It's true. Well, according to former National Rifle Association president Marion Hammer it is. In a phone interview on the NRA News program The Daily News show hosted by Ginny Simone, Hammer makes the obvious connection so many have overlooked. Senator Diane Feinstein's proposal to introduce assault weapons legislation is motivated by pure discrimination.
HAMMER: Well we've tried to tell people that in order to control the masses they have to take your guns. We saw it in Cuba. I mean we have so many Cuban-Americans who understand. But there are just too many people who don't believe it can happen here. And I hope they are right, but in order to keep it from happening here it's going to be a massive, expensive and long fight.
GINNY SIMONE: And it sure is. And we'll see what happens as things move along because Feinstein says she is going to move pretty quickly on this. So, as you said, it's all going to unfold pretty quickly.
HAMMER: Yep, and the bill that she passed in '95 [the 1994 assault weapons ban] pales by comparison to what she is trying to do now.
SIMONE: Absolutely.
HAMMER: She is invigorated by the tragedy. She believes that America will swing with her. And it's going to be a big fight, Ginny.
SIMONE: And they even admit this is about banning the ugliest guns, it's about cosmetics and it has nothing to do about how a firearm works.
HAMMER: Well, you know, banning people and things because of the way they look went out a long time ago. But here they are again. The color of a gun. The way it looks. It's just bad politics.
How could we have all been so blind and insensitive to guns of color? Here I thought the issue was about addressing assault weapons and high capacity magazines. We have been snookered. Clearly this is about invigorated gun racist Diane Feinstein wanting certain weapons relegated to the back of the bus.
I have heard some ridiculous arguments come from the NRA, but this one wins for sheer absurdity. The NRA hasn't faced this sort of opposition from the public for a very long time and it is becoming increasingly apparent that they are desperate and struggling to find messaging that will gain traction with an outraged nation.