Posted on 05/20/2003 11:38:12 AM PDT by 45Auto
Well, here we go again. Power-hungry cowards in Congress are once again seeking to ram gun control down our throats, and this time, our president – the man who was painted as a friend to the some 80 million-gun owners in this country by the National Republican Apologists (NRA) – says he will sign it if it reaches his desk.
But my goal today is not to take aim at the NRA for its obsequious and quite obvious silence on the G.W. Bush promise to sign the odious legislation to expand and make permanent the Clinton “Assault” weapons ban of 1994 into law – although God and Goddess know the NRA’s hypocrisy and ass kissing of the seat of power are glaring, to say the least. No, today I’m taking on the President himself…
· For playing political games with our freedoms;
· For maneuvering and dodging instead of taking a courageous stand;
· And for trying to appease the anti-freedom maggots in congress and at Handgun Control, Inc. (And no, I won’t call it the “Brady Center.” They are what they are, regardless of the name change.)
Consider this: George W. Bush is a man who ran on the premise that he was a friend of the Second Amendment. In the 2000 elections, the NRA drooled at the prospect of having Bush in office. An excerpt from a story on Boston.com tells the story quite well: “On the NRA tape, [Kayne] Robinson calls Gore an ‘antigun fanatic’ and said electing him would be a ‘horror story.’ But with Bush, the likely Republican nominee, they will have ‘unbelievably friendly relations.’”
In October, 2000, then-NRA President Charlton Heston stomped around the country urging gun owners to vote for George W. Bush, describing the presidential campaign as "a holy war" for the constitutional rights of gun owners.
And now, the President to whom a large number of gun owners gave their vote – a sacred trust to protect their rights and the US Constitution – is underhandedly voicing his tacit support for the permanent ban of certain types of firearms. No, he’s not proud of his support. He’s keeping a low profile, letting his lackeys do the talking, while keeping conspicuously silent himself. If the ban never sees his desk, his spin-doctors can twist the sad facts into a positive development for the Bush Presidency: An odious Clintonesque gun control bill was killed during our brave leader’s reign!
If Congress passes H.R. 2038, and Bush signs it into law, you can expect a very large number of gun owners and patriots to turn away from Bush and from the Republican party. There’s no excuse for this heinous, unconstitutional legislation to see the light of day – not when we have a Republican majority in Congress and a Republican White House. Republicans are supposed to be gun owners’ friends, right?
Apparently, they aren’t. Apparently Republicans are just as willing to play politics with our rights as the Democrats. According to Newsday.com, “[House] Speaker Dennis Hastert opened the door Thursday to a vote on extending an assault weapons ban that expires next year, and the leader of House Democrats prodded President Bush to urge the Republican leadership to bring the bill to the floor.” It sure doesn’t sound like the Republicans are any better friends to gun owners than the Democrats. They’ll violate your rights just to appear “moderate” just as quickly as the Democrats, hoping their tepid reluctance will earn them brownie points.
Well, time has come to say it: Mr. President, you and your Republican cohorts are cowards and hypocrites, and gun owners know it!
Yes, I’m saying it loud and clear, so that you and your lackeys can read and revel in this fact. You have no courage. You have no integrity. You bend to the political convenience of the moment, because it’s the quickest road to re-election, and you think that little red, white and blue elephant on your lapel, your patriotic pictures on the USS Abraham Lincoln and your war on terrorism will erase or obscure this fact and that your membership in the Republican party will shield you from the wrath of those you have betrayed.
You feel complacent because you feel gun owners will support you regardless, because you happen to be the lesser of the two evils. You feel secure, shrouded in the Republican banner, because gun owners have consistently and loyally voted Republican. Well, I suggest you stop feeling secure, sir. Because gun owners don’t appreciate cowards and hypocrites. We don’t appreciate compromising twits, who will do anything to appear “moderate” while trading away our rights for a few votes. We appreciate truth, integrity and courage.
If you had any gonads at all, you would stand up and say, “I want to ban all the so-called ‘assault’ weapons and I will support any legislation which accomplishes this goal,” and then allow law-abiding and freedom-loving citizens of this country to turn away from you, as you know they will.
But no, you won’t do that, Mr. Bush, because politics are apparently much more important to you than principles. You want reelection so bad, you can taste it, and it appears you’ll do anything – even sell law-abiding gun owners to the socialist wolves – to get it.
The legislation you are too afraid to state your support for is a pernicious piece of garbage that will do nothing more than place further limits on our freedoms.
H.R. 2038 – the “Assault” weapons ban will do nothing to stop crime. Prior to the Clinton ban, a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey reported that in 1991, about 8 percent of state inmates had possessed a so-called “assault” weapon. Care to guess how many carried said weapon in the commission of a crime? LESS THAN ONE PERCENT.
A Virginia inmate survey conducted prior to the 1994 ban showed that while about 10 percent of incarcerated criminals ever owned an “assault” weapon, none had carried it at the scene of a crime.
Meanwhile, in 1997 – four years after the Clinton ban was passed – 1.5 percent of state inmates and 1.7 percent of federal inmates admitted to having used a weapon made illegal by the Clinton ban.
Both numbers are insignificant, but some are more insignificant than others. More criminals used the banned “assault” weapons during the commission of their crimes after the ban than before. Even now, the number of criminals who use “assault” weapons is pathetically small.
So what is the purpose of this ban?
Is it to reduce crime? Apparently not, since said weapons are rarely used to commit offenses.
It bans, among other things, pistol grips, folding telescopic stocks, threaded barrels, forward grips and barrel shrouds – none of which make a gun any more or less “dangerous” and none of which pose any threat to law enforcement. And yet, the legislation carries the deceptive name, Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003, even though it has no hope of “protecting” the already protected elite – the police, who are, of course, exempt from the bill’s provisions.
What you are tacitly supporting, Mr. Bush is nothing less than an attempt to ram yet more gun control down the throats of the American public. It’s not about crime, it’s not about protection, it’s about control, and if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem –
- a problem we, gun owners, plan to battle and win.
If you are not to be a part of it, so be it. But at least have the courage to stand up and admit it, instead of hiding from the truth.
Admit that you would support an ineffective and unconstitutional ban on firearms for a political purpose.
Admit that you are too cowardly to stand up to Schumer, McCarthy, Feinstein and their weak-minded socialist brethren, because you’re afraid you’ll lose votes.
Don’t sit in the White House and have your lackeys proclaim what a great, courageous independent minded leader you are, because you’re willing to part with the NRA on this issue. What you’re doing is not courageous; it’s stupid, ineffectual and manipulative.
Our rights are not yours to maneuver for your political gain.
Our Constitution is not up for debate.
Our freedoms are not your bargaining chips, Mr. President.
Stand up, be a man and admit your support for this unconstitutional monster that aims to take firearms out of the hands of the law-abiding. Or if you don’t support this bill, have the courage to say so and face the mealy-mouthed, hand wringing wrath of Brady, Nosanchuk, Diaz and their socialist ilk.
You won’t get a pass on this, Mr. President. Your political games with our freedoms paint you as a coward, a manipulator and a traitor. It’s time for you to do the right thing. State your position, and face the consequences like a man.
It isn't meaningless, it puts people in jail.
Has anyone found it so bad.
Yes.
Everyone knows it's a phony ban to start with so what's the big deal.
It isn't a phony ban - it doesn't put people in phony prisons. It makes normal-cap mags cost $100 instead of $20, and it disallows use of ergonomically-designed pistol grips in rifles. It makes it a felony to switch uppers on a pre-ban and post-ban rifle - resulting in loss of all firearms rights as well as both rifles. If you support this ban then you are on the side of the gun grabbers and tyrants.
I think she (the author) gets it.
The last time I checked you don't get to lead anything without votes, I don't think she (the author) GETS IT at all!
And Pray Tell, exactly what are the House Majority Leaders Statements on the matter?
On Tuesday, DeLay, R-Texas, said that the votes "are not there" in the House to extend the ban. DeLay's spokesman, Stuart Roy, later said Republicans have "no intention" of calling the bill up for a vote.
Fleischer told reporters this week the White House is working with Congress on issues such as tax cuts and AIDS, and added, "The president doesn't set the congressional calendar or schedule. We'll continue to work with the Congress, and they know the president's position."
Hastert voted against the ban when it cleared the House in 1994 on a vote of 216-214, but told reporters at a news conference he was "reserving my personal opinion" in the event of another vote.
All you need to know.
BUSH'S statement WILL make it harder for the DEMONS to raise money for this cause, they don't have a controversy, later for that, as they say 18 months is a lifetime in politics.
It's not going to happen. The Republicans and quite a few DemocRATS in the House are opposed to extending the ban. It will die in committee.
(Sorry to have to ask but, has it been challenged all the way to the SCOTUS, such that it upheld all aspects of the ban?)
I know, I've enjoyed your threads. I just made a note of what is usually posted here.
One thing about this that is absolutely correct is the very hard line we should be taking in communicating to the White House. This is the tone we should be telling the Republican Party, mess with us and lose the Senate and White House. I don't think the NRA can get away with using this tone because they still have to glad hand the pols. Little groups like the Armed Females can get away with it.
The reality if we fail to stop the bill in Congress is, we can't do a thing that lets the libs back into power. We have to bluff our way for Bush doing everything he can behind the scenes to kill this bill. Plan B, if he's forced to sign the Bill, doesn't involve letting the libs back into power.
I don't support the AWB, I don't care. Obviously some disagree with me, I'll put you on their side. What about those "Tommy guns", shouldn't you be fighting for that too?
Agreed! Recruit gun toting lady school teachers! ;-)
I'm so glad you said that because I was thinking the same thing. If the ban is useless, why fret about it, if it is only 'feel good' legislation? I think that Dubya is very astute when it comes to things that congress tries to shove on he plate. He took the same stance with campaign finance, and let the courts kill most of it as unconstitutional, rather than take the political hit. I think he believes this type of thing shouldn't reach his desk.
That's for sure. The arrogance!
You're too kind. "Naivete" was my second thought. (I daren't post my first.)
FReegards
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