Thank you, Edward Stack, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, for
doing something that not one politician seems to have the guts to do—take a real
stand against the idiocy that passes for gun control in America. You did so on
February 28th, 2018, a day that should go down in American history
as a turning point in the gun control war that has paralyzed politicians and
polarized America. You got involved, you took a stand, you stood up for what’s
right. You stated clearly that you were “deliberately steering your company
directly into the storm over gun reform” and that you were “immediately ending
sales of all assault-style rifles in your stores”. You also said that your
store “would no longer sell high-capacity magazines and would also require any
gun buyer to be at least 21, regardless of local laws” (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/walmart-and-dicks-major-gun-retailers-will-tighten-rules-on-guns-they-sell.html).
Way to go, Dick’s Sporting Goods! I applaud you. You stood up to the National
Rifle Association (NRA) and showed up the politicians for the spineless wimps they really are (so many of them are in the NRA’s pockets).
Walmart followed your example later in the day. I applaud
them as well, and the many companies who stood up to the NRA last week, publicly
ending their relationships (discounts, etc.) with them.
The NRA has about 5 million members according to many of
the online sites I checked for information about this organization. The
population of the USA in 2017 was 324,459,463 people. Five million members is
circa 1.5% of the entire population. So tell me why this group wields so much
power over America’s politicians? They’re no more than a minuscule percentage
of the entire population. But they hold the politicians firmly in the palms of
their hands. It all boils down to money, as does nearly everything in this
world. They buy the politicians, and the politicians don’t want to lose the
campaign contributions and support they get from the NRA, so their stances on
gun control are those that are foisted on them by the NRA. The NRA are excellent
lobbyists for their cause, I’ll give them that. But beyond that, I see no
reason for why their points of view should determine public policy on an issue
as important as gun control.
I am not opposed to hunters owning a hunting rifle (think Winchester or Marlin models) if the owner uses
it to hunt animals or for protection out in the wild. But I have zero understanding for
why any hunter would need an assault-style rifle
like an AR-15 (used in wartime) to kill a deer or an elk. I have zero
understanding for why any hunter would defend the use of assault-style rifles against
any animal. They were designed for use in wartime, nothing more and nothing
less. I don’t care if you are sound in mind and body; you cannot in good
conscience defend ownership of assault-style rifles for hunting. My take on it is
that you buy one of these rifles knowing full well that you may use it on a
human being. You may think this is what it takes to defend your house, property and family. I have a hard time trying to imagine how you think or why you defend
these weapons for personal use, together with the NRA. All I know is that how you think has evolved
into how many people apparently think these days in modern America. The Second Amendment
of the US Constitution certainly did not have assault-style rifles in mind when it
said that we as Americans have the right to bear arms (The Second Amendment reads: "A well-regulated Militia, being
necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and
bear Arms, shall not be infringed"). Let’s amend that Amendment to
something that makes sense, not continue to support a misguided idea that owning
and using such weapons are protected by law. Really, use your heads, use the
common sense God gave you. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart finally did. Kudos
to them.
