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This poll needs help

...Oh, there was a lot of sound-bite mugging for the cameras. But in terms of law and order, this is a non-event. The gun ban was always a cosmetic exercise, a symbolic attempt by Democrats in the early Clinton years to scare suburban voters and show they could defeat the National Rifle Association. So they managed to outlaw a handful of semi-automatic weapons, though with a simple modification or two those same weapons could be made legal again. Criminals have hardly been at a loss for firepower. "We agree that the 1994 law is ineffective," Kristen Rand, a leading gun-controller,...

"...Is it right to let the assault weapons ban expire?.." www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) on Monday accused President Bush (news - web sites) of ducking his responsibility to protect the country from crime and terrorism by allowing a national assault weapons ban to expire. Kerry outlined his own $5 billion plan to fight crime and picked up the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, a coalition of more than 2,000 police unions and associations. "Today George Bush (news - web sites) made the job of terrorists easier and made the job of America's law enforcement officers harder and that's just plain wrong,"...

U.S. Department of JusticeBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives    Washington, DC 20226 CHANGES IN FEDERAL LAW AS OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 RELATING TO SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS (SAWs)ANDLARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES (LCAFDs) GENERALAs of September 13, 2004, the provisions of Public Law 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, covering semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices are no longer in effect. The regulations implementing these provisions also are no longer in effect.Specifically, there is no longer a Federal prohibition on the manufacture, transfer, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and...

Expiration of the Assault Weapon Ban. The 1994 federal assault weapon ban is scheduled to expire Monday, September 13. Is this a good thing or bad thing? --Good thing. It was a phony political ban based on cosmetic features of weapons that had nothing to do with crime prevention. --Bad thing. Gun control measures like this are reasonable and necessary to make our streets safer. --No impact. Did nothing to reduce crime but, at the same time, was not an unreasonable curtailment of individuals' 2A rights

You know, reading all the back-and-forth about whether Kerry's new shotgun would have been banned under legislation he sponsored, it occurs to me to point out the obvious: We're debating what constitutes a pistol grip, while we all concur that a collapsable shoulder stock would mean the shotgun is definitely on the no-no list; but shoulder-stocks and pistol grips aren't strictly speaking the deadly part of firearms. Am I wrong? A semiauto shotgun is a semiauto shotgun, and if I'm looking to kill somebody with a semiauto shotgun, I'm probably not going to beat him to death with the checkered...

Assault weapon ban set to expire As Feinstein frets over the 10-year-old law's demise, at least one gun maker is gearing up. By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 12, 2004 WASHINGTON - Given how fickle politicians seem to be about assault weapons, Illinois-based Armalite Inc. is taking no chances. After the ban on manufacturing and sale of the military-style guns expires at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Armalite's 75 workers will shift assembly lines to begin assembling and shipping assault weapons as fast as they can. The company fears that the reopened market for the...

Nightline Daily E-Mail September 8, 2004 TONIGHT'S FOCUS: For 10 years, it has been illegal in this country to manufacture or distribute some of the most deadly semi-automatic guns in the world. The majority of the public supports this ban and at least by some measures, gun violence has abated. So why are most of the Congress, the President, and the Democratic contender for the White House all looking the other way while this law is set to expire next week, returning these assault weapons to the streets? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1994, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed the assault weapons...

Nicholas Kristof on the assault weapons ban and nuclear terrorism.NICHOLAS KRISTOF can't make up his mind about who's more dangerous: al Qaeda or gun-toting Americans. Kristof recently wrote two columns on the dangers of nuclear proliferation, his conclusion being that we are now more vulnerable to nuclear attack than ever before. In his August 11 column, Kristof speculated that, if a 10-kiloton nuclear device exploded in Times Square, "it would vaporize or destroy the theater district, Madison Square Garden . . . the United Nations," and so on. He concluded that the casualty figure would be approximately 500,000 dead, and...

The weapon authorities say Anderson used to kill Indianapolis police officer Jake Laird is an SKS assault rifle. The SKS is not included in the federal assault weapons law. People with the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms call this weapon an extremely high-powered assault rifle.Because there is no waiting period in Indiana, adults can purchase this rifle in a matter of minutes. Don Davis of Don's Guns showed News 8 the form people fill out to buy one of these weapons. It asks whether the buyer is a criminal, if he or she takes marijuana or is mentally...

Go to the website, to read an article titled "A powerful gun Demand drives sale of assault-style weapons" by Mary Beth Schneider. It is in a newspaper that has some sort of copyright restrictions, so I wasn't able to post it. In it, you'll read the idiotic, anti-gun quotes/rants of Don Davis, owner of Don's Guns in Indianapolis. The anti-gunners are trotting out this guy just like the dems use John Mccain - to say, SEE... even Don-the-gun-store owner says these guns are bad! This is obviously a last ditch effort to see their precious Clinton Semi-Ban stay around for...

Fox news just ran a segment stating, "With congress going on recess, the assault weapons ban is set to expire. What can, if anything be done to renew this law, and will it have any effect?" The sad thing is, they showed an Iraqi weapons turn in point showing Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) with mortars in the background and a large 12.7mm(.50 cal) DsHK tripod mounted machine gun with several PK, RPKs, and other belt fed weapons.

WASHINGTON, July 23 - During his campaign for the presidency in 2000, George W. Bush took a dramatic step: a vow to support the ban on assault weapons, enacted in 1994 for a 10-year period. "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society," Mr. Bush declared. Since then, the president's advisers have repeatedly affirmed his support for the ban, a position that has helped him appeal to moderate voters and demonstrate independence from the powerful gun lobby. But in the middle of a presidential election year, and with only five working days left in Congress before...

Former Presidents Ford, Carter, Clinton Urge President Bush to Save the Assault Weapons Ban 7/6/2004 9:20:00 AM To: National Desk Contact: Peter Hamm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence United With the Million Mom March, 202-898-0792 WASHINGTON, July 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former Presidents Ford, Carter and Clinton are urging President Bush to save the landmark 1994 federal Assault Weapons Act, which is set to expire Sept. 13 unless the President and Congress act. Saying "at a time when terrorism continues to be a serious threat, it is even more imperative that we renew the Assault Weapons Act...

Richard Ziser for NV Senate! He supports an unabridged constitution and bill of rights, including the 2nd amendment and NFA! Some of my gun shop customers and myself celebrated the 4th with an informal shoot at our local range. NFA guns present were a CAR-16, BM-59, 2 STEN's, SW-76, MAC 10, AK-47, 2 FNC's, M2 Carbine, 2 suppressed Ruger Mk. II's, and a suppressed HK USP Tactical .45 After a long day of several campaign stops Richard Ziser spent the evening shooting with us, and discussing NFA, our RKBA in general, troop equipment, and whatever else came up with our...

Today I received an email response from Senator John Edwards (D-NC) in respect to an email I sent expressing my concern about the assault weapons ban renewal and urging him to fight the renewal. His response is typical of the liberal/moderate crowd who cleaim the Second Amendment only pertains to hunting and sports shooting. This email helped me realize how easily this dangerous idea of the Second Amendment is packaged to the generally gullible American public in nice, comforting words. So for your informational purposes, I submit this email in hopes that those of us who cherish the Bill of...

The cost of being arrested with a gun in San Francisco is about to go up -- big time. Starting Thursday, Superior Court judges -- with a nudge from the district attorney's office -- will be doubling, tripling and even quadrupling bail for people arrested for weapons-related felonies. The bail for assault with a firearm, for instance, will jump from $35,000 to $75,000 -- far surpassing the $50,000 bail for the same crime in Marin, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties. Get arrested for possessing or selling a machine gun in San Francisco and bail will rocket from $25,000 to...

If the 10-year-old federal assault weapons ban is allowed to expire Sept. 13, "it will put the weapons of the war and the weapons of choice ... in the hands of literally 15- and 16-year-olds'' in San Francisco and across the nation, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. . . .Feinstein worries that the country will be flooded with assault weapons if the ban expires. In April, Italian customs agents seized an illegal shipment of more than 7,500 assault weapons from Romania to a Georgia gun dealer. "They were waiting for the ban to expire,'' Feinstein said. "And that's what's going...

You've got to love all these misguided pit bull protectionists, including the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, citing the same tired line that the witless gun lobby has used all these years: It's not the dog, but the owner. No, it's the dog, thank you. It's the pit bull who clamps his steel-trap jaw down on the throat of a neighbor's hound. It's the pit bull who tears into a toddler's leg, or into a passerby's arm. Afterward, inevitably and invariably, it's the pit bull's owner who acquires a look of shock to accompany the excuse,...