Assault Weapons Ban Stuff
You have to admire the foresight of the Clinton administration in ensuring that the AWB would expire during an election year. That said, Snitch has some info on the politics:
At least 52 U.S. senators, as well as President Bush and Democratic opponent John Kerry, support renewing the law. Gun supporters, meantime, are ready for an extended fight should any backers of the ban move to renew the dying law.
“I hope it dies a sanctimonious death,” said Kirk Smith, a National Rifle Association field representative from North Carolina. “But it’s an election year, so you will have demigods and rhetoric, and it will be ratcheted up. I am sitting back and waiting for the fireworks.”
One attempt to extend the ban was defeated in the Senate last month when anti-gun advocates attached a renewal measure to a bill designed to protect the gun industry from lawsuits. That defeat has not stopped ban advocates like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) from finding ways to extend the bill.
Feinstein’s spokesman, Scott Gerber, said the California senator would revive the ban by attaching the legislation to a more popular bill. “The data clearly shows the assault weapons ban is working,” Feinstein stated on her website. “From the moment the law went into effect there has been a steady and dramatic decline in the number of banned weapons turning up in crimes. It’s clear to me the assault weapons ban needs to be re-authorized so that we can continue to keep these military-styled weapons off the streets.
Update: Here’s a list of people to call and tell them you oppose renewing the ban:
Mike Castle (R-Del.)
202-225-4165
Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)
202-225-5541
Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
202-225-4835
Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.)
202-225-5361
Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.)
202-225-5516
August 11th, 2004 at 2:34 pm
[…] for photographs with a shotgun and in hunting gear. That being said, I used to think that it was brilliant politics on the part of Clinton to have the foresight to ens […]