Posted on 05/09/2004 3:50:55 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Gun control supporters hold rally in D.C.
By KATA KERTESZ
The Associated Press
5/9/2004, 6:29 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nick Wilcox wore a button with a picture of his late daughter and spoke of the satisfaction of joining other gun-control advocates Sunday at a rally to urge renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons.
"It's always gratifying to be with kindred spirits, and that's what this is," said Wilcox, whose 19-year-old daughter, Laura, was one of two workers at a mental health department office in California shot to death in 2001 by a patient.
The assailant used a 9mm semiautomatic handgun with an illegal 30-round clip, Wilcox said. "I don't believe assault weapons belong on our streets. If people want to play with such tools, they should join the military," said Wilcox, who came from Nevada County, Calif., with his wife, Amanda, for the second "Million Mom March."
The demonstration, attended by about 2,000 people, was much smaller than the original one, which took place on Mother's Day four years ago.
Speakers at the "Halt the Assault" rally reminded the crowd to "Remember November!" as they spoke mainly of a need to renew a ban on assault rifles that is to expire Sept. 13.
"We are working very hard in Iraq to get AK-47s off the street, to get Uzis off the streets. The president says we're fighting the war on terror by doing that," said Rep. Chris van Hollen, D-Md. "What about the terror right here on our streets at home."
He also decried a provision in the law that critics contend allows owners of legal firearms to replace the housing for the firing mechanism and turn them into illegal assault weapons. He tied the loophole to October 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 people in van Hollen's Maryland district, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
"We need to close that loophole, because real bullets that killed real people went through those loopholes," van Hollen said.
Another Democratic representative, Carolyn McCarthy of New York's Long Island, urged people to volunteer to spread the word about the expiring assault weapons ban. McCarthy's husband was among six people killed and her son was one of 19 wounded in a 1993 shooting spree aboard a Long Island Rail Road commuter train.
"We don't want to come back here on Mother's Day again. We want to be with our families and loved ones," McCarthy said. "Let's do it. Let's make it permanent."
And even Massachusetts is having problem getting the ban through their legislature, since the bills sponsor wrote a newspaper editorial where he contradicted himself.
If the ban is renewed at the federal level, the only way it will occur is if there is a total sellout by the GOP at every level.
My, my. Not what I'd call traction in an election year.
That was near Lansing, Michigan too which has a lot less people than DC. There were two other rallies the same day in the state as well.
So even if MMM math was right for once, I'm not impressed.
So I guess McCarthy really wants to outlaw all guns - but we already know that. (I won't even touch the hate crime part.)
Also, Chris van Hollen, D-Md. "also decried a provision in the law that critics contend allows owners of legal firearms to replace the housing for the firing mechanism and turn them into illegal assault weapons. "
Well THAT is just B.S. and an outright lie - or this dem is an idiot. You alter your semi-auto to fire in full auto and get caught, it's off to the slammer - for a looooooong time.
What new "loophole" is this? And how is it related to the sniper attacks?
The only thing that I can think of that would be worth modifying is the seer. The seer itself (little piece of metal smaller that a quarter) is considered a machinge gun by BATF. The sniper guy was a "One Shot, One kill" operation. We're just lucking he was using an "assault weapon" (single shot .223) and not a deer rifle (sinlge shot .308 or 30-06 or .270) or there would have been no survivors. What is this guy talking about?
The march 4 years ago which had 2,000 people and was called a Million Mom March.
In related news the Democrats stated that they had a Million New Voters registered and predict easy victory in November..........
Islamic clerics have declared the Million Mullah Jihad with a new and improved interpretation of the Koran indicating that each suicide bomber will have a Million Virgins waiting for him in heaven......
John Kerry was also awarded his Million Purple Heart award for the snowboarding accident at the front line, bicycle fall last week and for the nick he recieved when getting his hair cut while undergoing hostile questioning from the press.
Oh more than that.
Correction factor: Less than 10,no correction, otherwise divide the claimed number by its base 10 logarithm.
So about 600.
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