Bush Backs Renewing Assault Weapons Ban

Washington Post ^ | April 12, 2003 | Unknown

[Mini-14]

The Bush administration is bucking the National Rifle Association and supporting a renewal of the assault weapons ban, set to expire just before the presidential election. "The president supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told Knight Ridder.

Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top priority of the NRA. Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported the ban, but it was less clear whether he would support an extension.

[Dick Bachert]

You mean like THIS brilliant plan???

At the time of his approach to Red China, Richard Nixon (a REPUBLICAN for those of you from Rio Linda) was approached by an internationalist businessman who was literally salivating over the prospect of access to the BILLIONS of potential Chinese slave laborers and “customers” (although this rocket scientist had apparently not yet concluded that the Chinese people would be hard pressed to buy his stuff without MONEY!!!!).

This businessman was concerned that Nixon had been SAYING that he was cooling to the idea of an opening to Red China to quell the uprising within the then very much more America-First rank and file Republican Party.

As reported years later, Nixon told the businessman
“DON’T LISTEN TO WHAT WE SAY: WATCH WHAT WE DO!"

It is my strong memory of THAT event which prompts me to post this graphic!

AS YOU READ THIS, IT APPEARS THAT BUSH, DASCHLE AND OTHERS ARE WELL DOWN THE ROAD TO USING THIS PAGE FROM THE NIXON PLAYBOOK!

Look, America – the IDEA not the PLACE – can only continue to exist if we heed the advice of the founding fathers (paraphrased here in the current vernacular for residents of Rio Linda), to wit:
“The Founding Fathers have determined that failure to WATCH politicians – ALL POLITICIANS (even those you may worship!) – is dangerous to the security of this nation and to the freedoms we paid such a heavy price to TRY to leave you and your children.”

“Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path to destruction.”
That from the radical right-wing, tinfoil hat wearing wacko, Thomas Jefferson.

[Shooter 2.5]

You're dreaming. You met a total of two people who have no idea the Assault Weapons ban effects them and you're blaming 90% of the membership?

NRA policy is to fight the Assault Weapons Ban as a top priority. What are you doing about it?

[Taxman]

Exactly!

And we must not blow this one.

[Taxman]

Just so, Dick. Just so.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

[Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), abolitionist, orator and columnist for The Liberator, paraphrasing John Philpot Curran in a speech before the Massachusetts Antislavery Society in 1852, according to The Dictionary of Quotations edited by Bergen Evans.]

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Bullets (especially rifle bullets) will penetrate interior walls (sheetrock will be penetrated by a forcefully pushed pencil), the vinyl siding on the house's exterior, the vinyl siding on the house across the street (you get the picture)"

Good point. However, most people are surprised to learn that the bullet from an ordinary AR15/M16 (a .223 Rem or 5.56mm NATO) will have LESS overpenetration in building materials (or glass, or car door panels) than will an ordinary 9mm pistol bullet. The 223 will be more likely to penetrate a protective vest, but may be an excellent choice for home defense. (A 30 caliber such as a .308 Win is NOT such a good choice!)

Of course, anyone who lives in an apartment or has family members scattered throughout the house should buy the expensive frangible ammo (or birdshot in a shotgun) to avoid injuring untargeted others.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Is there any evidence that gun owners voted for Perot in any significant numbers?"

I don't have data, but it makes sense that the typical Reagan Democrat rust belt union guy who shoots felt betrayed by Country Club Bush (remember him renouncing his NRA life membership?) on the import ban.

He didn't much like Clinton (though many did) and Perot appealed to the voter on issues besides guns: trade, and down-home straight talk.

[jwalsh07]

Easy. This issue is paramount to me. Do you not have such an issue?

I have many issues. One is the RTKABA, another is the right to life and yet another is the security of America and the briniging of death and destrcution on those who attack our people.

On the first Bush has done a fair job and his administrations stance on the RTKABA is a good example of where he has done well.

On the second he has been the most pro life President in my half century on this planet.

And on the third he has been magnificent.

What's wrong with you?

Aside from the animus I have toward the Libertarian Party for their hypoctirtical pro choice, open border, anti-killing of our enemies bs, nothing.

[jwalsh07]

On the first Bush has done a fair job and his administrations stance on the RTKABA is a good example of where he has done well.

Should read:

On the first Bush has done a fair job and his administrations stance on the Individual RTKABA is a good example of where he has done well.

[wku man]

This is yet another nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned. Bush began losing my vote with his weasling during the kidnapping of our P-3 Orion crew by the Chicoms, and finally lost it officially when he signed CFR. This is just another reason for me not to vote for him in 2004. No, I won't vote for a Rat, a Green, or a Liberalitarian either. I'll find a candidate who honestly and truly represents my interests, even if I have to write myself in.

So friggin' what if that helps get a Rat elected? This nation is screwed either way...at least the Rats will get us to the breaking point more quickly, so we can get the mess straightened out sooner. Maybe I'll be able to see a truly free nation, in whatever form it is, in my lifetime.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[votelife]

you assume incorrectly. Most Freepers (just a guess) will complain about Bush here, not write Bush on this and just sit it out. Remember when Bush floated a global warming green ploy and then stamped it out? If enough people write, Bush will go right. Actually, it might be even more important to email congress on this. While everyone is at it, tell bush to appoint more conservative judges.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/847037/posts

[killerw]

All of my guns toghther have not killed as many people as ted kennedy's car.

[stand watie]

the so-called assault weapons ban will die an UN-lamented death.

free dixie,sw

[havegunwillcarry]

Just to clarify, although I will not walk precincts or even vote for Bush again if he fails to fight extension of the ban, I have never and will certainly never ever vote for a socialist DemonicRat, but may consider a third party possibly if Republicans go apostate on such a key issue as self-defense.

[IGOTMINE]

May your chains rest lightly upon you if you think Bush working for extending the AWB is an example of him doing "well" on the RTKABA issue.

Ashcroft has done "well" on the RTKABA. We'll see if his boss does likewise.

[CMClay]

"We gave the the executive branch and the party both houses, didn't we?"

eggs-actly!
if they won't support the CONSERVATIVE agenda, I can't and won't support them.
There's also been almost no movement on abortion.

[Sir Gawain]

It's not the Washington Post. The story is everywhere:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&scoring=d&q=assault+weapons+ban

[Sir Gawain]

Full article from the Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Apr/04122003/nation_w/47311.asp

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is bucking the National Rifle Association and supporting a renewal of the assault-weapons ban, set to expire just before the presidential election.
    "The president supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told Knight Ridder.
    Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top priority for the NRA. President Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported the current ban, but it was less clear whether he would support an extension.
    The White House comment comes just before the NRA's annual convention and as the gun debate overall shows signs of fresh life after several years of near hibernation. Republicans now control the House and the Senate and are using their newfound power to breathe life into the stalled pro-gun rights agenda. This week, they pushed through a bill in the House to give gun makers and dealers sweeping immunity from lawsuits.
    The assault-weapons ban is considered a crown jewel by the gun-control movement, and even though its expiration is more than a year away it is already being watched closely.
    The White House comment surprised those on both sides of the gun issue.
    "That's lousy politics," said Grover Norquist, an NRA board member who leads the conservative pro-Bush group Americans for Tax Reform.
    Joe Sudbay of the Violence Policy Center said it "creates a huge problem for Bush with the NRA."
    "The NRA said they would be working out of the Oval Office when Bush was elected. This creates an interesting situation for them," he said.
    Matt Bennett of Americans for Gun Safety applauded Bush's stance but urged the president to use his political clout to push for Congress to act. If Congress does nothing, the ban could just expire.
    Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said Bush's support was somewhat irrelevant.
    "Ultimately, I think this issue is going to be decided by the Congress," LaPierre said.
    If it is, the NRA has reason to be optimistic.
    This week's action on the immunity legislation for dealers and gun makers reflects the interest of Republicans to resurrect the pro-gun rights agenda.
    Congress had been poised to act on the bill last fall, but the deadly sniper attacks in the Washington area prompted a delay. The measure has enough co-sponsors in the Senate to pass that chamber unless Democrats dig in their heels and filibuster.
    Supporters of the immunity bill say it shields gun makers from bankruptcy because of frivolous lawsuits that became popular during the Clinton administration. Lawsuits filed by cities against gun manufacturers -- modeled on similar litigation against the tobacco industry -- have so far been unsuccessful but have kept gun makers tied up in court.
    The active gun debate stands in contrast to several years of inaction.
    Democrats largely abandoned the gun issue in the 2002 midterm election after some determined that it had been an albatross for Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore in 2000.
    Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., elected to Congress on a gun-control platform after her husband was killed and her son wounded by a deranged gunman on a Long Island commuter train in 1993, acknowledged that some Democrats are nervous about the gun issue nowadays.
    "But it's coming back. I think you're going to see it popping up a lot this session with the Republicans in control," she said.
   
   
   
   

[jwalsh07]

Ashcroft has done "well" on the RTKABA. We'll see if his boss does likewise.

Ashcroft works for Bush and I wish you the worst in electing libertarians.

[jwalsh07]

There's also been almost no movement on abortion

Open your eyes. There has been more movement on abortion in the last two years than there has in the past 30 years and it is in the right direction.