Posted on 07/28/2004 1:48:01 AM PDT by neverdem
PIERRE - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and his Republican challenger, former U.S. Rep. John Thune, take opposite positions on whether Congress should extend the nation's ban on various types of semi-automatic assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and related weaponry.
Daschle is the only supporter of the ban among South Dakota's congressional delegation and candidates.
The 10-year-old ban, which is strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association but supported by law enforcement organizations, expires in September. President George W. Bush has said he will sign the extension into law if it gets to his desk. Daschle and other congressional observers now say it's unlikely the issue will come up again this year.
Daschle supports the ban. He voted for it in 1994 and did so again this year in March, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, attached the ban extension to another piece of firearms legislation that was ultimately defeated in the Senate.
Thune "strongly" opposes reauthorizing the ban, according to John Wood, his deputy campaign manager. "He does not favor federal restrictions on the Second Amendment," Wood said.
Daschle spokesman Jake Maas said the senator "as a gun owner and hunter" believes society has a dual interest in the debate over guns: to protect the legitimate rights of gun owners as well as public safety.
"In general, Senator Daschle supports an approach based on the premise that law-abiding citizens have a right to own guns and an obligation to use them responsibly. He also believes the original assault weapons ban enacted in 1994 has helped take dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals," Maas said.
South Dakota's other U.S. senator, Democrat Tim Johnson, opposes the ban. He voted against it in 1994 while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Johnson wasn't available to vote on the Feinstein amendment earlier this year, because the roll call came as he was preparing for prostate surgery the next day.
"As a fourth generation South Dakota hunter and gunowner, Tim fully recognizes that hunting, target shooting, and gun ownership are important and positive parts of the fabric of South Dakota. As a former prosecutor, he also appreciates the need for aggressive enforcement of existing laws against those who abuse their rights to gun ownership," said Julianne Fisher, Johnson's communications director. Also against the ban are both Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth and former state legislator Larry Diedrich, the Republican candidate who's challenging Herseth again this fall in a repeat of their June special election matchup.
"Rep. Herseth would vote against extending the ban because she believes that gun violence, not gun ownership, should be the focus of legislation that affects our Second Amendment rights," said her spokesman, Russ Levsen.
Diedrich believes that criminals using such weapons in the commission of crimes should face more strict penalties, according to his press secretary, Jessica Towhey.
"As a hunter and a sportsman, Diedrich believes that responsible gun owners have the right to own such weapons. This right is clearly defined in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," Towhey said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thepublicopinion.com ...
What Daschle voted for earlier in the year was a massive expansion of federal gun control and gun bans, extending far beyond the original ban on certain cosmetic features of a handful of guns. (pistol grips, bayonet attachment points, flash suppresors)
That vote was the first one Kerry bothered to cast in the Senate this year. He returned to vote for higher taxes and against the Lacy Peterson law.
His few votes show where his heart is really at.
I have serious problems about this claim. Oh I have no doubt some poll somewhere can back this up, but viscerally it makes no sense.
Are they talking about police chiefs and commissioners, who are largely political appointees, or sheriffs and beat cops? I would wager the answers would be radically different.
We know the reality, Chiefs and administrators know "Numbers"
Most likely they are talking about union leaders.
Why is it that everytime I read a quote from some gun-grabbing leftist, the words "believe" or "feel" is in the sentence somewhere? < /rhetorical question >
I hadn't thought of the unions, but that makes sense too.
One thing cops do not want is people calling cops every 5 minutes for a shooting they cannot do nothing about it, except burden and clog the LE work. That said, lately they like to clog it with false witnessing too, but that will change, because it is getting ridiculous.
It's up to America if it wants to look like the LA riots all over, so to speak.
Ban guns and what not, and crime will go up.
I don't think we're going to have to worry about Dasch' the Obstructionist for very much longer. Despite spending $8M on his campaign this year, his numbers haven't budged against Thune, who has name recongintion now from running against Johnson in '02, and barely losing. You put it all together: A presidential election year, with 60+% S.Dakotans voting for W, pictures of Dasch getting cuddly with Mickey Moore, the gay marriage issue, the weapons ban, it just seems that the stars have never been more aligned to get rid of the little guy.
recongintion = recognition (coffee kicking in finally ;^)
When Daschle has to choose between using his brain cells
Daschle proved that he cannot resist acting like a Know-it-all at a 2001 press conference, where he tried to ridicule supporters of the Missile Defense Program. He hoped to make them look like idiots, but his ploy backfired.
Transcript of Tom Daschle 2001 press conference on a Missile Defense program
Whether or not we want to violate the ABM treaty
especially with a concept [NMD program] that we may not know
...or...
that we do know now does not work
is something that also mystifies me.
I mean
Every aspect of the debate and the consideration
that is given this whole program
is... is troubling to me.
I... I mean... I...there's a disconnect there.
I mean...It just seems common sense....
I mean...there's no brain..
This isn't rocket science here...
Yes it IS rocket science....
that's the problem..
Hadn't thought about that..
As I just think out loud ....
as I meander through here.
(laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh)
That's the problem.
The media would like the public to believe that all "LEO" are firmly for the "AWB". I can't speak for other neighboring counties but our Sheriff has signed the paper work for machine guns in the county in which we live. I've never taken the time to ask how he feels about the "AWB". He did sate at the time he signed the paper work that he didn't care what weapon a law abiding citizen had, (as long as it was legal) he was glad to support the second amendment rights of all the citizens of this county.
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