Posted on 12/05/2011 3:04:42 PM PST by Outlaw Woman
Prior to the “Republican Revolution” of 1994, Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia had earned an A rating with Gun Owners of America. But that all changed in 1995, after Republicans were swept to power and Gingrich became Speaker of the House.
The Republicans gained the majority, thanks in large part to gun owners outraged by the Clinton gun ban. And upon taking the reins of the House, Speaker Gingrich said famously that, “As long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights.”
His promise didn’t hold up, however, and his GOA rating quickly dropped to well below the “C-level.” In 1996, the Republican-led Congress passed the “gun free school zones act,” creating criminal safe zones like Virginia Tech, where the only person armed was a murderous criminal. Speaker Newt Gingrich voted for the bill containing this ban.[1]
The same bill also contained the now infamous Lautenberg gun ban, which lowered the threshold for losing one’s Second Amendment rights to a mere misdemeanor.[2] Gun owners could, as a result of this ban, lose their gun rights forever for non-violent shouting matches that occurred in the home -- and, in many cases, lose their rights without a jury trial.
While a legislator might sometimes vote for a spending bill which contains objectionable amendments, that was clearly NOT the case with Newt Gingrich in 1996. Speaking on Meet the Press in September of that year, Speaker Gingrich said the Lautenberg gun ban was “a very reasonable position.”[3] He even refused to cosponsor a repeal of the gun ban during the next Congress -- despite repeated requests to do so.[4]
Also in 1996, Speaker Gingrich cast his vote for an anti-gun terror bill which contained several harmful provisions. For example, one of the versions he supported (in March of that year) contained a DeLauro amendment that would have severely punished gun owners for possessing a laser sighting device while committing an infraction as minor as speeding on a federal reservation.[5] (Not only would this provision have stigmatized laser sights, it would have served as a first step to banning these items.) Another extremely harmful provision was the Schumer amendment to “centralize Federal, State and Local police.”[6]
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Michele Bachmann picked up a hefty endorsement from Phyllis Schlafly today and she doesn’t qualify her promise to try to eliminate the EPA with a promise to create another federal agency to replace it like Newty.
#20, best post of the day.
Gingrich is an utter repudiation of everything the tea party stands for.
Well unless bachman or santorum can pull a moses size miracle out of they’re can in the next couple of weeks its a newt
-romney deal now so newts my man I have said I wouldn’t hold my nose again. But I am scared that if that asshat in the white house gets another four he will succeed in his original mission of pushing us off the cliff
Btw don’t care too much for perry either
How could you do that??? Is is a BIG, Big gun grabber. I would NEVER vote for him. NEVER.
How could you do that??? Is is a BIG, Big gun grabber. I would NEVER vote for him. NEVER.
Gingrich, for all of his talk, is no friend of human freedom...Noumenon
Agreed 100% on post of the day NP. Noumenon your post is thought provoking and spot on. Thank you!
Lol.. You forgot your sarc tag! Maybe you will, but thank freedom loving God, many of us refuse. Jim Rob posted a great piece on making the right decision, please read it. If anyone can organize a write in surprise it will start here. Media, Iow, etc.. You don’t think for me! You will not dictate my choice.
"Wanted Herman"
Sarah Palin, in spite of what has been stated here on FR and throughout msm-land, would have gone through this country like a dose of salts, however, she withdrew from the 'informal' race. No agreement on Herman Cain though. Palin had the potential. But, that is history now and now we must look at reality.
Reality is; Gingrich is, and has been, part of the problem.
Well...I’ll steal part of the phrase “...we gotta fix it.” What we ‘gotta fix’ is the all-out assault on conservatives. We are reviled, even by what we thought was our party. Do we gut the entire establishment or vote for a little more, albeit slower, socialism/marxism?
2010 showed what “We the People” can accomplish. Unfortunately, in that “landslide” some lukewarm, rino pukes, got swept in as well (and I say that with my own senator Roy Blunt in mind). However, we gutted some areas. IMO we can continue gutting and that starts at the top this go ‘round.
Your observations regarding the right to defend yourself are excellent. Note that even animals and plants have natural defense mechanisms that are not “given” to them by others.
Pro Amnesty and weak on guns?
This is our new messiah?
Look, here it is. Gun rights people are fanatic (in a good way). They go all out after any camel sticking his nose under the 2nd amendment tent. I get it. While I don't always agree with each specific issue, the policy has protected gun rights fairly well so far.
Now that position is somewhat “extreme” and most people will agree with some common sense gun laws. The ones mentioned, that Newt supported, are not that crazy.
What's wrong with the laser site law? What's wrong with not allowing convicted domestic abusers to legally possess guns?
The gun free school zones may be a mistake, but as part of a huge omnibus bill, these things happen. Repeals are harder to do. It's like trying to undo a ruling on the field.
So while Newt may not be Charleton Heston, he isn't a “Gun Grabber” either. So tone down the hyperbole and just stick to the facts. You are actually helping Newt. People are so fed up with the political assassinations going on that they aren't listening to all the noise. They don't know what to believe, so they tend to disbelieve all of it.
I won't worry one second about my 2nd amendment rights, if Newt becomes president. You shouldn't either.
Dunno who I'm going to vote for, but if events go the way I think they will, it won't matter. It's like Ann Barnhardt said: "It's like a pageant has broken out on the fantail of the Titanic amongst the oblivious at 2:00am on the 15th, with the winner to be announced upon docking at the port of New York. That's what this election cycle is like."
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