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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe 4'11" power behind the "Stand your Ground" legislation
This law was NRA driven from the get go. It was not introduced because of citizen demand or need. It was introduced and passed by the Florida legislature purely because the NRA wanted it. We can all thank Marion Hammer.
"So maybe call her the Lady Gaga of guns. She certainly is wild about firearms. Im four foot- 11, Im 67 years old. If you come at me, and I felt that my life was in danger or that I was going to be injured, I wouldnt hesitate to shoot you, she declared the other day.
But do not call her simply a lobbyist. To do so drastically underestimates her while equally overestimating the state legislature.
Hammer does not so much lobby as orchestrate the legislature to do her bidding and therefore the bidding of the NRA, where she formerly served for three years as its first woman president. She continued to serve as a consultant and lobbyist known for standing her own ground. The NRA credits her with being the propelling force behind the Stand Your Ground Law that the Sanford chief of police and local prosecutor cited when they instructed the investigating detectives not to arrest George Zimmerman for shooting 17 year-old Trayvon Martin in February.
She has acknowledged having a hand in actually drafting the enabling Stand Your Ground legislation back in 2004. She introduced it through a proxy, State Sen. Dennis Baxley, whom she had previously arranged to receive the NRAs 2004 Defender of Freedom Award."
<snip>
Yet, she does not seem to be one of those NRA executives who are really just doing the bidding of the gun industry by cynically seeking to manipulate decent working people with the fear that government is trying to take away their rights. She seems to be a true believer and she has proposed a simple way to ensure gun rights.
Get rid of all the liberals, she said.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/28/marion-hammer-woman-behind-stand-your-ground.html
Jello Biafra
(439 posts)Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)belcffub
(595 posts)and found the VPC article on this... over the 7 years the article was reporting on the "Gun Industry" gave the NRA $20-$50 million...
Much of that came from individuals donating through a gun vender... several have round up for the NRA programs or add a buck...
but even if you take the worst case you are talking about $7 million a year...
Much of that money, according the the VPC article, was donated and earmarked for a particular cause... like the heller case...
this is not a huge amount of money for a national organization... I would be curious though as to what percentage dues / corporate donations are...
but just remember... tighten you tinfoil hat... you wouldn't want it to blow off...
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)belcffub
(595 posts)then I looked for the report, from the VPC, that he was talking about in it and I was not impressed...
http://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney.pdf
have you actually read it? Did you do the research to back it up? or are you just a believer?
The NRA's budget is around $80 million a year... at most according to the report Mike used as the basis of his argument manufactures and industry donate $7 million per year... less then 10%... and that was their high estimate... the lower one is probably less then they spend in paper per year...
you can do the math though... the NRA has around 3,000,000 members who pay $25 a year to be members.... that comes out to $75 million... I know some pay reduce, some get free memberships, lifetime members, etc... but that really is where the majority of their funding comes from...
to dig a little further... the portion that is used for political purposes is not from the NRA... it's from their Institute for Legislative Action group which is forbidden by law from getting money from the main NRA organization... their budget is a couple of million
next thing... the money that does come from industry does not go to either the Institute for Legislative Action or the NRA proper. it is donated to the National Shooting Sports Association. I do think the round up and add a buck things do go to the NRA proper as they are really donations from individuals...
but believe what you will... everyone needs a boogyman...
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)And of course, Papantonio is correct.
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,457 posts)You cant expect a victim to wait before taking action to protect herself and say: Excuse me, Mr. Criminal, did you drag me into this alley to rape and kill me or do you just want to beat me up and steal my purse?"
"To illustrate the silliness of those who opposed the Stand Your Ground law, she once said, Those who like to ban guns attempted to say this law would allow street gangs because they were legally in the street.
In 2008, two groups of gangbangers got into a gunfight on a Tallahassee street not far from the statehouse where Hammer worked her magic. A 15-year-old named Michael Jackson was killed, but the two young men arrested for his murder were subsequently freed in accordance with the Stand Your Ground Law. The judge in the case became the latest person of substance to decry the law, but he could do nothing but comply."
XanaDUer
(12,939 posts)Really?
she has broken no laws.
XanaDUer
(12,939 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)she never voted on that law - perhaps you should start with those legislators that actually passed the law.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)She admitted to carrying a concealed weapon everywhere before it was legal to do so.
By her own admission, she should not be allowed to have a CCP now.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Her admission would not restrict her from a CCP - she was not convicted of felony. An admission by her does not constitute due process.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)If that is the type of person you wish to represent you, go right ahead.
"Get rid of all Liberals."
What a sweetheart.
hack89
(39,171 posts)I merely pointed out that she has done nothing to bar her from getting a CCP.
OPOS
(73 posts)N/T
XanaDUer
(12,939 posts)Did she harm me? Directly, no. All of society? Yes, i think the inability of both parties to discuss rationally gun control harms us all. But that's another story.
hack89
(39,171 posts)it would actually be very hard to show that any of her ideas harm society.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)she's responsible in my book... I could care less what you think about that.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)There's a lot of socialist liberals like me. I ain't no pacifist.
Just because I haven't had to shoot a weapon in 40 years doesn't mean I forgot how.
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)What an awful woman...
True