Powerful U.S. gun lobby could scupper RAWA

The publication New American posed an interesting question this week, suggesting that the jealously guarded right to bear arms in the United States could be endangered if Sheldon Adelson’s Restoration of the American Wire Act was passed as a federal law.

New American argues that RAWA, which seeks to override individual state laws on internet gambling, would violate states’ rights in terms of the US constitution… and that could be extended by any federal government to halt or restrict the open sale of arms and ammunition.

The Gun Owners of America agrees, with a spokesman saying in a radio show this week: “Some conservatives, such as [Representative] Jason Chaffetz of Utah, say ‘Let’s regulate online gambling on the internet’. This legislation is being pushed by the bricks and mortar gambling people, led by Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas, who don’t want online gambling because they want people coming to their casinos.

“It’s just another move which compromises conservatives’ ability to say “don’t regulate the internet” because you have people saying conservatives should regulate the internet for conservative purposes.

“The bottom line is: don’t regulate the internet. Don’t regulate it for conservative purposes, don’t regulate it for liberal purposes. It’s just none of the government’s business.”

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