gun-fucious
April 9, 2003, 10:12 PM
April 9, 7 p.m. Neal Knox Report -- The House voted 285-140 a
bit over an hour ago to end the frivolous, malicious lawsuits
trying to hold gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers liable
for the costs of criminal misuse of their legal products.
Congress clearly recognized that those suits were intended to
bankrupt the industry through legal costs, even if the municipali-
ties whose taxpayers paid for most of the suits, never won a cent.
The two-to-one vote (including 63 Democrats) for Commerce
Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns' H.R. 1036 -- strongly backed
by Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) -- was a stunning
victory for NRA. Passing that bill into law has been NRA's No. 1
priority. No other gun group has put that kind of effort into the
bill, so unlike most gun votes, this win is almost exclusively their's.
Each of five amendments designed to weaken or gut the bill
went down by similar lopsided margins, three on record votes of
147-279, 134-289 and 144-280.
It won't be as easy in the Senate, for while the companion
bill, S. 659, by Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Max Baucus (D-
Mont.), has a majority 51 co-sponsors, it will take 60 votes to
overcome a filibuster -- if anti-gun forces decide to attempt it.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex.) fumed that the bill had "been
on a fast track so we can all celebrate at the NRA Convention."
And Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), the lead opponent, also claimed
that the push was timed so NRA could boast to members about it "at
the NRA convention two weeks down the road."
The same thought was expressed to me by a long-time NRA
staffer and member when I told him the vote was coming.
With him and most other NRA members outside the gun industry,
the No. 1 priority this year is blocking extension of the Feinstein
"assault weapon" and standard capacity magazine ban, scheduled to
expire in September 2004.
Winning that battle will be technically easier, since nothing
must be passed to make the most sweeping gun law rollback in
history. But despite today's lopsided votes, it won't be easy.
My biggest worry is that Congressmen may expect today's votes
to carry as much weight with gunowners as killing the ban on
military-look semi-autos and over-10-shot magazines.
Not in my book they won't.
bit over an hour ago to end the frivolous, malicious lawsuits
trying to hold gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers liable
for the costs of criminal misuse of their legal products.
Congress clearly recognized that those suits were intended to
bankrupt the industry through legal costs, even if the municipali-
ties whose taxpayers paid for most of the suits, never won a cent.
The two-to-one vote (including 63 Democrats) for Commerce
Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns' H.R. 1036 -- strongly backed
by Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) -- was a stunning
victory for NRA. Passing that bill into law has been NRA's No. 1
priority. No other gun group has put that kind of effort into the
bill, so unlike most gun votes, this win is almost exclusively their's.
Each of five amendments designed to weaken or gut the bill
went down by similar lopsided margins, three on record votes of
147-279, 134-289 and 144-280.
It won't be as easy in the Senate, for while the companion
bill, S. 659, by Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Max Baucus (D-
Mont.), has a majority 51 co-sponsors, it will take 60 votes to
overcome a filibuster -- if anti-gun forces decide to attempt it.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex.) fumed that the bill had "been
on a fast track so we can all celebrate at the NRA Convention."
And Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), the lead opponent, also claimed
that the push was timed so NRA could boast to members about it "at
the NRA convention two weeks down the road."
The same thought was expressed to me by a long-time NRA
staffer and member when I told him the vote was coming.
With him and most other NRA members outside the gun industry,
the No. 1 priority this year is blocking extension of the Feinstein
"assault weapon" and standard capacity magazine ban, scheduled to
expire in September 2004.
Winning that battle will be technically easier, since nothing
must be passed to make the most sweeping gun law rollback in
history. But despite today's lopsided votes, it won't be easy.
My biggest worry is that Congressmen may expect today's votes
to carry as much weight with gunowners as killing the ban on
military-look semi-autos and over-10-shot magazines.
Not in my book they won't.