Posted on 09/12/2004 6:53:37 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Posted on Sun, Sep. 12, 2004
Congress caves in on weapons ban
The gun lobby flexed its muscles, and congressional leaders blinked.
As a result, a 10-year-old ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons will expire at midnight Monday — unless Republican leaders in Congress change their minds.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says there's no reason to bring legislation extending the ban up for a vote because it doesn't have enough votes to pass.
That seems like a dubious claim. The House legislation has 136 co-sponsors, including Reps. Karen McCarthy, Richard Gephardt and William Clay of Missouri and Dennis Moore of Kansas.
House Democrats differ with DeLay; they say the votes are there for an extension. DeLay personally opposes the ban, however. But shouldn't the rest of the members of Congress go on the record as to whether they support or oppose the ban?
Maybe that's the rub. Since the 1994 legislation went into effect, the National Rifle Association has focused on congressional members who supported it. Several lawmakers lost re-election bids because of the NRA's opposition. And the NRA has opposed any extension or expansion of the ban.
Most Americans, however, support restrictions on the military-style weapons covered by the 1994 law. The nation's police officers have been among the strongest advocates of the ban.
And according to a survey by the non-partisan National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania, 57 percent of people with a gun in their household are OK with banning the weapons, which became popular with criminals because they are designed to be shot from the hip and to fire many rounds in rapid succession.
One argument against the ban is that it simply created a market for weapons with similar features that weren't covered by the legislation. That's an argument, however, for expanding the ban — not eliminating it.
Congress has a chance to reduce the number of dangerous weapons on the streets. Too bad it is letting the chance slip away.
thanks for saving me from having to post the same question.
newspaper subscriptions are down across the country. Network news viewrship down. CNN viewership down. Fox News, up, up, up.
Do these mush head ever stop to think that their obvious bias might be causing their problems?
This is exactly what my Congressman (freshman Rep. Dr. Michael Burgess) told me recently;
hes said even the majority of dimocrats did not want renewal of the ban brought to the floor, because they know voting for a renewal would be political suicide anywhere in the country except the liberal coastlines.
Who is this "Karen McCarthy"?
She related to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York?
Notice how the author misstates the truth, while hysterically crying "Wolf"?
Same boilerplate histrionics as what they publish every time another state adopts "shall issue" concealed carry laws.
The result will be the same too, no actual increase in crime at all, but a probable reduction in crime.
An excellent reply!
Ask Australia, England or Canada if the violent crime rate went down when "assault" weapons were banned.
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