Daley dose of Federal Indictment Avoidance

[fedlaw]

Blagojevich, Daley press for assault weapons ban

The Associated Press
Published January 17, 2006, 2:48 PM CST


Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley renewed calls Tuesday for a statewide ban on assault weapons.

The two Chicago Democrats, who have been pressing for the ban since a federal measure banning assault weapons expired more than a year ago, appeared together at a rally in Chicago.

"Every sane person would agree that machine guns and grenades should be illegal," Daley said in his prepared remarks. "Their only purpose is to kill large numbers of people. The same is true of military-style assault weapons."

President Clinton signed a federal ban on assault weapons in 1994, but the ban expired in September 2004 when Congress decided not to renew it. Since then, Daley and Blagojevich have pushed for a state law that would prohibit the manufacture, possession and delivery of semiautomatic weapons, assault weapon attachments and the 50-caliber assault rifle.

Assault weapons are currently illegal in Chicago. Illinois lawmakers narrowly rejected a proposed ban on assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles last May amid intense lobbying by both sides in the debate.

The National Rifle Association argued that the proposed statewide ban was too broad and would ban weapons used by hunters, target-shooters and collectors as well.

Daley said earlier this month that he would continue pushing for stricter gun laws, even though several of his proposals have failed to pass the Illinois General Assembly in recent years.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Every sane person would agree that machine guns and grenades should be illegal...

What would he know about sanity? Daly is a statist parasite of the lowest order.

 

[Sindawe]

If Blagojevich and Daley are examples of sanity, I'd rather be a froth-mouthed lunatic.

 

[Remington788]

Bl and King Dick need a reality check.

Edited to remove name Art's grammaw would never approve of...Jeff

 

[Jeff White]

Funny how Blagojevich won't come down here and say that

As far as I know, only the ST Louis Post Dispatch is carrying any of Blagojevich's press releases on this.

I may call the local rags tomorrow and ask why they aren't carrying the story. I'd almost bet the Southern Illinois media isn't on the distribution lists for those releases...

Jeff

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Federal Indictment Avoidance

?

Ever notice how close "Daley" is to "Delay"?

 

[MN_Strelok]

Misdirection 101

"Every sane person would agree that machine guns and grenades should be illegal," Daley said in his prepared remarks. "Their only purpose is to kill large numbers of people. The same is true of military-style assault weapons."

Notice how they always manage to make an oblique reference to machine guns? Every time a press release like this sees wide distribution, I spend the next week explaining that machine guns are already illegal.

At least they didn't directly claim that they're trying to ban "AK-47s and Uzis" this time.

 

[Elmer Snerd]

the 50-caliber assault rifle

I'm trying to think of a sufficiently scathing witticism in response to this, but I'm drawing a blank.

 

[Jeff White]

I figure that Blago has given up on being elected to a second term. He ran away from his antigun record here in Southern Illinois. He's certainly not going to be able to hide from this, it's going to be featured in the State of the State address later today:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...B956FC37925BEF2B862570FA001DC5B2?OpenDocument

Blagojevich will push for gun ban, construction package
By Philip Ewing
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU
01/17/2006


SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich will use his annual State of the State speech today to lay out his plan to ban selling or owning military-style automatic weapons and .50-caliber rifles, the administration said Tuesday.

The governor also is expected to discuss his new statewide construction package that he says would create 233,000 jobs, but will not mention the word "keno," sources say. But despite receiving heavy criticism over advocating more gambling, the governor is still considering using keno to finance school construction.

Because Congress let the federal assault weapons ban expire last year, Illinois needs its own ban, Blagojevich said. He and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley have tried to get a statewide ban before, but never could marshal support in the legislature.

"Now firearms that are better-suited for military combat are making their way into the hands of gang members and criminals - and our current law says those weapons are just as acceptable as hunting rifles. That has to change," Blagojevich said in a written statement.

But NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde scoffed at the proposal, saying he didn't think there would be enough support in Springfield to enact it.

"All they're trying to do is cloak a gun ban in some turn or catch-phrase that will sell it to people who know nothing about guns," he said. "It's just another Chicago politician trying to put out another gun ban while his administration is under investigation by the Justice Department, and they're trying to change the face of the news on the front page."

Two years ago, an assault weapon ban proposed by Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, never made it out of committee.

Meanwhile, Blagojevich's statewide infrastructure rebuilding plan has drawn widespread support in concept, but critics wonder how the state will fund it. His suggestion last week that part of the money could come from a new statewide keno game has drawn strong opposition from many directions.

Keno is a bingo-like game that would be played on television screens in bars and restaurants across Illinois. Blagojevich has said it could raise $80 million per year and would help finance some of the debt incurred by borrowing $500 million for new schools that the governor and legislative leaders say are needed across the state.

Some in the General Assembly wonder if the governor has the authority to add a keno game without legislative approval.

Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, a Greenville Republican, said last week he thought there would almost certainly be a suit that would decide whether Blagojevich could act alone in creating a keno game.

Though his party controls the General Assembly, the Democratic governor will need votes from some Republicans to pass his $3.2 billion construction bill because it would increase the state's long-term debt.

For their part, GOP leaders must decide which scenario they prefer: having new school and road projects for their members' districts, but with a series of Blagojevich ribbon-cuttings leading up to election day; or blocking the construction proposal and risking the political consequences of not spreading improvements around the state.

The new Keno game to pay for the construction plan is a good example of how business is done by both parties here in Illinois:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...21304570E050C1F1862570F5000ECD31?OpenDocument

Keno firm lobbyists are tied politically to the governor
By Ryan Keith
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
01/13/2006

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

Two political allies of Gov. Rod Blagojevich are tied to firms that run keno games for state lotteries, something the governor wants to implement here to pay for school construction.

John Wyma registered in November to lobby for GTECH Corp., which operates keno in nine states, records show. Wyma was Blagojevich's chief of staff in Congress and a top political adviser to his campaign for governor.

Milan Petrovic is a lobbyist for a firm representing Scientific Games International Inc., the keno operator in two states. Records show Petrovic has been paid thousands of dollars in political consulting fees by the Blagojevich campaign.


The disclosure heightened criticism of the keno idea from legislators, who say they fear Blagojevich would award state keno and construction contracts based on politics instead of merit.

"It sure waves a lot of flags when you see this kind of influence-peddling going on," said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said the governor's office didn't know Wyma and Petrovic were involved with the lottery firms when he proposed bringing keno to Illinois, an idea he announced Tuesday as part of a $3 billion plan to pay for roads, schools and mass transit.

Rausch said competitive bidding - not political connections - will decide who wins any contracts to run the keno game here.

"We do not know who will bid, who will win or who will be involved," she said.

GTECH runs the Illinois lottery's "online" games, such as Pick 3, Pick 4 and Little Lotto, and collected $27 million for its work last year, Rausch said.

GTECH spokesman Robert Vincent said the company would "absolutely" be interested in operating keno in Illinois. He said the company hires lobbyists such as Wyma as a standard practice to discuss with states new opportunities for making money through the lottery, such as keno.

He said GTECH has been in such discussions with Illinois about keno and other games for several years, not just since Wyma was hired in November.

"This has been a relatively long process," Vincent said.

Rausch said Scientific Games operates the lottery's instant ticket scratch-off games. A Scientific Games spokesman would not comment on Petrovic's lobbying involvement on keno in Illinois.

Wyma and Petrovic did not return calls seeking comment.

Here are some excerpts from yesterday's press release:

Mayor Daley said: “Every sane person would agree that machine guns and grenades should be illegal. Their only purpose is to kill large numbers of people. The same is true of military-style assault weapons.”

The federal ban on assault weapons was signed by President Clinton in 1994, but lapsed in September 2004 when Congress decided not to renew it, despite assurances from President Bush that he would sign such a renewal.

Assault weapons are extremely dangerous, often used in violent crimes, and are a threat to public safety. These weapons fire bullets rapidly and can fire at multiple targets. In addition, the military-style features make these guns even more dangerous. For example, larger magazines allow a shooter to fire 20, 50, or even 100 rounds without having to reload. Assault weapons have a high level of firepower, can penetrate body armor, and therefore pose a significant threat to police as well as innocent bystanders.

The .50-caliber rifle is among the most destructive weapons available to the public. It’s capable of hitting a target accurately from up to 2,000 yards, killing someone from a mile away, or even bringing down an airplane. The ammunition .50-calibers use is able to blow through a half-inch thick piece of steel – and thus easily pierce armor that police officers wear.

These are the kind of weapons that have been used in some heinous crimes, including the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999, in which 13 people were killed and 23 wounded, by weapons that included a TEC-DC9. In March of 1995, a Chicago policeman was killed with the same firearm while investigating a routine burglary. A semiautomatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle was used to kill 5 small children, wounding 29 others and a teacher, at an elementary school in Stockton, California.

You can read the entire press release here:
http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=3&RecNum=4591

According to the ISRA what they actually said in the press conference was even worse then what was printed in the press release. You can listen to the whole 11 minute press conference on MP3 at this link:

http://www.isra.org/legislation/media/blago-daley_01172006_press_conference.mp3

I don't know if Blago and Daley think they can buy off the Southern Illinois legislators with the construction program or if they are just trying to get other problem out of the headlines. We've killed this bill, defeated it soundly every year since Blago was elected. I don't know why, he's coming out now, when he knows this will kill him politically in the Southern half of the state.

Jeff

 

[fedlaw]

Notice how they always manage to make an oblique reference to machine guns? Every time a press release like this sees wide distribution, I spend the next week explaining that machine guns are already illegal.

At least they didn't directly claim that they're trying to ban "AK-47s and Uzis" this time.

See today's story in the Trib:

Blagojevich, Daley push gun ban
Both plan to make it top priority this year

By Courtney Flynn and Christi Parsons
Tribune staff reporters
Published January 18, 2006


After several failed attempts to pass a statewide ban on assault weapons, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday they will make the initiative a top priority in the current session of the state legislature.

In a joint news conference, the two Chicago Democrats called on the General Assembly to support their proposal to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of semi-automatic and .50-caliber weapons.

Blagojevich said his plan would do away with some of the most powerful guns on the market, and that it therefore doesn't affect the rights of law-abiding gun owners who want weapons for self-defense or hunting--a point vigorously put forth by gun-rights groups.

"We don't need to have TEC-9 assault weapons, Uzis or AK-47s to protect our homes, protect our neighborhoods or to go hunting," Blagojevich said. "And you certainly don't need the .50 caliber sniper rifle to do anything but act as a terrorist and be a criminal and a gangbanger."

The governor will make a pitch directly to the General Assembly when it convenes for his annual State of the State Address on Wednesday. That speech comes two years after the expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons, after Congress failed to re-enact it.

Even before the expiration, law enforcement officials and gun-control advocates have been trying to enact some form of assault-weapons ban at the state level. Seven states have done so but in Illinois, efforts have failed by a handful of votes.

Still, Blagojevich and Daley think there may be some momentum behind their efforts. Last year, lawmakers sided with gun-control groups on several votes, including one to require background checks for all sales at gun shows.

Daley said the next step is to get rid of assault weapons.

"I think all of us have made great progress in the last few years of reducing the amount of violence in our communities, both in the state and in the city," Daley said. "If we are really to make the progress that we want, we have to keep the most dangerous weapons that are right here off of our streets."

According to the Blagojevich administration, assault weapons are those that fire bullets rapidly and that can hit several targets quickly. Assault weapons have a high level of firepower, can penetrate body armor and tend to pose a significant threat to police, according to the governor's news release.

Gun-rights groups say the legislation is unfair, because the description covers guns commonly used by law-abiding hunters and sport shooters.

"There's no making these people happy," said NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde. "They just want to ban as much stuff as they can ... They will never be happy until they have eradicated firearm ownership."

----------

[email protected]

 

[Don Gwinn]

I honestly think Blago will be re-elected in a landslide simply because the Republicans are a disorganized jumble of fools. I used to think he was doomed, but I've come around.

 

[Jeff White]

Don,
Unfortunately you have a point. I don't think any of the announced republican candidates can win. It is encouraging that Blago has a primary challenge to face.

I wonder what the Democrats would do if a Southern Illinois Democrat jumped into the race?

Jeff

 

[MN_Strelok]

"We don't need to have TEC-9 assault weapons, Uzis or AK-47s to protect our homes, protect our neighborhoods or to go hunting," Blagojevich said. "And you certainly don't need the .50 caliber sniper rifle to do anything but act as a terrorist and be a criminal and a gangbanger."

I stand corrected, fedlaw. Not surprised, just corrected.

So, Jeff, how many .50 BMGs have you taken off gangbangers so far this year? It's clearly their weapon of choice.

 

[Jeff White]

Must be the weapon of choice North of I80, it's mostly Jennings and Lorcins around here.

I'm starting to wonder what Blagojevich is getting from Daley for this? He's pretty much kept his mouth shut on the gun issue the whole term, because he knows it doesn't play well anywhere but Chicago. Last year Daley even publically called him on it.

Is Don right, does he think he's got a lock on re-election, or is the federal probe into influence peddling in the governor's office getting close?

Jeff

 

[Fly320s]

I intended to buy one of those .50 caliber sniper rifles, but if it is going to make me act "as a terrorist and be a criminal and a gangbanger," then I guess I'll wait until a model is available that makes me act like a caring, loving, peaceable subject.

 

[fedlaw]

10-4 to that MN_Strelok.

I do not know Daley personally, but I believe he is sincere in his anti-gun beliefs. (Yes, I am aware of his 24-man armed protection detail.) I further would not be surprised if he would like Chicago to be like London of the 1960's where the police were not armed. (The many anti-CPD edicts originating from city hall, including the hiring of recruits who are anti-gun, are big clues to his true feelings.)
Blago is a different story. Like any self-respecting parasite, he will say or do anything in order to remain in power.
So, while I disagree with Daley on many issues, I am offended when a worm like our esteemed (haha) governor pretends to be a man.
Steve

 

[Thefabulousfink]

Every sane person would agree that machine guns and grenades should be illegal...

And every sane person would agree that a large city like Chicago shouldn't run by a government filled with corruption from top to bottom.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

I also love how every anti-gunner assumes that the .50 BMG rifle was designed for military purposes. The first rifles (in the US)were built by long-range competition shooters who were looking for improved range and accuracy. It was later that the US military caught on and started to field the .50 BMG sniper rifles.

 

[Jeff White]

From the State of the State Speech:

Rod Blagojevich Illinois Governor January 18, 2006:
http://www.illinois.gov/gov/sosspeech2006.cfm

No law abiding citizen needs an Uzi or an AK 47 to be safe or to hunt. The federal assault weapon ban expired more than a year ago. Everyone in Washington said they were for extending the ban – even the President himself. And yet they let it lapse – and never looked back.

We can’t keep waiting for them to act. You and I both know they won’t.

So I say it’s time we reinstate the assault weapons ban in Illinois.

How can we possibly allow gang bangers to be better armed than our police officers? While crime has fallen dramatically, we have seen an uptick of violent crime and gang activity in some of the suburbs surrounding Chicago. Cracking down on gun violence is no longer just a big city concern.

Last year, we tried to pass the assault weapon ban and we came close. I called many of you to ask that you vote for the bill. Back then, some of you told me you wanted to, but couldn’t because you were afraid of drawing a primary challenge. Well, the filing date for primary challenges has passed, and now it’s time to pass this bill.

We need to remember this, and remind all of our state senators and representives that we won't foget come election day.

Jeff

 

[Eric_Hepner]

Ahh, the hypocrisy oozes from the pores of King Richard II and the Viceroy of Springfield (can you be a Viceroy if you don't actually live in the region you run?). :banghead: HB2414, the house version of the bill specifically mentions the AUG as a "semi-automatic assault rifle." I'm not LE, but I bet there's not a single recorded case of an AUG being used in a criminal endeavor-Die Hard excepted, of course

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Since then, Daley and Blagojevich have pushed for a state law that would prohibit the manufacture, possession and delivery of semiautomatic weapons, assault weapon attachments and the 50-caliber assault rifle.

Aren't there a number of top tier Evil Black Rifle manufacturers located in Illinois?

Rock River Arms is in Illinois I believe. Armalite is, too. Springfield Armory? DSA? Colt?

 

[SaintofKillers]

Aren't there a number of top tier Evil Black Rifle manufacturers located in Illinois?

Rock River Arms is in Illinois I believe. Armalite is, too. Springfield Armory? DSA? Colt?

Yep, dont think Colt is but I know Armalite is in Geneso.

WHen this came up last year the owner of the company said he would pull up stakes and move to Iowa, and take his employees with him.

The wife and I may be joining him if the BS keeps up.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Colt is out East, but the others are here. The contingency plans to pick up and leave are very real from what I've been told by officers of Armalite.

 

[Cellar Dweller]

Some in the General Assembly wonder if the governor has the
authority to add a keno game without legislative approval

Blagojevich: "I'm the only one in the room professional enough to add Keno games."

Armalite, DSA, RRA, etc. employ what, a couple hundred total? Plus they're on the wrong side? Illinois will have KENO! Blago and Daley get NO kickbacks from gun manufacturers, but the possibilities from Keno are amazing. Licenses, inspectors, auditors, $80 million for the state's coffers, $many million to buy influence...all DIRECTLY controlled by the control freaks.

Gambling and guns are evil, except when the State is doing it.

 

[55645]

I've got a very bad feeling about this. I think it will pass this time. I've always thought that the expiration of the federal AW ban was going to be a bad thing for me and any blue state residents who own and use firearms of a military appearance. One by one the blue states will pass their own bans which will be much, much worse than the old federal AWB. The antis have learned their lesson since then and there is no wiggle room in these new laws.