Posted on 10/06/2008 9:33:59 PM PDT by neverdem
Last year, the nation watched in horror as the death toll mounted in the rampage at Virginia Tech. More than 30 college students were mowed down by a mentally-ill student. The perpetrator, Cho Seung-Hui, legally purchased the two guns...
--snip--
In 2006, according to FBI statistics, there were 14,831 homicides in the United States. Almost 70% were committed with a firearm, and nearly half were committed with the type of handguns that the city of Washington attempted to ban. (All handguns were banned. Longguns were to be made useless except as clubs.)
--snip--
"He had a semiautomatic weapon with a clip that allowed him to take 19 shots in a row," Barack Obama told a crowd in Nashua, N.H., after the shooting. "I don't know any self-respecting hunter that needs 19 rounds of anything. The only reason you have 19 rounds is potentially to do physical harm to people. You don't shoot 19 rounds at a deer. And if you do, you shouldn't be hunting."
--snip--
While running for Senate in 2004, Obama called for "national legislation" to prohibit citizens from carrying concealed weapons at all. In 2008, he affirmed that concealed carrying "creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could [get shot during] altercations."
Obama also supports the reinstatement of a 1994 ban on a variety of semi-automatic pistols and rifles characterized as "assault weapons." McCain voted against the ban, which expired in 2004, and continues to oppose it.
--snip--
Last month, Obama insisted to a questioner at a Pennsylvania event that "I'm not going to take away your guns." Frustrated, he offered the logic that "even if I want to take them away, I don't have the votes in Congress."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/ObamaLetterNRAAd.pdf
If Obama is elected along with a dem congress, trust me, the dems won’t be able to control themselves. There will be all manner of leftist legislation along with a new AWB and other “reasonable restrictions” forced on us.
Then again...this is from the Democrat Party Platform Page 48:
We recognize that the right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation, but we know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne. We can work together to enact and enforce commonsense laws and improvements – like closing the gun show loophole, improving our background check system, and reinstating the assault weapons ban, so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals. Acting responsibly and with respect for differing views on this issue, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe.
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/2008%20Democratic%20Platform%20by%20Cmte%2008-13-08%20(2).pdf
Since they work for me, not the other way around, I will temper my reaction accordingly!
As the Supreme Court just said, in Heller. There is no balancing to be done. It was done the day the Second Amendment was ratified.
We know of no other enumerated constitutional right whose core protection has been subjected to a freestanding “interest-balancing” approach. The very enumeration of the right takes out of the hands of government—even the Third Branch of Government—the power to decide on a case-by-case basis whether the right is really worth insisting upon. A constitutional guarantee subject to future judges’ assessments of its usefulness is no constitutional guarantee at all. Constitutional rights are enshrined with the scope they were understood to have when the people adopted them, whether or not future legislatures or (yes) even future judges think that scope too broad. We would not apply an “interest-balancing” approach to the prohibition of a peaceful neo-Nazi march through Skokie. See National Socialist Party of America v. Skokie, 432 U. S. 43 (1977) (per curiam). The First Amendment contains the freedom-of-speech guarantee that the people ratified, which included exceptions for obscenity, libel, and disclosure of state secrets, but not for the expression of extremely unpopular and wrong-headed views. The Second Amendment is no different. Like the First, it is the very product of an interest-balancing by the people—which JUSTICE BREYER would now conduct for them anew. And whatever else it leaves to future evaluation, it surely elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.
I'm afraid you are right on all counts. If 0bama is elected, I expect the assault weapons ban will return next year, and it will be far worse than it was in '94. If 0bama is elected, I will definitely be spending some serious money on certain weapons, ammo, and accessories during the first half of next year. I don't think they will go for gun control during his first hundred days, so we will still have some time after he takes office. I DO believe it will happen during his first year though. There is always the chance that a high profile shooting could happen that would expedite events.
Wrong PMSNBC. The right is not created by or derived from the second amendment, any more than freedom of the press or of speech is created by or derived from the first. The right to keep and bear arms is protected by the second amendment.
Which you would know if you could read a simple English sentence. "...the right ... shall not be infringed". Not " ...the people shall have the right.."
There'll be a lot of justices packing their bags and saying, "I feel sick now. I'd like to resign."
Kinda late. Even November 5th might be kinda late, unless you like paying more than what the current high prices are. Prices will rise on or shortly after Nov. 5, if B. Hussein Obami is to be our next President.
I think that will happen regardless of who wins the election. The older liberal justices know they can't stay on another 4 years, and they'd rather McCain appoint their successor than take the chance that it might be Palin instead if they wait too long. McCain isn't that much younger than some of the older Justices, although he seems a lot healthier.
If GM made 200,000,000 cars and 14831 were defective, they’d say it was ‘’statisticly ‘’ ZERO, very good product.
I wouldn't wait if I were you.
Dems love retroactive legislation. They love mousetraps to catch conservatives in and snap their necks.
This legislation will pass by April 1 (along with the Hush Rush Law) and it'll be retroactive to January 1. Your new MAK-90, mags and drums and bipod and flash hider and 6000 rounds had better be in the ground by then.
He's already supported a total ban on all semiautos, and a total ban on handguns; here's a few of his stances on gun control courtesy of OnTheIssues.org:
- FactCheck: Yes, Obama endorsed Illinois handgun ban. (Apr 2008)
- Bush erred in failing to renew assault weapons ban. (Oct 2004)
- Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions. (Jul 1998)
The Democrats control both houses of Congress. If Senator Obama were elected, we would see an onslaught against the RKBA like we have never seen.
For goodness sake, Senator Biden brags about being the author the Assault Weapons Bill.
We have never had two gungrabbers like this at the top of a ticket.
The choice has never has been as clear as in this election. One ticket has a life member of the NRA; the other, two radical HCI types.
Do that and you're almost certainly voting for Obama.
That's my point. I thought that was obvious.
Didn’t have my first cup of coffee till 9am. My bad.
This is cute. Since when have the dems gone through congress to get major social changes done? Their Supreme Court stooges have paved the way to undermine the constitution whenever possible. And, the lower courts couldn't care less about the bill of rights. They're all dem appointees...political hacks in other words.
As a Californian (northern) I see insanity in the form of O'Bamma bumperstickers on display such that I feel I'm living next to a junkyard or driving through a dump at times.
Today, I saw one that said, "1-20-09 the end of an error". I suppose that could be taken two ways, but it was on a utility bed belonging to a contractor, I suppose.
Also, you want to skew a poll, use the 916 area code or 405 (whatever it is for San Francisco) and I guaran-damn-tee you'll get Obama leading.
With a mere 58 or so electoral votes that get tossed in the garbage each election, we in the valley and mountain areas get no representation at the national level.
My solution would be to split the state along the Coastal Range or San Andreas Fault (possibly even better) as we truly suffer taxation without representation. We, as conservatives have no say in the national election of a president or vice president.
As a result, we have no say in who is selected for Gun Czar, Drug Czar, Housing Czar, Welfare Czar, Wall Street Czar, misEducation Czar, Wasteful Spending Czar, These People are Stupider than Sh*t Czar, Here's how we pull it over on them, Czar. etc.
There’s no “balancing” act between the Second Amendment and crime.
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