if I buy your argument for school security guard, what is your solution for the Virginia Tech problem, one in front of every single department and for Aurora problem, one in front of every theater and a public place where there is a possibility of more than 8-10 people gathering? Oh wait, that would mean increased government everywhere, which is antithesis for the republican party you all support.

But I agree with you on one thing, banning assault weapons is just an eye candy thing that the president has done. For I do agree the assault weapons constitute less than 10% of the total gun violence in the USA.

So, please drop these ridiculous ads and focus on promoting responsible gun ownership and having fun with guns. Please do not keep quoting the second amendment again and again, for as I have indicated in my previous post that argument is also borderline foolish. Have faith in America and people of America to keep democracy going for it has been strong for last 200 years.

Hope you enjoy the read