Gun control advocates go on tour for weapons ban

[Harry Tuttle]

Gun control advocates go on tour for weapons ban

By Susan Palmer_
The Register-Guard
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/11/d1.cr.assaultweapons.0811.html
August 11, 2004

Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner receives an apple pie for his support of the weapons ban during a stop Tuesday by gun control activists.

Photo: Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard


A big, pink recreational vehicle is hard to miss, and that's exactly what the Million Mom March members hoped for when they launched a nationwide summer tour to urge support for continuation of a ban on military-style semiautomatic weapons.

It arrived Tuesday in Eugene and attracted about a dozen supporters, including Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner and Rebecca Lynn, whose daughter was shot at Thurston High School in 1998.

Lynn noted that shooter Kip Kinkel had an illegal magazine of 50 rounds when he shot 27 students, killing two, in less than two minutes.

"People say, 'I don't want to talk about Thurston anymore.' But Thurston is a tool to talk about this problem," Lynn said.

The Federal Assault Weapons Act of 1994 is due to expire Sept. 13 unless Congress reauthorizes it. The Senate renewed the ban in March, but the House hasn't acted on it yet. The act also bans ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

The supporters called on President Bush to fulfill a 2000 campaign promise to renew the ban, and said that now isn't the time to legalize semiautomatic weapons.

Lehner praised the group's grass-roots efforts to keep the guns illegal.

While the weapons that the ban targets haven't caused big problems in Eugene, Lehner said he's all too familiar with the damage they can do. During his tenure in Tucson, Ariz., one fellow officer was injured and another killed by semiautomatic weapons, he said.

Dozens of law enforcement officials around the country, including the chiefs of the Portland and Seattle police forces support the ban, he said.

A dozen national law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Probation and Parole Association also support renewing the ban.

The National Rifle Association wants the ban to expire. A call to the group's regional representative in Bend wasn't returned, but the NRA Web site notes that fully automatic weapons have been banned since the 1930s, and the semiautomatic guns that have become identified with the military assault weapons they imitate account for very few crimes, injuries or deaths.

The group cites a 2001 survey by the U.S. Department of Justice that indicated 8 percent of the inmates who carried a firearm during the offense that put them in jail used military-style semiautomatic weapons such as the UZI, Tec-9 and MAC-10 handguns or the AR-15 and AK-47 rifles. In that survey, 80 percent of the inmates who were armed during their crimes said they favored ordinary handguns.

But ban supporters site a different study based on information provided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to prove that the law has saved lives.

That study shows that the number of semiautomatic weapons that the ATF traced because they suspected they'd been used in a crime dropped from 4.8 percent of all traced weapons before the ban to 1.6 percent afterward.

Ban supporters only have a narrow window of opportunity to make their case. Congress doesn't reconvene until Sept. 7.

The ban will expire Sept. 13 unless the House votes to keep it.

 

[reagansquad]

Gee, that's interesting... Aside from the street sweeper, a person can still easily and legally own most of the firearms displayed.

 

[tulsamal]

The first thing I noticed on the poster was the Steyr AUG. Which we lost due to executive order not to the AWB. And then either a Valmet or GALIL. Same deal.

I wouldn't get so frustrated with gun control people if they would at least use the real facts. Then we would just be having a discussion about the best way to structure a society. Instead we have to totally watch them because they lie BIG TIME every opportunity they get!

And I notice it was the "police chief" who supports the ban. Somehow they never get around to talking to the guys actually driving the cars.

Gregg

 

[SMMAssociates]

Am I the only one to notice the use of "semi-automatic" instead of "assault" in this article?

Or that "site" was misused instead of "cite"?

The latter is sort of "kill the messenger", but the former is an obvious attempt to vilify _all_ semi-automatic weapons, not just the ugly ones that the AWB bans.

And, lest we forget, that Kinkel kid could have done the same damage with a few 10-round magazines. The only real advantage to anybody with the capacity reduction is a better chance to pop the guy when he has to stop to reload. This almost makes sense when you talk about 50 or 100 round drums and things of that nature, but is of no consequence when it's 10 v.s. 13 rounds or something of that nature.

And, finally, it's the criminals, stupid....

(Not us guys - the folks in the pink bus....:banghead: Guess when you're going to lie, cheat, and steal, anyway, it really doesn't matter if you understand the problem or not. )

 

[Standing Wolf]

...an obvious attempt to vilify _all_ semi-automatic weapons, not just the ugly ones that the AWB bans.

Aw, shucks! We're supposed to be too dumb to notice subtle touches like that.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

During his tenure in Tucson, Ariz., one fellow officer was injured and another killed by semiautomatic weapons, he said.

It doesn't say that the guns were rifles, does it?

 

[Cosmoline]

Of course, the shooting took place after the ban was in effect.

But somehow that fact is lost on these folks.

Besides, if Kinkel had used some diesel, hammer and nails and added some low grade explosives he could have killed hundreds.

 

[Col. Mustard]

Uh, not quite...

The Senate renewed the ban in March, but the House hasn't acted on it yet.

Not hardly. The Senate approved an amendment to a bill that would have renewed the ban, but the original bill was voted down; so the Senate has done nothing.

 

[deej]

That study shows that the number of semiautomatic weapons that the ATF traced because they suspected they'd been used in a crime dropped from 4.8 percent of all traced weapons before the ban to 1.6 percent afterward.

Does this statement mean anything at all? It doesn't say that semiautomatic weapons USED in a crime dropped from 4.8 to 1.6 percent; it only says that semiautomatic weapons traced by ATF (forward traced?) dropped from 4.8 to 1.6 percent.

That could mean ANYTHING; it could mean that ATF decided to focus on forward traces of other kinds of weapons; it could mean that ATF DELIBERATELY reduced the number of forward traces on semiautomatic weapons in order to make the AW ban look effective.

Agent Schmuckatelli, care to weigh in?

 

[Big Gay Al]

I wish we knew where those jerks were going to be so we could arrange some "greetings" for them.

 

[Warren]

They are overnighting at the Oxford Suites in Chico at the moment.

Passed their RV, parked on Baney, on my way back to the office.


I'll not do anything though as it is private property AND they have a right to say what they want.

 

[Warren]

Besides, if Kinkel had used some diesel, hammer and nails and added some low grade explosives he could have killed hundreds.

That's true, but if I wanted to create a mass causualty event I'd rent a big truck......and drive it through a crowd. Why F with all those explosives?

 

[GunnySkox]

Thought: The only thing that makes any sense in the AWB is the mag-cap ban. You can say that three ten-round magazines are almost-as-good as a thirty-rounder, but how many armies today hand out their rifles with ten-round magazines? How many armies handed out their semiauto FALs and Mini-14s and G3s (I dunno if ze Germans actually issued the G3 semiauto [ like everybody and their brother did with the kickin'-like-a-champ .308 select-fire rifles], but I digress) with ten-round magazines? True, a thirty-round magazine doesn't increase the firepower or lethality of a weapon directly, but there's more of that firepower on hand in a single package.

Of course, we still know that nobody can "hose down" an area effectively with semiauto fire, which is why the military uses a whole element (with the benefit of the handy-dandy three-round burst for the riflemen, and the joys of belt-fed automatic) for suppressive/volumetric fire, because one dude with a semiauto/burst weapon just plain can't lay down a sufficient volume of flying lead-and-steel to "hose down" anything.

~Slam_Fire
It's okay. Don't worry. I'm here. CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!

 

[Warren]

Mo' dakka, mo' betta.

Orks aint gots no worries.

No changing mags after ten shots for them.

 

[rick_reno]

Infrequently in life we're given the opportunity to observe popular sayings put into practice. This one is "beating a dead horse".

 

[tyme]

Wow! If we limit supply of a certain type of firearm and all the manufacturers make new firearms that are slightly (but not functionally) different, the original firearms show up a bit less in criminals' stashes?! Who would have thought that criminals would switch to the new, cheaper, functionally identical weapons?

Yes, the ban was "effective" in diluting possession of assault weapons. That means nothing.

 

[Desertdog]

Do you feel the impct of this statement??

The supporters called on President Bush to fulfill a 2000 campaign promise to renew the ban, and said that now isn't the time to legalize semiautomatic weapons.

They seem to be telling the truth, finally.
After this, then what.

 

[mountainclmbr]

Being such a small group, they sure do make a lot of noise. Imagine harnessing that energy and doing something productive with it!

 

[Big Gay Al]

I'll not do anything though as it is private property AND they have a right to say what they want.

When I said to "arrange greetings for them" I didn't mean anything illegal. What I meant was with enough advance warning, maybe we could set up a counter demonstration that would be bigger than what they're pulling off.

Sure, they have the right to say what they want. And we have the right to counter their lies with the truth.

 

[El Tejon]

*Announcer voice*

Blissninnies in action! See them attempt to destroy your freedom! SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

 

[GSB]

The only thing that makes any sense in the AWB is the mag-cap ban.

I guess "sense" means different things to different people. It probably makes "sense" to some people to ban SUVs because they consume more fossil fuels than a Civic. It probably makes sense to some people to ban any engine with more than 70 hp since only someone intending to break the speed limit or outrun police officers would have any need of more horesepower.

 

[feedthehogs]

Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner receives an apple pie for his support of the weapons ban during a stop Tuesday by gun control activists.

Does anyone else have a problem with a police chief who sucks off the public teet taking political posturing one way or another?

His or her job is to enforce the laws the politicians pass.
Nothing more.

Campaining on either side of the issue clouds the judgement of the office and will work its way down to the rank and file and eventually to us.

Our local undersheriff was fired a ways back for running for office while in uniform and on duty.

All you locals, when you see a law enforcement official doing this while in uniform and on duty, call the media, report them to the state law enforcement certification agency, call the local commissioners and demand they cease or be terminated!