The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Two

Gun control was a hot topic in 1993 and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases, with a five day waiting period for gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, who had been seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association (also known as, the "NRA") strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control. The bill passed both houses of Congress in slightly different forms, which meant the measure had to go to a conference committee of members from both the Senate and the House, which then agreed to changes to make the bill uniform. That measure was then passed by both houses, and then signed into law by President Clinton in late November 1993.

The vote by senators (two from each state) from former Confederate states went this way: Alabama, 2 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats for; Florida, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats against; Mississippi, 2 Republicans against; North Carolina, 2 Republicans against; South Carolina, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat against; Tennessee, 2 Democrats for; Texas, 1 Republican for, 1 Republican against; Virginia, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for. The votes by representatives in former Confederate states in the House of Representatives: Alabama, 3 Republicans against, 4 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against; Florida, 8 Democrats for, 8 Republican for, 2 Democrats against, 5 Republicans against; Georgia, 4 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against, 4 Republicans against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 2 Republicans against, (1 Republican and 1 Democrat did not vote); Mississippi, 1 Democrat for, 3 Democrats against, (1 Democrat did not vote); North Carolina, 8 Democrats for, 1 Republican for, 3 Republicans against; South Carolina, 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee, 4 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 3 Republicans against, (1 Democrat did not vote); Texas, 8 Democrats for, 13 Democrats against, 9 Republicans against; Virginia, 3 Democrats for, 2 Republicans for, 4 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against.  

WORD HISTORY:
Gun-This word is a shortening of "Lady Gunilda" (also "Gunhilda"), a term applied in England for some weapons that flung rocks or fired arrows, beginning in the 1300s. It was also applied to the developing weaponry that used gun powder to propel projectiles. The use of female names for weapons is not uncommon, including "Big Bertha" and "Brown Bess." The "gun" part was from Old Norse "gunnr," which meant, "war, battle, strife." This went back to Indo European "gwhen," which meant "to hit, to beat, to wound, to kill (presumably by beating/hitting)." This then gave Old Germanic "gund," meaning, "battle, strife, war," but which "apparently" only survived in the North Germanic branch of Germanic, although it later spread elsewhere in name forms by way of contact with other languages, both Germanic and non-Germanic. ^ Whatever the case, the shortened form was often rendered as "gunne/gonne," before settling upon "gun."

^ German has the name "Gunther/Günther," which has the same first part, but did they get it from Old Norse (North Germanic)? English; that is, Anglo-Saxon, the ancestral homeland of which lies in northern Germany and the northwestern Netherlands, does not seem to have had the word, or a form of the name way back, although it was acquired later.