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Local politicians urge renewal of federal assault weapons ban
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/30/04 | John Wildermuth

Posted on 06/30/2004 3:40:03 PM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson

If the 10-year-old federal assault weapons ban is allowed to expire Sept. 13, "it will put the weapons of the war and the weapons of choice ... in the hands of literally 15- and 16-year-olds'' in San Francisco and across the nation, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. . . .

Feinstein worries that the country will be flooded with assault weapons if the ban expires. In April, Italian customs agents seized an illegal shipment of more than 7,500 assault weapons from Romania to a Georgia gun dealer.

"They were waiting for the ban to expire,'' Feinstein said. "And that's what's going to happen. It's going to be open sesame on the manufacture and sale (of assault weapons).

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: assaultweapons; awb; bang; banglist; barbaraboxer; billjones; feinstein; gavinnewsom; nra
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1 posted on 06/30/2004 3:40:04 PM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

Yes, the Bush Administration has a plan to distribute free assault weapons to 13 year olds on September 14.


2 posted on 06/30/2004 3:42:42 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

Yep - I agree.

I'm sure the illegal shippers have been waiting for the repeal. /rolleyes


3 posted on 06/30/2004 3:42:50 PM PDT by mykroar
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To: mykroar

Yeah didnt you know that the illegal shippers are law abiding in every respect?

Idiot press morons trying to scare people again..


4 posted on 06/30/2004 3:45:36 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (Kerry renames the US The People's Republic of America)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

ummm, I'm pretty sure guns will still be illegal in California.


5 posted on 06/30/2004 3:46:21 PM PDT by tbeatty (I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to eat salad.)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
"it will put the weapons of the war and the weapons of choice ... in the hands of literally 15- and 16-year-olds''

Gee - I wish I was 15-16 years old again so I could have my own tank, or F-16 or maybe even my own tactical nuke...

Yowser!!

6 posted on 06/30/2004 3:47:41 PM PDT by TomServo ("I'm so upset that I'll binge on a Saltine.")
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
" . . . in the hands of literally 15- and 16-year-olds'' in San Francisco and across the nation, . . . "

Future freedom fighters. Okay, parents. Don't forget to tell them who the enemy is.

7 posted on 06/30/2004 3:49:20 PM PDT by Eastbound
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To: Everybody

If the 10-year-old federal assault weapons ban is allowed to expire Sept. 13, "it will put the weapons of the war and the weapons of choice ... in the hands of literally 15- and 16-year-olds'' in San Francisco and across the nation, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.

Newsom joined Police Chief Heather Fong, Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and families touched by gun violence in a last- ditch plea to rally support for the ban, which now seems likely to disappear in the fall in the face of strong congressional opposition.
"The clock is ticking,'' said Feinstein, who wrote the original bill and pushed the ban through Congress. There are "76 days until we turn the clock back to 1994, when those seeking to kill the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time had easy access to military-style assault weapons.''

The original ban passed in the wake of the July 1993 massacre at 101 California St. in San Francisco, when a disturbed gunman carrying two TEC-9 assault pistols killed eight people and wounded six others before taking his own life.
Steve Sposato, an attorney whose wife, Judy, was killed in the 101 California St. shooting, put the issue in human terms.

"The debate is about this or what happened to my family,'' he said as he held up a jet-black Belgian-made FNC assault rifle, which had been seized by San Francisco police. "It's about the (National Rifle Association) protecting the billion-dollar gun industry or my daughter having a mother.
"After Sept. 13, you can buy (the FNC assault rifle) with a 50-round clip. ''
The NRA has lobbied hard, and so far successfully, to keep the House from voting on a bill to renew the assault weapons ban. A narrow majority in the Senate favors retaining the ban.

"This law for (Feinstein) is one piece of a puzzle for banning all guns for all law-abiding citizens,'' said Chris W. Cox, an NRA lobbyist. "Assault weapons were rarely used in crimes before the ban, are rarely used now and will be rarely used after the ban expires.''

The assault weapons ban is based solely on the way the guns look, not on how they work, he added.
"There's no serious study that shows this ban has had any impact on crime, '' Cox said.
Law enforcement groups across the nation back the assault weapons ban, Newsom said. The issue is even more important in San Francisco, where 29-year- old Officer Isaac Espinoza was shot to death last month with an AK-47.

"There's simply no justification for the availability of these weapons on the street,'' said Fong, the police chief. "We in the police department know what assault weapons can do and have done.''
Of San Francisco's 53 homicides in 2004, seven involved assault weapons, Newsom said. Police also have confiscated 27 illegal assault weapons.

"I can't believe there's even a debate about extending (the ban) for another 10 years,'' the mayor said. "This is about saving lives. ... It's about good common sense. It's about reducing the likelihood that people will be walking around with these guns.''
It's also about politics. President Bush came out of favor of the assault weapons ban when he was running for president in 2000, calling the measure "a reasonable step.'' He also has promised to sign an extension if it is approved by Congress.
"The president's views on the assault weapons ban are well-known and unchanged,'' said Ken Lisaius, a spokesman for Bush.

But Feinstein, Boxer and other Democrats charge that Bush is not interested in breaking the current congressional deadlock. Feinstein called for Bush to pressure House GOP leaders to open the way for a vote on the extension.

"If this president won't do it, it's time to elect a president who will, '' said Feinstein, who's backing Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the November presidential election.
Gun control is also an issue in Boxer's re-election campaign and one she brings up often.
At a San Francisco fund-raiser Monday, Boxer repeated her charge that Bill Jones, her GOP opponent, is out of step with Californians on issues like gun control.

Jones "voted against a (state) assault weapons ban at least seven times'' when he was in the Assembly in the 1980s and 1990s, she said.
The former secretary of state, who was endorsed by the NRA when he ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 1992, voted against the state bills because they were loosely written, said Sean Walsh, a spokesman for Jones.

"Bill Jones supports the president's position on the assault weapons ban and would support the extension if he was in the Senate,'' Walsh said.
Feinstein worries that the country will be flooded with assault weapons if the ban expires. In April, Italian customs agents seized an illegal shipment of more than 7,500 assault weapons from Romania to a Georgia gun dealer.

"They were waiting for the ban to expire,'' Feinstein said. "And that's what's going to happen. It's going to be open sesame on the manufacture and sale (of assault weapons).
"Everything we've worked so hard to keep from the public is going to be right back in the gun stores, sold right back at the gun shows, sold right out of the back seats and trunks of automobiles.''


8 posted on 06/30/2004 3:50:42 PM PDT by tpaine (The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being" -- Solzhenitsyn)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

democrat boogy man for november.

The cities mayors (gorezones) are going to need the gun control issue. They do not want the solution, the want the issue.


9 posted on 06/30/2004 3:53:25 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

I got the answer. President Bush agrees to push congress to reconsider the ban in exchange for a vote on all judicial nominees (must proceed action on ban because you can't trust Democrats). Then we get judges that strike the ban as unconstitutional.


10 posted on 06/30/2004 4:38:02 PM PDT by Better Dead Than Red (Davis College Republicans (Best Party on Campus))
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To: tpaine
He also has promised to sign an extension if it is approved by Congress.

I don't remember him ever saying "I promise." He said he would but who says he can't change his mind, John Kerry does it all the time.

11 posted on 06/30/2004 4:42:37 PM PDT by Better Dead Than Red (Davis College Republicans (Best Party on Campus))
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

They push this issue now, in particular, to help ensure a sufficiently disarmed population to stand helplessly as they finish wrecking the country.


12 posted on 06/30/2004 4:51:45 PM PDT by epigone73
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To: Homer_J_Simpson

Attack the dim senators up for reelection in the red states. Maybe we can actually defeat one or two of them in the process.


13 posted on 06/30/2004 4:54:46 PM PDT by snooker
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To: tpaine

"Everything we've worked so hard to keep from the public is going to be right back in the gun stores, sold right back at the gun shows, sold right out of the back seats and trunks of automobiles.''

Check my tagline, once more.


14 posted on 06/30/2004 4:56:02 PM PDT by B4Ranch (We're going to take things away from you (guns) on behalf of the common good." Hillary 6/29/2004)
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To: tpaine
In April, Italian customs agents seized an illegal shipment of more than 7,500 assault weapons from Romania to a Georgia gun dealer.

That one sentence is so full of lies it's hard to know where to start.

The shipment was not illegal. After checking with the BATFE it was found that the paperwork was correct and the guns were released.

They were not assault weapons. They were semi-automatic SAR-1s.

They were not headed to the state of Georgia. They were headed to Florida. Century Arms is a well-known importer of surplus military weapons. Century Arms main office, and the address on the paperwork, is in the town of Georgia, in Vermont.

15 posted on 06/30/2004 5:02:04 PM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: Better Dead Than Red
[Bush] also has promised to sign an extension if it is approved by Congress.

I don't remember him ever saying "I promise." He said he would but who says he can't change his mind, John Kerry does it all the time.

--- Red, face up to the fact that the GOP endorses renewing the AWB. Once this election is over you can bet it will be reinstated.
- Listen to Jones, the GOP candidate for Senator:

President Bush came out of favor of the assault weapons ban when he was running for president in 2000, calling the measure "a reasonable step.'' He also has promised to sign an extension if it is approved by Congress.
"The president's views on the assault weapons ban are well-known and unchanged,'' said Ken Lisaius, a spokesman for Bush. At a San Francisco fund-raiser Monday, Boxer repeated her charge that Bill Jones, her GOP opponent, is out of step with Californians on issues like gun control.
The former secretary of state, who was endorsed by the NRA when he ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 1992, voted against the state bills because they were loosely written, said Sean Walsh, a spokesman for Jones.
"Bill Jones supports the president's position on the assault weapons ban and would support the extension if he was in the Senate,'' Walsh said.

16 posted on 06/30/2004 5:05:04 PM PDT by tpaine (The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being" -- Solzhenitsyn)
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To: tpaine
"The debate is about this ...,'' he said as he held up a jet-black Belgian-made FNC assault rifle, which had been seized by San Francisco police. ... "After Sept. 13, you can buy (the FNC assault rifle) with a 50-round clip. ''

I can buy that FAL right now (here in Texas). I don't have to wait until September. On the other hand -- the California ban will continue after September whee it will still be illegal to transfer a FAL to someone else in California or to import one into California from another state. So what's the problem?

17 posted on 06/30/2004 5:05:22 PM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: tpaine
The issue is even more important in San Francisco, where 29-year- old Officer Isaac Espinoza was shot to death last month with an AK-47.

So because an ineffective law isn't working, we need to extend it? Huh?

Actually it's two ineffective laws. There'e the national AWB and also on top of it is the stricter California AWB. Neither of which kept his criminal from using a banned weapon. And it can't have been an AK-47 as they are very rare indeed. It most surely was an AK-47 look-alike such as the aforementioned SAR-1.

18 posted on 06/30/2004 5:09:11 PM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: *bang_list

Their time is limited. Let 'em cry.


19 posted on 06/30/2004 5:09:59 PM PDT by NRA2BFree (Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.)
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To: tpaine

Yeah I know Jones would support it but it has been my theory all along (or at least my hope) that President Bush said that knowing a Republican congress wouldn't let it pass.


20 posted on 06/30/2004 5:13:00 PM PDT by Better Dead Than Red (Davis College Republicans (Best Party on Campus))
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