Mass shootings across the U.S. leave dozens killed or wounded this weekend

In the event you're wondering why no real gun legislation has happened in this country since the 90's, you can sum it up with 2 words: Dickey Amendment. All things considered, Dickey is probably the appropriate name for this travesty of legislative insertion.

Oh, you've never heard of it. Well, let me tell you about the Dickey Amendment. It would appear that the NRA had a problem with the CDC's studies on the reduction of injuries and death due to violence once the studies began to focus on gun violence. According to the explanation provided by the NCBI:

Led by Representative Jay Dickey of Arkansas, they added a provision to a 1996 spending bill declaring that “[n]one of the funds made available in this title may be used, in whole or in part, to advocate or promote gun control.” 2 Congress also stipulated that $2.6 million of the CDC’s budget, which was the amount spent on firearm injury research during the previous year, would be specifically earmarked for research on traumatic brain injuries.

Repeated efforts to repeal that amendment have failed. According to Wikipedia:

On March 21, 2018, Congressional negotiators reached a deal on an Omnibus continuing resolution. The $1.3 trillion spending agreement also includes language that codified Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar's interpretation of the Dickey Rider in testimony on February 18, 2018, before the US House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. While the amendment itself remains, the language in a report accompanying the Omnibus spending bill clarifies that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can indeed conduct research into gun violence, but cannot use government appropriated funds to specifically advocate for gun control. The bill included no funding earmarked for gun safety and was signed into law by U.S. President Donald J. Trump on March 23, 2018.

The fiscal year 2020 federal budget included $25 million for the CDC and NIH to research reducing gun-related deaths and injuries, the first such funding since 1996.

Gun legislation is a "measurable" event...which means the score given to the congressclown on his gun votes will determine how much funding he gets from the NRA. Thus is the partnership between your congressclowns and the NRA. This begs the question, which has been asked many, many times: who is running this country?

According to last week's CBS poll on guns, most Americans want gun legislation in place. This includes a majority of Americans who believe semi-automatic guns like the AR-15 should be banned.

If the majority of Americans want that to be the law of the land, what in heaven's name is preventing the GOP from enacting sane legislation?

Money. Cash. NRA support. More cash. This isn't about what We, the People, want or need. This is about greed and power. Hmmm. No news there.

If you are tired of reading about kids shot up in their classrooms or people gunned down in crowds, maybe it's time to let your personal congressclown know that YOU are the one who pays his/her salary, not the NRA, and that you will use your voice to make sure We, the People are not gonna tolerate their slavish devotion to an organization that tacitly promotes the murder of children, their teachers, and innocent bystanders while the cops just stand there.

Not that it will make much of a difference to them, but seeing us unite as a front just might make a difference to the millions of voters who are coming voter eligible. Let THEM know we may be old, but we're not dead yet, and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with them to protect their children, our grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Nope. we certainly are not dead yet.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
Yes, I play Wordle and Spelling Bee daily.

No, I never post my results.

If you are posting your results, please stop.

No one cares.