USA: "Durbin cites local shootings in call for weapons ban"

[cuchulainn]

from the West Provisio Herald

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/wp/05-14-03-29575.html

Durbin cites local shootings in call for weapons ban

The recent machine-gun shooting in Maywood is being used on a national level to lobby lawmakers to continue a ban on assault weapons.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and four other senators introduced legislation Thursday to reauthorize the federal assault-weapons ban that is scheduled to expire Sept. 13, 2004.

The 10-year ban was passed in 1994.

Durbin, who supports gun control, used the shooting of seven Maywood residents as an example of why the ban is needed. An AK-47 type assault rifle is suspected to be the weapon used by the offender, who is still at large.

“To the gun advocates who say assault weapons are not used for crimes, I say ‘Open your eyes, read the newspapers, see the heartbreak on TV every night across America,†Durbin said.

“Just last week, in the town of Maywood, a thug armed with an AK-47 rifle shot down seven people, including a 3-year-old boy,†he continued. “Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, and we will only see more of these tragic headlines if we allow the current ban on these deadly weapons to expire next year.â€

The legislation is also sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both D-Calif.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I.

“Military-style weapons simply have no place on America’s streets,†said Feinstein, who co-authored the 1994 ban with Schumer.

According to Schumer, the legislation is more needed now than 10 years ago.

“The fact of the matter is that there is no legitimate use for these weapons,†Schumer said. “That was as true in 1994 as it is today. But in a post-9/11 world, the assault-weapons ban carries even greater urgency.â€

The legislation would extend the original ban indefinitely, which prohibits the manufacture and importation of 19 types of military-style assault weapons.

It would also introduce a ban on the importation of high-capacity ammunition magazines. The original ban only prohibited their domestic manufacture.

Since the ban was introduced, officials say, it has dramatically reduced the number of assault weapons-related crimes.

Statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms show that in 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used in crimes.

The figure dropped to 4.3 percent by the end of 1995 and to 3.2 percent by November 1996.
Copyright© 2003, Digital Chicago Inc.

 

[buzz_knox]

Statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms show that in 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used in crimes.

That's interesting. When the report was first issued (and suppressed), it found that "assault weapons" were so infrequently used that the ban had no measurable impact on crime. Guess they have had time to cook the books.

 

[El Tejon]

Hey, Senator Dick, machine guns are already regulated by federal law and prohibited under Illinois law. Yeah, renew the AWB, it's working just fine. Always wise to reinforce failure.

 

[Don Gwinn]

He also forgot to mention that the semi-auto versions are illegal in Cook County, where the shootings took place.

“Just last week, in the town of Maywood, a thug armed with an AK-47 rifle shot down seven people, including a 3-year-old boy,â€

Truth.

“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident,

Lie.

See how easy it is?

 

[Jeff White]

Dick Durbin has no qualms about looking you dead in the eye and lying to you. I had personal experience with this when I had the misfortune to have him as my congressman during the first assault weapons ban debate.

In December of 1993 I circulated a petition among working cops (no one above the rank of Sergeant, the idea was to show him how the rank and file felt about the issue) that stated no further gun laws were needed and no one felt threatened by private citizens owning semi-automatic rifles.

I had a meeting with Durbin in his local office. We had a nice talk, he told me he agreed that this was worthless legislation and he wouldn't support it. Throughout the debate his office sent updates to most of the officers who signed the petition. At the last minute he voted for the bill. When several of us wrote him and called him on it, he sent us copies of of two letters thanking him for his support of the bill. He said he had to defer to the experts. One letter was from Dewey Stokes, president of the FOP, a union hack who hadn't been a working cop in years and the other was from the then director of the Illinois State Police, another political hack who had never been a working cop.

Personally, I would have been able to respect Durbin if he had been honest enough to look me in the eye and tell me he disagreed. I still wouldn't have supported him, but I could have respected him.

He has since come out of the closet and ranks right up there with Schumer, Feinstein, Boxer and Lautenberg as our biggest enemies in the Senate. But when he was just a congressman, he had to keep his views and agenda hidden.



Jeff

 

[Henry Bowman]

The recent machine-gun shooting in Maywood

Machine gun? Really? Or is this a lie too?

 

[Mark Tyson]

Notice how they use the weasel words "military style". Style is what it's all about. Guess they got tired of people pointing out their lies about assault weapons as "weapons of war". Appearances are all that matter. A Mossberg 590 is miiltary style. Shotguns are great for CQB; will they ban those too? What about camouflage clothes?

And that bit about Dick Durbin really made my blood boil, by the way . . .

 

[Standing Wolf]

The legislation is also sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both D-Calif.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I.

It's always so refreshing to see a token R.I.N.O. helping the anti-Second Amendment bigots try to destroy the Bill of Rights. </sarcasm>

 

[DonP]

What part of "It's not working" doesn't little dickie get?

Totally agree on Jeff's point. Durbin has a great track record of telling groups what he thinks they want to hear then voting the way Daley tells him too.

It's called job security in Illinois politics.

AWB in place for almost 10 years. Illinois with more gun control than almost anywhere else. Chicago, next door to Maywood, no gun stores for over 20 plus years and still the top murder city in America. And we still need this pointless, ineffective law renewed Durbin? Right.

If the Illinois GOP could get their "moderate" head out of their butt, they might start fielding candidates that have the potential to motivate the vast majority of conservative voters that sit on their hands every election.

Instead they keep fielding the same old crap every election. Jim Ryan, Jim Edgar etc. They all reek of liberal views and a major RINO complex and go to every election as "Democrat Lite". Even after George Ryan lead them to the biggest losses in party history they still don't get it.

They are as dumb and lack the ability to look introspectively at what they are doing wrong as the Dem's are being on a national basis.

I want someone to rant and rave a little on the stump and clear the way for a genuine conservative that will get the downstaters off their half moons and going to the polls because they don't feel it's pointless anymore.

Durbin is the kind of photogenic lying scum, for the consumption of Daley's bootlickers, that Illinois keeps picking. (Did I really say that out loud?) We will be the last state with CC, but we will get there eventually.

Don P.

 

[Jeff White]

Don,
There aren't enough people left downstate to make a difference. The economy down here keeps getting worse. A truck terminal is moving out of town because of the imminent re-instatement of a 6.5% tax on transportation equipment.

The fight for freedom in Illinois will be won North of I80, that's where all the people are. There are some people looking into seceding from the state and forming their own down here. The state of Southern Illinois would roughly run from I70 South to the Ohio River.

Sometimes I think Daley plans to depopulate Southern Illinois so it can be controlled easier. The cost of doing business in Illinois is certainly accomplisihing that goal.

Jeff