Balmer Sun: Guns and politics

[Harry Tuttle]

<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/op...04,0,2758303.story?coll=bal-opinion-headlines >

Guns and politics
March 4, 2004

SOMEWHERE Ali Boumelhem must be smiling. He's the terrorist and
Hezbollah member who was observed buying a gun at a Michigan gun show
and was later arrested for smuggling. The U.S. Senate has killed
legislation that would have closed the so-called gun show loophole,
preserving the right of evil-doers such as Mr. Boumelhem to obtain
weapons without those inconvenient background checks.
This is the state of gun policy in the United States today - too many
politicians are unwilling to support sensible limits on the sale of
guns. Not even when these regulations would trip up terrorists. Nor
can Congress manage to extend the 10-year-old ban on military-style
assault weapons. Even when opinion surveys show time and again that
the public overwhelmingly supports extending the ban, not to mention
getting rid of the gun show loophole.

On Tuesday, the Senate took a bad bill that would have granted legal
immunity to the firearms industry and attached these two sensible
measures, and then promptly killed the whole thing at the behest of
Republican leadership. The most encouraging result is that the
immunity bill, the National Rifle Association's top priority, has
been dealt a major setback - and it was done with a demonstration of
bipartisan support for gun control. Of course, NRA supporters can
also claim a victory of sorts - Mr. Boumelhem is no doubt ready to
join their cause.

Just as troubling for Maryland is that a modest effort to ban assault
rifles in this state is now as good as dead, too. The state senator
with the swing vote on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee has
announced he'll vote against it. John A. Giannetti Jr., a Prince
George's County Democrat, claimed in a statement that he didn't want
to hurt conservatives in his party. His constituents need to remember
this irresponsible and politically craven decision.

The same committee has a chance to redeem itself. Yesterday, the
senators heard testimony on Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's
proposal to gut Maryland's safety lock law by letting gun
manufacturers offer ineffective external locks on new handguns
instead of requiring locks that are built-in. The bill deserves to be
cast aside; the arguments for it just aren't convincing.

The next step back to gun sanity on the national level is up to
President Bush and Congress. Mr. Bush claims to support the assault
weapons ban and the closing of the gun show loophole, but it's hard
to tell from his actions - or inactions.

The proposals need to be resurrected. A majority of the Senate
clearly supports them, and with Mr. Bush's backing, the measures
could become law. At least then the terrorists and other villains
would have to find other means to hurt the innocent.

 

[Yanus]

Only a complete and utter fool would knowingly disarm himself in the middle of a war!......................

Yanus

 

[SAG0282]

Yes, it's just too bad that "support" he speaks of has largely been acheived by manipulating the facts in media coverage to the point where most people think the AWB concerns machine guns, etc. There would be virtually no support if the media was responsible enough to really educate people on the ban.

These people disgust me.

 

[braindead0]

Not to mention when they poll people and ask "Should we close the gun show loophole" that makes people think a loophole exists that needs to be closed..they hear the word 'loophole' and bleet "close it close it...baaaa"

 

[sturmruger]

It made me sick to read that

 

[dischord]

Boumelhem used a straw buyer (his brother) to buy the two shotguns in question. No background check law in the world would have stopped that.

 

[antsi]

To the Editor:

Your editorial Guns and Politics (3-4-04) contains a number of distortions and misreprentations promoted by the gun control lobby.

The so-called "assault weapons" ban has received the support of the firearms-ignorant because its promoters have deliberately confused the distinction between military-style fully automatic assault rifles (which have been restricted from civilian ownership by federal law since 1934), and cosmetically similar semi-automatic rifles. The term "assault weapon" is defined by gun-control activists, and means "any gun we want to ban this week." It doesn't have anything to do with fully automatic rifles like those used by military forces.

Your editorial also misrepresents the Ali Boumelhem case. Boumelhem obtained his shotgun via "straw purchase," meaning that the weapon was purchased by a third party (one with a clean record, who can pass a background check) with the intention of transferring it to a "real" buyer who is not legally eligible to purchase firearms. In Boumelhem's case, the "straw purchaser" was his brother. The McCain gun show law would not have stopped this. There is already a federal law against straw purchases, and passing more laws won't make them any more illegal than they already are.

Finally, the proposed law to protect the firearms industry from frivolous lawsuits would not have granted the industry blanket liability protection, as your editorial implied. Manufacturers who made defective firearms, or dealers who made illegal sales to criminals, would still have been liable under the proposed law. Only harrassment suits, whereby manufacturers or dealers are held liable for the criminal action of third parties, would have been addressed by the law. Just as we do not hold General Motors accountable for the actions of drunk drivers, or Apple Computers responsible for the activities of hackers, Smith and Wesson should not be liable for the criminal misuse of their products.

It is interesting to note that in all three of the above examples, your editorial repeated the same misrepresentations and distortions of the issues as found on gun-control activist websites. I would remind you that jornalism implies an objective, thoughtful process of collecting and analyzing information, and urge you to apply your professional skills, rather than simply parroting whatever Sarah Brady is telling you.

Sincerely,

antsi

 

[Spot77]

I think the Balto Sun loses more influence every day....I know I can't read a single article, regardless of the topic, without wondering how much inaccurate information and individual opinion is entrenched.

Sad.....such a major newsforce and I'd bet people on the left AND right have trouble swallowing the Sun's fabricated and twisted tales.

 

[Girlwithagun]

I won't subscribe to the Baltimore Sun for that reason and others. Hey, if we all cancel or decline to subscribe and tell them why, it may just have an impact. I plan to give them my reason for not subscribing everytime they call me (which is quite often).

 

[Cosmoline]

I didn't know the amendments would have placed an additional line on the FFL transfer form.

Are you an evil doer or have you done dastardly things?


"Curses! They've asked me if I'm an evil doer! Foiled again."

 

[cheygriz]

BARF!!!!