alan
Member
Save the Assault-Gun Ban
Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, chose an odd way to celebrate National Police Week. On Tuesday, Mr. DeLay publicly reassured the fanatics who run the National Rifle Association that his chamber will not renew the hard-won 1994 federal ban on military-style assault weapons — the powerful semiautomatic guns favored by criminals.
Mr. DeLay's announcement came just days after the Violence Policy Center revealed that at least 41 of 211 police officers slain between 1998 and 2001 were killed with assault weapons. Plainly, the law, due to expire in September 2004, needs to be strengthened, not abandoned.
The fate of the assault-weapons ban lies with President Bush. During the 2000 campaign, Mr. Bush made a rare break with the N.R.A. to endorse the ban's renewal. The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, reasserted that support this week. But he refused to say whether the president is prepared to put the heat on Mr. DeLay and his colleagues to allow House members to vote on the question.
That hedging merely fuels suspicions that Mr. Bush is trying to gain credit with soccer moms for backing reasonable gun control, while counting on members of his party to perform the dirty deed of blocking the ban's extension.
If that happens, it would be a big step backward that would endanger the lives of both the police and public. Hunters and target shooters have no need for bullet-spraying Uzis or AK-47's.
Posters response.
Editor:
The following commentary was the lead in to the above mentioned opinion piece.
OPINION | May 16, 2003
Save the Assault-Gun Ban
(NYT)
President Bush must reassert his support of the 1994 federal ban on military-style assault weapons, the powerful semiautomatic guns favored by criminals.
Re this, might I offer a few points/facts, even at the risk of "raining on your parade"?
1. The proper definition for/of "assault weapon" is as follows, this from The Dept. of Defense, The U.S. Army and standard reference texts that deal with small arms. Assult weapon: Selective fire weapon, usually of rifle configuration, chambered for an intermediate power cartridge.
2. None of the roughly 200 rifles, not the 19 advertised, that were effected by the so-called "Assault Weapons" ban had this feature, selective fire capability, as they were offered for commercial sale in this country. If they did have this feature, they would have fallen under the purview of The National Firearms Act of 1934. They didn't.
3. Regarding your reference to "military-style assault weapons", would thosew be any of the slinky, black off the shoulder numbers that one used to see at Hatties?
4. As to allegations pertaining to the so-called "assault weapon" being "favored by criminals", "after action" police reports blow this contention right out of the water, for it turns out that these so-called "assault weapons" are little used by criminals. As to your reference to the "powerful semi-automatic guns", remember item 1, and the reference to "intermediate power cartridges", they being cartridges that are less powerful than the service rifle cartridge, but more powerful than the cartridge fired by the service pistol?
In conclusion, while I do hate to bother you with factual material, might I suggest the following. If you insist in walking in the rain, don't forget your umbrella.
Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, chose an odd way to celebrate National Police Week. On Tuesday, Mr. DeLay publicly reassured the fanatics who run the National Rifle Association that his chamber will not renew the hard-won 1994 federal ban on military-style assault weapons — the powerful semiautomatic guns favored by criminals.
Mr. DeLay's announcement came just days after the Violence Policy Center revealed that at least 41 of 211 police officers slain between 1998 and 2001 were killed with assault weapons. Plainly, the law, due to expire in September 2004, needs to be strengthened, not abandoned.
The fate of the assault-weapons ban lies with President Bush. During the 2000 campaign, Mr. Bush made a rare break with the N.R.A. to endorse the ban's renewal. The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, reasserted that support this week. But he refused to say whether the president is prepared to put the heat on Mr. DeLay and his colleagues to allow House members to vote on the question.
That hedging merely fuels suspicions that Mr. Bush is trying to gain credit with soccer moms for backing reasonable gun control, while counting on members of his party to perform the dirty deed of blocking the ban's extension.
If that happens, it would be a big step backward that would endanger the lives of both the police and public. Hunters and target shooters have no need for bullet-spraying Uzis or AK-47's.
Posters response.
Editor:
The following commentary was the lead in to the above mentioned opinion piece.
OPINION | May 16, 2003
Save the Assault-Gun Ban
(NYT)
President Bush must reassert his support of the 1994 federal ban on military-style assault weapons, the powerful semiautomatic guns favored by criminals.
Re this, might I offer a few points/facts, even at the risk of "raining on your parade"?
1. The proper definition for/of "assault weapon" is as follows, this from The Dept. of Defense, The U.S. Army and standard reference texts that deal with small arms. Assult weapon: Selective fire weapon, usually of rifle configuration, chambered for an intermediate power cartridge.
2. None of the roughly 200 rifles, not the 19 advertised, that were effected by the so-called "Assault Weapons" ban had this feature, selective fire capability, as they were offered for commercial sale in this country. If they did have this feature, they would have fallen under the purview of The National Firearms Act of 1934. They didn't.
3. Regarding your reference to "military-style assault weapons", would thosew be any of the slinky, black off the shoulder numbers that one used to see at Hatties?
4. As to allegations pertaining to the so-called "assault weapon" being "favored by criminals", "after action" police reports blow this contention right out of the water, for it turns out that these so-called "assault weapons" are little used by criminals. As to your reference to the "powerful semi-automatic guns", remember item 1, and the reference to "intermediate power cartridges", they being cartridges that are less powerful than the service rifle cartridge, but more powerful than the cartridge fired by the service pistol?
In conclusion, while I do hate to bother you with factual material, might I suggest the following. If you insist in walking in the rain, don't forget your umbrella.
