Murdering Our Children — The Collateral Damage Wreaked by the NRA

By Thomas Coffin

I’ve authored several articles regarding our Nation’s gun violence plague, and I certainly applaud the New York Times’ recent expose of the National Rifle Association’s years-long and behind-the-scenes manipulation of Congress – with, ironically, the participation of both Democratic and Republican elected officials. This Machiavellian orchestration of the paralysis of our federal government has resulted in Congress’ non-response to the ongoing murder sprees against a mounting toll of people, including our children hiding beneath their school desks trembling and sobbing before being slaughtered.  I do not apologize for my emotion. I weep not only for the children and their loved ones but also for my country which has become so corrupted as to enable and even cheer the primacy of profit over the cost of the most innocent lives.

The July 30, 2023 article, The Secret History of Gun Rights: How Lawmakers Armed the N.R.A., is a somewhat lengthy piece but thoroughly researched and a must-read for all those interested in cutting through the insidious re-making of the Second Amendment that has brought our country to the point where children are being sacrificed as the true cost of the gun industry’s profits.

A major part of the NRA strategy, authored by a Congressman, was the development of a “…legal climate that would preclude, or at least inhibit, serious consideration of many anti-gun proposals.”  The long-term goal was clear: “When a gun control case finally reaches the Supreme Court, we want Justices’ secretaries to find an existing background of law review articles and lower case espousing individual rights.” 

I previously discussed this strategy in my essay How the NRA and the Arms Industry Strategically Changed Second Amendment Jurisprudence to Make America a Killing Zone. I am gratified to find that the New York Times research has turned up written confirmation of the NRA’s plans to do exactly that and thus provide evidence of the role of that manufactured “legal climate” in the action of the Court in reversing two centuries of precedent on the subject.

Also keep in mind the influence of financial incentives on lawmakers and even law deciders in our democratic system (as revealed by the unreported gifts to Supreme Court Justices by billionaire benefactors with interests in the Court’s rulings.) The line between donations, gifts, gratuities, and outright corruption is paper thin at best. Frankly, money typically is “invested” in assets that produce profits in our capitalistic society. It is greatly troublesome when it is invested in politicians and those who render judgments.

I have many sobering questions; for example, can a nation that refuses to protect its people, including its children and future generations, even survive? Does it deserve to survive? Have corporate profits become more important than the people themselves? Why has our Department of Justice not acted to hold those promoting and supplying these extraordinary lethal weapons accountable, despite having a long-standing policy authorizing it? (See Corporate Liability = Corporate Accountability). What does it take to confront the false narrative that guns are more important and precious than our very lives under our Constitution?

We have arguably been victimized by the most harmful and self-serving interpretation of a constitutional amendment in our history. It will only reap more victims if we continue in our ignorance as the weaponry will inevitably escalate in its unchecked lethality. The idea that this nightmare was the Founders’ vision and dream for America is blasphemous.

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Thomas Coffin was the keynote speaker at the Blackberry Pie Society’s Political Party in February, 2020 and at Politics and Pie in October, 2022.  He is a retired federal magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and a former professor at the UO Law School. 

Thomas retired in 2016 after 24 years on the bench, prior to which he had a career as a federal prosecutor spanning 21 years. He is married with 7 children.  

The Blackberry Pie Society is pleased to include a collection of his essays on our website.  We will post them as they become available.

posted 8.4.2023