There has been a lot of talk about gun laws since the latest American mass shooting. There is always a lot of talk after mass shootings. There is not really any action, but there is always a lot of talk.
This time around there seems to be more of an effort to show the National Rifle Association as the bag of wind that it really is. Several well known people have addressed the NRA’s talking points.
Representative Seth Moulton (D-Ma) took to Twitter to make the point that some weapons were never intended to be used by the average citizen. The gun lobby argues that weapons like the AR-15 and other semi-automatic guns are appropriate for personal safety use.
I know assault rifles. I carried one in Iraq. They have no place on America's streets. #Orlando pic.twitter.com/ibKQE2PpqF
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) June 14, 2016
Another favorite NRA talking point has been that we already have plenty of laws requiring background checks and don’t need any more.
Now Samantha Bee, the hilariously pointed satirist, used her TBS show Full Frontal to show how easy it is to purchase a semi-automatic rifle.
She started out with an attempt to rent the costume of the NRA safety mascot, Eddie Eagle. What she found was amazing. To rent the costume, she had to fill out an 18 page application. Even better? The Eddie Eagle costume has a mandatory 20 day waiting period.
Bee and her staff went on to show how ridiculously easy it is to get a weapon. Throughout the episode they purchased gun after gun, often after an application consisting of one question:”Are you a felon?”
As they went on adding to their arsenal of deadly weapons, they were told over and over that they wouldn’t be able to rent an Eddie the Eagle costume.
Satire is fabulous, especially when it shows the complete insanity that is our current reality.
Featured image a screengrab from TBS video via YouTube.
