[conservativefromGa]

*

[Mulder]

This seditious crap sounds more like something that a foreign occupying army would attempt to impose on Americans.

Should it pass, I'm guessing that there will be no shortage of Patriots who will treat it as exactly such.

[Dan from Michigan]

A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event

The whole bill is unacceptable. THIS PART is WORSE than unacceptable.

[longtermmemmory]

what does this mean? Is it out of comittee? Has hasert allowed it on the floor?

[supercat]

Lots of nasty expansions of the AWB in there. Hopefully that will make it easy for the Republicans to kill it. By my reading, it makes it unlawful to possess e.g. a telescoping stock--even one made in 1993--if it was not, prior to AWB1994, assembled onto an "Assault Weapon".

[Notforprophet]

There is absolutely no way in Hell Tom Delay is gonna let this bill come up for a vote in the House.

[Sender]

This is almost a gun banner's wet dream. This makes all the postban copies into eevil assault weapons. I sincerely hope that the knowledgeable pundits around here are correct in predicting the death in Congress of this idiotic bill.

And to all the honorable Congress critters who have attached their names to this abomination, I have but one thing to say...F**k this s**t. You're forgetting who you work for.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Well dig this -- Rauuul Grijalva, our favorite representative from Aztlan is a sponsor.

Molon Labe, cucaracha.

[templar]

This is nothing to worry about. It wont pass. And if it does pass, Bush won't sign it. And if Bush does sign it, It'll still be OK since it's the Republicans doing it and not the Democrats.

[follow the money]

May 12, 2003


Clear target of the assault weapon law



Jacob Sullum

"The most critical improvement" to the federal "assault weapon" ban, according to the Violence Policy Center, "is to ensure that the term 'assault weapon' includes all guns that are, in fact, assault weapons." Don't think about that assertion too much; it might cause your head to explode.
The gun banners at the VPC are unfazed by the fact that "assault weapon" is not an objective category: They know one when they see it. Legally, however, "assault weapon" means whatever Congress says it means.
The 1994 ban, which is scheduled to expire next year but would be renewed by legislation recently introduced in the House and Senate, identifies several specific brands and models as "semiautomatic assault weapons." It also bans any semiautomatic gun that accepts a detachable magazine and has at least two features from a list of five (four in the case of shotguns).
Although the justification for the ban was that "assault weapons" are especially dangerous, the criteria Congress chose — including bayonet mounts, folding stocks, pistol grips and barrel shrouds — for practical purposes have nothing to do with lethality. The targeted guns are distinguished mainly by their sinister, military-style appearance.
The VPC complains that "the gun industry moved quickly to make slight, cosmetic design changes in their 'post-ban' guns to evade the law." That was possible because the focus of the law — the essence of what makes a gun an "assault weapon" — is slight and cosmetic.
The VPC says the solution is a broader definition: Instead of two features from a list, for example, one should suffice. But that approach makes the difference between legal and illegal guns even slighter, while evading the basic question of why these weapons were singled out to begin with.
As President Bush's support for renewing the law reflects, the "assault weapon" ban is widely seen as the very model of reasonable gun control. Yet it is based on arbitrary distinctions unrelated to public safety or crime control.
The anti-gun lobby decided to target firearms that look like military weapons for tactical reasons. As the VPC's Josh Sugarmann observed in 1988, "The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons — anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun — can only increase that chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons."
The VPC continues to capitalize on this confusion. "Civilian assault weapons," it says, "are semiautomatic versions of military weapons designed to rapidly lay down a wide field of fire often called 'hosing down' an area." Contrary to the impression left by that ambiguous statement, so-called assault weapons fire once per trigger pull, like any other semiautomatic.
Functionality aside, are "assault weapons" especially popular with criminals? Police statistics from across the country indicate that they represent 2 percent to 3 percent of guns used in crimes.
To get around the fact that "assault weapons" are rarely used by criminals, the VPC is now claiming that from 1998 through 2001 "one in five law enforcement officers slain in the line of duty was killed with an assault weapon." This estimate is padded by the inclusion of weapons that Congress does not define as "assault weapons" but that the VPC does. In any case, it indicates that the vast majority of police killers use guns that no one considers to be "assault weapons."
Notice, too, that banning guns does not prevent them from being used in crimes, which makes you wonder what good even an "improved" ban could be expected to accomplish. Even if police killers were fond of "assault weapons" and if passing a law could magically eliminate them, it's absurd to imagine that violent criminals could not find adequate substitutes.
The "assault weapon" ban sets a dangerous precedent precisely because the justification for it is so weak. It suggests that you don't need a good reason to limit the right to keep and bear arms, and it invites further restrictions down the road. As far as the gun banners are concerned, that is the whole point.
In 1996, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, who favors banning gun possession by civilians, conceded that the arguments advanced by supporters of the "assault weapon" ban were "laughable." The "only real justification" for the law, he said, "is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation."


Jacob Sullum, a senior editor at Reason magazine, is a nationally syndicated columnist.

[Dan from Michigan]

VPC Offers Strong Support for McCarthy-Conyers Assault Weapons Ban

WASHINGTON, DC—The Violence Policy Center (VPC) announced its strong support for the "Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003," legislation introduced today by Representatives Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and John Conyers (D-MI). The legislation would renew a 1994 federal law banning certain assault weapons. More importantly, the bill would significantly strengthen current law to address limitations in the ban that have allowed the gun industry to circumvent the law.

The current assault weapons ban will end on September 13, 2004, unless Congress and the President act and pass new legislation.

The gun industry has successfully circumvented the current law, designing and marketing assault weapons that incorporate slight modifications to evade the ban. The gun industry markets a wide variety of such "post-ban" assault weapons. "These guns are assault weapons, but they are not banned by current law," states Kristen Rand, VPC legislative director. These "post-ban" guns incorporate features that are the essence of an assault weapon, design characteristics that make it easy for a shooter to simply point – as opposed to carefully aim – the weapon to quickly spray a wide area with a lethal hail of bullets. These design characteristics make assault weapons especially attractive to criminals and distinguish them from true hunting weapons. Today, "post-ban" versions of AK-47s and AR-15s, guns banned by name by the 1994 law, are flooding the civilian market. A post-ban AR-15 clone manufactured by Bushmaster was used by the Washington, DC-area snipers to kill 10 and injure three in October 2002.

The McCarthy-Conyers bill is modeled on California's assault weapons ban. The California law was passed in 1999 to improve upon that state's landmark 1989 legislation to ban assault weapons in the wake of the Stockton schoolyard massacre. Adds Rand, "The updated California law has successfully prevented the gun industry from manufacturing and marketing "sporterized" assault weapons. This should be the goal of any new federal law."

[WorkingClassFilth]

I am reminded of the timeless words of Travis Bickle in the film 'Taxi Driver': "Hey Sport - suck on this"...[BANG].

[Dan from Michigan]

Mr. MORAN of Virginia

More proof that punks that beat up women want guns to be banned.

[Dan from Michigan]

ALL COSPONSORS as of 5-13-03 - RINOs in Bold.

Rep Ackerman, Gary L. - 5/8/2003 [NY-5] Rep Andrews, Robert E. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-1]

Rep Bishop, Timothy H. - 5/8/2003 [NY-1] Rep Blumenauer, Earl - 5/8/2003 [OR-3]

Rep Brady, Robert - 5/8/2003 [PA-1] Rep Brown, Corrine - 5/8/2003 [FL-3]

Rep Capuano, Michael E. - 5/8/2003 [MA-8] Rep Carson, Julia - 5/8/2003 [IN-7]

Rep Case, Ed - 5/8/2003 [HI-2] Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 5/8/2003 [MI-14]

Rep Cummings, Elijah E. - 5/8/2003 [MD-7] Rep Davis, Danny K. - 5/8/2003 [IL-7]

Rep Delahunt, William D. - 5/8/2003 [MA-10] Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. - 5/8/2003 [CT-3]

Rep Emanuel, Rahm - 5/8/2003 [IL-5] Rep Engel, Eliot L. - 5/8/2003 [NY-17]

Rep Farr, Sam - 5/8/2003 [CA-17] Rep Fattah, Chaka - 5/8/2003 [PA-2]

Rep Frank, Barney - 5/8/2003 [MA-4] Rep Grijalva, Raul M. - 5/8/2003 [AZ-7]

Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. - 5/8/2003 [IL-4] Rep Harman, Jane - 5/8/2003 [CA-36]

Rep Hoeffel, Joseph M. - 5/8/2003 [PA-13] Rep Holt, Rush D. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-12]

Rep Honda, Michael M. - 5/8/2003 [CA-15] Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. - 5/8/2003 [IL-2]

Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 5/8/2003 [TX-18] Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice - 5/8/2003 [TX-30]

Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. - 5/8/2003 [RI-1] Rep Langevin, James R. - 5/8/2003 [RI-2]

Rep Lee, Barbara - 5/8/2003 [CA-9] Rep Lewis, John - 5/8/2003 [GA-5]

Rep Lipinski, William O. - 5/8/2003 [IL-3] Rep Lofgren, Zoe - 5/8/2003 [CA-16]

Rep Lowey, Nita M. - 5/8/2003 [NY-18] Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. - 5/8/2003 [NY-14]

Rep Markey, Edward J. - 5/8/2003 [MA-7] Rep McGovern, James P. - 5/8/2003 [MA-3]

Rep Meehan, Martin T. - 5/8/2003 [MA-5] Rep Menendez, Robert - 5/8/2003 [NJ-13]

Rep Moran, James P. - 5/8/2003 [VA-8] Rep Nadler, Jerrold - 5/8/2003 [NY-8]

Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes - 5/8/2003 [DC] Rep Owens, Major R. - 5/8/2003 [NY-11]

Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-8] Rep Payne, Donald M. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-10]

Rep Rangel, Charles B. - 5/8/2003 [NY-15] Rep Rothman, Steve R. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-9]

Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille - 5/8/2003 [CA-34] Rep Rush, Bobby L. - 5/8/2003 [IL-1]

Rep Sanchez, Linda T. - 5/8/2003 [CA-39] Rep Sanchez, Loretta - 5/8/2003 [CA-47]

Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. - 5/8/2003 [IL-9] Rep Shays, Christopher - 5/8/2003 [CT-4]

Rep Smith, Christopher H. - 5/8/2003 [NJ-4] Rep Solis, Hilda L. - 5/8/2003 [CA-32]

Rep Stark, Fortney Pete - 5/8/2003 [CA-13] Rep Tauscher, Ellen O. - 5/8/2003 [CA-10]

Rep Tierney, John F. - 5/8/2003 [MA-6] Rep Towns, Edolphus - 5/8/2003 [NY-10]

Rep Van Hollen, Chris - 5/8/2003 [MD-8] Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. - 5/8/2003 [NY-12]

Rep Waters, Maxine - 5/8/2003 [CA-35] Rep Watson, Diane E. - 5/8/2003 [CA-33]

Rep Waxman, Henry A. - 5/8/2003 [CA-30] Rep Weiner, Anthony D. - 5/8/2003 [NY-9]

Rep Wexler, Robert - 5/8/2003 [FL-19] Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. - 5/8/2003 [CA-6]

[wjcsux]

The sponsors of this bill is the "whose who" list of sleazy RATS in the H of R. All of the usual suspects are listed. These RATS are more concerned with the rights of illegal immigrants and criminals than they are with yours.

[Monty22]

Don't the democrats, these grabbers in particular, try to pass one of these outrageous bans ever session?

[hot august night]

I don't trust Bush any more on the 2nd amendment than I do on his defense of our borders against the invasion of 20 million illegal aliens. When Bush came out against arming pilots after 9/11, I knew he would endorse the "assault weapons" ban when the time arose. Bush is no conservative.

There is an excellent article in today's Washington Times (www.washingtontimes.com) by John Lott about the absurdity of the assault weapons ban, and why it is just another disguise at disarming the American people on a sweeping level. (I don't know how to link the article to this post which is why I supplied the website).

Today, in the Wall Street Journal, there was a blurb on the front cover about how the British cops don't want to carry guns (about 80%), and that "gun crime (in Britain) is rare." What crap -- everyone who has paid attention to the issue knows that an unprecedented epidemic of gun crime is pervasive now over there as a direct result of the gov't.'s confiscation of firearms and outlawing ownership. In England, as we know on this site, it is so corrupt that even self-defense is against the law. Looks like I am writing a letter to the WSJ editor today.

I would expect this anti-gun propaganda in the New York Slimes, but not the Wall Street Journal. But then again, the Journal, mouthpiece of big business, loves to cheerlead and defend the illegal invasion, and make up all these imaginary reasons on their editorial page why they are such a blessing to this country.

Jack, I am an unabashed and huge defender of the 2nd amendment (I would have to be to be brave enough to walk the streets of the Socialist Republic of NJ and Manhattan in an NRA cap) so thanks for the ping. And Conservative, could you add me to your bang/ping list. Thanks.

[zip]

I caught your request on another thread. This is the bill.

[Vic3O3]

evil gun grabber ping

[Teacher317]

Claire Wolfe... paging Claire Wolfe...