Reply #169: I can't say NRA would 'en masse' support it, but my solution is simple

[FudaFuda]

end the drug war. that's it. would it eliminate all murder in this country? not at all. But I do believe it would significantly decrease it, simply because the black market and drug money that supports the gangs and cartels would dry up. The government, through taxation, would have ample money on hand for treatment of chronic addicts, meanwhile potheads could just be left alone to eat their snack and watch Blade Runner again in peace.

Urban gang violence, mostly drug related directly or indirectly, is a big part of the problem you seek to cure. It may disturb some to hear it, and by stating it I intend to imply nothing, but the government statistics will bear me out that of the 12,352 persons murdered with a firearm in the USA in 2005 (strictly homicide - not including suicides or law enforcement), over 6,700 were black. That's damned significant, since blacks make up about 13.5% of the US population. Unfortuately, the majority of those murders were likely gang/drug related (and if they were not, then that's a topic for another thread). You can confirm that statistic by running the appropriate reports here:

http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

Eradicating poverty, as mentioned above, would improve things to a great extent. I'm sure our President is working on that now, but the office of POTUS doesn't come with a magic wand. But eliminating the drug war, and removing the stigma of a felony conviction and prison sentence from the criminal record of millions of non-violent casualties of drug prohibition would go just as far in removing a major underlying cause of the extent of gun violence in the USA. Just my opinion of course.

That's me talking though, not the NRA. The NRA is a single-issue lobby group, and they do the job they are established to do rather well. If you don't like them have political clout in Washington, then be prepared to become an enemy of the 1st amendment as well as the 2nd.