More GOP pandering: no more gun safety locks

Barring a terrorist attack or an offensive against Iran, many would agree that the only thing standing in the way of a Democratic Congressional landslide this November are guns and religion.  Judging from the month of June alone, gay marriage and flag burning had almost no effect as far as rallying the conservative base.  Even though the estate tax repeal is still up in the air, Republicans need something else to jump-start their usual voters.  Expect the GOP to very quickly intensify their pandering on gun safety and church and state related issues.

Late on Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives launched the opening phase of a sustained effort between now and November to dismantle current gun safety laws -- which they think will help win their party more votes this November:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to overturn arecently enacted law requiring safety trigger locks on all hand gunssold in the United States.

The Republican-controlled House handed a victory to opponents of gun control by a vote of 230-191.

...Last fall, President George W. Bush signedlegislation giving gun makers broad protections from civil lawsuits,but that law contained the mandatory trigger lock provision.

Aside from the strategy aspect of this bill, many wonder about the impact that this will have on the safety of our children nationwide.  Groups such as Project Child Safe, which has helped distribute 35 million gun safety kits nationwide, will have to work extra hard to encourage more Americans to get safety locks for their guns.

Personally speaking, the action by the Republican House last night demonstrated how radically conservative that body of representatives really is.  Even President Bush, a gun rights advocate, supports gun safety locks.  This attitude of dangerous indifference towards local communities all across the country says a lot about Republican priorities.  Substantively speaking, yesterday's bill about safety locks had absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing debate about the right to own a gun.  Instead, at stake was the right of innocent, well-intending American families to walk freely in public without the fear of someone accidentally dropping or mishandling a firearm nearby without a safety lock.  Of course, anyone even questioning this bill about safety locks would be labeled as opponents of gun rights.  So much for an honest, substantive debate beforehand -- not that I ever expected one from the GOP majority in an election year.

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Other blogs writing about this issue: Explore for Truth, No Way Home, Americablog.