Legal procedure/path for for AWB I (1994-2004)?

[Eightball]

Alright, "hive mind" of THR, I have a question. For one of my college classes, I'm supposed to "pick a bill" of recent importance, and trace its path into law--but it needs to have had an "interesting path" to becoming a bill (i.e. committees, passing back and forth, revisions, etc). So, the bill that comes to mind is the recently-expired AWB I. Anyhow, does anyone have a link or information to point me towards in regards to the thing's legislative path to having become a bill?

Sorry if my question isn't too clear, but it's for a project. The subject matter isn't the important part, it's the whole "procedural" thing that the professor is interested in, and I'd like to stick with something I know, but something I don't KNOW (if that makes sense).

Anyhow.....help?

 

[cbrgator]

In case you don't know, the AWB was not it's own bill. It was a section of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.

 

[Zoogster]

The anti gun Hughes Amendment to the pro gun FOPA was another interesting one. It was sneakily passed late when many of the pro gun supporters had left for the evening, and even then just by a voice vote some present are not even sure passed.
Sounds like something from a movie plot, yet its how new registration of machineguns per the NFA was outlawed.

A lot of gun control is relatively sneaky. They convince people certain things are bad, then they attach an anti peice of legislation to more mainstream legislation and hope those who notice don't fight it. Then when it is passed they insure everyone it was a wonderful addition that makes everyone safer after they realize what happened. Then they move the line in the sand over and target something else for restrictions and bans.

That is one of the great things about the internet. There is a decent number of people keeping close eyes on things and alerting eachother to legislation some may miss.
They catch many things, but some things still come as a surprise. There is so much legislation voted on all the time that its hard to keep track of everything.
If only we had a protection already in place, like something about "shall not infringe" or "shall not be infringed", then we could relax and just enjoy our rights as free American citizens without worry of losing rights nobody could infringe on.
If only the founding fathers had thought to include such a guarantee.

 

[Eightball]

I forgot to point out......the professor wants something done since Jan 1, 1999....I'm hoping he'll grant me an "exemption" for the AWB. Sorry, I should've pointed that out.

In case you don't know, the AWB was not it's own bill. It was a section of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.

Really? I seriously didn't know that.

So, I would assume, then, that by default, I would have to do the "Violent Crime" bill as a whole, rather than just the AWB, to comply with the "study a bill through the processes" thing (and the AWB itself is only "part" of a bill)?

 

[cbrgator]

Yes, the AWB was just a subtitle within the Act. (Also known as the Biden Crime Law)

The only major federal gun law I can think of since 1999 was the Vitter Amendment in 06. I don't know how interesting its path to becoming law was, but that's your job

Quick background: Its the law that prohibits confiscation of legally-owned firearms during a disaster. This was passed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina when authorities went door to door and took away peoples' guns. Presumably when they needed them most. (Obama actually voted in favor of this law. Hillary opposed it.)

 

[apex]

If you're a student, stop by the library and do some research then come back and enlighten the hive with all that you have learned from said research. I'm not trying to take a shot at ya or be a smarta** - your university's staff research librarian will gladly help you find all of the databases (that the university subscribes to and that most of us don't have access to) you need in order to put together a paper on this subject, and you'll be glad you learned to navigate your school's online library system as well as those databases. Plus, you could greatly contribute to the collective knowledge here.

 

[alsaqr]

You could do a paper on the failed McCain-Lieberman "gunshow loophole" bill and tie it to the defeat of McCain in the presidential election of 2008. The VPC opposed this draconain bill and favored the Reed bill.

http://www.vpc.org/mccainletter.htm
http://www.gunlaws.com/McCainLieberman.htm

 

[Eightball]

As an update for the curious, the professor told me (verbally) that he would allow me to do this bill for the paper/project. Keeping in mind that the paper is more geared to researching the paths and procedures through which the bill went before becoming law, what I discover may only be of certain degrees of interest to everyone.

That being said, assuming he accepts my proposal (i.e. not verbal-only agreement), then I'll get to work on this thing shortly.

apex, normally your advice would make sense; that being said, our college likes to "cut costs" and "provide employment" by employing students for cheap, rather than employing a full roster of library personnel; mine's one of those colleges that don't take federal funds, and are 'private' in the true sense of the word. That, and the students working there don't know the first thing about this kinda stuff, or the resources needed--many live in my dorm, so I've been able to ask 'em anyway.

Anywho.....I'll be sure to share any interesting findings after the paper is completed. That being said, with my academic workload and due dates for things, that might be a few months :/

Thanks, all!

 

[gc70]

A discussion of the passage of the AWB is underway on another forum.

Procedurally, the legislative history of the AWB is interesting. A bill for law enforcement funding was passed by the House. A similar bill was progressing through the Senate, but was amended to include the AWB. The Senate subsequently substituted the text of the Senate bill for the text of the bill passed by the House. Over 9 months of House-Senate conferences later, the bill was finally passed, possibly because the dollars involved had grown by more than 8 times.