Sen. Hutchison fights for her right to bear arms

[Nancy H]

Sen. Hutchison fights for her right to bear arms
Date: May 21, 2005 1:53 AM
FYI (copy below):
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/051905kvueHutchison-eh.28e138062.html
************************************************************
Sen. Hutchison fights for her right to bear arms

05:07 PM CDT on Thursday, May 19, 2005

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - She may be able to hang a giant Lone Star flag
outside her office, but Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said
Thursday there's one part of her Texas culture she couldn't
bring to the nation's capital -- her handgun.

Hutchison said she didn't know when she arrived from Austin
in 1993 that the District of Columbia prohibits keeping a
fully assembled handgun in the home. The district's ban has
been in place since 1975.

Hutchison, a Republican who is considering a 2006 run for
Texas governor, introduced legislation Thursday to lift the
ban. If the bill passes she said she would keep a gun in
her D.C. home.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and George Allen, R-Va., are
co-sponsors.

"I have always had a handgun in the drawer next to my bed,
and I would certainly again have one if it were legal in
D.C.," Hutchison said.

Her office said her handgun is a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum
revolver.

Hutchison said after she learned of the D.C. gun ban, she
dismantled her gun, bought a travel case for it and took it
back to Texas. She said she's complying with the law even
though she thinks it's unconstitutional.

"I think every woman in the District of Columbia should have
the ability to protect herself in her home," she said.

Her office later clarified that in her home in Dallas,
Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high
above the reach of her two young children. Her office also
said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes
law and she is still living there.

Hutchison previously served as chair of the Appropriations
subcommittee that oversees funding for the District of
Columbia.

A similar attempt at repealing D.C.'s gun ban failed last
year. Hutchison lends the clout of a member of the
Republican leadership -- she is the vice-chair of the
Republican Conference -- and her measure has 25 co-sponsors.

Cornyn's office said he has several types of guns and rifles
and keeps them in an "undisclosed location."

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

Welcome Nancy, good post.

Gee I wonder why the difference in crime stats between DC and Northern VA?

 

[MikeIsaj]

Might be standard journalistic sloppiness but, this doesn't sound right. Allow me to rearrange things a bit to provide some clarity;

At one point she says;

"I have always had a handgun in the drawer next to my bed, and I would certainly again have one if it were legal in D.C.," Hutchison said.

But later it states;

Her office later clarified that in her home in Dallas, Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high above the reach of her two young children. Her office also said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

Which is it? If this is a self defense issue then, what good is a gun, unloaded, locked in a safe, with a trigger lock?

Hutchison said after she learned of the D.C. gun ban, she dismantled her gun, bought a travel case for it and took it back to Texas. She said she's complying with the law even though she thinks it's unconstitutional.

Ah, sure she did. Because she is cautious enough to be armed in DC, yet as a U.S. Senator she believes it is likely the Metro Police are going to get and execute a warrant on her home, to confiscate the handgun, that is illegal by a questionable law, that they don't know exists. This smacks of politically correct "fine print" to appease the blissninnies who would surely be appalled at the horror of a U.S. Senator having a weapon in one of the most dangerous cesspools of our nation.

"I think every woman in the District of Columbia should have the ability to protect herself in her home," she said.

And men shouldn't? How is this a womans issue? Again, smacks of political posturing.

Her office said her handgun is a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver.

At least she has good taste in firearms.

I may be too cynical on this one, maybe I'm in a bad mood. These are my initial reactions to the article. I like Senator Hutchinson, yet I read this and it just doesn't sound right.

 

[MikeIsaj]

Welcome to THR NancyH. Please excuse my bad manners.

 

[PMDW]

Her office later clarified that in her home in Dallas, Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high above the reach of her two young children. Her office also said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

Hah. Sure she does.

 

[enfield303]

Nancy, Welcome.

 

[El Tejon]

Nancy, welcome to THR.

However, what Katey Jo sez is pure bearthread. "Your gun" has a triggerlock and in a safe? Yeah, right, Senator. Is this "gun" right next to your fire extinguisher locked up in the safe.

Senator, do you really think that anyone outside D.C. is a toothless bumpkin who never got past the 4th grade?

 

[Werewolf]

in Dallas, Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high above the reach of her two young children. Her office also said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

What the heck is the point of having one then? :banghead: Stored like that it sure as heck wouldn't be of much use in a crisis situation.

Sounds more like a CYA political statement than anything else designed to assuage the delicate sensibilities of the anti's.

 

[Waitone]

The good senator has a few blissninnies as PR flacks.

I would love to see her say, "I have a .357 mag on my bedstand stoked with the most lethal ammo I can find. It does not have a trigger guard nor is it in a safe because it needs to be available for use. I take every precaution regarding children except for locking a defensive handgun up. My kids are repeatedly trained and drilled in firearms. "

"You may not like my use of a handgun. Too bad, it is for my protection and the protection of my children. You can defend yourself with trigger guards and safes if you wish. I choose to use something a bit more lethal."

 

[GEM]

How she chooses to keep her gun is far outweighed by her advocacy of getting rid of the ban.

This topic always me. Why - because GWB has taken no interest in overturning the ban. He certainly is in the position to support such legislation. Also, when law suits were brought against it, the GWB DOJ represented the city against the suits. How's about dat!

I note that GWB didn't hestitate to rush to DC to sign a Schiavo bill, today threatened to veto a stem cell bill, has time to call Pootie-Poot to worry about freedom in Latvia. However, let's see if he even mentions this bill or spends some political capital on it.

So more power to our Senator - she isn't out there proclaiming that the AWB is a good thing like GWB and his new AG.

 

[nico]

I think some of you need a reality check.

I would love to see her say, "I have a .357 mag on my bedstand stoked with the most lethal ammo I can find. It does not have a trigger guard nor is it in a safe because it needs to be available for use. I take every precaution regarding children except for locking a defensive handgun up. My kids are repeatedly trained and drilled in firearms. "

"You may not like my use of a handgun. Too bad, it is for my protection and the protection of my children. You can defend yourself with trigger guards and safes if you wish. I choose to use something a bit more lethal."

I'd love to hear her say that too. The thing is, it would totally eliminate any chance she had of getting this bill passed. You don't get rid of gun control with statements like that; you just get the antis riled up. The comment about women being able to protect themselves was obviously an appeal to women specifically. That doesn't mean she doesn't think men have a right to defend themselves (DUH!).

Sure, we'd all be thrilled if a senator took a take no prisoners, hardline stance against gun control. But that person wouldn't ever get the clout to do anything more than posturing and making speeches, and you'd have to be dilusional to think someone like that could get something as big as the DC gun ban passed. The goal of the statements in that story isn't to make us happy; it's to make "moderates" think and say "hmm, she's concerned with protecting herself, which I can understand. And she takes having a gun seriously. Maybe this law isn't too bad."

 

[jsalcedo]

Hutcinson has always been pro gun in my corespondence with her.

I'm sure her office cleaned up and PC'ed the piece to avoid backlash.

Good on her for supporting lifting the DC ban.

She is a politician through and through. Stupid press releases
are to be expected.


Funny story:

I was waiting outside an American Airlines terminal about 10 years ago
when Hutchinson stepped off her plane. She was in full TV makeup
and hairsprayed as she pranced out of the gate.

She dramatically presented herself with a fake smile and dramtically posed for cameras and press that did not exist.

She stood there with this shocked and pissed off look on her face that was priceless. She then stormed off yelling at her assistant for making her look so stupid.

 

[aerod1]

I agree with jsalcedo, Senator Hutchinson has a very good pro gun voting record. I have corresponded with her by mail and her response is one that I feel is very pro gun. It is true that the press may have fouled up the story.... Oh gee is anyone surprized?
Senator Kay Hutchinson has always had my pro rights vote and will as long as she keeps up the good work.

Jim

 

[Standing Wolf]

"I think every woman in the District of Columbia should have the ability to protect herself in her home," she said.

Actually, every law-abiding American citizen in the District of Columbia should be free to protect himself or herself at any time in any place.

 

[mfree]

"I have a .357 mag on my bedstand stoked with the most lethal ammo I can find."

Er... exactly. What's wrong with that? It's what I have

 

[Waitone]

My problem is not with the good senator. My problem is with

Her office later clarified that in her home in Dallas, Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high above the reach of her two young children. Her office also
said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

The way I read it is shortly after the senator made her comments her office gets a phone call from the reporter or a reporter asking about safety of the children. Her office PR flack takes the call and wanting to cover all the bases runs through the PC acceptable qualifications the media finds acceptable. Hence you get the obvious "trigger lock" and "safe" (I thought a trigger lock was as safe as you get, here we have someone thinking both are necessary). The you get my favorite ". . . high above the reach of her two young children." I call BS on that one. A safe is mounted overhead???????? The the flack says,

. . . she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

So now the flack has demonstrated the good senator will keep from contributing to the bloodshed in DC by puttin triggerlocked handguns in a ceiling mounted safe.

<rant>This is 100% USDA grade steaming fresh male bovine skat. The good senator made her position known. Her PC PR flack responded to a little pressure from a media representative by doing a database dump of PC acceptable provisions for the use of a handgun for personal protection. When I say I'd like someone to stand up and state reality I also mean to do it without apology. I would also like someone to stand up to media types and challenge them on the premise of their questions (that is a whole other thread). The good senator is clearly one of the good guys and I am appreciative of her stance. I do not approve of her PR flacks lack of a spine.</rant>

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

She has to play the game. From the posts on this thread she is pro 2A.

I haven't been to DC, but years ago spent a lot of time with State Legislators. Most decisions are made with a wink or a nod.

If she came out saying she wears a Glock 26 strapped to her garter on the floor of the senate during could you image the hissy fits from Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein would raise. Man they would blow bloodvessels! What a dream scene.

Let Feinstein then say to Boxer to "turn it in". I wonder if Senate rules apply to pistol whipping? I wonder if Hutchison can run back to her office and get an 8" 44 mag in Nickel to pistol whip her? The horror... the horror

 

[Waitone]

If that happened Hutchinson could as tell Feinstein, "Show me yours and I'll show you mine."

 

[geekWithA.45]

I've no beef with Hutchinson....

What I really have a beef with is the residents of DC who've spent the last 30 years arguing that they're unworthy of the right of arms.

After a while, I'm inclined to agree with them: "OK, you win, you're right. YOU are NOT worthy of the right of arms. But that says nothing about ME, so stand aside."

 

[Nancy H]

Thanks for the welcome , er uh re- welcome. not exactly a new member ,just had a few crashes in the last year or so , including one or two on the computer ............... been here awhile under different ID, but couldn't remember password, so I reupped under a diiferent one................ it's good to be back, missed you guys

previously, WAGCEVP

 

[Justin]

Her office later clarified that in her home in Dallas, Hutchison keeps her gun in a safe with a trigger lock, high above the reach of her two young children. Her office also said she would do the same in Washington if her bill becomes law and she is still living there.

 

[MudPuppy]

She chooses to keep her gun inaccessible to her kids--give her a break. She is pro-gun, pro-constitution, and pro-safety. Heck, she's even trying to make some changes to allow more people access to legal firearms. I train my three year old all the time not to play with the guns ("I'll let you see them and touch them whenever you want, but a grown-up always has to be there"). I've also woke up saturday morning to see the cookies pulled down from ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE. I figure if I need to lock up the cookies, then I better lock up the pistol too. I train the kids, but I also train myself and can get to my gun plenty quick.

And welcome to the best darn forum around!

 

[Werewolf]

She chooses to keep her gun inaccessible to her kids--give her a break

Puhleeeze...

...two young children...

My roseyey, red posterior! To have young children she'd have had to have had them in her mid to late forties and how many women do that? Considering she was elected to the Senate in 1993 it's doubtful she had them since then.

The woman was a political reporter for KPRC in Houston prior to 1972 (Biography) when she decided to run for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. That makes her well over 50 (54 at least) if you figure she was 21 in 1972 (which is giving her the benefit of the doubt). She's probably around 57 or so if one figures she was 24 in '72.

Her children can't be younger than teenagers (and that's a real stretch), are probably at least in college (could find no info on that) and most likely of all are grown up. Maybe the political hack who released the statement meant Grand Children?

The hack's PC statement about a revolver trigger locked in a safe is total BS and if the Senator knew it was going out like that then shi is just another political hack who happens to be smart enough to figure out which side of the bread is buttered in TX. If she was a MA Senator she'd be an anti.

Hell I'm beginning to wonder if the woman even owns a gun.

 

[nico]

Hell I'm beginning to wonder if the woman even owns a gun.

Are you serious?
Anybody with half a brain should recognize a statement meant to calm the sheeple when they see it. That doesn't mean it has any substance. Like I said before, it'd be nice in theory if there were a politician who didn't give any lip service to hoplophobes. The problem is that person would never get anything positive done for us and would have absolutely no clout when it comes to getting laws passed (see: Libertarian Party).

 

[Werewolf]

Are you serious?
Anybody with half a brain should recognize a statement meant to calm the sheeple when they see it.

So lying is OK - if it's for a good cause?