Transcripts For DW Hart Aber Fair 20240712

On the rise here in berlin and officials announce new curfews and restrictions on gatherings. Also on the program a legendary guitarist and songwriter Eddie Van Halen has died after a long battle with cancer. He cofounded a van halen which became a one of the worlds a top selling bands with Eddie Van Halen it considered one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. Im Claire Richards and welcome to the show we begin here in berlin where belarus is exiled Opposition Leader has been holding talks with the german political leaders including chancellor Angela Merkel scotland and chicken is calling for european help to force new elections in belarus followed. A disputed poll in august since then and the country has been gripped by mass opposition protests and the violence a government crackdown now to cannot scale once germany to take a leading role in ending the unrest. This meeting at the german chancellor and berlin is crucial for us from atlanta to. She has High Expectations of angle americal as she told d. W. Ahead of the talks. Is. Extremely important. In the authorities and everything that. Extremely helpful in this situation. America has deep sympathy for the protest movement as a former citizen of east germany shes lived through a peaceful revolution which gives her a special understanding of. The my new mood to follow and see what i see the courage of these women who take to the streets to call for freedom and to corruption i can only say that im amazed i find it truly impressive. Thank you. Women have persisted turning out despite the ongoing violence of the regime. Is continuing her own fight from exile to do we see her comrade Maria Kolesnikov was put in prison for her own convictions. The protesters want Alexander Lukashenko who has been in power for 26 years to step down they claim the recent elections that saw him. Were rigged germany and the e. U. Agree theyve imposed sanctions on look at those inner circle but not against the dictator himself to know scale has called for the sanctions to be extended to look at you and others many german lawmakers agree. Including in the green party. Leader we need to make it clear that we stand in solidarity with protesters we must offer individual humanitarian aid to people who are under threat and of those who seek help from us because they are tortured or beaten by the regime. Who on monday. Thanks to brother lucien community in berlin she likens her country to east germany in 1909 saying hers is a nation that wants to tear down its walls where at long last people want to make their own decisions about their lives. And d. W. Political correspondent simon young has been following those talks and we asked him what sort of supports that lana taken off sky hopes to get from the German Government i think that the opposition are all strong as well for practical support support for Civil Society organizations for independent media groups which have both been suffering and finding it difficult to operate during this crisis so thats one thing more widely of course there is that call for europe and other friendly nations to become involved supporting dialogue between the look as shingo regime and the opposition thats a cold its been repeated again and theres a political crisis in another former soviet republic kurdistans Prime Minister has resigned following days of protests in the capital bishkek there are reports that the parliament immediately elected his replacement from the opposition only for him to be forced to flee as angry protesters stormed the hotel where the emergency session was being held this comes amid increasing unrest following sundays parliamentary elections here you can see protesters forcing their way into government buildings and destroying images of pro russia president jean back off official results are from the vote handed big gains to the president and to establishment parties those results have since been novels. With both the government and the opposition claiming power we spoke to central asia researcher colleen wood to ask her who is in control. The last that we heard publicly from president kim back of was early in the morning on monday in kyrgyzstan that he released a video so people do not exactly know where his where yes at the moment the opposition the Meeting Council claims that they are in control but i think ultimately the power does lie with parliament that its the 6th parliament the last parliament that was in power that has elected a new speaker has elected a new Prime Minister and this interim government is going to be the one to make the call on Holding New Elections and ultimately the decision on whether to impeach the president here because it is very carefully set up its executive branch to have balance between the president and parliament but always the parliament has more control than the president so in the coming hours even if. I think parliament is going to wield the power over the president any more than him over that organ of power lets turn back to germany now and its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus and factions are on the rise especially here in berlin on tuesday the city and nouns to new curfews for bars and cafes as well as stricter rules for meeting in groups. And went out on the streets of berlin to find out how people are reacting. Welcome to germanys new flashpoint. After months of staving off the worst of the pandemic the german capital has become the frontline in the countrys fight against the virus half of all of germanys high risk areas are located here in this city including the district of. Gatherings with little sign of social distancing are a common sight here most of the new infections are among young people under the age of 30 theyre more likely to be infection but the disease is spread is also picking up pace among the old forcing berlin City Government to take action there introducing new restrictions from saturday compelling bars and stores to close at 11 and limiting alcohol sales as well as the size of private gatherings not everyone supports the changes. Yes you can just say much its a hard question i think its actually. A long but you have to maintain social distancing and i think as long as people do that it shouldnt be a problem to sit in the bar until late at night. I think the same i think everyone can keep themselves in check regardless of how much alcohol they drink at least i can keep a grip on myself so i dont understand why others cant do that. And i. Support the new measures. You need to balance your own sensibilities against a virus that puts others lives at risk you can feel the. Case i think the measures are justified the. System is flashing red and thats forced the government to take action and while most people weve spoken to say they support the restrictions but still have the spread of the virus here in the german capital. Legendary iraq guitarist and songwriter Eddie Van Halen has died after a long battle with cancer together with his brother alex in 1972 he formed the band that later became van halen 10 years after their family had emigrated to the us of a hand became one of the worlds top selling bands with songs like jump. Eddie van halen was born in amsterdam in 955 and he moved with his family to los angeles in the early 1960 s. He started life as a musician at the piano but later switched his ambitions to the guitar the rest is history eddie and his older brother ehrlichs formed van halen in the 1970 s. They had a distinctive style with and it is the infamous guitar solos and front band dave lever on his flamboyant taken the rock god genre they appeal to people from all age groups. Younger fans dont even know we have 11 other records i saw with her if we get a taste of each one which one they want to buy. So its not for the money because every 1. 00 of the money will go out buy em all the whole rock band released their 1st album in 1978 which shots into the top 20 on the american billboard charts making it one of the most successful debuts of the decade. Eddie van halen spine nearing that your technique and him a place in rocks hall of fame alongside the likes of jimi hendrix and eric clapton in 2000 every just poll in the popular us Music Magazine voted him the greatest guitar player of all time. Now for more on the late legend Eddie Van Halen t w reporter simon bono joins me now in the studio simon what more do we know about the circumstances around his death well we do know he dives with his family around him his exwife Valerie Burton ellie and the son were were there together with him and his brother alex was there as well who was also invited him on as was his son in later years he had been battling cancer for cancer for the. 5 years we learned this last year and he sought treatment in germany but i dont think many people knew how. Ill he actually was because it did come as something of a shock to the Music Community i can imagine how do you think he will be remembered well 1st and foremost as a virtue also a guitarist an amazing musician and one much emulated but also as a member of the band van halen was a band it wasnt just a vehicle for him and he played his role and. David lee roth later sammy hagar with the singers and they added their dash of fidelity to it. And his brother alex was the drummer and you had Michael Anthony the bass player who was also the backup vocalist and so together there was a great chemistry among them and they had one hit album after another 2 of them sold more than 10000000 copies each in the United States and a string of number ones with sammy hagar all right with a song i always think of is of course but you think that that is their biggest hit it certainly was i think worldwide theres no doubt thats the best known song of theirs it was their only number one for the band van halen in the United States. And it was also something of a change for the group too because he would have been a guitar hero and the singer David Lee Roth was concerned that if you were seen playing a synthesizer turning to keyboards that might not fit with his image well he did it anyway and it worked well and they made this video which you can see right now. The band members themselves took turns filming it and they spent they said around 600. 00 to make it and that was a way of showing that m. T. V. Didnt tell you what to do that they could do it their own way and thank goodness they took that chance when you have quite a musical career and i understand even played for Michael Jackson thats right the guitar solo on billie jean. Story and beat it. There is no guitar solo and. Theres a. Long story about that too but basically quincy jones the producer called him up on the phone he thought it was a prank but he and Michael Jackson came around 20 minutes later theyd recorded a solo legend has it the. Fire caught on fire during this he didnt take any payment for it the single went on to sell the 7000000 copies the album 66000000 and that may have been due to Eddie Van Halen being on it thriller the biggest selling album of all time so that was his other number one yeah well you know he also had a very specific taste sometimes when he like to perform what can you tell us about that well van halen was notorious for their contract rider that they handed out to the news before they played there and there was one close in age that there is to be a bowl of m. And m. Is the candies on the table in the dressing room but absolutely no brown m. And ms so the people if the venue would have to take the eminem the brown ones out now that sounds like diva like behavior they all taste the same down there they do indeed but what they were really doing was seeing if they if the venue had actually checked and read through this very detail contract because there is a lot of equipment that could have killed people with a high voltages and whatnot and so there was a rationale behind it but its a great story all right i mean and as a litmus test i mean bona thank you so much. Youre watching news hour from very lennon coming up next our film documentary about albania the last train to play richardson in fairyland thanks so much for joining us. Imagine how many pushes cold blooded sounds thrown out in the worlds Climate Change to take off the story basis my plans for the way home goes one week. How much worse can it really get. We still have time to ask im doing. This. Process. What is being made here is for many a part of the American Dream but for others its an increasingly frequent nightmare. Underneath the girl all those parts in the burger and old cars fruit theyll never Work Together to give you the final product but really what were after is a finished. Weapon. Well. We are part of the n. R. A. The people that are fighting for your rights weve become part of those groups wed like to be to a system in the fight for rights here. Ever since the memberships and then they go to lobbyists and they try to get the pro gun bills through or try to stop the anti weapon bills nobody. Got to pick your colors if you dont quite know what you want we can help you get it exactly what you want from where youre headed we just had one that looks like a snake snake skin. And you dont have anybody looking out for you in washington so the owner is supposed to be doing that for us. 911 what is your emergency think you are going to. Be of anybody and there are. A lot of a lot of your everything around your honor and the paramedics are you know youre going to you know im going. To go on go on the. Park on florida february 28th. 1000 year old returned to his former high school to unleash a deadly bomb with a legally purchased assault rifle. The park gun shooting left 17 people dead 14 of them students and a further 15 injured. As you can imagine it is a challenging typical morning georgias on the scene in florida where another community is in this believe the shock by devastating violence. The most disturbing aspect about gun violence in america is that recent data shows that the frequency of Mass Shootings is only increasing over time. The students who survived the massacre are getting ready to go back to school for a much bigger fight taking on the n. R. A. Every year the United States sees about 350. 00 Mass Shootings roughly one per day massacres like the one in parkland have led to read new cones for stricter gun laws resisting such reforms is the National Rifle association which shows its very existence to the right of every american to bear arms in selfdefense to stop a bad guy with a gun it takes a good guy with a guy the National Rifle association has for the most powerful Political Forces in america it has a simple message we have. A constitutional right to own firearms and nobody can take that away from us. And the n. R. A. Has connections at the very highest level of government. If you had a teacher with who was a dept of fire or. They could very well in the object very quickly. The n. R. A. Is really lunt loose in its mob being and has a huge network of dedicated supporters. Of 5000000 members in the n. R. A. Today a big game more and more of power and all the power of course is financial because they can shoot for candidates to talk to more actions in washington were the boys should be perfect were the boys who should its almost early bird to be at it what would you tell people who truly both know she were abolished but the throat wound could look good but. How is the n. R. A. Able to wield such influence over lawmakers who are these people who know no bounds when it comes to defending these Constitutional Rights the survivors of the parchman shooting are now among the most vocal of the gun lobbys opponents papeete than a moderate image they can make money and are a game on. But what can they do in the face of the mob these seeming omnipotence students from heartland really coming out in force as a new Political Movement that we have never seen before marching on washington lobbying their elected officials theyre going up against history that hasnt been on their side of the films and theyre going up against a dedicated group of people in the n. R. A. That they fought this battle on as tragic as it is the kids that are coming out of heartland are of theyre new to this political fight and the n. R. A. Has been fighting and gun rights advocates have been fighting this battle in a time a battle that. Is being waged even in this sleepy looking small town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in western colorado its named appropriately enough his rifle. Its a place that looks like a relic of the wild west its home to a former saloon and now a restaurant called shooters grew up. Carrying a weapon here is not just permitted its openly encouraged the restaurant prides itself on having armed waitresses its founder serves customers with a 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol the interior is adorned with john wayne vintage guns and even a crucifix framed by bullets. Shooters grill is an open carry restaurant by wait staff and myself we all carry firearms to work and they are loaded theyre real we all practice we all train we are efficient with our firearms we pack this safety with them. And i think that its good for more people to have them because we feel safer this is the safest restaurant the world ever known is always ready in case anything happen and nothing ever has there you go colorado is one of the 32. 00 states in the us where citizens have a constitutional right to openly carry a gun which might be a pistol or an automatic assault rifle. To stop a bad guy with a gun you need a good guy with a gun because the criminals have free range they know you have nothing to stop them with they can go in and try to rob you at gun point and youre not going to shoot back because you are a law abiding citizen and you are obeying the government and not carrying your firearm and so they know they can go in and they can have whatever they want they can go in and take it they could shoot whoever they want because theres no one stopping them here in rifle colorado theres people that are going to stop. For a mormon. Pistol is as normal an accessory as a piece of clothing she also carries her gun at home in the presence of her 4 children are she and her husband have around 20 guns around the house out of sight for safety reasons shes proud to be a lifelong member of the n. R. A. And i like that because theres a lot of transparency the n. R. A. Wants us to know what theyre doing they want us to know what theyre fighting for why gun control topic is on the table today and they want to let us know how theyre fighting. The n. R. A. Currently has some 5000000 members with almost 800 employees coordinating the lobbying work of over 10000 local branches the association was founded in 1071 by civil war veterans and nationally as a club for hunters and recreational shooters advocated training children in the use of guns from an early age. The National Rifle association commonly referred to as b m r a. National organization of sportsmen in the United States. But in the 1960 s. New gun control legislation had been introduced calling a string of high profile assassinations the n. R. A. Switched its mission to gun ownership and because and became one of the most powerful lobby groups in the u. S. Now robert going to interfere with the fate of his brother. Those who know after the death of Martin Luther king this tragedy must bring americans together to legislate book but all conclude. One of the most important changes was with all of the violence in our society and other societies in the late 1960 s. And with the assassinations of Martin Luther king and Robert Kennedy in 1068. President johnson began to push for more restrictions on the cause and Many Americans even democrats who had supported johnson became very worried because they were afraid that if they didnt have their guns they would be unprotected what they saw in particular they were afraid of black power and what happened. Was that. The effective crime control. Remains in my judgment effective gun control. A warning shot to the countrys traditionalists. There was a small group of members of the n. R. A. That believed that gun rights were about to be curtailed dramatically and there were these conversations about gun rights and they decided to rise up within the n. R. A. And they effectively took over the entire organization and it went from a moderate. Less powerful group of sportsmen to a very staunch conservative organization 100 percent focused on the idea of ensuring that the right of an individual to own a gun would not be curtailed at all. Looking for new ammunition to further his campaign the n. R. A. Found an argument rooted in the United States constitution and amendment 1791. 00. We believe in our country we believe in our bill of rights and we believe in our 2nd amendment to the United States constitution all of our 2nd amendment because we believe in the freedom and the safety. And that if. It hello dear and tease absolutely are. Freedom in our safety. The 2nd amendment says a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed and theres a lot of debate about what the Founding Fathers meant does it mean people have the right to join together to ensure that the government isnt acting as a dictatorship or does it mean every Single Person has the right to have a gun on them at all times no matter where they are you know or do british youre. Going to what i think sometimes people miss is that when it was written the weapons the right to bear arms those arms were muskets they were weapons that maybe in a best Case Scenario you can get off 3 shots in a minute if you were an expert. So at that time Mass Shootings were impossible because there were not weapons that would make someone capable. In virginia where hundreds demonstrated outside the n. R. A. Headquarters afternoon protesters blame the National Rifle association for helping you block gun control maybe the n. R. A. Is powerful enough to prevent any meaningful change thanks to its political ties and insistence on the constitutional right to bear arms among the antigun activists this time around him and one of a number of young people here who are survivors of the Parkland High School massacre where from of the cowardice ass building because thats where they all stay behind closed doors so that they have balls to come and talk to us like. Theyre cowards i fight is that when a fight because too many die thats how much blood has shed and when we say enough is no easy im sure it wasnt. Youre tired of so many children having to wake up and look at their craft surroundings and realize. Its not their progun protesters brandishing an assortment of high powered firearms are present in this state this particular state its as im made to open carry this is always a not a felon not a criminal which im sure people are going to face me that way. So i didnt worry about it be carrying guns i mean not in my own business. In a country in which one in 3 adults owns at least one firearm the young gun control and the kids are widely seen as hopeless idealists an estimated 300000000 guns are owned by civilians half of the world total of privately owned firearms. Alan from colorado is an n. R. A. Member and has a penchant for high caliber weapons i grew up in a household where if i was a good kid and i did all my chores and i did what my parents asked me to do i would actually get incentive by them giving me ammunition to shoot by a 22 caliber rifle. Honestly the main thing i worry about is that someone is going to endanger myself or my family or my friends and do i have the ability to protect myself and those i care about around me because unfortunately as you very well know where you are even a foreign france its a big bad world out there. Alan also trains father n. R. A. Members in his free time he expects actions not just words for his 1500. 00 lifelong membership or state senator john morse concedes in his recall race tonights historic vote leading to the 1st recall in state history will write its attempting to make the recall of a state legislator is where you running. Goes for passing gun restriction legislation. Democrat john morse spent 7 years as a state senator in colorado shortly after his appointment as president of the senate in 2013 he successfully proposed new legislation to restrict the sale of assault weapons the n. R. A. Retaliated by launching an initiative to force morse and other legislators out of office via a recall vote. In december of that same 2012 newtown happened and we had. Nearly 2 dozen People Killed there most of them 6 and 7 year old children so our sessions started in january and i knew that we needed to do something about gun violence in colorado since much of that violence that occurred here in colorado so by that time the n. R. A. Had gin up support for its position and so at one of the days when we heard these bills in the senate they surrounded the capitol with about 20 cars that just drove around the block from about 8 30 in the morning until about midnight that night just honking their horns trying to disrupt the hearings so gun lobby did a great job of making it look like people were really opposed to these mass of these measures the Senate President john motors is taking coming to full and in the wrong direction forces pushing major changes strictly you list from the n. R. A. Invested over a 1000000 dollars in a Media Campaign to oust the state Senate President to paid for the National Rifle Association Committee to restore coloradans winnings this is pretty much their standard. Stick you know i mean they just lie cheat and steal and for whatever reason too Many Americans buy into it in as a result to Many Americans and the dead just pure lies all the way through but you can see its Just Marketing and theres very little thats very specific in there you know morse is going to give us freedom how is that even possible. After serving careers in the police force and then in politics morris now works as a certified accountant in Denver Colorado but he continues to observe how the n. R. A. Has been increasing its political clout in the state senate and house of representatives you know my biggest disappointment in losing was that it sent a very clear message to elected officials around the country that if you do anything even if its just common sense gun safety we took out the president of the colorado states we can take you out too and it has worked. There hasnt been much in the way of gun law changes in the entire country since what we did and we did barely anything and the fact that it actually costs human lives and were willing to pay that cost i mean it makes me ashamed very ashamed to be an american at this point in time. When john morse had to leave office in 2013 the n. R. A. Was headed by david keene an experienced strategist considered a powerful opponent of then president barack obama he has since openly acknowledged his role in the removal of the Colorado Senate leader claiming that there was simply too much at stake back then. We would i went out there lobbied against it. As did every other organization and 2nd amendment that was very important in that in that whole battle that was going on. Because you could almost hear statehouse doors all over the country closing. Where they were saying oh no its not something that we should be looking at because the fact is that there are consequences to to to to passing legislation that really riles up your constituency was political revenge and the demonstration that if you if you go against the 2nd amendment theres a price to be paid. The n. R. A. Tries to ensure its opponents pay that price and that politicians and Public Officials are aware of that threat. The conservative state of texas had never caused major problems for the n. R. A. People in the south have traditionally been firm supporters of the 2nd amendment. So the emergence of opposition to the gun lobby here came as something of a surprise a few weeks before the midterm elections in 2. 2018 the city of austin hosted a debate on gun violence former soldier and n. R. A. Critic stephen claiming ran for election in the texas state senate. Hey you know i you can ignore me no no no i got out. Of his grassroots activism made him a popular candidate and despite pressure from the lobbyists he was not afraid to confront the n. R. A. And make guns the key theme of his campaign. And that is for the n. R. A. Is really just a lobbying organization for the firearms industry they make billions and billions of dollars in this the United States a very unique and open market where nothing strays like that makes the United States its one reason the United States is the foremost export of weapons both legally and illegally and i would stress the last i care about moral clarity and i care about making sure that we give a voice to the people but havent had one if the n. R. A. Wants to come in here and challenge me ill take that challenge any day. Among those participating in the Forum Discussion who are a former Police Officer and a number of victims of gun violence as well as Public Officials all of them determined to bring about change every year the United States registers up 260000 incidents involving firearms in 2019 they cost the lives of almost 15000 people and left 28000 others injured or in most states reaching the age of 18 in titles you to purchase a gun without having to prove that you can use one responsibly Many Americans say those laws are too lax but the n. R. A. Makes a huge effort to ensure that those laws are not compromised it invests millions of dollars into the Election Campaigns of politicians to ensure that the status quo is maintained. So this is a picture of the incumbent. Senator Donna Campbell shes chosen not to be here today she felt like this wasnt a Friendly Forum we tried to give her assurances that she would be respectful and we will listen to all sides of this issue her position isnt really or she doesnt really have a position she defers to the n. R. A. For her position and that i think is part of the problem is they use their heavy handed tactics when it comes to. Our elections are pouring money into them and overwhelming the other side of the argument with with money oftentimes foreign money is a big part of the problem and why our Legislature Gun legislation is reflect the popular will. The n. R. A. Is constant push for political leverage has given a major boost to the careers of prominent members of congress in washington the majority of them republicans. The n. R. A. Spends a considerable amount of its resources in influencing our lawmakers in order to prevent them from happening or even proposing gun legislation. Senator john mccain for example received 8000000. 00 richard burr from North Carolina 7000000. 00 roy blunt representing missouri 4 and a half 1000000 and marco rubio from florida 3000000. 00 for the gun lobby also donated 30000000 dollars to Donald Trumps 26000. 00 Election Campaign an investment that paid all. The true friendship in the white house. Federal agencies be coming out to law abiding gun owners. Behind the scenes that political influence is meticulously documented by the n. R. A. And elected politicians are assessed according to their usefulness to the gun lobby and those grades have a big impact on their chances of reelection. Political candidates and elected officials on a scale that we rate our School Children on so a is good f. Is bad and all of the major candidates will get an n. R. A. Rating what they often do is they take all the speeches that the person running for office has done they have people that work for them at the n. R. A. And they scanned all of the speeches and of course you can do this on computers as well for any type of comments that might seem negative and you know just a few negative comments is enough to you know basically push their button and they go after you so you know typically if you want to a plus you have to basically you know bow down to the n. R. A. You have to basically come out for you know in favor of the 2nd amendment without any types of restrictions but i want to say at the outset that from there mark you just heard this is a guy that gets it you know think you do this is Donald Trumps later chief of staff ryans priebus back in 2013 this is a guy that built and helped elect the kind of people that electrified this crowd today you need great mechanics and you need great candidates need them thank you very much god bless ship. You probably. Endorse about 1400. 00 candidates each year at the various levels if you have an incumbent whos in a rated. Officeholder and a challenger whos a rated then the incumbent gets the advantage because his record is real because he didnt just talk he or she did talk we actually voted. Its not uncommon for children in the u. S. To learn to shoot a gun before they can read and write. Just outside of austin texas we find what is for gun reform activists a shocking example of Elementary Education 6 year old kate. About solutions. Struggled with you and the rebels your 1st time when you were 4 right yes 1st time shooting. A shop at target and depicted on the cover is kate with her 22. 00 caliber rifle so this is the one that she shoots the most as what she kind of started with is easy for her to use it because it is very small and light weight and he fits her pretty well Ari Fleischer get it right she will if. Its still. There she is with a rifle. She trained jujitsu and she does ballet and other things that helped develop the strength that she would need to shoot to have your go right i dont argue its sunday morning and a group of families meet up at a shooting range. Kate and her friends have come out here to the desert with their parents to let off a bit of steam. But this is no toy gun so her dad gives her some practice lessons so lets do the 1st one dry ok that is the target flacco breath. Ok good one more. On the targets that i am for ok nice work for the children here are aged between 6 and 12 texas has no minimum age for firing guns kates 22 caliber rifle it does not have a strong recoil but its as deadly as most other common firearms. Put a nice piece of a database out loud and shoot game play with it i could alter your highness ally cant be. Easy. Im sure you were a great shot tonight kates gun is a semi automatic a r 15 which is not just the weapon of choice for some Elementary School girls similar guns were used in parkland and the pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018 as well as notorious mass killings in moscow Vegas Orlando sand bernadino and the sandy hook Elementary School shooting each ended the lives of dozens of people americans now own an estimated 15000000 new york fifteens which has become an almost iconic symbol of the gun control debate some states have age restrictions up to 21 to buy handguns but not in our 50 and so you can buy a ar 15 legally when youre 18 again all you can do you dont have to show any ability to be able to use it you dont have to show you know any sort of real mental competency you know you you theres no waiting period to get one either walked out with a ar 15 and a 100 rounds of ammunition 20 minutes later. The same guy you cant go buy a 6 pack of beer there is no better fire on the from their homes against realistic threats than they are 15 semiautomatic its easy to learn easy. I think there are 2 reasons people find these attractive one and it gives the sense of power a 2nd people are also afraid well if you limit that weapon then you allow limits on other weapons too so there is this purity this sense that we have to have no limits at all which is what the n. R. A. Argues the other right does not defend the a r 15 as the a r 15 they defend the right to own all guns its become a focus in america now because people who want to enforce gun control say that theres really no reason for someone to have an ar 15 theres no good reason and theyre not great for hunting. It what it really is purpose is to kill the maximum amount of things in the smallest amount of time and. The biggest donor to the n. R. A. Is the arms industry itself various Companies Make direct financial contributions confident that their investments will bring their own kind of dividends. Connecticut based group makes no secret of the fact that it diverts 2. 00 to the n. R. A. From every weapon totaling 4000000. 00 over a period of 2 years just one of countless examples that explain why the lobby group boasts an annual budget of a quarter of a 1000000000. 00 money that ultimately translates into a handsome payback for the arms trade. The obvious reason the manufacturers would give to the n. R. A. Is because the n. R. A. Drive sales i mean every time there was a shooting. People would buy more guns because they thought this is the one where theyre going to start taking away our guns and theyre going to start making it harder to buy guns. And sounding that alarm was the n. R. A. The n. R. A. Was driving those sales. And so its no surprise that the gun manufacturers and gun shops would have these arrangements where they give back a portion of the profits to the n. R. A. And in return the n. R. A. Promotes the sale of firearms in the u. S. Which amount to around 3000000. 00 guns every year but thats not all the n. R. A. Exert its influence on lawmakers to ensure that votes on legislation go the right way in 2005 for example Congress Passed a law exempting arms manufacturers from liability should their products be used in a crime for the n. R. A. Its biggest triumph on the legal front in recent history. And the bill is passed last amended. We lobbied congress very heavily we made it a priority we judge people on the basis of their position on that. Ultimately they agreed they supported the. Republicans the democrats will like it was a very important to the Foreign Ministry and it was very important to american gun owners and very important to the survival of the 2nd amendment as Something Real what it has served to end of doing really is for moving guns from the conversation so its now almost impossible to talk about guns and relations in these Mass Shootings and you see that now today sort of the Chain Reaction of events of consequence is that there was a commission stood up to such studies School Safety in the wake of parkland and last week that sort of os who is the secretary of education whos the head of the commission announced that they werent going to look at guns they werent going to talk about guns at all with regards to School Safety. And she cited this act as part of it the say well you cant you cant blame guns say you know we have an act in congress that says guns arent the problem here is or its this whole guns dont kill people people kill people argument that you know its just because of the bad person who had a gun the gun has nothing to do with it and so the n. R. A. Really pushed it again to protect the manufacturers that are. Giving them money that are supporting them. The n. R. A. Shapes the National Agenda and has ensured that firearms have become sacrosanct and an inviolable right. The lobbys young critics want to challenge that. Like 60 percent of americans they want to see new stipulations on the purchase of weapons a Clean Police Record and they want a ban on the sale of assault weapons to those under the age of 21. 00 today those young activists are protesting outside congress in washington. Saying evan thomas and. Jonathan who a big and since the Parkland High School shooting survivors have attended a number of demonstrations to mark new killing spree together with other gun reform activists they want their fellow americans to sense their anger and frustration over the governments inaction. I am tired of politicians who sat down there were 4 before actually sitting down and having this discussion im tired of interim leadership good lord mocking but dont bounce awareness in bashing young people who are changing the world. Marcel mcclinton from texas is part of a gun violence prevention group. Today hes organized a dyin in symbolic memory of the parkland massacre a demonstration that is also an indictment. Those who are dying is just a mass of bodies who visit you believe it or not and you make. Me want to write youre going to want hundreds are the ones going Home Building bridges if were going over the capital they take so much money from the n. R. A. We dont care about the who we care about the money and they speak on behalf of how it all as they get it and i want to have come only while we say that you want to consider also what. Marcel mcclinton has some self experience the horrors of a mass shooting in his hometown of houston in 2016 he recalls how the murderous rampage began one sunday morning. 2 years ago in my church and there was a shooter on on the campus. It was outside of the parking lot and. I mean he killed i think just one person but injured 6 and i want to save shot 2 Police Officers with their 15 the sounds going to your head and. Says you know what at the time i get i didnt get into government activism i didnt think anything of it. Its this gusting as a country as we call ourselves the leading country in the world and yet we kill most of our people and i say we call our people because our politicians are the ones doing nothing about it and so theres blood on their hands and yet they have the nerve the audacity to say that that were the number one country in the world i know i think im proud to be an american i love their lives i want to live anywhere else but its sad that as a country we cant come together as one and say this is a problem lets fix it. Marcel mcclinton and his fellow activists know that bringing about change is immensely difficult his native tongue. This is a stronghold of the gun lobby and it was no coincidence that the n. R. A. Chose dallas to host its annual convention in 28. The organization boasted of 80000. 00 freedom loving patriots attending the event including guest of honor donald trump. The president pledged his unwavering support to make his point about gun ownership he mimicked the budget plan massacre that killed 89 people in paris in 2050 they were brutally killed by a slow group of terrorists. They took their tongue and guns them down one bar going boom come over here boom come over here boom oh but if you want to employ you. Were just wrong they had a gun. Or everyone understood in this room. How did their was going. To record. The to loose the lead. And it would have been a whole different story thank god. In the short run hes a very good president for the n. R. A. Because he does their bidding he does what they want in the long run hes a terrible president for the n. R. A. Because hes a useful adversary to mobilize the other side right with the n. R. A. I really would like would be someone like george w. Bush because george w. Bush is a gun owner a gun user but hes not so offensive to people on the other side dont worry about the n. R. A. There are you guys here for you so fraid of the n. R. A. Theres nothing to be afraid of i think the clearest example of how the. N. R. A. Influences president are going to target ministration is the fact that you have the president sit down with members of congress. At that meeting at the white house that was televised and you had you know the president sit with some of the victims from parkland and from other shootings. And appear. To policy ideas that would specifically help reduce easy access to guns were going to be. Back with youre. Going to get somebody and then that evening he had dinner with wayne la pierre and chris cox from the n. R. A. And weve never heard. About any of these policy ideas ever again. But those ideas have not been forgotten by young gun control advocates who have managed to secure some progress. To set for your Florida High School that was the site of a Mass Shootings are taking a road trip for change florida has now raised the age limit on buying a ar 15 guns from 18 to 21 courts in the state can have weapons taken away from individuals considered potentially dangerous but Tyra Hammonds and other activists are already planning the next steps in their campaign of prevention which also involves calling for action from the nations centers for Disease Control and we have our template policy which is the c. D. C. Saying that they need to understand that this is an epidemic that is happening and its crucial because they still dont believe that this is a problem in our society so they have not made it a priority to let the public know that gun violence is a huge topic that is or what weve been doing a 2nd is the safe storage policy we want parents to know that that if youre going to see and believe the person or the gun owner should know where your gun is because you were the one who walked into the store and purchase it and youre the one who walked out to be so irresponsible and of course universal background checks theres a couple more but like those are these are made with. Police you know survivors of parkland and other School Shootings are now adding their voices about rage to the debate on the countrys gun laws but so far those voices have been falling on deaf or closed ears meaningful reforms still seem unattainable but the n. R. A. Is not lowering its guard because this Younger Generation is determined to see a less violent and safer america. Theyre able to keep up. Their call theyre able to mobilize people they become public figures. When i talk to people who work for america they they often ask me you know why dont you just. Get rid of them i dont know why you make guns illegal i try to remind people that there are so many camps we have so many hundreds of millions of guns in america. Thats beginning to change because the way change happens in American Society if we go into a part of the cycle people see how bad it is and then they revolt the other way this is the beginning of something moving forward well see that change there is plenty that can be done short of banning guns that could happen in the future is just a question of you know are we out of the inflexion are we at a point where it actually is changing. Or is the n. R. A. Core to remain the powerful institution because its americas deadly love of guns is hugely divisive an ongoing battle for power corporate influence and money. Beirut 2 months after the devastating explosion at the port. It affected countless people including many on tuesday. Studios and galleries have been destroying Creative Work in pantomime water mains and i think that the new government. 3000. 00 and. 30 minutes on d w. Confrontation between china and taiwan the superpower is threatening to invade its neighbor. How serious is it how is china justifying its claims. He doesnt use Richard Walker analyzes the car. Causes and dangers of the conflict in taiwan chinas next target. 90 minutes on d w. Define east and gensler coronavirus pandemic. We just signed stand. What new findings have researchers need. Information and background into. The corona. Code 19 special. Monday to friday on g. W. This is deja vu news live from berlin an appeal to europe and see germany belarus is Opposition Leader see a lot to get off scott comes to berlin to ask for help in forcing new elections shes asked the german shells for it to play the role of mediator also coming up. With kroll a virus infections on the rise in berlin officials announced new curfews and new restrictions on public gatherings our blunders reactive. And legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen dies after a long battle with cancer