时代周刊 帕克兰枪击案后共和党为何开始兜售枪支管控政策(1)

(Now to the view on politics) Why is the GOP touting¹ new gun restrictions² after Parkland?

（下面是政治方面的观点）帕克兰枪击案后美国共和党为何兜售枪支管控新政策？

Follow the money

追逐金钱

By Philip Elliott and W.J.Hennigan

文：菲利普·艾略特，W.J. 亨尼根

It looked like a watershed³ moment.

帕克兰枪击案仿佛成了历史的一个转折点。

In The wake of the massacre⁴ at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,

在玛乔丽·斯通曼·道格拉斯高中大屠杀案发生之后，

President Trump⁵ faced the nation's governors in the grand State Dining Room of the White House on Feb.26.

总统特朗普于2月26日在白宫宏伟的国宴餐厅接见了各州的州长。

Trump, the beneficiary of record-breaking campaign funding from the National Rifle Association in 2016,

特朗普是创下了历史记录的2016年全国步枪协会竞选资金的受益者，

told the governors it was time for them to pick a fight with the gun-rights lobby.

他告诉各位州长，是时候与枪支权利游说团体理论理论了。

"Half of you are so afraid of the NRA," Trump chided. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

“你们有一半的人都怕步枪协会的人怕得要死，”特朗普责备道。 “他们没什么可怕的。”

The President is hardly the only Republican to change his tune⁶ on guns in the wake of the Feb.14 killing⁷ of 17 people in Parkland, Fla.

总统并非2月14日佛罗里达州帕克兰市17人不幸遇害后唯一改变枪支态度的共和党人。

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the chamber's second-ranking Republican, is continuing his work with Democrats⁸ to strengthen background-check rules.

德克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁，参议院共和党的第二把交椅，正在继续与民主党人交涉，加紧背景调查政策。

GOP Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, an NRA favorite, told the audience at a town hall

佛罗里达州共和党参议员马尔科·卢比奥，枪支协会的红人，在市政厅对大家说，

that he would back efforts to raise the age limits for purchasing some weapons to 21 from 18.

他将支持把购买武器的年龄限制从18岁提高到21岁的提议。

Trump has proposed to arm educators,

特朗普还对武器教育工作者提出了建议，

while other Republicans are working on plans that would restrict high-capacity magazines like the ones the Parkland shooter is suspected to have used.

其他共和党人则正致力于制定计划限制疑似帕克兰枪击案杀手使用的那种大容量弹匣的生产。

Could the tragedy in Parkland have finally changed the minds of the Republicans who resisted gun limits after similar horrors in Newtown, Conn., and San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando?

帕克兰的悲剧最终能让那些在康涅狄格州新镇，加利福尼亚州圣贝纳迪诺以及奥兰多发生类似恐怖事件之后依然拒绝对枪支进行管制的共和党人改变主意吗？

To hear some observers tell it, the catalysts⁹ were the poised¹⁰ and passionate¹¹ young survivors¹².

听一些观察人士说，这一变化的催化剂是那些泰然自若但充满激情的年轻幸存者们。

Pundits¹³ saw the shift as a matter of self-preservation;

专家们认为这种转变是自我保护的问题；

polls show that vast majorities of Americans are out of patience with the status quo.

民意调查则显示，绝大多数美国人对现状都已经失去了耐心。

Additional pressure has come from consumers threatening to withhold¹⁴ business from companies like Delta¹⁵ or Hertz that offer discounts to NRA members.

另外一些压力来自威胁要停止跟Delta，Hertz等为枪支协会成员提供折扣优惠的公司的合作的消费者。

There may be another explanation for the Republicans' talk of modest new gun restrictions: money.

共和党人提出温和的枪支管制政策可能还有一个原因：钱。

Gun manufacturers are in the midst of the worst business crisis in decades, with double-digit sales drops driving some to the brink¹⁶ of bankruptcy¹⁷.

枪支制造商如今已经身陷数十年来最严重的商业危机之中，销售额下降了两位数，一些人已经濒临破产边缘。

The NRA, which gets its funding not only from individual members but also major gunmakers, is in a position to help.

资金不仅来自于个体会员，还有一部分来自于主要的枪支制造商的全国步枪协会资金，自然应该伸出援手。

Nothing gooses gun sales like the threat of new gun-control measures.

没有什么比推出新的枪支管制政策这一可能性更能促进枪支的销售了。

And behind the scenes, two senior GOP officials tell TIME,

幕后，两名共和党高级官员向本刊透露，

the NRA has given lawmakers the green light to float new gun limits without the threat of retribution.

全国步枪协会给议员们开了绿灯，允许他们的枪支管控政策有一定的浮动而不报复。

The logic¹⁸: introducing those policies—or even better, debating them—will be good for business.

他们的逻辑是：引入那些政策 - 甚至是就那些政策进行辩论 - 能给他们的生意带来好处。

Jennifer Baker¹⁹, a NRA spokeswoman, denied that her organization made such overtures²⁰ to Congress and said the NRA's main concern was not gun sales but rather defending gun rights.

枪支协会的女发言人詹妮弗·贝克否认她的协会向国会提出过这样的建议，还说全国步枪协会最关心的并不是枪支的销量，而是捍卫人们持有枪支的权利。

1 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

4 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 catalysts   

n.催化剂( catalyst的名词复数 )；触媒；促进因素；有感染力的人

参考例句：

• The first catalytic converters were called conventional oxidation catalysts. 最初的转化器叫做常规氧化催化器。 来自辞典例句
• Many processes that are essential to the chemical industry use heterogeneous catalysts. 很多重要的化学工业过程就是使用多相催化剂的。 来自辞典例句

10 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

14 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

15 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

16 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

17 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

18 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

19 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

20 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句