Feinstein vows to fight for assault weapons ban

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gunsmith

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http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=06-30-04&storyID=32328
Feinstein vows to fight for assault weapons ban
By Beth Fouhy, AP

SAN FRANCISCO — Warning of a new wave of violence among “grievance killers, gang bangers and juveniles†if a federal ban on certain assault weapons is allowed to expire, the bill’s author called on President Bush and Congressional Republicans to allow the ban to be renewed or face political backlash otherwise.

“Mr. President, I implore you — help us renew this legislation,†Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Tuesday at a news conference, where she was joined by Sen. Barbara Boxer and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. “If this president refuses to do so, the time has come to elect a president who will.â€

The news conference was scheduled to coincide with the 11-year anniversary of a bloody gun rampage in San Francisco that moved Feinstein to push for the assault weapons ban. On July 1, 1993, a man armed with two semiautomatic TEC-DC9s killed eight people and wounded six others at a downtown law firm before turning the gun on himself.

Feinstein’s bill banning 19 types of military-style assault weapons for 10 years squeaked through both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Clinton in 1994.

With the legislation set to expire in September, Feinstein’s efforts to renew it have met with resistance in the Republican-controlled Congress.

In March, under pressure from the National Rifle Association, the Senate killed a bill that would have protected the gun industry from liability suits after Feinstein’s amendment and another measure requiring gun show background checks were attached. And GOP House leaders, including Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, have said they don’t plan on voting on an assault weapons ban extension
Feinstein, who is co-sponsoring the weapons ban extension with Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, stressed the bipartisan nature of her campaign, but the news conference had a decidedly Democratic tone. Steve Sposato, who became a gun control activist after his wife, Jody, was killed in the 1993 law firm shooting, hoisted one of the banned guns and spoke of his daughter, Meghan, who was an infant when her mother died.

“I’m really angry as a parent,†Sposato said. “How do I give (Meghan) the assurance that President Clinton gave her? He invited her to the White House and said, ’Hey Meghan, you’re going to be OK, these weapons of war are banned’ President Bush, if you’re listening ... she’d like to hear you give her the same assurance.â€

Bush has said he would sign an extension of the weapons ban if it reached his desk.

Boxer, who has worked with Feinstein on the assault weapons ban and authored legislation requiring gun dealers to sell child safety devices with handguns, said the NRA’s power in Washington will be reduced only if Democrats increase their strength in Congress.

“When the NRA’s friends are in the majority, as they are now, and as we hope they will no longer be after this election — you know for sure they’re never going to place on the agenda the assault weapons ban ... or any other sensible gun law,†said Boxer, D-Calif.

Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, said the organization opposed extending the weapons ban because it was ineffective at fighting crime, and because the types of guns outlawed under the ban were virtually indistinguishable from other military-style weapons that were not.

“For Dianne Feinstein, this is just one piece of the puzzle toward her goal of banning all guns for all law abiding Americans,†Cox said. “This ban is bad policy and bad politics.â€

Cox pointed to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2001 showing that just 2 percent of incarcerated felons used a semiautomatic weapon to commit the crime for which they were imprisoned. He also pointed to a 1997 Justice Department study conducted by the Urban Institute that questioned the effectiveness of the weapons ban.

“We were unable to detect any reduction to date in two types of gun murders that are thought to be closely associated with assault weapons, those with mltiple victims in a single incident and those producing multiple bullet wounds per victim,†the study said.
 
Waaa-Waaaa....
.Bush has said he would sign an extension of the weapons ban if it reached his desk.

..Operative word, "IF"...

Don't think it will but let's keep praying it doesn't.
 
“Mr. President, I implore you — help us renew this legislation,†Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Tuesday...“If this president refuses to do so, the time has come to elect a president who will.â€
Somehow I have a feeling even if Bush would get on board with this, they'd still want him out.
 
Ok 1st the anti's whine because the rifles selling now are mechanically identical to the ones made before the ban but yet somehow they also claim the AWB has reduced crime. How can this be possible and how come the average American can't see past this double talk? Sheesh!!!! I wish someone would throw poop on Feinstein. :evil:
 
Why throw poop on her when everything that comes out of her mouth is crap anyway?


You can't blame her for pushing this.....she's built her entire carreer on banning guns. Even if she were to see the truth, she still wouldn't back off....that would make all of her previous efforts in vain....
 
“I’m really angry as a parent,†Sposato said. “How do I give (Meghan) the assurance that President Clinton gave her? He invited her to the White House and said, ’Hey Meghan, you’re going to be OK, these weapons of war are banned’ President Bush, if you’re listening ... she’d like to hear you give her the same assurance.â€


puke.
 
’Hey Meghan, you’re going to be OK, these weapons of war are banned’

---------------

:barf: :what:

Yeah, Clinton invited little Meghan to the White House for a photo opp and told her a bald-faced lie for crass political gain. What we REALLY need is for GW to drop to that Clinton creature's level and spin the same lies. :rolleyes:
 
And I think GW probably knows if you give these fascists your hand, they'll tear your arm off.

Signing onto the AWB extension would do zero to gain Bush any votes from the left, and would highly piss off a good chunk of his base.
 
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