NYTimes headline, 2/28--“Guns Create a Political Minefield in the Midterms: After Florida Shooting, Candidates Carefully Adjust Views.” And so we see those adjustments in the recent statements from Rep. John Faso. His
2/16 public statement offered his prayers and the assertion that “the
shooter shouldn’t have been eligible to purchase firearms.” In a more hopeful development, his 2/23 response evolved. Although
criticizing the FBI, he 1) repeated his support for strengthened
background checks, 2) agreed that a ban on bump stocks should be
examined, and 3) said we should “seriously explore” raising the age to
buy semiautomatic weapons.
Rep. Faso promotes himself as a moderate member of the Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress. We are encouraged to believe that he will work hard to advance his proposals. Contrast these statements on his web site: he
is “proud” of his “A” NRA rating; he says he will fight “liberal
efforts to trample on our freedoms”; he voted for a House bill loosening
restrictions on carrying concealed guns across state lines.
In
a 2/22 C-SPAN interview, Rep. Faso rejected as an “outlandish smear”
the claim that the NRA’s $8,000 donation to him would influence his
votes and offered a defense of the NRA lobby: some
NRA members work for police, fire, and emergency departments and are
“enmeshed in our community, and . . . to say that they somehow don’t
care about school shootings and other violence is really an outright
lie.”
Oh. Other adjustments. Have you or I lately attacked the police, firefighters, and first responders, accusing them of not caring about the shooting? Doubt it. This adjustment telegraphs to those who might be uneasy about what they perceive as his waffling on gun rights.
“Chameleon”: a lizard . . . that changes its skin color to match its surroundings so that it cannot be seen (Cambridge Online Dictionary).
Publishing history
Oneonta Daily Star 3/7
Sullivan Democrat 3/12
River Reporter 3/14
Shawangunk Journal 3/15
Daily Freeman 3/13
New Paltz Times 3/15
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