Mom's On The Move--Again?

Today is Mother's Day, and it was 13 years ago that I engaged in what may have been my first political act as a resident of Greater Harisburg when I went to a rally sponsored by the Million Mom March.  There we speakers and folk-style singers and lot of children, moms, and a few dads as well. 

After Newtown, which may have been the act of gun violence that provided a wake up call about the dangers that high-powered, high-capacity weapons in the hands of the unstable pose, I wondered if the  Million Moms might have kept their mailing, or e-mail, lists and would be re-activating. 

What we got instead was Moms Demand Action, a group that took it's inspiration from Mother's Against Drunk Driving.  The group has been successful in getting business to promote policies to encourage customers to not carry weapons into stores like Starbucks and recently Jack In The Box.  They also have perhaps shown the underbelly of the American Insurgency through the tweets and acts of intimidation that have come, mainly from the "open-carry" community. 

What they have not done, yet, is prove to be an electoral force.  This yeat may change that, as the group has joined forces with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns to form Everytown.  I think it has potential.  Bloomberg's money can help fight the "air war" that cases like Citizens United and McCutcheon have basically made wide open, and Moms Demand can act as the footsoldiers. 

They face a well-funded opposition, the gun manufacturers will likley pour millions of dollars into the NRA's coffers, and the NRA will use that money to stir up it's insurrectionist base. 

The difference may come down to how well the daily toll of the American culture of guns and violence can be brought up.  The next Newtown, Fort Hood, etc is always one armed person away.

Harrisburg Shows Some Gunsense

The May issue of The Burg magazine reported that the city of Harrisburg and Dauphin County have teamed up to increase penalties for illegal weapons. 

 

As part of the "$100K Illegal Gun Project", Harrisburg police officers and the Dauphin County District Attorney, will request that the minimum bail for anyone charged with illegally carrying a firearm be set at $100,000.  Also, any juvenile older than 15 charged with illegally carrying a firearm will have juvenile detention suggested.