Posted on 08/18/2004 8:54:44 PM PDT by neverdem
MERIDIAN, Idaho — If you've been longing for your very own assault rifle and 30-round magazine for the next holiday season, you're in luck.
President Bush, sidestepping a promise, is allowing the ban on assault rifles and oversized clips to expire on Sept. 14. So at a gun store here in Meridian, a bit west of Boise, the counter has a display promising "2 FREE HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES."
All you have to do is purchase a new Beretta 9-millimeter handgun and you'll receive two high-capacity magazines - on the condition, the fine print states, that the federal ban expires on schedule.
President Bush promised in the last presidential campaign to support an extension of the ban, which was put in place in 1994 for 10 years. "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society," Mr. Bush observed at the time.
These days Mr. Bush still says that he'll sign an extension of the ban if it happens to reach his desk. But he knows that the only way the ban can be extended on time is if he actually urges its passage, and he refuses to do that. So his promise to support an extension rings hollow - it's not exactly a lie, but it's not the full truth, either.
Mr. Bush's flip-flop is surprising because he has generally had the courage of his convictions. Apparently he's hiding from this issue because it's so politically charged.
Critics of the assault weapon ban have one valid point: the ban has more holes than Swiss cheese.
"The big frustration of my customers is that [the ban] removed things that were kind of fun and made it look cool, but didn't affect how the gun operated," said Sean Wontor, a salesman who heaved two rifles onto the counter of Sportsman's Warehouse here in Meridian to make his point.
One was an assault weapon that was produced before the ban (and thus still legal), and the other was a sanitized version produced afterward to comply with the ban by removing the bayonet mount and the flash suppressor.
After these cosmetic changes, the rifle is now no longer considered an assault weapon, yet, of course, it is just as lethal.
Still, assault weapons, while amounting to only 1 percent of America's 190 million privately owned guns, account for a hugely disproportionate share of gun violence precisely because of their macho appeal.
Assault weapons aren't necessary for any kind of hunting or target shooting, but they're popular because they can transform a suburban Walter Mitty into Rambo, for a lot less money than a Hummer.
"I've got a ton of customers shooting squirrels with AK-47's," said Kevin Tester, a gun salesman near Boise. "They're using 30-round magazines and 7.62-millimeter ammunition, they're shooting up the hills, and they're having a blast."
I grew up on an Oregon farm that bristled with guns to deal with the coyotes that dined on our sheep. Having fired everything from a pistol to a machine gun, I can testify that shooting can be a lot of fun. But consider the cost: 29,000 gun deaths in America each year.
While gun statistics are as malleable as Play-Doh, they do underscore that assault weapons are a special problem in America.
They accounted for 8.4 percent of the guns traced to crimes between 1988 and 1991, and they are still used in one in five fatal shootings of police officers. If anything, we should be plugging the holes in the ban by having it cover copycat weapons without bayonet mounts, instead of moving backward and allowing a new flood of weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The bottom line is that Mr. Bush's waffling on assault weapons will mean more dead Americans.
About 100 times as many Americans are already dying from gunfire in the U.S. as in Iraq. As many Americans die from firearms every six weeks as died in the 9/11 attacks - yet the White House is paralyzed on this issue.
Mr. Bush needs to live up to his campaign promise and push to keep the ban on assault weapons. Otherwise, we'll bring more of the Iraq-like carnage to our own shores, and his refusal to confront our gun problem will kill more Americans over time than Osama bin Laden ever could.
I live only a mile from Meridian. Guess I'd better go check it out!
Let me get this straight. In the past year in Iraq about 650 soldiers were killed (not the 1000 number, that is for a year and a half).
So, by simple math, 65,000 americans a year are killed by firearms. Is this true? And even if it is, what number of them are killed in self defense or by law enforcement by a justified shooting?
So a gun salesman said this, and they believe it?
Oh, gee - what a surprise. Nicholas Kristof doesn't like guns.
And I believe a large portion of those deaths are suicides.
Further, since it seems that most troops are actually kiled by IED and mortar attacks, what is the number who are "shot" to death with a firearm? And since 99% of the people who read this article will not seperate out IED and mortar deaths and only think of firearm deaths in Iraq, isn't the author purposefully misleading his readers knowing that they will consider ALL deaths in Iraq when looking at his "100 times" statement?
so many lies in so few paragraphs.
Does this guy moonlight as a kerry campaign writer?
The dusky night rides down the sky
And ushers in the morn
The hounds all join in glorious cry
The hounds all join in glorious cry
The huntsman winds his horn
The huntsman winds his horn
Chorus:
A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go
We’ll catch a fox, put him in a box, and then we’ll let
him go
The clever fox escapes at last
The hounds can’t stop his flight
Then hungry homeward we return
Then hungry homeward we return
To feast away the night
To feast away the night
Do the math! Looks like they want MACHISMO CONTROL!
I'm convinced. If anybody ever burglarizes my home and threatens my wife and children I'll defend my family with a copy of the New York Times.
"President Bush promised in the last presidential campaign to support an extension of the ban, which was put in place in 1994 for 10 years. "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society," Mr. Bush observed at the time."
GW changed his mind as he realized there's the possibility Kerry could win the election, and the populace may need to protect themselves from UN thugs in their backyards.
Well that can't be because if you look higher up the page you'll see:
But consider the cost: 29,000 gun deaths in America each year.
That's all firearms, not just ugly guns. The majority are suicides. I don't recall the exact numbers, but the number of justifiable homicides by civilians in self defense is usually 4 - 5 times the number killed by law enforcement.
Nicholas Kristof must have been Jayson Blair's mentor.
"Mr." Bush???? Mr. Bush did not make a promise to push to keep the ban on assault weapons. Nor did President Bush.
Liberals once again turn inanimate objects into powerful fetishes.
I can easily explain why high capacity magazines are desired. Because it means more time shooting, and less time reloading. It doesn't matter if you're at the shooting range, hunting, or defending your home - that's a desirable thing.
As for "assault" rifles, even though I'm opposed to a ban, I could at least respect the opposing point of view if they attempted to go about it rationally. But starting with the meaningless and emotional term "assault rifle," they go about this almost exclusively through emotional appeal. ASSAULT RIFLES equal SCARY DEATH MONSTERS. CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND SAY EEEEEK!
On few other issues do I see attempts at reasoning through the merits come only after the legislation is passed in such an egregious manner as on anything gun related.
That's right. Just roll it up into a cone and poke the intruder in the eye.
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