Opinion: Some politicians willing to sacrifice children to fill their campaign coffers
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The torrent of mass shootings repeats yet again. Despite poll after poll confirming strong public support for real action, Congress cannot get past paying mere lip service to real reform to control and regulate access to deadly weapons.
The late Ron Ziegler, President Richard Nixon’s press secretary, was my high school classmate at Dixie Heights, a Northern Kentucky high school. We reconnected during my brief stint in Congress in 1993-1994. James Brady was his assistant press secretary who had been grievously injured when President Ronald Reagan survived the attack by John Hinckley, Jr.
Ziegler became a strong supporter of the Brady Bill aimed at regulating the purchase of handguns and requiring background checks of a purchaser of a handgun. I was a member of the Judiciary Committee which had jurisdiction over this legislation. I had the honor of being present in the East Room when President Bill Clinton signed the legislation in November 1993.
The U.S. Supreme Court severely weakened the Brady Bill in Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997). Printz held that state and local law enforcement officials were not required to perform the background checks which are at the heart of the Brady Bill’s real value.
Before my term in Congress ended, we also passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban as part of the 1994 crime bill. To garner the necessary votes, the ban had a sunset provision and, sadly, expired automatically 10 years later. Attempts to renew the ban have not been successful.
Many studies have documented the extensive financial support the NRA receives from gun manufacturers. The NRA took a great deal of credit for the defeat in the 1994 election of 32 Democrats, including 30 members of Congress. Here is what a NRA publication said about us:
"These anti-gun politicians raped your rights. But on November 8, you did the unthinkable … You made them PAY."
America, this is insane. How long do we allow the proliferation of weapons of war which make it so easy for yet another distressed soul to kill our dear, precious children? How long do we tolerate elected officials who sacrifice our future leaders for a few more bucks in their campaign coffers?
David Mann is a Clifton resident, former Cincinnati City Council member and one-term congressman.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Some elected officials willing to sacrifice children to fill their campaign coffers
