POTUS47 Dissolves NRA

As always, opinions are my own, not those of Lichess.org.

Upon releasing hundreds of violent offenders as well as their accomplices, our leader intends to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States. If riots aren't caused by his actions or words, and convicted violent rioters aren't a problem, yet people died during the riot, what cause(s) could be disrupting our nation's peace?

A watered-down Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022) passed, including federal funding to encourage states to implement "red flag" laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat, as well as stronger background checks for people under 21. The NRA whines that this act does little to truly address violent crime. Previous legislation (Federal Assault Weapons Ban which restricted manufacture of certain types of firearms) was published in 1994 and expired in 2004.

Decades have passed with marginal substantive reform. One can FUD that stringent regulations won't deter would-be criminals who are determined to obtain weapons from obtaining them, but our president is too smart to fall for such a narrative. In a press conference at the Lincoln memorial, Trump solemnly spake:

Far too long has our nation suffered from a two-tier justice system. We need to better support our social workers and community outreach programs who care for the least fortunate among us, and convert wasteful expensive private prisons to community centers to create jobs and better care for our retiring seniors. But also, we need to be smarter about gun violence challenges unique to our great nation; rather than militarizing our schools and police forces like the national guard, instead let's track sales and transfers of assault weapons to improve communications between our communities, police forces, and federal law enforcement.

January 6th was supposed to be a peaceful rally without assault weapons -- a wonderful exercise of free speech, showing how we peacefully, respectfully disagree with one another while celebrating our dignified humanity. My words that day were clear, and while I need to clarify my messaging in general so we can understand my sincere desire for peace through peaceful means, as your commander in chief before the 6th I should have executed the law faithfully, or having failed to do that, then on the 6th divert the peaceful rally to a larger venue. Have you seen the Lincoln memorial or the D.C. War Memorial? Our nation has a great history, and together we can overcome differences between us: one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thereafter he again appealed to our common humanity, and following recommendations from various federal agencies asked NRA President Charles Cotton whether they could do anything. Moved by the President's compassionate speech and trusting that our GOP-dominated executive, legislative, and judicial branches could never pose even the slightest hint of a threat to 2nd Amendment rights, Cotton and the NRA agreed to wind down operations immediately and support 1st Amendment and other rights together with the ACLU.

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Image credit: Andy Feliciotti

sat·ire (n.): the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues

-- Oxford Languages

[1] Matza, Max (via BBC): Proud Boys and Oath Keepers among over 1,500 Capitol riot defendants pardoned by Trump

Fourteen members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, two far-right groups, are among those whose sentences were commuted by the new Republican president as he took office on Monday...
More than 600 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement, including around 175 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. Capitol Police officers were attacked with weapons including metal batons, wooden planks, flagpoles, fire extinguishers and pepper spray.

[2] Various authors (via Wikipedia): Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
[3] Anonymous (via NRA): NRA Announces Opposition to Senate Gun Control Legislation 2022-06-21

The NRA will support legislation that improves school security, promotes mental health services, and helps reduce violent crime. However, we will oppose this gun control legislation because it falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners.

This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians. This bill leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions – inviting interference with our constitutional freedoms.

[4] Koper, Christopher S.: Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003

The Ban’s Success in Reducing Criminal Use of the Banned Guns and Magazines Has Been Mixed

• Following implementation of the ban, the share of gun crimes involving AWs declined by 17% to 72% across the localities examined for this study (Baltimore, Miami, Milwaukee, Boston, St. Louis, and Anchorage), based on data covering all or portions of the 1995-2003 post-ban period. This is consistent with patterns found in national data on guns recovered by police and reported to ATF.

• The decline in the use of AWs has been due primarily to a reduction in the use of assault pistols (APs), which are used in crime more commonly than assault rifles (ARs). There has not been a clear decline in the use of ARs, though assessments are complicated by the rarity of crimes with these weapons and by substitution of post-ban rifles that are very similar to the banned AR models.

• However, the decline in AW use was offset throughout at least the late 1990s by steady or rising use of other guns equipped with LCMs in jurisdictions studied (Baltimore, Milwaukee, Louisville, and Anchorage). The failure to reduce LCM use has likely been due to the immense stock of exempted pre-ban magazines, which has been enhanced by recent imports.