auldpharght
Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2004
- Messages
- 47
THESE GUN GRABBERS STILL DON'T GET IT!
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, her political identity forever one of grieving wife and mother, stood outside the U.S. Capitol this week holding an Uzi, as she passionately decried her colleagues' disinterest.
Ten years ago, fueled by a flurry of public mass murders and rising disgust with gun violence, Congress handed gun advocates their worst defeat in years, passing a ban on assault weapons and limiting the number of bullets a magazine can hold to 10.
It was a hard-fought victory, and passing it meant acquiescing to a key provision: In 2004, the ban would expire unless Congress renewed it.
The ban expires in six weeks. Congress does not appear likely to renew it.
"That's good news for the criminals, the drug dealers, the terrorists who are supposedly in our country," McCarthy, D-N.Y., said outside the Capitol.
She sought office after her husband was one of six people killed in the Long Island Railroad shooting in 1993. Her son was badly wounded. "Renewing this ban is about whether America will tolerate weapons of war on our streets and in our neighborhoods."
National polls show broad support for the ban - 60 to 70 percent of Americans typically favor it - but the politics aren't as clear as one might think. As the expiration date nears, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have shown little enthusiasm for renewing the ban, as each party hopes to temper the divisive issue of gun control in the upcoming elections.
The assault weapons ban marked a major victory for the Democrats back in 1994, but renewing it has not become a priority for Democratic leaders, especially in the House.
Although popular among rank-and-file Democrats in Congress, and 124 of them have signed onto a bill to renew the ban, championing gun control has hurt the party among white working-class voters, especially in the South and Midwest; some say they have lost races because of it - including the 2000 presidential election.
Robert Spitzer, author of The Politics of Gun Control, said many Democrats believe Al Gore's strong antigun stances cost him West Virginia, which usually votes Democratic, and helped him lose Arkansas and Tennessee.
John Kerry, like President Bush, supports the ban on assault weapons, and in March he left the campaign trail to make a Senate vote for extending it. But he has spent more time portraying himself as a friend of firearms, twice going hunting with the press corps in tow.
"So they (Democrats) have tried to back away, or approach it the way John Kerry is approaching it - talking about Second Amendment rights, hunting, sportsmanship," said Spitzer, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Cortland.
"In a certain respect, they have mixed feelings about pushing that issue above other issues."
The assault weapons ban is the one issue where President Bush has split with the National Rifle Association, which maintains the ban punishes law abiding gun owners and is ineffective against crime. Bush has publicly backed the ban since his campaign of 2000, and he has indicated he would sign the renewal - a popular position among suburban swing voters in close states, including Florida and Ohio.
But the White House has not pushed the matter in Congress, and Republicans in the House say they won't bring it to the floor unless he does. If Bush doesn't have to sign it, lawmakers say, he faces little risk of alienating his conservative Republican base, which tends to be staunchly pro gun.
"It's probably a good thing for the president if this doesn't come up," said Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, adding that "quite a few folks in the gun owning community would be offended if we did take it up."
Every major law enforcement association supports continuing the ban, and Jill Ward, lobbyist for Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said she believes it would pass the Senate, where it was approved as part of a larger measure in March.
But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has no plans to get it to the floor, lawmakers say. Lacking a major push by voters as lawmakers campaign in their districts next month, supporters are not overly hopeful.
"This works out very comfortably politically for everybody," grumbled Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., who cosponsored a bill with McCarthy to extend the ban.
The assault weapons ban was the most contentious part of a $30-billion crime bill in 1994, coming after high-profile shootings on the Long Island Railroad, in a cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and in a police station in Washington, D.C. It passed the Democratic led Congress only after intense lobbying by President Clinton and with the aid of former Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
The provision bans the manufacture and sale of 19 types of rifles and machine pistols that are generally designed to fire multiple rounds quickly, including the Uzi, the AK-47, the TEC-9, and the M-11. It also bans high-capacity magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets.
The law exempts guns that already were on the market. It also exempts 650 types of semiautomatic rifles and pistols commonly used for target practice, self defense or hunting, but limits them to just two "evil factors," as some gun dealers call them - muzzle flash suppressor, extended pistol grip, folding stock, bayonet mount and the ability to accept a high-capacity magazine.
The effect of the ban is difficult to gauge. To support their side, advocates and opponents cite dueling studies and, in at least one case, the same Urban Institute study. Funded by Congress and published in 1997, that study concluded that murder rates dropped slightly more than expected after the ban took effect.
But the NRA points out that the Urban Institute also said "the assault weapons ban can have only a limited effect on total gun murders, because the banned weapons were never involved in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders."
Rep. Clay Shaw, a senior Republican from Fort Lauderdale, voted for the ban in 1994. He said that before it expires, Congress at least should hold hearings to determine how effective the ban has been.
"We shouldn't just have a knee-jerk reaction to it and then let it fall on the floor like red meat," Shaw said between votes on the House floor this week. "Study how it's worked, how it's benefited us, if anybody feels like their ... constitutional rights have been interfered with."
The expiration date is Sept. 13, 10 years to day after Clinton signed it. That's about six weeks away, but Congress left town Friday and won't return until the day after Labor Day, leaving members just four more working days until the deadline.
Rep. McCarthy will address the Democratic National Convention Wednesday in Boston, her best chance to appeal to a national audience. In an interview from her district on Long Island, she said she believes most people will be surprised to learn the ban will expire.
The man who killed her husband, Dennis, on the train in Long Island back in December 1993 did not use a gun covered by the ban. He used a 9mm pistol still legal today.
But his magazine held 15 rounds - five more than allowed under the assault weapons ban - which let him keep firing as he moved through the train car. Passengers rushed him when he stopped to reload.
[Last modified July 24, 2004, 01:09:19
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/24/Worldandnation/Weapons_ban_faces_a_q.shtml
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, her political identity forever one of grieving wife and mother, stood outside the U.S. Capitol this week holding an Uzi, as she passionately decried her colleagues' disinterest.
Ten years ago, fueled by a flurry of public mass murders and rising disgust with gun violence, Congress handed gun advocates their worst defeat in years, passing a ban on assault weapons and limiting the number of bullets a magazine can hold to 10.
It was a hard-fought victory, and passing it meant acquiescing to a key provision: In 2004, the ban would expire unless Congress renewed it.
The ban expires in six weeks. Congress does not appear likely to renew it.
"That's good news for the criminals, the drug dealers, the terrorists who are supposedly in our country," McCarthy, D-N.Y., said outside the Capitol.
She sought office after her husband was one of six people killed in the Long Island Railroad shooting in 1993. Her son was badly wounded. "Renewing this ban is about whether America will tolerate weapons of war on our streets and in our neighborhoods."
National polls show broad support for the ban - 60 to 70 percent of Americans typically favor it - but the politics aren't as clear as one might think. As the expiration date nears, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have shown little enthusiasm for renewing the ban, as each party hopes to temper the divisive issue of gun control in the upcoming elections.
The assault weapons ban marked a major victory for the Democrats back in 1994, but renewing it has not become a priority for Democratic leaders, especially in the House.
Although popular among rank-and-file Democrats in Congress, and 124 of them have signed onto a bill to renew the ban, championing gun control has hurt the party among white working-class voters, especially in the South and Midwest; some say they have lost races because of it - including the 2000 presidential election.
Robert Spitzer, author of The Politics of Gun Control, said many Democrats believe Al Gore's strong antigun stances cost him West Virginia, which usually votes Democratic, and helped him lose Arkansas and Tennessee.
John Kerry, like President Bush, supports the ban on assault weapons, and in March he left the campaign trail to make a Senate vote for extending it. But he has spent more time portraying himself as a friend of firearms, twice going hunting with the press corps in tow.
"So they (Democrats) have tried to back away, or approach it the way John Kerry is approaching it - talking about Second Amendment rights, hunting, sportsmanship," said Spitzer, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Cortland.
"In a certain respect, they have mixed feelings about pushing that issue above other issues."
The assault weapons ban is the one issue where President Bush has split with the National Rifle Association, which maintains the ban punishes law abiding gun owners and is ineffective against crime. Bush has publicly backed the ban since his campaign of 2000, and he has indicated he would sign the renewal - a popular position among suburban swing voters in close states, including Florida and Ohio.
But the White House has not pushed the matter in Congress, and Republicans in the House say they won't bring it to the floor unless he does. If Bush doesn't have to sign it, lawmakers say, he faces little risk of alienating his conservative Republican base, which tends to be staunchly pro gun.
"It's probably a good thing for the president if this doesn't come up," said Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, adding that "quite a few folks in the gun owning community would be offended if we did take it up."
Every major law enforcement association supports continuing the ban, and Jill Ward, lobbyist for Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said she believes it would pass the Senate, where it was approved as part of a larger measure in March.
But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has no plans to get it to the floor, lawmakers say. Lacking a major push by voters as lawmakers campaign in their districts next month, supporters are not overly hopeful.
"This works out very comfortably politically for everybody," grumbled Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., who cosponsored a bill with McCarthy to extend the ban.
The assault weapons ban was the most contentious part of a $30-billion crime bill in 1994, coming after high-profile shootings on the Long Island Railroad, in a cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and in a police station in Washington, D.C. It passed the Democratic led Congress only after intense lobbying by President Clinton and with the aid of former Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
The provision bans the manufacture and sale of 19 types of rifles and machine pistols that are generally designed to fire multiple rounds quickly, including the Uzi, the AK-47, the TEC-9, and the M-11. It also bans high-capacity magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets.
The law exempts guns that already were on the market. It also exempts 650 types of semiautomatic rifles and pistols commonly used for target practice, self defense or hunting, but limits them to just two "evil factors," as some gun dealers call them - muzzle flash suppressor, extended pistol grip, folding stock, bayonet mount and the ability to accept a high-capacity magazine.
The effect of the ban is difficult to gauge. To support their side, advocates and opponents cite dueling studies and, in at least one case, the same Urban Institute study. Funded by Congress and published in 1997, that study concluded that murder rates dropped slightly more than expected after the ban took effect.
But the NRA points out that the Urban Institute also said "the assault weapons ban can have only a limited effect on total gun murders, because the banned weapons were never involved in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders."
Rep. Clay Shaw, a senior Republican from Fort Lauderdale, voted for the ban in 1994. He said that before it expires, Congress at least should hold hearings to determine how effective the ban has been.
"We shouldn't just have a knee-jerk reaction to it and then let it fall on the floor like red meat," Shaw said between votes on the House floor this week. "Study how it's worked, how it's benefited us, if anybody feels like their ... constitutional rights have been interfered with."
The expiration date is Sept. 13, 10 years to day after Clinton signed it. That's about six weeks away, but Congress left town Friday and won't return until the day after Labor Day, leaving members just four more working days until the deadline.
Rep. McCarthy will address the Democratic National Convention Wednesday in Boston, her best chance to appeal to a national audience. In an interview from her district on Long Island, she said she believes most people will be surprised to learn the ban will expire.
The man who killed her husband, Dennis, on the train in Long Island back in December 1993 did not use a gun covered by the ban. He used a 9mm pistol still legal today.
But his magazine held 15 rounds - five more than allowed under the assault weapons ban - which let him keep firing as he moved through the train car. Passengers rushed him when he stopped to reload.
[Last modified July 24, 2004, 01:09:19
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/24/Worldandnation/Weapons_ban_faces_a_q.shtml
