Mother Jones’ article, Fully Loaded, documents U.S. gun
manufacturers use of money to buy politicians, military officers, and
influence.
A prime
example of buying influence is Springfield
Armory. The magazine points to Dennis Reese, one of the two current owners
of the company. Dennis and his brother Tom stopped a proposed Illinois ban on
assault weapons by threatening to move the company’s factory out of the state
and across the river to Iowa.
Their
nefarious activity did not stop there. In 1989, Mother Jones reported that Dennis Reese admitted to authorities to
offering bribes to U.S. Army Colonel Juan de la Cruz ($70,000 and a Rolex
watch) in exchange for helping the company sell $1.7 million worth of arms to
El Salvador. Reese was allowed to plead
guilty to lesser charges in exchange for testifying against de la Cruz.
Springfield Armory has donated over $1
million to the National Rifle Association. In 2014, the company made over
576,000 guns for the U.S. market. It has, according to Mother Jones, an estimated $117 million global revenue.
Then there
is Barrett Firearms. In 2013, New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie called for a ban on the .50-caliber Barrett M82
and M107 sniper rifle. Christi then vetoed the bill four months later. Mother Jones reported the New Jersey
governor excused his veto by saying the bill went further than he intended by
prohibiting current owners from keeping the weapon.
In the
middle of the debate over the bill Governor Christie’s campaign accepted $3,000
from a National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyist.
Ronnie
Barrett, Barrett Firearms CEO, sits
on the NRA’s board of directors.
The magazine cites the National Accountability Office as
reporting, “The Barrett .50-caliber rifles have been used by drug cartels,
militia groups, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and terrorist organizations.”
No comments:
Post a Comment