Assault Weapons Ban Information

[Kennedy 0]

You like that one?

Check this out.
There are so many inaccuracies I can't be bothered pointing them all out right now.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9116631p-10016641c.html

  Quote

Weapons ban on its last legs
Valley observers split on effectiveness of soon-to-expire federal gun law.
Bee staff and news services

Despite the continued push by top law-enforcement officials this week, it's become clear the federal assault weapons ban will expire on its 10th anniversary Monday.

Republican leaders Wednesday rejected a last-ditch effort by supporters to renew it.

"I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters.

Those aren't soothing words to law-enforcement leaders such as Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who noted Wednesday that "hard-core gang members and drug dealers" favor the rapid-fire weapons.

"Bullets fired from these assault weapons can easily penetrate ballistic vests worn by officers, as well as vehicles and buildings," Dyer said. "It is imperative that we not relinquish the controls we have in place." The 10-year law, signed by President Clinton in 1994, bans 19 designated semiautomatic weapons and ammunition clips of more than 10 rounds. A clause directed that the ban expire unless Congress specifically reauthorized it.

The assault weapons legislation has since incited heated debate over its Second Amendment implications and real-world effectiveness.

It's a debate with an unusual flavor for California and the six other states that have enacted their own assault weapons laws.

"I have noticed no difference since it's been in effect," said Madera County Sheriff John Anderson. "It may be necessary in other states, but assault weapons aren't our problem. California's laws are [already] so much more restrictive."

The California law, initially enacted in 1989 after the shooting of five children at a Stockton elementary school, goes further. For instance, California also bans weapons with specific military characteristics such as pistol grips and folding stocks.

Nationwide, a 1999 Justice Department study found, 1.6% of the firearms used in crimes since 1994 were banned assault weapons.

This was a marked reduction from the five years before the federal ban, when assault weapons accounted for 4.8% of the guns used in crimes.

The fall from 4.8% to 1.6% amounts to a two-thirds reduction, which gun-control proponents cite as evidence of the law's effectiveness. Gun-control opponents retort that assault weapons still account for only a tiny share of all guns used in crimes.

California law-enforcement officials have seized 1,012 banned assault weapons in the state since July 2002, according to Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

A few particularly large busts accounted for many of these, but police regularly encounter assault weapons. For instance, on the first night of a crackdown on gang members and violent parolees who were committing crimes in April, Fresno police confiscated one assault weapon. A week later, an assault weapon was used to spray an east-central Fresno house with about 30 rounds in a drive-by shooting.

"Clearly, getting them off the street is a good thing," Merced County Undersheriff Bill Blake said Wednesday of banned assault weapons. "We're not against guns. We're against certain kinds of guns that are designed to kill people."

Appearing at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, D.C., chiefs of police from the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle predicted an increase in violent gun crimes if the ban does expire.

Blake, noting that "most of our homicides are committed with more traditional handguns," agreed with Anderson that the existing state law has minimized the federal law's direct impact on California. That hasn't silenced the controversy, though, with Blake observing that "we see a lot of people against gun control" in the San Joaquin Valley.

"The ban does not actually make us safer," Mariposa Republican George Radanovich asserts in a letter he's prepared for constituents.

"This bill has the unfortunate effect of endangering law-abiding citizens rather than regulating violence and criminal access to assault weapons."

Of the San Joaquin Valley's other lawmakers in office when the House narrowly approved the 1994 legislation by a two-vote margin, Tracy Republican Richard Pombo opposed the weapons ban while Fresno-area Democrat Cal Dooley supported it. Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza, elected in 2002, has received "quite a few calls and letters from both sides" of the issue, spokesman Bret Ladine said.

Technically speaking, Radanovich, Pombo and other skeptics may be in the minority. In March, the Senate by a 52-47 vote added the assault weapon renewal to another bill. Organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police support its extension.

Under National Rifle Association pressure, the entire Senate bill that included the ban extension was blocked. House Republican leaders have made clear they will not bring up for a vote the House version of the assault weapons renewal, which is co-sponsored by 136 lawmakers.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, co-author of the 1994 assault weapons ban, criticizes President Bush for not supporting its renewal.

"The president quietly awaits September 13th and hopes that after he lets the ban expire, he can once again receive the endorsement of the NRA," Feinstein said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The White House challenged Feinstein's characterization.

"The president supports the reauthorization of current law," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with Bush to Florida on Wednesday.

Asked whether the president had called Republican congressional leaders to encourage Congress to send him a bill, McClellan said, "The President doesn't set the congressional timetable. ... What we've continued to do is step up our efforts to prosecute crimes committed with guns and strictly enforce our laws. And that's the best way we can deter violence committed with guns."

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

  Quote

Check this out.
There are so many inaccuracies I can't be bothered pointing them all out right now.

Allow me.

  Quote

Those aren't soothing words to law-enforcement leaders such as Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who noted Wednesday that "hard-core gang members and drug dealers" favor the rapid-fire weapons.

Are they any more rapid fire than my post-ban Colt Match Target HBAR, which is exactly the same in function as a banned AR-15; or an unbanned Ruger Mini-14?

If not, then what use was the ban?

  Quote

"Bullets fired from these assault weapons can easily penetrate ballistic vests worn by officers, as well as vehicles and buildings," Dyer said. "It is imperative that we not relinquish the controls we have in place."

Can't the bullets from an unbanned Remington model 700 firing standard hunting ammunition also "easily penetrate a ballistic vest worn by officers"? Can't the bullets from my unbanned Colt Match Target HBAR also do this?

Again, if so, what use was the ban?

  Quote

The assault weapons legislation has since incited heated debate over its Second Amendment implications and real-world effectiveness. It's a debate with an unusual flavor for California and the six other states that have enacted their own assault weapons laws.

Exactly. California should not care about the extension of the federal ban, since California law already "protects" Californians with more stringent rules than the federal ban set down.

  Quote

Nationwide, a 1999 Justice Department study found, 1.6% of the firearms used in crimes since 1994 were banned assault weapons. This was a marked reduction from the five years before the federal ban, when assault weapons accounted for 4.8% of the guns used in crimes. The fall from 4.8% to 1.6% amounts to a two-thirds reduction, which gun-control proponents cite as evidence of the law's effectiveness.

In 2002, 100% of my flat tires were caused by nails I had driven over. By 2003, only 50% of my flat tires were caused by nails. A huge improvement. But then, I had only had two flat tires in 2002, both caused by nails, and again only two flats in 2003, one caused by a nail, and one caused by a screw. Can you really in good faith say that the 50% decrease in nail-induced flats is such a success, given that (a) there were very few flats in the first place, and (b) it is very easy to have a huge percentage drop when total numbers are small?

  Quote

California law-enforcement officials have seized 1,012 banned assault weapons in the state since July 2002, according to Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Ahh, yes, Bill "We'll Change the Rules and Never Inform You" Lockyer. Hey, Bill, how many of those 1,012 seized weapons were seized for having been used in a crime? How many were simply found in someone's possession? How many belonged to people who had registered them in good faith under your deceptive legal definitions, and then not realized the guns they retained were now illegal?

  Quote

A few particularly large busts accounted for many of these, but police regularly encounter assault weapons. For instance, on the first night of a crackdown on gang members and violent parolees who were committing crimes in April

Anyone see anything wrong with "violent parolees" even being parolees in the first place?! Could it be that violent people are a larger part of the problem than "assault weapons"?

  Quote

"Clearly, getting them off the street is a good thing," Merced County Undersheriff Bill Blake said Wednesday of banned assault weapons. "We're not against guns. We're against certain kinds of guns that are designed to kill people."

"Designed to kill people."
Gotta love that one.
I have something like 7 or 8 guns. None of them ever killed a person. I really must send them in for warranty service -- something's obviously wrong with them.

Now, Undersheriff (oooh, that sounds so dirty about this "guns designed to kill people" thing. Do you mean to say that there is no danger from guns that were not "designed" to kill people, even though they CAN be USED to kill people? Take, say, a lever-action Winchester .30-30. Not a "weapon of war" in the current modern sense, right? A "ranch gun." A hunting rifle. Not on the banned list, but it holds a good number of rounds, right? Quite powerful -- more so than a banned AR-15 in .223 cal. Could this not be used by criminals to kill innocents if there were no more "assault weapons"? Would you not be arguing for a ban on these if the killings persisted after all the assault weapons were gone?

  Quote

Under National Rifle Association pressure, the entire Senate bill that included the ban extension was blocked.

Excuse me?! "The bill that included the ban extension?!" That bill didn't have the ban extension in it until the last minute when it was amended into the bill to POISON it for its original sponsors!

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Kennedy 0]

IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S DEAD!!!
IT'S REALLY REALLY REALLY DEAD!!!

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[InflightSupv 0]

Huuuuuu raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[TomAiello 26]

Don't you mean:

"Ding, Dong, the wicked witch is dead...." ?

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[cvfd1399 0]

So when are the prices going to drop on preban stuff and accessories?

[Jimbo 0]

Jesus Christ! Talk about using fear as a tool.

http://www2.stopthenra.com/ads/view/?ad=osama

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[Jimbo 0]

And then there's this: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132184,00.html

Check out the video clip of the AWB on the right side of the page.

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[JohnRich 4]

  Quote

Talk about using fear as a tool.
http://www2.stopthenra.com/ads/view/?ad=osama

Yep, the anti-gun folks like Sara Brady have no shame, and there is no lie too big for them.

They got away with it for 10 years, but now their gig is up.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

  Quote

Jesus Christ! Talk about using fear as a tool.

http://www2.stopthenra.com/ads/view/?ad=osama

-
Jim

Yeah, the ad that Handgun Control, Inc. (I will not call them by their bullshit PC name) is running on that site says, "Doesn't President Bush know that every national police organization is fighting to renew the ban on these cop-killer guns? (emphasis added) Who in this day and age would give society's worst killers -- terrorists, drug dealers, violent gangs -- the means to commit mass murder in a matter of seconds?"


What a load of utter shit -- the hallmark of the anti-gun liar.

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey
-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Kennedy 0]

First off, there's a new CNN poll up about the dead ban.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/12/gun.ban.ap/index.html

Second, this is the best collection of 'end of ban' articles out there.
It's really something else when you compare the accounts from each side of the debate.
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/news/nl/disp.asp?d=9/14/2004

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Now let's wait patiently as the first gun-grabbers come in and tell us how much more popular "extend the ban" was over "let the ban die" even though the poll admits that it is not scientific, and even though I was just there to vote for the second time...

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey
-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Kennedy 0]

Oh come on you gun nut, we all know everyone in America supported the ban on those evil things, and politicians only caved in to the four million rednecked, gun freak extremists from No Reasonable Argument.

I mean, we all know they like to cave in to pressure from people who are the exact opposite of the vast sensible majority of their constituents.

It's not like they are elected by majority vote or anything.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[JohnRich 4]

  Quote

Oh come on you gun nut, we all know everyone in America supported the ban on those evil things, and politicians only caved in to the four million rednecked, gun freak extremists from No Reasonable Argument.

Yeah, the way the media tries to sell that idea, really makes me laugh. They truly seem to believe that a measly 4 million members of the NRA somehow control the elections. That's only about one out of eveyr 30 or so adults in America. If the other 29 out of 30 non-NRA people really wanted something, they could walk all over the NRA.

The NRA is not some kind of evil secret society with unlimited funding.

The fact is, about half of Americans believe as does the NRA, even though they aren't members. It's not just the NRA: it's mainstream American values.

[JohnRich 4]

Assault Weapons in the news:

NEW YORKERS are at least four times as likely to be punched to death than to be killed with an assault-style rifle, unpublished state crime statistics show.

The eye-opening figures — obtained by The Post from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services — reveal that New Yorkers are also at least twice as likely to be clubbed to death than shot dead by an attacker wielding one of the semi-automatic rifles previously covered by a federal government ban that expired last week.

The most recent statewide statistics — murder-by-weapon-type figures from 2002 — also show that New Yorkers are at least five times as likely to be stabbed to death with a knife than they are to be shot with an assault rifle.

Full story: New York Post

I wonder when Diane Feinstein will enact a law to ban knives, clubs and fists?

[Kennedy 0]

But John, haven't you heard? All those facts and figures and statistics must all be lies. Sarah Brady of Handgun Control Inc (sorry, the call themselves a Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership...oops, they call it Gun Violence) says that all criminals use only assault weapons, and CBS agrees with her, so it must be true. She must be another "unimpeachable source."

  Quote

Assault weapons will soon be back on America's streets again -- thanks to President Bush and Congress.

OK, another idiotic author who can't understand that the guns never left, or that exact copies without a few cosmetic features were always being made.

Bush let die the 10-year ban on the deadly weapons -- good for mass murder -- by not taking a vigorous leadership role to persuade Congress to extend the ban.

So Bush can make laws that congress won't even bring to a vote? Somebody should tell him. There's a lot of things he'd like to make law without waiting for congress to act.

His spokesman, Scott McClellan, told reporters that Bush would sign an extension if it crossed his desk, saying that the president's views ``are well known.''

''Congress is well aware of the president's position,'' said McClellan. But he made it clear that Bush would not lobby for it. In the absence of presidential leadership, Congress wasn't going to leap into action.

"I'll sign it if it hits my desk." He isn't going to waste his time and political capital on the useless ban. Whoop-di-do.

The inaction by the president and Congress has made many members of the National Rifle Association happy -- and the NRA has reciprocated with political support and campaign contributions.

Yes, the NRA is happy when any liberty is returned to the people, and they support politicians who agree with their views. Who should they support? Feinstein?

But what about the safety of the American people? Do they count with Bush and those on Capitol Hill who did not lift a finger to stop these dangerous weapons from returning on the market?

Well, since all of the studies done, including those by the Clinton Justice Dept, say the ban had no effect whatsoever on crime, the safety of the American public is unaffected by the expiration of the ban. Next question.

In deciding not to lift a finger, Bush ignored police chiefs who have been urging that the law be renewed. They know what harm these weapons can bring.

So political appointees and city elected officials should dictate policy to the POTUS? I don't think so. Besides, try taking a poll of rank and file LEOs, instead of chairborne bureacrats and administrators.

Congress passed the ban in 1994 on 19 assault weapons, customarily the type used by the military, and decreed that the law would expire this week unless renewed. By allowing the law to lapse, Congress has signaled that it might next end the ban on handguns within Washington, D.C. The nation's capital now has a 100 percent ban on firearms of any kind.

Apparently the author is unable to distinguish between firearms in use by military forces and those that look similar but function completely differently. Another sign of his shining intelligence.

Sarah Brady, an outspoken leader in behalf of gun control, laid the blame for this mess right on Bush's doorstep. On CBS' The Early Show, Brady said that the ''real onus'' falls on Bush, who exerted ''absolutely no leadership'' to keep the ban alive.

OK, so when this supposed flood of AK-47s and Uzis hits the streets and causes your predicted bloodbath, tell me about the burden on Bush. Until then, shut your pie hole, shrew.

''We have a president and leadership in the House and Senate that simply do not want to face this,'' she added.

Her husband, Jim Brady, was President Ronald Reagan's press secretary and was severely wounded in an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981.

Reagan asked "What's that guy's beef?" Brady began trying to ban all guns from all citizens.

Terrorists' job easier now

Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, accused Bush of shirking his responsibility to protect the country from crime and terrorism by not helping to extend the ban.

Well, Kerry's "leadership" in the Senate didn't get it passed, either. He can play to his voting base, Bush will play to his, and well see in November.

In remarks to the National Association of Police Organizations, a coalition of more than 2,000 police unions and associations, Kerry said that Bush had made ''the job of terrorists easier and made the job of America's law-enforcement officers harder'' by refusing to work for an extension of the ban. Kerry also won the political endorsement of the police association.

Notice Kerry didn't say HOW he made each sides job easier or mor difficult. Someone please tell me why terrorists with machine guns and RPGs will care one way or another about SEMI-AUTOMATIC rifles in the US.

An assault weapon does not serve a hunter unless he wants to blast the prey to mincemeat.

Yeah, the author is obvioiusly an authority on hunting and firearms use.

What is this desire to have a weapon that can be so devastating and can kill so many people in one burst?

Burst? BURST? BURST?!? No weapon that was covered under the ban is capable of a BURST! THEY FIRE ONE BULLET AT A TIME!!!

The gun manufacturers obviously are glad to be back in business.

A company is happy that it's doing well and selling its wares? Oh the horror.

By its silence the Republican-dominated Congress has given the NRA its political payoff.

You mean they voted the way the people who elected them expected? Oh for shame.

I'd like to hear the president explain why assault weapons are needed in the hands of civilians.

I'd like to hear a single anti-gun person explain what good is accomplished by outlawing the manufactures of rifles with certain cosmetic features. Since congress is on my side, you can go first.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Douva 0]

At the DZ last weekend, I overheard two different jumpers talking about how it's now "legal to purchase fully automatic rifles" again. I did my part to set them straight.

--Douva

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

  Quote

At the DZ last weekend, I overheard two different jumpers talking about how it's now "legal to purchase fully automatic rifles" again. I did my part to set them straight.

--Douva

I hope you fuckin' slapped them for spewing ignorance without (obviously) having made sure they had the facts to be speaking at all.

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey
-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"