Assault Weapons Ban Vote this morning***LIVE Thread

[Bogey78O]

Sounds like he burned you.

[Bogey78O]

Let's not do Moby's work for him. Let's support those who won't screw us instead.

[palmer]

How so?

[RockChucker]

"Attitude of the american people with regards to the 2nd Amendment.

We are be because they introduced the aw ban. He has decided to add to attempt to add this to the bill.

We are in a political season and we are arguing 2nd amend. issues.

the 2nd amendment is clear. We are here to represent the regular people.

looking at zogby polls, what do they say about the US on guns.

zogby polled the difference between the GWB red states and the Gore blue states.

of 1200 votes, do you agree or dis that American gun manuf. who sell a non-defective product....

A: there are enough laws 69% red states, 63% blue states,

A stong majority made it clear, loudly.

etc, etc"

[Atlas Sneezed]

...industry insiders are saying that the AWB is gonna die, and the formerly high prices of pre-ban hardware will drop to be on par with the post-ban stuff...

---

I see it differently. The MARKET priced for pre-bans has NOT dipped, when you look at the special Intenet boards where the true market is defined. With many exceptions, gun shops have long been offereing every excuse they can find to pay low prices for guns.

Look at what the shops are selling them for.

Any optimist on the ban's sunset should sell his pre-bans at what he must consider an inflated market price. But few are selling.

Also, note that this issue does not primarily pertain to imported rifles (like original FALs, HKs, AUGs, etc., because even if the ban were to sunset, the import ban imposed by Bush 41 by executive order would remain in place. The main effect will be on US made guns like AR-15s, and others with US receivers built with imported parts kits.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Yeah, a bunch of foreigners must have dropped in over the weekend since they capped five here.

[RockChucker]

So, if the AWB goes away, will I be able to put a calapsable stock on my mini-14?

Will I be able to get a bayonet lug and flash suppressor for my Mini?

[Txslady]

Thanks for the link! - It is so much better! I’m at work and do not really want to be listing to a bad audio stream. :)

[OXENinFLA]

ASSAULT WEAPON CONTROL ACT OF 1989 (Senate - April 04, 1989)


[Page: S3277]

[Begin insert]
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, our Nation is supposedly in the midst of a war on drugs, but from the looks of things it appears that the war is somewhat one-sided. In our Nation's streets, drug pushers and gang members used deadly battleground weapons to murder anyone who gets in their way--and that includes police and narcotics agents. Simply stated our law enforcement officers are being outmaneuvered and outgunned.
The days when criminals used the `Saturday Night Special' or the Colt revolver are long gone. Today, semiautomatic weaponry is the criminals' choice: the AK-47, the Uzi, and the Street Sweeper have shifted the balance of power away from law enforcement agents in favor of the criminal. As our Nation grapples with the problems of drug abuse, we must ask ourselves, `How can we expect to win the war if we continue to permit the arming of the enemy?'

In the United States, it is very simple to obtain an assault weapon . One need only enter one of the many sporting goods stores in this country selling semiautomatic weapons, fill out a Federal firearms form and pay the going price--anywhere from $250 to $400--to obtain an AK-47, an Uzi, a Street Sweeper or any of the many other versions of these deadly weapons. No background check or official clearance is required. That is exactly what Patrick Edward Purdy did last year in Oregon when he bought his AK-47, which he later used in January to kill 5 children and wound 29 others in the brutal Stockton, CA, schoolyard massacre.

Recognizing the dangers associated with the proliferation of deadly assault weapons and their lack of utility within our society, the Bush administration has imposed a temporary ban on the importation of semiautomatic weapons. At least for the time being, this makes it more difficult to obtain foreign manufactured semiautomatic assault weapons. Even the NRA has withheld major criticism of this action. Semiautomatic assault weapons are known to have no hunting or sporting utility. In fact, according to a recent CBS News poll, 73 percent of Americans say they want to see the ownership, sale, and manufacture of assault weapons banned nationwide. In a recent Boston Globe poll, 78 percent of those responding believed that the action taken by the Bush administration to ban imports of semiautomatic weapons was about right or did not go far enough. In short, the American people want to see these weapons of destruction banned.

Today, it is estimated that about 500,000 military-type semiautomatics are in existence in the United States. Since the first of January, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has received requests to import from abroad nearly 14,000 such weapons. In 1988, 44,000 weapons were imported, up from only 4,000 in 1986. Such a steep increase in the importation of semiautomatics has had catastrophic effects on American society.

The presence of semiautomatic assault weapons in the United States has turned our city neighborhoods into war zones. In the District of Columbia this year alone, over 115 people have been murdered. Just the other day a police officer was murdered during a raid on a crack house in Alexandria, VA, just outside of Washington. Many of these murders within the District and about the country are drug related and many are committed by criminals carrying semiautomatic weapons. Officials in Los Angeles County have imposed a ban on semiautomatics by making it a misdemeanor to sell or own such a weapon there. Law enforcement officials across America realize that now is the time to restrict access to semiautomatic assault weapons. Even the manufacturers are having second thoughts about the utility of semiautomatic asault weapons in American society. Because of recent concerns over the misuse of semiautomatic weaponry, Colt Industries, has decided to discontinue the sale and manufacture of the AR-15's it produces.

To provide treatment for the increasing numbers of people victimized by military assault weapons, city hospitals have had to adopt wartime medical techniques used in Vietnam. Whoever said that `Guns don't kill people', wasn't familiar with the AK-47, the Uzi, or the Street Sweeper. Because the wounds inflicted by these weapons are so much more severe than those inflicted by other types of guns, assault weapon victims require special medical techniques developed in the field hospitals of Southeast Asia. The cost of treating such patients, many of whom are indigent and many of whom die, place great strains on our national health care resources. The annual cost of treating gunshot wounds nationwide is estimated at $1 billion, with 85 percent of it derived from taxpayers funds.

I support the Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 introduced by Mr. Metzenbaum. This bill makes it unlawful for any person to possess or engage in any transaction involving semiautomatic assault weapons or the appropriate ammunition for such weapons. Any person legally owning such a weapon would be required to register it with the proper authorities. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General, would designate which guns, in addition to those specified by the Act, are to be embraced by the act. Strict sentencing would be imposed for any person who uses or carries an assault weapon while committing a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime. Finally, the Act specifically defines what is to be considered an assault weapon , limiting the scope of the Act to the most heinous of weapons legally in circulation at this time.

The Assault Weapon Control Act of 1989 is necessary to halt the spreading use of dangerous assault weapons in America. While the recent action taken by the Bush administration to temporarily halt imports of semiautomatic weapons is a necessary first step, further action must be taken to better monitor those who can be eligible to buy assault weapons, further restrictions must be placed on the manufacturing of semiautomatics, and stricter sentencing must be imposed upon those who commit crimes with semiautomatic assault weapons. President Bush has even stated that `We are in different times now, and I am convinced that reasonable men and women can work together to find a answer to the problem of these automatic weapons.'

Drugs and crime go hand in hand. A comprehensive strategy is needed to resolve both the drug problem and the crime problem in this country. We need to increase our interdiction of drugs. We need to treat addicts and to educate America's youth of the hazards of drug abuse. And we need to increase our law enforcement capabilities. Our Nation can only tackle the problem of drug abuse more effectively by restoring the balance of force in favor of law enforcement.

If we are to win the war on drugs it is important that we take measures to ensure that we do not allow the criminal to be better armed than our law enforcement agents. If we are to take seriously our commitment to ending the violence plaguing our city streets, we must eliminate the weapons relied upon by felons. I urge my colleagues to take the important step to curb drug related violence by joining in support of the Assault Weapon Control Act of 1989.

[CheezyD]

Reed (D-RI) just said 80% of gun owners are for closing the gun show "loophole". Yeah, riiiggghhhtt.

[Dead Corpse]

80% of gun owners in Berkely, CA and Ithica, NY are for closing the non-existant gun show loophole.

[Tree of Liberty]

Depends on the state, but if you're outside California or New England, that should be a "yes".

[Atlas Sneezed]

So, if the AWB goes away, will I be able to put a collapsable stock on my mini-14? Will I be able to get a bayonet lug and flash suppressor for my Mini?

---

Yes indeedly-doodly! [/flanders]

Of course, now that you have mentioned it in a forum that is archived by the feds, you can bet that they have updated their database to reflect your ownership, sop that they know where to come when the REAL ban is enacted. ;-?

[IGOTMINE]

The Brady Campaign was screaming this morning.

http://geekwitha45.blogspot.com/

[stevio]

I am SO looking forward to voting for Toomey

Me too Brother, me too.

[Dead Corpse]

Let 'em scream. In fact, let's hope they get a thousand paper cuts before falling into a vat of lemon juice.

[Clean_Sweep]

"I am SO looking forward to voting for Toomey
Me too Brother, me too."

Me too, me too!!!!

[OXENinFLA]

Hatch up.

[No.6]

The blog is doing a better job on the play-by-play than this live thread. C'mon posters, some of us are not watching streaming video or TV.

[Jack Black]

Are those real, or suspected votes?