Posted on 11/25/2003 2:11:18 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Support Mounting for Stronger Assault-Weapons Ban
11/20/2003
Feature Story
by Dick Dahl
On Nov. 6, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry attacked rival Howard Dean on the Vermont governor's questionable history on gun control. Specifically, Kerry claimed that Dean's current position in support of continuing the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban stands at odds with positions he'd taken in opposition to the ban (as well as the Brady Law waiting period for gun purchasers) while he was a governor receiving top marks from the National Rifle Association.
Suddenly, the silence surrounding the issue of gun control in the Democratic presidential primary had ended -- and the ongoing effort to ban assault weapons enjoyed a jolt of attention, which backers of the ban think can only be a good thing. "I think that what these candidates are doing is elevating the issue," said Joe Sudbay, public policy director for the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., "and that's exactly what we need."
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban is scheduled to sunset next September. Without new legislation to extend that law -- or replace it with the stronger law that many people believe is needed -- gun makers will once again be free to sell a fearsome array of semi-automatic weaponry whose only purpose is to terrorize. Not that such guns aren't being sold now, as the Bushmaster XM15 that was used to strike fear in metropolitan Washington, D.C. last fall makes evident. The Bushmaster XM15 is a legal gun that was adopted in cosmetic ways to get around the law.
To critics of the ban, the Bushmaster provides a perfect example of why the law needs to be strengthened through enactment of the "Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003." That law, sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and John Conyers (D-MI) would simply tighten up the definition of "assault weapon" and eliminate the many loopholes that weaken the current law.
A competing bill, sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), would continue the flawed law on the apparent premise that a weak law is better than no law. But plenty of organizations have stepped forward to say that they'd rather work for a stronger law.
Bryan Miller, director of CeaseFire PA, a Philadelphia coalition of organizations that are concerned about gun violence, recently attended a national meeting sponsored by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence United With the Million Mom March and co-hosted by States United to Protect Gun Violence, and he came away struck by a sense of unity on the issue. "The state groups are unanimously, strongly supporting the Lautenberg and McCarthy-Conyers bills," he said. "We're all united behind the strong legislation because we're not satisfied with the way the current law has failed to do what it was intended to do."
In the wake of the 1994 law, many manufacturers turned to their stock of now banned weapons, made minor changes to satisfy the law, and then openly marketed these guns as "post-ban" firearms. The current law prohibits the manufacture of semiautomatic firearms with detachable magazines if they contain any two of five defined assault-weapon characteristics: a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a bayonet lug, a flash suppressor, or a grenade launcher.
In the case of the Bushmaster XM15, the gun qualified as a legal, detachable-magazine firearm because it includes only one feature from the list, a pistol grip. And even though the stock looks like it telescopes, it is rigid, suggesting that the manufacturer sought the look of an illegal assault weapon.
To Miller, this kind of cynical behavior by the gun industry is especially painful because his younger brother, an FBI agent, was killed in 1994 by a man using a gun called a Cobray MAC-10 that would be banned. "The company stopped making it when the ban came into place," Miller said. "They changed it cosmetically, brought it out again as the MAC 11, and they advertised it as, `The MAC is back.'"
In seeking to run out the clock and revert to the days when a gun maker could make an assault weapon without any governmental interference, the gun lobby has an interest in keeping the issue as quiet as possible. But at a time when politicians like to talk about their support of "gun rights," support of "assault weapons" is something they wouldn't so easily embrace. This is why Sudbay and others believe that "elevating the issue" makes the prospect of a sunset less likely, the prospect of a toughened ban greater.
Lending support to the idea that the ban should be strengthened was a recent poll by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which found that people favored the stronger ban more than continuation of the existing ban. The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International in early September, found that 62 percent of the more than 1,000 Americans surveyed said that they favored renewing the ban, including 47 percent who said they "strongly" favor renewal. The survey also found that 63 percent favored strengthening the ban by preventing the gun industry from manufacturing commercial models of military-style assault weapons.
Susan Peschin, CFA's Firearms Project director and author of a report based on the survey, said that one of the most surprising outcomes to her was the strong support for the ban from gun owners. "We found not only that a majority of gun owners support renewing the ban, but support measures to strengthen the ban," she said. "Also, we were pleasantly surprised to see that almost three-quarters of those who were polled supported President Bush encouraging Congress to renew the ban."
Bush has stated that he supports continuation of the ban, but he's said little else about it. His position, though apparently not steadfast, has thus raised questions of the degree to which his position may be straining his support from the National Rifle Association. Peschin, for one, believes that what's going on with Bush and the NRA on assault weapons is "a political maneuver." "I think there's an unstated agreement between the two that the NRA will fight hard to make sure that Congress never brings this up for a vote so that Bush never has to deal with signing it. So he gets the political capital from shrugging his shoulders and saying, `Well, I said I'd support it. Too bad it didn't come to my desk.'"
Gun-violence-prevention activists, meanwhile, are optimistic that they'll soon see the day when a bill -- preferably a strong bill -- makes it to the President's desk.
"Many of us actually feel very good about the direction things are going on assault weapons," said Miller. "We're acquiring more sponsors in both houses." (On Nov. 17, the McCarthy-Conyers bill in the House had 106 co-sponsors and the Lautenberg bill in the Senate had six.) "The interest, or buzz, in Washington is around the McCarthy-Conyers and Lautenberg bills; not the other bill. We're very happy that more and more grassroots activists are getting involved in this. So we actually feel like we're acquiring some very positive momentum. We know it's a very hard road, but there's really a lot of enthusiasm out there."
Sudbay sees the same thing happening. "I think there's much more grassroots activity at the state level on this than anything I've seen in years."
They probably also think that the majority of car owners want to ban fast cars, and librarians want to ban big books.
When exactly are we allowed to hogtie, tar and feather these lying maroons?
I seriously think of the nitwit democraps in the same way my buddy used to vent about training Irish Setters, a breed he maintianed has had all the "brains" bred out of them in favor of being pretty. He used to say to train an Irish Setter, "first ya gotta hit it over the head with a 2x4 so hard the wood fractures....THEN...once you have it's attention....you might be able to teach it something...." THAT'S how I think of Dems and the gun issue....except they never learn. But we keep breaking 2x4's over their heads and manage to catch their attention for awhile.
...gun makers will once again be free to sell a fearsome array of semi-automatic weaponry whose only purpose is to terrorize.
Does this mean I've been abusing the weapon? I've not terroized anyone with it.
Not that such guns aren't being sold now, as the Bushmaster XM15 that was used to strike fear in metropolitan Washington, D.C. last fall makes evident. The Bushmaster XM15 is a legal gun that was adopted in cosmetic ways to get around the law.
You're mistaken. The Bushmaster XM15 is NOT an assault weapon. It is a LEGAL gun. You say so, yourself. (I wouldn't mind adopting one. Or did he mean adapt?)
In the wake of the 1994 law, many manufacturers turned to their stock of now banned weapons, made minor changes to satisfy the law, and then openly marketed these guns as "post-ban" firearms.
Guns made BEFORE the ban didn't require "cosmetic" changes.
We call this condition cognitive dissosance.
It may never get out of committee, BUT it will be offered as a floor amendment to some "must pass" bill. The original AW ban was not a stand alone bill, although there was one with identical or nearly identical provisions, but rather was "folded in" to an "Omnibus Crime Bill". This time it might be an "omnibus terror bill" or some appropriations/authorization bill. Those latter will be coming due about the right time to "piggy back" a renewal on.
It's not supposed to make a difference at the ballot box, except for those who support it voting against those who don't. It's supposed to matter in the courts, and come to that, in the second revolution. That was it's purpose after all; to ensure that there could be second revolution so that there wouldn't be one.
Liar.
I'd like to see the question, actually, but this result frankly wouldn't surprise me. I've found a very large percentage of gun owners to be woefully misinformed about the AWB. Many of them seem to think it bans machine guns. Others simply don't give a fig because they don't own or shoot "that kind of gun". Still other gun owners I've found to be surprisingly pro-gun control, so long as whatever they have remains untouched (somehow they deem themselves trustworthy, but not you or me). Yet others are simply totally apathetic and have no clue about anything going on legislatively -- some of them routinely violate laws they know nothing about and get annoyed with you if you point it out. One even told me point blank that he "didn't care about any [gun control legislation] because I already have everything I want anyway."
I guess my point is that although there are a lot of gun owners out there, far from the majority are as informed or concerned about their 2nd Amendment freedoms as people on this board are.
Look at the lengths they'll go to not say 'anti-freedom advocates'.
I reiterate, the last straw will be if he pushes this AWB. This stupid prescription drug thing doesn't have a lot of push from the seniors, and it is now the biggest entitlement in decades. I don't understand.
This is exactly the scenario that will occur.
So far, I am underwhelmed at the spine shown by the GOP to resist such maneuvers, and I certainly can see it being used as an excuse by the President for signing it when "it reaches his desk".
This is why the Karl Roves, et al. must understand up front how many conservatives will abandon the GOP in 2004 if this comes to pass.
Rooftops ping!
I adopted a gun this past weekend at the local gun show.
There it was, sad and lonely, sitting amidst its breathren on a pawn broker's table. Someone had decided they needed the cash more than a .45ACP, S&W 625 revolver with moon clips. I saw the true charm of this husky wheel gun. I checked him out and saw that while he was not abused, he had not been out of the house much.
After some paperwork and the exchange of $300, my new buddy and I headed to the range and after a patch or two had been run down the barrel, we ran through a box 50 FMJ rounds.
Since then my new adopted pal has been to a gunsmith who gave it a clean bill of health. It still needs a good leather coat and maybe a new fiber front sight, but it can rest easy knowing that will all be taken care of in time.
This adoption is not 'cosmetic', it's forever!
He said he would sign a renewal of the current version. If it gets changed he could give it a pass.
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