NRA Will Not Rest Until Every Convicted Stalker Can Still Own A Gun

It must be hard to be the NRA. You've got to up your evil quotient every single day. Like, they probably have to lift weights just to bulk up for that much evildoing. Short of kicking puppies or eating babies (both of which the NRA is probably not above if the puppies or the babies get in the way of some guns), what can the NRA do today to be worse than the NRA yesterday? How about opposing proposed federal legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of people convicted of certain types of domestic violence and/or stalking? Great leap in evil, NRA!

Federal law already bars persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from purchasing firearms. S. 1290, introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), would add convicted stalkers to that group of offenders and would expand the current definition of those convicted of domestic violence against "intimate partners" to include those who harmed dating partners.

In a rational world, this would not be a thing that people debated, because there are not actually two sides to this issue. People that stalk people or smack people they are dating around and are actually arrested and convicted are not really people that are great choices for deadly-weapon-owning. But the NRA is pretty sure that this is all a ploy to grab some guns and also too why are all you people being such wusses about domestic violence and stalking, which are really NBD sometimes, right?

The NRA's letter imagines a "single shoving match" between two gay men as an example of how the domestic violence legislation could be misused. "Under S. 1290, for example, two men of equal size, strength, and economic status joined by a civil union or merely engaged (or formerly engaged) in an intimate 'social relationship,' could be subject to this prohibition for conviction of simple 'assault' arising from a single shoving match," the letter says.

Yes, because everybody knows that if two people are of equal size and strength and are also too dudes and maybe didn't get married or live in one o' them states where their kind just can't get married, it just can't be domestic violence! It magically removes any other issues of power imbalance and hey, if two dudes want to shove at each other, who is society to stand in their way? They'll work it out, or one of them will kill the other. Whatevs.

The NRA also argues in the letter that "stalking" is too broad of a term to indicate any danger to women. "'Stalking' offenses do not necessarily include violent or even threatening behavior," the letter claims. "Under federal law, for example, stalking includes 'a course of conduct' that never involves any personal contact whatsoever, occurs wholly through the mail, online media, or telephone service, is undertaken with the intent to 'harass' and would be reasonably expected to cause (even if it doesn't succeed in causing) 'substantial emotional distress' to another person.

Ladies, listen. If the insane person stalking you is only doing it via your mail and Facebook and Twitter and your phone, that isn't really all that scary and why would you ever prevent that person from getting a gun? Do you hate freedom?

At this point, is there anyone that the NRA would actually wish to prohibit from owning a gun? Hahaha nope. Thanks for not letting us down, NRA. You remain the worst people imaginable.

[ HuffPo ]