Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Voting with our Wallets

Following the greatest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, appropriate gun laws will likely fail to be enacted once again, thanks to the powerful lobby of the NRA and the lack of courage in the U.S. Congress.  This does not mean that sane Americans cannot take action.

Money talks in the U.S. and policies change if companies, States and cities are placed under economic pressure by those who oppose liberal gun laws.  We can boycott stores that sell semi-automatic rifles and the ammunition that they require.  We can shift vacation plans to regions of the country (or globe) that impose reasonable gun control.  We can make sure that we are not actively or passively investing in companies that produce these deadly weapons and we can actively support politicians who have the fortitude to oppose the gun lobby.

Of course, voting for courageous statesmen is important in the long run but voting with our wallets is something we can do each and every day.  As deadly shootings continue to plague our cities (there are more gun deaths in America each day than occurred in Las Vegas on Sunday), there is no time to waste.