Assault Weapon Ban extension PASSES (Senate amendment to gun industry protection bill)

C-Span ^ | 3-2-04 | Sen. Dianne Feinstein D-CA

[Atlas Sneezed]

The vote was:

52 -Aye in favor of extending the ban 47 -Nay opposed to the ban.

[CGTRWK]

The, no, capital THE, reason the Republicans hold majorities in the House and Senate is the AWB. The anger over this action did something the Republicans couldn't do on their own in 40 years of trying.

Democrat gun grabbing is only half the reason we got Congress back, the other half was the threat of Hilarycare.

Well, 10 years later we've managed to give the Republicans both houses and the presidency and what are they giving us?

Gun grabbing and a $550B Hilarycare package.

[El Gato]

Please. I know you want Bush to spell it out for you

Yes, that would be nice. In general, Bush is the sort of guy who says what he means and means what he says. There is no political capital to be lost in this case if he does exactly that, almost all those in favor of gun bans weren't going to vote for him anyway. Thus I can only conclude that he is still saying what he means, and meaning what he (or his official spokespersons) says. At the very least he and they could shut up about the subject, instead of continuing to say he's in favor of it.

[need_a_screen_name]

THE VERY SAME PEOPLE WHO CRITICIZE 2ND AMENDMENT PURISTS, ARE ALL TOO OFTEN NO-COMPROMISE PRO-LIFERS THEMSELVES. IT'S OKAY TO BASH REPUBLICANS WHEN THEIR OX GETS GORED!

[Henrietta]

"Straggly bands of would-be revolutionaries haven't a prayer, and there's no chance in the world that you'll find enough folks to join you to make a bit of difference. "

Really? You mean like the first Revolutionary militia and the battle against King George's men, where the militia was outgunned and outnumbered?

Just a reminder: the Revolution was fought (and won) with the support of 10% of the population (or so I'm told.) Don't underestimate the zeal with which people are willing to fight to be free. There are 200 million gun owners in this country, and I doubt very much that even 10 percent of those people, properly motivated to fight for their freedoms, could be defeated by better trained and better armed government troops.

The government knows this. Why do you think they want our guns??

[dixiepatriot]

"No, I'm serious. You would cheer Bush if he converted us to Communism."

Bush would probably call it "compassionate communism."

;-)

[kcvl]

Sorry, but we got Hillarycare before that. It just got worse with the Medicare bill. Compassionate conservative, remember? I still wonder what that is. Compassion for those who aren't paying the bills?

[rikkir]

"BushBot"

I try not to sound like one or become one but I keep coming back to that "lesser of two evils thing". I know that sometimes sacrifices principle, but I still can't believe that the dems regainig power will better serve my principles.
I've said before Bush never said in first campaign that he was is a conservative. He said he was a compassionate conservative. I didn't vote for him in the primary, but when he became the nominee I supported him. Since there is no primary this time, well you get the picture. The dems have acchieved so much through incrementalism and we can too, even if we have to lose a few battles to win the bigger war.
I don't agree with some of Bush's policies, but I love the fact that he has brought dignity, honor, and honesty back to the WH. That in itself is the best way to defeat liberalism as a whole, as we know they can't be who they are without lying.

[MineralMan]

"When the government fears the people we have freedom, when the people fear the government we have tyranny. We have entered the latter."

Perhaps. But, perhaps, we have done so with the consent of the governed, rather than from fear. In reality, I'll wager that most citizens of this country do not really fear the government. Perhaps they're to stupid to have that fear, but there you are.

[c-b 1]

I understand your frustration with RINOS, the problem with voting libertarian is that they haven't bothered to do what it takes to win elections, voting for candidates that can't get elected, or couldn't be effective if elected, solves nothing.

The solution is to take back the Republican party from the RINOS running the party. You, and I have to get on the ballot, and get elected to our county party, then get elected as delegate to the state party conventions.

I will be running for delegate to our State convention next month, but without help from folks like you we won't make much difference.

[Texas Federalist]

How, precisely, is a ban on assault weapons a violation of the 2nd Amendment? I'm being serious and sincere in the question, so I'd appreciate a serious and sincere response.

As a lawyer, here's the argument I would make to a judge in the Fifth Circuit stated very briefly and in laymans terms: The Emerson Case held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right too keep and bear arms. Therefore, any law that regulates firearms can only be upheld if it is "narrowly tailored to further a compelling state interest". In this case, the purported state interest is public safety. The law is not "narrowly tailored" to that interest because the assault weapons law containes an arbitrary definition of "assault weapons" that outlaws cosmetic features such as flash suppressors and pistol grips that do not affect the dangerousness of the weapon. Moreover, the law does not further the interest of public safety, because there is no evidence that the types of weapons subject to the ban are used in a significant amount of criminal acts.

[StoneColdGOP]

Nobody started a revolution when the AWB passed the first time, and nobody's going to start one now if it gets extended.

Where were you in November of '94? In case you missed it, there WAS a Revolution, a ton of left-wing incumbents were axed and Republicans took over the Congress, due in no small part to their predecessors voting for and supporting the '94 AWB.

I am more than willing to see Rove and his little puppet Bushamecha tossed out for extending the AWB and opening the borders to illegals alone. I didn't vote for Bushamecha this morning, and I sure as hell wouldn't this fall.

[Ohioan]

I've just never been able to figure out why, to some people, the ability to fire-off a clip of bullets by simply a series of squeezes of a trigger is the ultimate test of liberty.

It is pretty obvious to some of us here, that you have never read very much of the arguments of the Founding Fathers for reliance on a militia of our free manhood; are not familiar with the reasons why George Washington openly advocated adoption of the Swiss system, whereby every home would have been armed with military grade small arms.

Since you are a regular at a Conservative web site, I assume that the reasons for a Society, premised upon the responsibility of the individual, make some sense to you; that you appreciate, at least to some degree, the benefits of having a self-reliant population, discharging their individual responsibilities both to manage their own affairs, as well as discharging their obligations to family, community, State and Union.

That Society was not just based upon those concepts, responsibility and self-reliance, in the field of economics; but in every aspect of societal and human interaction. It is the seeming abandonment of this, most basic of American concepts, inside the Beltway, that is infuriating to Conservatives. And mere appeals to political partisanship will cut no ice with us, when we feel America is losing her way because of that very partisanship.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

[Gringo1]

We would welcome you in Georgia.

[TheRightGuy]

Kerry's nomination of Hillary for Chief Justice

I had never before even contemplated that possiblity, it's gonna cost me my lunch, and perhaps a new keyboard.

[El Gato]

It is telling that you would compare a 2 year old and his parent to citizens and our government.

He was merely quoting Peter Jennings. PJ had the roles reversed though. The citizens are the parents the government their offspring, and what they did in 1994 was to send the politicians to their room. Since that apparently didn't get the message across. This time, we'll have to reluctantly exercise tougher love.

[MineralMan]

""Straggly bands of would-be revolutionaries haven't a prayer, and there's no chance in the world that you'll find enough folks to join you to make a bit of difference. "

Really? You mean like the first Revolutionary militia and the battle against King George's men, where the militia was outgunned and outnumbered?
"

You're mistaken in this. While the British were better armed, they were not better supplied, overall. They were also not in their own country.

No such circumstances apply here and now. If you gathered up every person in this country who was actually willing to take up arms against our government, you'd maybe have a couple of companies, or perhaps a regiment. That's it.

Against them would be the best military on the planet, along with the bulk of the citizenry, many of whom are also armed and ex-military.

Not a prayer of success.

Empty threats, and threats that only serve to solidify the opposition.

[e5man_r_u?]

Even if this does pass (with a shorter lifespan I hope) it is worth it. The lawsuits were the larger and more imminent threat. We can kill the AWB outright later. This never would have passed otherwise.

For what its worth for all the play that gun control issues are getting the GOP could kill both amendments and most of the public would not notice and would not care if the Demos squaked about it.

[Shooter 2.5]

Handing the Presidency, the Congress and the Senate back to the anti-gun party over the actions of ten Republicans isn't smart.

[Joe Brower]

I thank you for not calling him/her an idiot

No thanks necessary. The terms are not exactly intuitive, and they get erroneously swapped back and forth quite a bit, which doesn't help matters.