The Evidence Is Clear: President Bush Is Blocking Assault Weapons Renewal, Says Brady Campaign

U.S. Newswire ^ | 7/22/2004

[Mr. Mojo]

WASHINGTON, July 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- There are only six days left when Congress is in session before the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban -- a law that President Bush pledged he'd renew as a candidate for President in 2000. "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society," he said then. And another Republican leader made statements this week indicating the President can get a vote by simply asking for one.

"President Bush is blocking a vote on the Assault Weapons Ban," said Michael Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March.

Here's a brief review of published comments since May. First, on May 12, The Hill newspaper wrote "an aide to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has said privately that if Bush pushes for it, the ban will probably be reauthorized. But if he doesn't, the chances of legislation's passing this year are remote."

Then, on June 24, the Boston Globe reported "Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, said Bush still supports the ban, but is waiting for the House to act."

Then, on July 11, the Washington Post reported the House Majority Leader Tom Delay said "we stated our position before the White House had to ask us... (the White House) knew not to (ask,) because the votes are not there."

Now, following a news conference held by Representatives Michael Castle (R-DE) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Delay told the daily newsletter Congressional Quarterly "there's no reason to use floor time for a vote just to have a vote on this particular subject," he said. "And unless directed otherwise, I see no reason to bring it to the floor."

The Assault Weapons Ban has enormous public support across the nation. A poll released last week by Penn, Schoen & Berland showed 66 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of independents supported renewal.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March is planning a growing effort to save the law, with television and print advertising, phone banks, grassroots lobbying efforts across the nation throughout August, culminating in the first week in September.

[Dan from Michigan]

Considering how quick Granholm ran away from her Million Mom past(even to the point of signing 3 pro-gun bills - one being a dove bill).....

The smartest thing the dems can do is to let this die. The smartest thing John Kerry could have done(hate to say it) is to miss those gun votes this year.

Neither happnened - two strikes.

[oyez]

A lot of this is due to a narcissistic president who wanted to show his *ss off in an open limo.

[spokeshave]

Note to self....an AK47 and one of those Israeli squirt gun thingies

[Dan from Michigan]

It's going to get ugly in August when the anti-gunners start their massive ad campaign against the sunset.

I'll just counter by exposing their .30-30 ban. Maybe the hunters who aren't pro-2a advocates will wake up and learn that they want to take Grandpa's lever action away - or at least the ammo.

[Southack]

There's something else in play here, too.

The anti-gunners swore that every state that passed CCW laws would "see blood in the streets" from new so-called "gun crimes."

Didn't happen (44 states or so now have CCW, too).

Then the anti-gunners claimed the same nonsense about arming pilots.

Didn't happen.

Now they're saying the same thing about the expiration of the AWB.

Won't happen.

Moreover, we can show time after time that crime and violence either go down or remain the same after each of these pro-gun victories.

In contrast, they can't show squat to support their side.

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[fourdeuce82d]

Okay....(flame suit- ON.Deflector Shields- Up) I'm going to stick it in the blender.

I don't think GWB should fight for the sunset of this bill. I think he should fight against the Increased restrictions I've heard about...but mostly I want him to win.

Bad law, stupid law, unconstitutional law- but it will be much, much worse if he loses.

I think this election will set the course of our country for many years to come- if nothing else, we've got a whole bunch of bench positions to fill. If we get them, that will be one thing.

If "those people" get them...it will be another.

I've got a post-ban AR & ten 30 rounders to go along with it, I've got a glock with four "hi-cap" mags, etc.

I can pretty much buy what I want to buy. I don't want to hear a knock on my door because JFK's justice departmen comes calling.

Let the heaping of contumely begin....

[flashbunny]

you may want to do a little research before you claim something. 1% is something to celebrate? And how are 3,000 'finishing up' their training if there is one out of the way training facility that only trains 48 students at a time??? Are there 60 seperate training classes that are all done and they're just waiting for their diplomas to dry???

Here are some of the facts:

Senators say US slow to arm pilots:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20040407-111335-1734r

"Only 2 percent of 100,000 eligible pilots have been trained to carry guns. They are then forced to carry the weapons in a lockbox, unless they are behind a locked cabin door, and are forbidden from carrying weapons on international flights -- rules pilots have said undermine the program"

Rejected for guns, pilots criticize test

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040204-100150-3132r.htm

" Pilots already trained to carry guns and operate sophisticated weapons systems are among 100 applicants rejected from a federal program to arm flight-deck officers to protect aircraft from terrorist attacks.
Former police officers, firearms instructors and military pilots have filed written complaints with the Federal Flight Deck Officers (FFDO) program questioning its psychological- and background-test system, as well as its generic rejection letter that doesn't explain an applicant's purported shortcomings. "

KEEPING PILOTS UNARMED

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1066671/posts

"Simply put, the TSA's intimidating background screenings, which involve intrusive psychological tests; its threats of sharing its opinion of the pilot's psychological fitness with the FAA and the pilot's employer; its refusal to issue standard federal credentials to FFDO graduates; its ridiculous requirement that the firearm be carried in a lockbox onto the airplane, instead of on the FFDO's person; its use of only one distant training facility; its instructions to Federal Air Marshals to police the FFDO's; and its arbitrary and unnecessary disqualifications of FFDO candidates, have combined to discourage most of those pilots who would have otherwise volunteered.(3) "

The facts don't back up your rosy outlook on the current armed pilots situation. It IS a sham. 1000 or so armed pilots out of 100,000 - almost 3 years after september 11th??!?!? The process and the rules make getting qualified and stayhing armed as difficult as possible. Thanks to norm mineta and the TSA.

And bush, their boss, does nothing about it. It's shameful.

[Southack]

"The process and the rules make getting qualified and stayhing armed as difficult as possible. Thanks to norm mineta and the TSA. And bush, their boss, does nothing about it. It's shameful."

You know not of which you speak. President Bush has already fired someone over the delays.

Loy, the former Coast Guard commandant, was named to replace Transportation Security Administration chief John Magaw, whom Secretary Norm Mineta fired last week for failing to implement Bush's law arming pilots

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Deb]

Yeah, you Lefties...spend that money, burn up those tennies. It's DEAD!!

[Richard Kimball]

That's MY President!

[Southack]

"The facts don't back up your rosy outlook on the current armed pilots situation. It IS a sham. 1000 or so armed pilots out of 100,000..."

More than one thousand armed pilots is no "sham."

Yes, everyone wants there to be 100,000 armed pilots, but simply because our fondest dreams haven't happened overnight is no reason to pretend that arming 1,000 pilots is a sham. 1,000+ armed pilots is a real achievement.

That's the *first* ever repeal of any federal gun control law, ever.

The very first. Yet you paint it as a defeat instead of as a victory by setting your standards so high that no one could ever reach them.

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Deb]

First Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein tried to bully him into expanding the ban by ambushing him at news conferences and Senate meetings. He said, "Nope".

Now he's letting it die in the House and they're losing the whole thing. This is too good.

[flashbunny]

Sorry, the link you gave is two years old.

Two years. Two years and they have trained 1000 out of 100,000 pilots. You call 1% a success? Do you call rules so strict that it makes being armed a hassle and almost useless (to the point that they're NOT armed and the rules leave 'armed' pilots vulnerable) a success???

Do you think allowing a cabinet member and those under him to undermine a necessary law for TWO WHOLE YEARS before actually doing something about it is a great success?????

Seems you have rather low expectations.

[MediaMole]

Good.

[Southack]

"Now he's letting it die in the House and they're losing the whole thing. This is too good."

They didn't even get it through the Senate, much less past DeLay in the House.

Tomorrow is the vote on what will become the 3rd federal repeal of gun control; quite a contrast from a vote on extending the old AWB!

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Deb]

Where are all those jerks who puked up every gun thread claiming he intended to sign it and they were taking their vote elsewhere? Where are they? Oh, that's right...they're screaming in a hole somewhere at Liberty Post.

[Southack]

"Sorry, the link you gave is two years old. Two years. Two years and they have trained 1000 out of 100,000 pilots. You call 1% a success? Do you call rules so strict that it makes being armed a hassle and almost useless (to the point that they're NOT armed and the rules leave 'armed' pilots vulnerable) a success???"

You made a wild-eyed claim. Your claim was wrong. You claimed that Bush had done *nothing* about Mineta's delays.

My link shows that Bush made Mineta *FIRE* his #2 guy; after which, the DOT immediately changed policy from "no guns" to "arm pilots per the law."

Yet you won't give up. Forget that you've just been debunked, with a source link...oh no, you bash the link for being too old! Oh yeah, like that diminishes the fact that you are talking out of your a$$!

And yes, arming pilots is a success. We've got more than a 1,000+ armed pilots flying in our cockpits today, we're training 3,000 more who are currently enrolled in the program, and we've gotten the first ever repeal of federal gun control laws passed.

Yes, those are pleasant successes...yet you want to shout your defeatisim from the rooftops as if we somehow lost all of these fights.

Sheesh...

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[flashbunny]

"More than one thousand armed pilots is no "sham.""

It is when it's taken 2 years.

It is when the only place you can get training from the TSA is a small town 160 miles by car from lubbock, TX.

It is when they train a mere 48 pilots at a time.

It is when they reject qualified pilots - some of whom also pilot miltary aircraft with enough firepower to wipe out a small town - on the basis that they can't be trusted in the cockpit with a gun.

Did you actually read the articles I linked to? Do you know the roadblocks that have been put up to prevent pilots from getting approved to carry - and also from actually being 'armed' while in flight???

1000 pilots after two years is pitiful.

---

"That's the *first* ever repeal of any federal gun control law, ever."

Gee, you're wrong again. How surprising. Yet again, try a little research. The 1986 GOPA repealed many earlier gun laws.

---

"you paint it as a defeat instead of as a victory by setting your standards so high that no one could ever reach them. "

You set your standards so low you'd probably be thrilled if 100 pilots were armed.

Listen, it's great they 'allowed' pilots to be armed. Whoopee. A law was passed. But very little was actually DONE once it was passed. There has been roadblock after roadblock put in place to arming pilots, and bush has waited 2 years to do something about it. That's pitiful as well.

You seem to be adopting the liberal mindset in defense of this: "Who cares what is actually accomplished, as long as our intentions are in the right place and we pass a law for it!"

If a group of terrorists rush the cockpit, the fact that a law was repealed means very little. What matters the most is how likely it is that there will be an armed pilot inside. After two years, the likelyhood of that happening is one percent.

One percent.

After two years.

By any measure but your own, that would indicate to everyone that the armed pilot program is a failure..

[Southack]

"Gee, you're wrong again. How surprising. Yet again, try a little research. The 1986 GOPA repealed many earlier gun laws."

GOPA '86 is a *repeal* of gun control in your world?!

The Devil's in the Details...Know the Law!

The Gun Owners Protection Act of 1986 (GOPA 86): A somewhat vague statement was added to this bill that has been interpreted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and some Federal Courts to mean no machine guns registered after enactment (May 19, 1986) can be built and sold to private individuals. BATF further concluded that SOT payers cannot receive "post-May" guns without first presenting a letter from a qualifying government agency that has requested to see the firearm. These rulings do not apply to other types of NFA firearms. Transfers to government agencies having law enforcement or military functions are allowed. SOT payers who are also licensed as manufacturers are allowed to produce machine guns from scratch, from kits, or by means of conversion. They cannot transfer them to private individuals. They can be transferred to other SOT payers or government agencies only as described above. Post-May guns cannot be retained by a SOT payer who fails to renew his SOT annually.

6 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[ladyinred]

Oh HORRORS! LOL