Washington – Illinois Senator and Senate Majority Whip, Richard (Dick) Durbin, is responding firmly to recent events that display gun violence unprecedented in American history. Many lawmakers decry the senseless violent acts but are unwilling to make changes to our gun laws. Durbin plans to change all of that. Below is an excerpt of his plea to his peers about what needs to be done about this growing problem.
I am only one man and one Senator but I believe in the power of one. Martin Luther King had one dream. And then he was shot dead. JFK brought our country together as one. Dead. I have thought a lot about this and my proposal to stop killing our heroes and our innocent citizens is called the Barney Fife Law. Barney was the worst gun owner anyone could imagine. He probably would have been a mass murderer if Sheriff Andy Griffith had not stepped in. He forced Barney to empty his gun and carry only one bullet in his shirt pocket. Every new gun owner should have to watch the episode where Barney gives a lecture on gun safety and then accidentally fires a bullet through his holster into the floor. Sure, it’s funny on television but there is a bigger message here. If every gun owner had to watch all episodes of The Andy Griffith Show where Barney had a gun mishap, I really believe that our citizens would respect their guns more and not just shoot people because they can. And maybe we can pass out bullets to people one at a time like Andy did for Barney. And Andy does not even use a gun to subdue criminals. That’s an entirely new slant we could look at as well. I don’t know if this is the answer any more than you do. But let’s vote on this legislation, see where that takes us, and start to have some real dialogue about keeping our citizens safe.
A 72 hour Filibuster is currently in progress, courtesy of the NRA lobbyists. Each member of the NRA that steps up to speak before the Senate is showing a full episode of The Andy Griffith Show. They are breaking down each scene and each movement to make their case that Barney Fife would have never been issued a gun in our current system. One NRA representative went to far to say that Barney Fife was “a witless boob who never deserved to grasp his clammy hands around a gun much less have legislation named after him.” A majority of Senators are extremely frustrated by this Filibuster process that is believed to take months or even years. Many others, however, say they have really enjoyed catching up on episodes of the show while they are supposed to be working.