MMM Strategy for AWB Renewal

[Bubbles]

Message in my email - I have an account that is only used to moniter anti's. This is from a Virginia MMM e-list:

ATTENTION ALL MOMS AND SUPPORTERS:

We are down to the wire now on the AWB. Only 23 more "working days" that Congress will be in session before the Assault Weapons Ban expires on September 13.

The Feinstein/Warner bill to renew the ban is planned to be introduced in the Senate as early as this coming week. (S.2109, the Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2004) They plan to attach it to a class action bill that the Republicans really want. We had a conference call with Senator Feinstein last week and as she said, a renewal is all we can hope for, no chance to strengthen the bill.

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO NOW:

1) Call Senator John Warner and THANK him for sponsoring this bill.

2) Call Senator George Allen and ask him to please return to his initial positive position on the AWB issue and support this bill.

3) Call Senator John Kerry, thank him for supporting the AWB and ask him to please arrange his campaign schedule so that he can return to Washington to vote for the bill. He did this once before and we desperately need his vote. We can't afford to lose 1 vote!

YOU CAN USE THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD FOR ALL THESE CALLS. THEY WILL CONNECT YOU TO THE OFFICES. YOU WILL SPEAK TO AN AIDE AND YOUR OPINION WILL BE RECORDED AND REPORTED TO THE SENATORS. (202-224-3121)

THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM US. They are being bombarded with negative calls from the NRA who threaten to defeat their re-elections if they vote for the ban. THE SENATORS NEED TO KNOW THAT THEIR CONSTITUENTS WANT THEM TO VOTE TO RENEW THE BAN! The NRA has convinced them that their group speaks for the majority of Americans. They do not! This issue isn't even controversial, expect to the NRA. The vast majority of Americans support the ban.

And, please, tell everyone you know about this - especially people in other states. Ask them to call their Senators with the same message. I will forward a MMM email to you that will list how all the Senators voted on the AWB when it was attached to the Immunity bill in March so they will know how their Senators voted.

We will be doing more of this and other things in the next few weeks. We will keep you up to date on the AWB in the House of Representatives as soon as we have news.

Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to do this. We can not lose. We must not fail.

 

[charler2]

"The NRA has convinced them that their group speaks for the majority of Americans. They do not! This issue isn't even controversial, expect to the NRA."

Expect to the NRA? Guess MMM should have actually proofread their email before sending that one out.

 

[dischord]

John Warner has to go.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

John Warner has to go.

Warner is retiring at the end of this term, so you'll get your wish. Let's make sure the guy who replaces him is better on guns whether a D/R/L/C is behind his name.

In the meantime, we need to remind those Senators (especially those facing reelection) that we want the ban dead and there are more of us than them and we vote.

 

[Bubbles]

Both Representative Tom Davis (R-11) and former Governor Jim Gilmore are setting themselves up to run for Senator Warner's seat in 2006. Until then, we're stuck with him as a lame duck. :banghead:

 

[Partisan Ranger]

I hope Gilmore makes it, not Davis.

Davis is not gun-friendly.

 

[ny32182]

Can they really just attach it to some totally unrelated but "neccessary" peice of legislation? I thought they couldn't do that.

Being able to do that is the only chance they have of getting it passed.

 

[halvey]

23 working days?

That's good news in a way.

 

[Justin]

Call those senators and send in faxes and emails, people.

 

[dischord]

Warner is retiring at the end of this term, so you'll get your wish.

When did Warner annouce his retirement? I can't find anything about it on google-news or Warner's website (although I found a June 1 reference about "if Warner decides to retire"). He's up in 2008. It seems rather early for him to make such announcements.

 

[sturmruger]

They keep talking about the Senate, but from what I understand this bill will never make it through the house. I don't care what they do in the Senate the house will not renew the ban. The good news is only 23 working days left. I think the antis are screwed.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Actually, there was a fair amount of speculation that Warner would retire in 2002 and he didn't, so he might not retire.

Still, in 2008, he will be 80 years old and the rate he is flip-flopping on controversial issues suggests he isn't planning for reelection anytime soon. Maybe he is just getting senile and figures voters won't remember either.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

They keep talking about the Senate, but from what I understand this bill will never make it through the house. I don't care what they do in the Senate the house will not renew the ban.

The House is the last line of defense. Better to fight in the Senate and have a line to fall back to then to retreat immediately to your best position.

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Good advice.

 

[Roc_Kor]

"Vast majority of Americans support the bill."
Of course they do.

 

[Justin]

The good news is only 23 working days left.

Yes, but do they reconvene before Sept. 14th?

 

[dischord]

Yes, but do they reconvene before Sept. 14th

The Senate is in session:

from now until June 27 (25th is Friday),

from July 6 to July 25 (23rd is Friday),

from September 7 to October 1 (target adjournment).

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/2004_schedule.htm

 

[Standing Wolf]

They keep talking about the Senate, but from what I understand this bill will never make it through the house.

One hopes.

 

[Reno]

"Vast majority of Americans support the bill."
Of course they do.

Actually, they do. However, they only support it because of the name. If you go ask the average person what the AWB is about, it's "machine guns." 70-some percent of the country "supports" it, but almost everyone has no idea what it's actually about.

 

[madcowburger]

Never mind the *expansion* of the AWB. The "mere" reathorization of the 1994 ban is *more* than bad enough to cost George Bush and the GOP my vote forevermore, and probably any shrinking hope Bush has left of re-election.

The GOP better get it, and get it fast, that *no* reauthorization of the AWB in *any* form is acceptable.

MCB

 

[USAFNoDAk]

If an AWB bill showed up on President Bush's desk before the November elections, and he signed it rather than vetoed it, my vote for him is lost, period.

If he signs some other bill that has an AWB attached to it, prior to the November elections, he will have lost my vote for him. I will most likely not vote for anyone for Prez. if that happens, though I will still vote for congresscritters and local stiffs running for office, if they hold views mostly consistent with mine.

For a President to sign a bill that so heavily infringes on a key amendment to our Bill of Rights, when he has sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution, means that I cannot vote for him. He'll have to rely on others to keep his office. If Kerry wins, that's just too darn bad. Maybe people will wake up. Maybe they won't. I won't be counted among the people who affirmatively put a man in office who would so violate the Bill of Rights. I don't care if 99% of americans think the 2nd Amendment is outdated and not for a modern America. It is one of my most deeply held beliefs that we have a God given right to keep and bear arms, and the Constitution says that it is our governments job to protect that right, and not to infringe upon it. What is the AWB if not and infringement on the 2nd A.?

 

[Justin]

Thanks, Dischord.

from September 7 to October 1 (target adjournment).

Sept. 7-14 is gonna be one heckuva ride.