Americans support tighter gun regulations

[tango]

It is not lobbying as that has gone on since the beginning but rather the lopsided all powerful lobbying that goes on now, and you are right any lobby that attempts to buy votes by threatening someones position should be brought up short. The NRA which you seem to have a blind spot concerning is perhaps the single most guilty of this and has bullied their way with many legislators. They really do not represent mainstream America as most now favor some form of regulation for weapons but of course that matters nothing to them. What we really need is legislators who will represent all the eople and do what is the best for the country, this is why I support term limits for all offices. Maybe if they were less concerned about getting reelected they would start doing what is right

Lopsided, all powerful lobby? How much money does the NRA have, compared to the funds available from the billionaires backing gun control?

I don't have a blind spot concerning the NRA, I merely happen to agree with at least some of their stances. You seem determined to focus on the NRA and not on the likes of Bloomberg, Soros etc.

Even if it were true that the majority favor more control over weapons, that's largely irrelevant. Rights that are conditional on lots of people supporting those rights are worthless. A fundamental human right must exist regardless of whether the majority wish to surrender it, or it ceases to be a right at all. Even if we were to accept that, say, 95% of Americans believe in greater restrictions on the fundamental human right to protect oneself, to surrender a right on that basis is a hugely dangerous precedent. We're already seeing problems of that mentality arising when Christian creative artists are legally mandated to apply their talents to events they find unacceptable, most notably gay weddings (and if I recall you're opposed to that restriction).

So we have to either accept that we have rights that are inalienable, or accept that any rights we have today may be stripped away tomorrow based on what becomes little more than the tyranny of the majority. If you dislike guns so much, don't own one. It's really not rocket science. But pretending that you will be somehow safer if my right to own a gun is restricted or denied is irrational - if I really want to hurt you I can use my vehicle to run you over, or poison your water, or attack you with a meat cleaver, or use whatever else is available at the time.

People keep talking about the majority favoring some form of regulation for weapons. There are already regulations for weapons. People who think there should be tighter regulations need to be more specific, otherwise all they have is rabble rousing words that mean nothing. If you support tighter regulations, put forward some specific proposals. In the absence of specific proposals all you have is the firearms equivalent of the people who whinge that "the rich should pay their fair share of taxes" without defining who "the rich" are, or indeed what "their fair share" is.

As for who "represents mainstream America", that's the kind of term that usually means little more than "represents my viewpoint". When the two major parties, based on voting patterns at the last election, fail to represent over 50% of the electorate, it's largely pointless to claim that this or that "represents mainstream America".