For once, Rhode Island politicians have a chance at being part of the solution. Even a small change on gun violence would resonate with voters.
As recently as the 2012 election campaigns, the issue of gun control had fallen off the political shelf. A Republican Party dominated by the states of the sunbelt and the Old Confederacy feverishly defended the rights of the gun lobby. Rueful Democrats, especially those in Red states, bowed cravenly to the gun constituency that was universally cited as the club that doomed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential aspirations.
