One avenue of investigation is already closed off to forensic officials working the Boston Marathon bombing case due to efforts dating back decades by the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers.
The gun lobby-backed Inhofe amendment requires the executive branch “to uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.
Due largely to the National Rifle Association’s efforts, few states have laws allowing authorities to confiscate firearms owned by individuals under a restraining order for domestic abuse, even when the order is permanent.
Many Americans expected a real change in the nation’s gun laws after the killing of 20 first-graders in Newtown. But three months later, the outcome looks unclear.
At the same time that the gun lobby is helping to fuel threatening language on the Internet, it is trying to keep secret its financial backing for key witnesses testifying about gun violence before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The rites of spring rarely change. Every year, even before turkey season begins, hunters begin sighting their shotguns. Every spring, too, eligible members of the National Rifle Association elect directors to its governing board.
The rising popularity of the Bushmaster AR-15 has helped make Remington Arms and its North Carolina-based parent company, Freedom Group, one of the nation’s largest and most profitable gun manufacturing groups.
