Renewal of assault weapon ban shot down in Senate

Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau ^ | 9/7/04 | GEBE MARTINEZ

[Mr. Mojo]

With president on the sidelines, its sponsor says, bill has no chance

WASHINGTON - The fight to renew a favored ban on assault weapons effectively died Tuesday after the lead Senate sponsor of a bill to continue restrictions on the sale and manufacture of some semi-automatic weapons conceded defeat.

"Absent the president twisting arms, it's nil," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., of the chances to get a bill passed before midnight Monday, when the law expires.

President Bush has indicated he would sign an extension of the 1994 law if Congress got it to his desk. But Bush has not asked the House to pass it, and congressional Republican leaders, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, have refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.

A survey released this week by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey in Philadelphia found that 68 percent of Americans want Congress to extend the gun law.

But gun manufacturers already are marketing military-style firearms in preparation for the rollback of the weapons law, according to a study released Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit collection of 300 consumer groups.

The consumer group interviewed gun industry experts and marketing representatives and surveyed manufacturers' catalogs and Web sites. At least one company offers a nonrefundable prepayment option to those looking for a head start.

As a result, "assault weapons are going to be more lethal and less expensive," said Susan Peschin, firearms project director at the federation.

Earlier this year, 52 senators voted for the ban on manufacturing 19 types of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and on ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds. But it was part of a bill that was later defeated.

While some House members are expected to try to attach the ban to another "must-pass" bill this session, a pragmatic Feinstein said the fight is over for now. She vowed to re-introduce an assault weapons ban next year.

"If the president says he's going to sign the bill — and that indicates he supports the bill — but he does not do anything to help it pass, the bill will fail," Feinstein said.

Nonetheless, groups continue to campaign until the deadline.

For example, the National Rifle Association gun lobby warned on its Web site that it "cannot take anything for granted." It vowed to "pull out all the stops" to make sure the ban isn't renewed.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, questioned the effectiveness of the current ban and said supporters of gun owners' rights fear a new law might overreach "to all kinds of hunting rifles. Automatic weapons are banned already."

[FesterUSMC]

good

[need_a_screen_name]

Worth repeating:

---

Blech. For the few non-2nd proponents that might read this...

Obviously, "Uzis" and "AK-47s" are, unmodified, fully automatic weapons, and their reference in this article is a blatant attempt to scare the ignorant. (Fully automatic remain under very different regulations - a class III Federal BATF license, plus complying with state and local 'regulation': reports vary, but it is in practice well-nigh impossible for a normal person to get all the licenses required for such weapons in many jurisdictions.)

The reality is that the assault weapons ban banned semi-automatic (one trigger pull = one bullet) weapons based on nothing more than shape (looks somewhat like a military weapon, a pistol that weighs more than 50 oz when unloaded), or cosmetic accessories (folding or telescoping stock or pistol grip on a rifle, a large capacity magazine).

With the exception of the magazine capacity, there is no functional effect on the 'dangerousness' between a so-called 'Assault Weapon', and it's non-assault counterpart. And a reasonably trained person can replace a magazine in less than two seconds.

It also increased the already tight restrictions of an existing ban on 'armor piercing ammunition', where the original (still in force) was "a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium." became "a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile".


1 posted on 09/07/2004 10:59:45 PM PDT by jrpascucci

[frog_jerk_2004]

"Absent the president twisting arms, it's nil," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., of the chances to get a bill passed before midnight Monday, when the law expire

Let's not rush to judgement, we need a coalition on this assault weapons ban bill and about 17 UN resolutions before the president signs this thing...

[Old Sarge]

a pragmatic Feinstein said the fight is over for now.

PARGMATIC, she is, now. But, SOCIALIST, always.

[sonofatpatcher2]

I don't need No Stinking' Assault Rifle!

I've got my Thompson to keep me warm...

[GailA]

yahoo, this will please those who were not going to vote for GW if he signed this bill.

[I got the rope]

As a result, "assault weapons are going to be more lethal and less expensive," said Susan Peschin, firearms project director at the federation.

Well at least they admit it. This was their plan all along. These people are seditious traitors to our republic. They are nothing but elitist punks.

[neverdem]

BTTT

[PhiKapMom]

This was in my email as well:

GOP: Congress Won't Vote on Weapons Ban

By APARNA H. KUMAR
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress will not vote on an assault weapons ban due to expire Monday, Republican leaders said Wednesday, rejecting a last-ditch effort by supporters to renew it.

``I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire,'' Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters.

The 10-year ban, signed by President Clinton in 1994, outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons. A clause directed that the ban expire unless Congress specifically reauthorized it.

Some Democrats and several police leaders said President Bush should try to persuade Congress to renew the ban. Bush has said he would sign such a bill if Congress passed it.

``If the president asked me, it'd still be no ... because we don't have the votes to pass an assault weapons ban and it will expire Monday and that's that,'' House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters later.

DeLay said the ban was ``a feel-good piece of legislation'' that does nothing to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.

However, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said he would consider allowing the House to vote on legislation only if the Senate acted first.

Appearing at a news conference, chiefs of police from the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle predicted an increase in violent gun crimes if the bans does expire.

``Our streets, our homes, our citizens and our police officers will face great danger unless the federal ban on assault weapons is renewed,'' said Charles H. Ramsey, the police chief in the nation's capital.

In March, the Senate voted to add the ban to a bill that would have immunized gun manufacturers from liability suits stemming from violent gun crimes. But the Senate voted 90-8 against the final bill after the National Rifle Association urged its defeat.

NRA President Wayne LaPierre said in an interview with The Associated Press that his group is so confident that Congress won't renew the ban that it is not spending any more money on ads this year opposing it.

He said supporters of the ban could not muster the support needed to bring it to a vote in the House because several Democrats attribute losing their majority in the House in 1994 over votes then in favor of the ban.



09/08/04 21:27 EDT

[NeoCaveman]

HORRAY!

Thank you Tom Delay. Sad thing is, it would have passed the Senate in no small part due to Rinovich and DeRino both of Ohio.

[KingPin]

Sweet, I want a G3/CETME clone, and I refuse to spend good money on century...

[bereanway]

"more lethal and less expensive" sounds like a winning combination.

[Ancesthntr]

The fight to renew a favored ban on assault weapons effectively died Tuesday after the lead Senate sponsor of a bill to continue restrictions on the sale and manufacture of some semi-automatic weapons conceded defeat.

Good riddance, you unconstitutional MF'er

A survey released this week by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey in Philadelphia found that 68 percent of Americans want Congress to extend the gun law.

I'll bet that 95% of those people don't have the slightest clue as to what the AWB's provisions are - and I'm sure that at least 95% of those 95% think that "assault weapons" are full auto guns.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, questioned the effectiveness of the current ban....

Putz. The AWB must die because it is unconstitutional, not because it is "ineffective." What, if we became a police state and some gun control scheme successfully reduced crime then he'd be for it? Moron! However, I'll at least give him the credit for being against renewal.

Oh, Diane: F U!! Same for Admiral Kennedy, Chuck the Schmuck and that hag, Sarah Brady.

[isthisnickcool]

1) Get out checkbook.

2) Wait for AWB to sunset.

3) Go shopping*.

What's the best web site for firearms? gunsamerica.com?

[need_a_screen_name]

"As a result, "assault weapons are going to be more lethal and less expensive," said Susan Peschin, firearms project director at the federation."

Rubbish! Right now you can buy the EXACT same weapons sans cosmetic features like flash suppressors, bayonet lugs, etc. Nothing much is changing, but don't expect the press to tell you that!

[Mr. Mojo]

I'll bet that 95% of those people don't have the slightest clue as to what the AWB's provisions are

19 out of 20? I suspect it's more like 199 out of 200.

[oyez]

``I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire,'' Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters

Frist sounds like presidential material to me.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Our streets, our homes, our citizens and our police officers will face great danger unless the federal ban on assault weapons is renewed," said Charles H. Ramsey, the police chief in the nation's capital.

That's because, dear Chuckie, your ilk has done everything possible to 'infringe' upon the rights of law-biding citizens to keep and bear arms to protect themselves against the scumbags that you're supposed to be getting off the streets in the first place.

[TFMcGuire]

Your loss is Columbia's gain, Sen. Fineswine.