Posted on 02/09/2005 4:40:27 AM PST by pop-aye
(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy implied Tuesday that congressional colleagues who do not share his support for a failed gun ban being reintroduced in the House are mentally ill. The Rhode Island Democrat also accused lawmakers who oppose the anti-gun legislation of not caring about police safety.
Kennedy is the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, both of whom were shot to death.
The younger Kennedy made the comments at a Capitol Hill press conference to promote the reintroduction of the "50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act." The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), would ban the manufacture of such rifles and severely limit the sale or transfer of existing .50 BMG rifles except for those owned by the military or civilian law enforcement agencies.
"Any policy maker who, on the one hand, says that they are for combating terrorism but, on the other hand, will not back this legislation, backed by Representative Moran, to me has a lot of explaining to do," Kennedy said "In fact, I think it would be the definition of insanity to say that."
In addition to challenging his opponents' mental stability, Kennedy also questioned whether his fellow lawmakers could claim to support police while opposing the gun ban.
"If we don't pass this legislation, this Congress, implicitly, is saying that they do not care about the welfare of our law enforcement community," Kennedy said.
John Burtt - chairman of the Fifty Caliber Institute, the education and advocacy arm of the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association - told Cybercast News Service that Moran, Kennedy and their colleagues are trying to create "backdoor legislation to ban all firearms in this country.
"What they're doing is using hyperbole to create anxiety on the part of the uninformed public that these guns are dangerous, that they are a threat to national security," Burtt said, "but they are not."
Burtt said there has not been a single instance of terrorists using the .50 BMG in an attack on U.S. soil. A handout provided to the media at Moran's press conference listed 12 instances in which a .50 caliber rifle was used, threatened or intended for use in a criminal act. But Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, reviewed the list and questioned the nature of the examples.
"It's usually people who were prohibited from owning any kind of firearm to begin with and, as a result, should have been prohibited from owning a .50 caliber already," Gottlieb said. "There's no need to have a new law. They ought to just enforce the existing laws."
Moran believes, however, that there is no legitimate reason for civilians to own the rifles.
"It serves no purpose for hunting, whatsoever," Moran claimed. "If you went hunting with this, you would not have any trophy. All you'd have left would be some pieces of fur and hoof."
Burtt refuted Moran's assertion.
"I know a lot of people who hunt with the .50 BMG," Burtt said, noting that many people pursue elk, bear and other large game animals with the rifles. "When a .50 caliber round hits a large animal like that, it has tremendous knock-down power. But, it does nothing more than put a half-inch hole into the animal and knock it down.
"This is just somebody who, obviously, has no knowledge, whatsoever, about the hunting capabilities of these firearms making statements that are completely inaccurate," Burtt added.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), whose husband was murdered and son wounded by a gunman on a Long Island commuter train in 1993, contributed to Moran's "no legitimate use" argument.
"This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment. This has nothing to do with taking away the right of someone to have a gun to protect themselves [sic]," McCarthy said.
Gottlieb disagreed.
"As far as Carolyn McCarthy is concerned, the Second Amendment doesn't protect any firearm," Gottlieb said. "If she had her wishes, she'd classify every firearm under a foot long as a 'Saturday Night Special,' and ban it, and characterize every gun over a foot long as an 'assault weapon,' and ban it also."
McCarthy and her anti-gun colleagues are using a "divide and conquer" strategy, according to Gottlieb, to disarm law-abiding Americans.
"If you pick on one type of gun at a time and say, 'the Second Amendment doesn't protect it,' most gun owners who don't own that kind of gun won't get upset and she might get her legislation passed," Gottlieb explained. "Then, lo and behold, she'll come back for another gun the next time and another gun the next time until there are no guns left."
McCarthy's comments seemed to support Gottlieb's assessment as she attempted to further demonize the .50 caliber.
"Look at this thing," McCarthy urged. "Do you want this in your home? Do you want your children to play with this?"
Burtt said McCarthy's comment betrays her ignorance of firearms and their safe handling.
"I don't want any children 'playing' with firearms, and they shouldn't even be touching them without the supervision of an adult," Burtt said. "I can't believe a representative of our Congress would make a statement like that."
Gottlieb, however, said he was not surprised by McCarthy's comments.
"Nobody said that the opponents of gun ownership are intellectually honest," Gottlieb said. "As far as these members of Congress are concerned, there's no such thing as a good gun."
You are right; I am wrong.
http://www.patrickkennedy2004.com/biography.php?pkennedy=89832422a22a8362b9adf6641e3d6e52
...U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy implied Tuesday that congressional colleagues who do not share his support for a failed gun ban being reintroduced in the House are mentally ill...
Insults from the left are merely confessions.
Not much of a gun guy are ya? Big difference between a muzzleloader and a BMG.
Mike
"who do not share his support for a failed gun ban being reintroduced in the House are mentally ill."
Spoken like a true Communist.
Hey Pat. I got your insanity, right here.
Hey, Patches, follow your daddy's lead -- long walk, short pier, 'er long Oldsmobile, short pier, whatever! Just take a hike, junior, and shut your yap!! We grown-ups don't want to listen to what's coming out of your mouth via your juvenile brain!
Patrick Kennedy claiming people, who disagree with him, are mentally ill?
Give me a break!
If there is anyone mentally ill, it is Patrick Kennedy!!!
My point was the stupidity of the big caliper is evil argument. A .22 mag pistol would be my rampage weapon of choice ...
ED.
Abd their sh!t don't stink either.
Our military snipers do not use .50 caliber rifles unless it is a special mission.
Gun bans don't work,lethal injection does.
www.gunowners.org
Feb 2005
National ID Cards Coming Up For A Vote This Week
-- Threats to gun owners' privacy are a huge concern
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
(703)321-8585
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
The National ID card is back in the news, as Congress is getting set once again to debate the issue.
You will remember that late last year, Congress passed (and the President signed) legislation which starts us down the road to a National ID card. In the name of preventing alien terrorists from operating in this country, the so-called Intelligence Reform bill gave federal bureaucrats unprecedented new powers to force changes in state-issued driver's licenses -- including, possibly, the addition of computer chip technology that can facilitate the tracking of all U.S. citizens.
Now, the House will be debating new legislation, H.R. 418, that was recently introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). In considering this bill, the U.S. House will vote on whether to empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license -- and under what conditions.
Since you need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer, this will give BATFE the expanded ability to impose even greater forms of gun control -- something which it has long coveted. This will become even more apparent if an anti-gun Democrat like Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in 2008.
H.R. 418 is, unfortunately, supported by many Republicans who believe that repealing our liberties will somehow make us "secure." But GOA joined a large coalition of citizen-activist organizations this week in opposition to H.R. 418. In a letter to Congress, the coalition stated:
Standardization of driver's licenses has long been recognized as a bureaucratic back-door to implementation of a national ID card. With its required linking of databases and ability of the Secretary of Homeland Security to require a prescribed format, HR 418 takes us well along that road. Concerns are further heightened when the bill fails to even provide lip service to privacy concerns, and proposes to share all of our data on the driver's license database with Canada and Mexico.
Realizing government's tendency towards mission creep, no one should be surprised if this database grows to contain far more information than that which is relevant to driving. HR 418 requires that the database shall contain "at a minimum," all information contained on the driver's license as well as driving history. There is no limit to what other information may eventually be contained in the database -- something which should definitely concern gun owners.
H.R. 418 is being touted as a way of cleaning up some of the problems with the law that was enacted last December. But this bill is still an attack on states' rights. It still takes us down the road to a National ID card. And it would still do nothing to keep real terrorists from operating in our country.
ACTION: Please contact your Representative and urge him or her to oppose H.R. 418. You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers are also available).
-----Pre-written letter-----
Dear Representative:
H.R. 418 would give the federal government open-ended authority to determine who may and may not get a driver's license -- and under what circumstances.
Since I need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer, BATFE would finally have its long-coveted tool to impose gun control on targeted groups -- particularly under a liberal anti-gun administration.
If you believe in the Second Amendment, please vote against this anti-gun monstrosity.
Sincerely,
the only ones with 'stones' are we few who understand that if you chip away at the firearm power in the hands of the citizens, then should the day ever come that the citizens are left with no other choice but to use force to restore freedom .....our firearm power will be so small compared to the firearm power in the hands of the police and soldiers who will break their oaths .........it'll be like waving sticks around in the face of automatic weapons. No, we need to be able to acquire ANY tool we desire.
To quote from an article by Patrick K Martin "Disarmament by Obsolescence: We may face a time when, like the days of Knights in armor, an armed elite, invulnerable to the weapons of the peasants, does with us as they see fit."
Martin goes on to say that technology is improving quickly....but we the people have been 'banned' over the years from making our own firearms.....unless we have government approval!!! (The Libertarian Enterprise, March 18, 2002)
More people have been killed in your Dad's car than by my entire collection of firearms.
I thought the Kennedy's were allergic to guns. The clan is paying the sins of their patriarch
Meanwhile we have a President who respects the right of the citizens of the United States to be able to protect themselves - and we need that protection more than ever today! A nation, whose citizens cannot defend themselves from crime or criminals or terrorists, is a nation at risk. Patrick Kennedy knows this but spouts the party line and risks weakening the nation. States with CCW have far fewer crimes, that should tell these twits something.
No it doesn't surprise me, but it still rankles.
Too bad his daddys pregnant girlfriend didn't have a pistol to put that bastard father of his on the ride to eternity he sent her on.
Any reason for gun control is evil and a means to a bitter end. I understand your point and the anti's have tried to throw any .50 caliber firearm, no matter what it is into the mix.
What they don't grasp is that their arguments are false, futile, and total garbage. They know it and so do the citizens of the US. Frankly, we are getting tired of it. There is a major push now to remove these anti gunners in the next election cycle once and for all.
Mike
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