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                 Passing Gun Laws Through US Congress Not Easy

   by Carolyn Presutti

   President Barack Obama showed frustration in the aftermath of the
   October 1 shooting that killed 10 at an Oregon community college.
   "Somehow this has become routine," he said. "We've become numb to
   this."

   It was at least the 13th time he'd taken the podium after a mass
   shooting. "I've got to have a Congress and I've got to have state
   legislatures and governors who are willing to work with me on this," he
   said.

   But changing those laws isn't easy. Three main reasons stand in the
   way, making America different from other countries.

   1. Tradition

   The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is often intrepreted as
   guaranteeing Americans the right to own guns. Vin Weber, a former
   Republican congressman who now is a lobbyist, said gun ownership,
   unlike the case in other countries, "is a part of Americana."

   He pointed to the role of guns in the opening of the American West.
   "There's a lot of romance connected to that, and probably a lot of
   unfounded legend," he said. "But it is part of the American
   mythological experience that gun ownership is central to our identity
   as a country. So for those reasons, it's a different reason here than
   almost anywhere else in the world."

   2. Power of the National Rifle Association
   The NRA spent $10 million over the last three years to lobby for gun
   rights. The $300 million organization has more than 4 million members.

   Weber says, "The NRA is powerful because they represent real people,
   who get involved in the political process and express themselves and
   vote and are active. They don't buy people off.  They motivate their
   members around the country who care more about this issue than anything
   else. It's pretty hard to criticize the NRA when they are doing the
   ultimate democratic -- small 'd' -- democratic thing: organizing people
   to express themselves on an issue to their government."

   Typically, Democrats propose gun control laws. Republicans defeat them.
   New York Senator Chuck Schumer joined a group of Democrats on the steps
   of the Capitol recently, asking to hear from constituents.

   "The American people are crying out for action," he said. "Unless the
   American people make their voices heard, the gridlock on this issue
   will not change."

   ''3. American opinion

   But that's the third reason. A Pew survey found Americans divided, with
   more people favoring gun rights than gun control.

   Carroll Doherty, director of political research at the Pew Research
   Center, said the survey "reflects a sense among many Americans that the
   reason to own a gun is for personal protection. That's a shift, and
   what you see is people who think crime rates are remaining the same or
   going higher, those are the ones who are most supportive and who see
   guns as a means of safety rather than risk."

   Doherty points out that public perception is wrong -- crime rates have
   been sharply decreasing since the 1990s..

   'Stop whining, Mr. President'

   A small group of religious leaders and congregation members recently
   stood across the street from the White House with a message to Obama.

   "Mr. President, we are calling you out to stop whining," said Bishop
   Douglas Miles. "This behavior diminishes the presidency. It creates the
   false impression that the president of the United States -- who buys
   more guns than perhaps anyone else on Earth -- has no power when it
   comes to limiting gun violence."

   This group wants Obama to bypass Congress and pressure the executives
   at the top gun manufacturers to reveal distribution lines and to punish
   dealers whose guns are involved in crimes.

   Anthony Bennett, a pastor in Connecticut, said, "We're not asking to
   control guns.  We're just asking to make sure that guns that shouldn't
   be in the hands of criminals don't get into their hands."

   Some say the shootings won't end until something is done.  But how to
   get it done is still unclear.
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   not-easy/2997587.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/passing-gun-laws-through-us-congress-not-easy/2997587.html