Big45
member
Honestly where does this guy come from?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100501692.html
I have a feeling this man would outlaw shooting clays tomorrow if he could?
Why the Redskins Should Bench the NRA
Sunday, October 7, 2007; Page B08
If it's October, then it's time again for the annual spectacle of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation cozying up to the organization leading the charge to overturn the District of Columbia's gun laws: the National Rifle Association. On Oct. 16, the Redskins' foundation will hold its third annual Redskins Sporting Clays Challenge sponsored by NRA Sports. Since 2005, the Redskins have held the event -- despite organized protests by D.C. youth, negative media coverage and the event's obvious conflict with the stated goal of the foundation to "make a positive and measurable impact on youth in the greater Washington, D.C. region," including their "health and wellness."
The NRA has never met a gun law that it can tolerate -- and repeal of the D.C. handgun ban has been the organization's Holy Grail. Never mind that the District's stringent laws have saved countless lives. Unlike homicides -- which are fueled by a steady flow of guns from jurisdictions with laws far more lenient than its own -- the District, with its low gun ownership rates, has a gun suicide and an overall suicide rate a fraction of the national average, the lowest in the country. With guns in only 5.2 percent of its homes, the District has a gun suicide rate of 0.9 per 100,000 residents, and an overall suicide rate of 6 per 100,000 residents. Compare these numbers with Alaska, which, with guns in more than 60 percent of all homes, leads the nation in both gun suicides (14.3 per 100,000 residents) and overall suicides (23.6 per 100,000 residents). As then-D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey testified before Congress in 2005: "What impact would the repeal of D.C.'s gun laws have on our city? From my perspective, the answer to that question is straightforward -- and it is scary. Repealing our gun laws would mean substantially more handguns in the District of Columbia. And more handguns would mean more gun crimes, more gun violence and more homicides, as well as more accidental shootings and suicides. More guns will also mean a greater threat to our police officers."
Right now the District is fighting the latest and most serious assault yet on its gun laws; Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision overturning the District's handgun ban. While D.C. officials fight to retain this decades-old law, the Redskins' Web site urges fans to join former Redskin (and current NRA board member and paid consultant) Dave Butz, as well as former and current Redskins players and coaches, at this event. The September issue of the NRA's America's First Freedom magazine declares that "the D.C. bans on handguns and armed self-defense are the products of extremism and bigotry that have been harming the good citizens of the District of Columbia for decades. . . . Today, bigots in the D.C. government despise the possession of arms and deny the right of survival."
For two years, the Redskins have disingenuously attempted to disassociate themselves from the NRA's pro-gun goals, arguing that it is possible to separate the NRA's political agenda from other components of the organization. In 2005, a Redskins spokesperson stated that the team did not support the NRA's agenda or its efforts to overturn D.C.'s gun laws. Indeed, the Redskins must recognize the link between handgun availability and violence: Fans are uniformly frisked for weapons as they enter FedEx Field.
If the Redskins really do care about the "health and wellness" of Washington area youth -- who will be at greater risk of being shot if the NRA gets its way and the District's handgun ban is struck down -- then the team should take the next logical step and disassociate itself from the NRA altogether. As Washington's hometown team, the Redskins should be expending their charitable energies to protect the District's children -- not giving aid and comfort to an organization with political goals that would place D.C. youth at greater risk.
-- Josh Sugarmann
Washington
The writer is executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control advocacy group based in Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100501692.html
I have a feeling this man would outlaw shooting clays tomorrow if he could?