Picture by Sony and a clip from Columbia Pictures film "Zero Dark Thirty"
Based on the latest reports from Democrats in Congress, many state governors (including some Republicans) and mayors in big cities, new gun legislation banning assault weapons like the Bushmaster.223 used in the Connecticut massacre are about to be placed on the legislative agenda.
The federal ban on assault weapons was enacted in 1994 but allowed to expire in 2004. But the imagined horror of little 6 and 7 year olds being gunned down mercilessly in a school classroom has brought renewed vigor to the banning of these weapons (some calling it a "tipping point) that a new ban is likely to be enacted.
The NRA has been silent since last Friday, Walmart has discontinued sales of the Bushmaster and the hedge fund owner of the company that manufactures these type weapons is looking for a buyer.
So all those mostly connected to the manufacture, sales and lobbying for these type weapons are scurrying like cockroaches when the light goes on.
But banning assault weapons is only part of the answer and the easiest to accomplish.
The real problems are a society in love with guns, the popular mass appeal of movies, T.V., video games and the like that glorify brutality and killing, the apparent public approval of drone attacks that kill innocents, including many children by drone operators thousands of miles away sitting before computer consoles, pushing buttons and annihilating everything in its sights, a president using "kill lists" he alone determines who is next to be targeted for assassination with no care or oversight by the Congress, plus the militarization of our local and state police along with the expansion of the surveillance state to say nothing of our endless wars and obsession with terrorism since 9/11. These domestic massacres are just mirroring what America has become and none of the above is part of the discussion.
America has become a fearful society, embracing the official propaganda and necessity for security and protection at all costs. Hence Hispanic immigrants are profiled and targeted, while all Muslims are suspect as potential terrorists and the NDAA (National Security Authorization Act) allows the president to authorize the American military to hold Americans indefinitely without charge and due process until the end of hostilities.
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