Posted on 03/27/2009 11:53:25 AM PDT by holymoly
A week after four Oakland police officers were gunned down by a parolee with a semiautomatic weapon, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Councilman Jack Weiss on Friday called for the federal government to reinstate a ban on assault weapons.
Before heading to the Bay Area this morning for the funerals of Oakland police Sgt. Mark Dunakin, Sgt. Ervin Romans, Sgt. Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege, the mayor and councilman called for the renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which prevented the sale of most semiautomatic weapons.
"This morning we are calling on Congress and the Obama administration to make gun control a top priority now and to reauthorize the assault weapons ban right away," Villaraigosa said. "Whether it's a police officer at a routine traffic stop or a teenager walking home from school, handguns, automatic rifles and AK-47s are a threat to the safety of every American."
It is estimated that one in five law enforcement officers slain in the line of duty is killed with an assault weapon.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder indicated last month that the Obama Administration will pursue renewal of the ban.
"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder said in February.
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed by Congress in 1994 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The law placed a 10-year ban on the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons, including military style semiautomatic rifles to civilians, but the ban was allowed to expire when George Bush became president.
There have been reports that people have been stocking up on guns because of rumors the Obama administration will crack down on gun ownership.
The same ban made no impact on gun crimes. Another one will have no difference.
Molon Labe!
Was the weapon in question purchased legally in the first place?
And so the grab begins!
gotta call BULLSH!T on this one...
Oh, it didn't. Well hell, we must need ANOTHER LAW!
Of course not, he was a paroled FELON.
"Estimated" by whom?
That I don't know. And we may never know, since the media doesn't care.
Bring it!
Thats because the people who did this study consider anything more than a sling-shot, an assault weapon.
I 2nd your BS
The lede says that the murder weapon was “semiautomatic,” but that casts a rather wide net. My understanding is that semiautomatic means one round per squees of the trigger, without need for any further reloading action needed(besides the re-squeezing of said trigger).
So a .38 revolver is now OMG IT’S A SEMIAUTOMATIC!!!? (Not saying that a .38 was the murder weapon here, but it too is “semiautomatic” [gasp, horror].
The “one in five” number is based on the theory that virtually every semi-automatic handgun is an “assault weapon”.
California already has an “Assault Weapon” ban. It did not work.
Didn't the weapon belong to a relative of Lovelle Mixons?
We know Mixon couldn't legally possess it,but that doesn't answer the question as to whether the original purchase was legal.
Myth: The supply of guns is a danger to law enforcement
Fact: The courts kill cops by letting felons out of prison early. Of police murdered in the line of duty:
70% are killed by criminals with prior arrest records.
53% of these criminals have prior convictions.
22% are on probation when the officer is killed.
Myth: Assault weapons are a serious problem in the U.S.
Fact: In 1994, before the Federal “assault weapons ban”, you were eleven (11) times more likely to be beaten to death than to be killed by an “assault weapon”. In the first year since the ban was lifted, murders declined 3.6%, and violent crime 1.7%.
Fact: Nationally, “assault weapons” were used in 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and 0.25% of all violent crime before the enactment of any national or state “assault weapons” ban. In many major urban areas (San Antonio, Mobile, Nashville, etc.) and some entire states (Maryland, New Jersey, etc.) the rate is less than 0.1%.
Fact: Even weapons misclassified as “assault weapons” (common in the former Federal and California “assault weapons” confiscations) are used in less than 1% of all homicides.
ALL weapons are “assault” weapons. That’s what they’re made for..........
People need to remember the revolution. Our people had simular arms. This helped them to combat the British. If arms are taken away, arms that can withstand a revolution, you will be left with the squirrel guns....not much use and they know it.
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