Truth ｜ Unable to control guns, American politicians are just ＂marionettes＂ of interest groups

　　America reappears "bloody weekend" According to the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on August 1st, the data on the website of "Gun Violence Archives" in the United States showed that at least nine large-scale shooting cases occurred in the United States in the past weekend, resulting in five deaths and 56 injuries. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is hard to blame for the frequent gun violence in the United States, but the gun control is far away.

　　On April 13th, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted data from the American research institute "American Political Donation Database" as saying that in 2021 alone, the NRA spent $4.2 million on lobbying activities, and from 2010 to now, the NRA spent $140 million on election candidates who supported guns. CNN reported CNN)2018 that at that time, more than half of members of Congress obtained funds from NRA, and many members had long-term financial relations with NRA. Eight congressmen have received at least $1 million in campaign donations from the NRA during their careers. Only six Republican lawmakers did not receive donations from the NRA, while 24 Democratic lawmakers received support from the NRA.

　　"Buying with money" is just one of the ways that NRA influences legislation. The British "Guardian" analyzed in 2018 that the NRA spent less money on lobbying than the National Association of Realtors or the American Chamber of Commerce, and even worse than the dairy industry; The NRA spends less money on presidential candidates than the automobile industry. However, compared with these industries, the influence of NRA is disproportionate. The reason is that NRA can "manipulate voters". The gun issue is deeply tied to politics, and some voters are very concerned about it. The NRA has about 5 million members. They have a very strong ability to mobilize grassroots voters to participate in politics. They will attend meetings, write letters, and attract friends. Because of their loud voice and much attention, American politicians will also move closer to them.

　　Too many American politicians accept "donations" from the NRA, or turn to the more topical side for the sake of votes. The NRA often wins by a wide margin, while more Americans fall at gunpoint. The victory of the NRA is the result of early layout. The practice of bribing politicians and winning over voters has a long history. Even many members of parliament were leaders of the NRA and personally stepped in to hinder gun control.

　　According to a report by The New York Times on July 30th, according to a batch of recently declassified documents, American legislators not only passively accepted lobbying, but also led the NRA and often urged it to take action. Some people proposed to take action against gun violence lawsuits, some instructed NRA on how to promote a bill to lift gun restrictions, and others rejected a proposal requiring guns to be equipped with safety locks.

　　Among them, John Dingle Jr., a Michigan Democrat who died in 2019, played an important role. He has been a member of parliament since 1955, and in 1981, he became the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives. Politician is not the only identity of Dingle. Since 1968, he has been a member of the board of directors of NRA. Taking advantage of his power, he not only leaked the information of the federal agencies in the United States to the NRA, but also "ventilated" the NRA when relevant legislative proposals appeared. Beginning in the 1970s, he began to urge NRA to invest in the legal profession to win the lawsuit. The United States is a case law country, so Dingle's practice has had a far-reaching impact. Some precedents were later cited in the Supreme Court's judgment of District of Columbia v. Heller, which affirmed the right of individuals to own guns. Last year, the United States tried to introduce laws to restrict guns in public places, which was also declared invalid.

　　Before Dingle became a member of the NRA board of directors, he was a staunch supporter of guns, and even after Kennedy's assassination, he tried to defend gun freedom. In 1960s, President Johnson of the United States wanted to strictly control guns, so Dingle asked the Library of Congress to study the confiscation of guns by German Nazis to prove that gun control was a step backwards. He also raised the banner of "patriotism", claiming that owning guns is the "patriotic duty" of citizens. By 1968, in order to fight against the Gun Control Law, Dingle wrote a letter to an executive of NRA, suggesting that NRA "begin to make a legislative plan" to protect the right of individuals to carry weapons "for sports and national defense purposes".

　　Facts have proved that Dingle really has a unique vision. Bloomberg published in March this year that the most revolutionary achievement of NRA is not in finance, but in culture. The strength of those who oppose gun control comes from mutual identity, gun ownership has become a unique social identity, and gun owners believe that they are "credible, honest and patriotic citizens, self-sufficient and love freedom". In such a cultural atmosphere, the American people tend to be only "moderate" in favor of additional supervision of guns and will not take action to fight.

　　After becoming a member of the board of directors, Dingle devoted himself to NRA. With gun violence getting out of control in the United States, the public's voice for gun control is also growing. Dingle realized that NRA needed new strategies to cope with the new environment. He accused the NRA of not responding adequately to possible threats at the legislative level, and proposed to launch new lobbying activities, work hard on presidential candidates, and even participate in party politics. Dingle hopes to "maintain the files of every member of Congress and major members of the executive branch who are related to NRA's legislative interests" and "use computerized data to exert influence on elected officials". Under his influence, the NRA's top management has also been reshuffled, with hardliners taking the dominant position and defending gun freedom more aggressively than before.

　　In 1986, the Gun Owners Protection Act was promulgated, which is the most important gun-owning act in American history. The bill was mainly drafted by Dingle and initiated by another Democrat. At that time, US President Ronald Reagan was supported by NRA, and the judges appointed by Reagan were also conservatives, who also supported gun freedom. The NRA's tentacles extend to the Congress, the President, the judiciary and other departments, and within the NRA, the tendency of partisan politics is becoming more and more obvious. Some people even say that the R of the NRA refers to the Republican Party, and some Republican lawmakers have also become members of the NRA board of directors.

　　It is worth noting that Dingle is a Democrat. Facts have proved that even if the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are at odds with each other on the issue of gun control, we can find that both parties have an unshirkable responsibility for the proliferation of guns in the United States today.

　　However, under the circumstances at that time, the identity of Dingle Democrats became somewhat out of date. By 1994, he resigned as a member of the NRA board of directors, but this did not mean that Dingle no longer advised on "gun freedom". He continued to use his influence to introduce laws to protect guns, and NRA even awarded him the "Legislative Achievement Award". It was not until 2015 that Dingle's wife, a supporter of gun control, took his seat in the House of Representatives, claiming that his views had changed and "reconsidered" what he had done.

　　Dingle is the longest-serving congressman in the United States for nearly 60 years. Under his impetus, NRA was able to get its hands on all aspects of the top of the US government. However, Dingle is not the only one to blame for the rampant gun violence in the United States. Many American politicians are willing to cooperate with the NRA to play the game of partisan politics, but are unwilling to listen to the voices of the majority of the people. Eventually, they are firmly bound by economic and political interests, and they are simply unable and unwilling to fight against gun interest groups. No matter how the American people vote, they can only choose a group of politicians who have been "pinched" and cannot choose a stable future.

　　(Text/What Memory)