Monday is the *last* day that the AWB is still valid.
1 Full Legislative Day Left Until The AWB Expires
Posted on 09/12/2004 3:39:12 PM PDT by Pikamax
Victorious on Gun Ban, NRA Looks Toward Elections
36 minutes ago Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With its battle to kill the decade-long U.S. ban on assault weapons won, the National Rifle Association is now setting its sights on the Nov. 2 presidential and congressional elections.
The 10-year ban on importing or manufacturing certain military-style assault weapons expires on Monday because Congress never renewed it.
While many decried its expiration and polls showed a majority of Americans supported the ban, few were ready to engage in a major fight with the NRA, the powerful gun lobby whose large financial war chest and committed 4-million membership has made it a political power for years.
"There's an enduring disconnect between public opinion and public policy on the gun issue. The majority of voters support stronger gun laws but for them the gun issue is not a No. 1 or top-tier concern," said Robert Spitzer, a political scientist at the State University of New York Cortland campus who specializes in gun politics.
"But for some of the NRA members, they are single-issue voters, deeply committed to their cause. As a consequence, they exert deep political force," he added.
The NRA, which generally supports Republicans, has not yet formally endorsed President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election bid.
But its Web site calls his Democratic opponent, John Kerry (news - web sites), "the most anti-gun presidential nominee in United States history" despite efforts to paint himself as a gun owner and hunter.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said formal endorsements would not come until Congress recessed next month, but he did not hide his preferences for Bush's record on firearms. Although Bush said in 2000 he would back extension of the assault weapons ban, he never pushed for its passage and has embraced other NRA policy priorities.
"It's pretty clear where gun owners that care about their guns are going," LaPierre said in a telephone interview last week. He said Kerry's efforts at portraying himself as a sportsman showed the Democrat recognized his vulnerability.
"That gun in Kerry's hands says more than anything I can say," LaPierre said. "He wouldn't be doing that if he didn't realize it's make-or-break-it for a candidate out in the heartland of the country."
Some analysts say Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites)'s narrow defeat in several states with a large pro-gun electorate cost him the 2000 presidential election and that the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994 because of NRA campaigning against them.
'FAULTY LEGISLATION'
For years, many opinion polls have shown public support for the assault weapons ban and some other gun control measures. But politicians have been hesitant about crossing the NRA, which can simultaneously mobilize grass-roots supporters and work the halls of power in Washington and state capitals.
"They don't want to tick off the NRA -- especially if they are in close races," said New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (news, bio, voting record), elected on a gun control platform after her husband was slain in 1993 by a gunman on a commuter train.
Congress did pass the 10-year assault weapon ban in 1994 and President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) signed it into law, but the NRA has since made the death of what LaPierre called "faulty legislation based on cosmetic nonsense" one of its top priorities.
While its demise was a win for the NRA, the year has not been all victories for the gun lobby. Another top priority, a bill to limit civil lawsuits against the gun industry, passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. NRA allies killed it themselves after the Senate added to the bill a renewal of the assault weapon ban.
Gun control has not been a key issue in a campaign dominated by Iraq (news - web sites), terrorism, the economy, health care and the legacy of Vietnam. But with the assault weapons ban in the headlines and interest groups starting to advertise about guns, it may reappear on more voters' radar screens, especially among swing suburban voters in battleground states.
Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, believes the fight is not over and that voters will pay more attention when they wake up next week and find out the assault weapons ban is no longer the law of the land.
On Nov. 3, the morning after the election, Barnes said, "I hope we wake up and read that Bush and (strategist) Karl Rove miscalculated."
Kerry says the "assault weapons" ban is a counter-terrorism measure. In Kerry's mind, the way to keep terrorists from shooting at you is to outlaw guns. I'd rather shoot terrorists.
If the Democrats push for more gun confiscation measures, it'll alienate more people than they will gain. Anti-gun voters are not as intensely committed on their issue as gun owners and hunters are. And the latter do vote and vote often.
Wrong. It is a key issue. Politicians are avoiding it because they remember the humiliating defeats associated with being anti-second amendment. Wonder why the NRA hasn't endorsed Bush? Interesting situation.
Agreed. Forty-eight percent of the people that voted in 2000 were gun owners.
I don't even own a gun, but I feel like going out an buying a newly-relegalized magazine just to piss off some liberals.
bang
It is finally gone- Thank God.
I hope all the gun owners who were withholding their support of President Bush until the ban expired will back him now. We can't afford to let Kerry get into the White House.
Has the NRA offically endorced W yet?
I convinced & converted my liberal neighbor in 2000 to vote Bush when I took them shooting and gave them literature/info to prive that Gore was planning to ban guns.
When I remember just how close the 2000 election was for Bush I've so glad I did my part to get those additional votes for Bush and against Gore.
Do you know if it expires in the morning or if it's Tuesday morning?
They will in the coming week or 2. They were waiting for the AWB to expire, they made that well known.
No, they said they wouldn't endorse him until after the sunset.
That is good to know, I think Newsmax had a story a few weeks back detailing how no republican had won the presidency without the NRA endorsement, and no rep. with the endorsement has lost. This since the '70s I believe.
Less than 6 hours!
Monday is the *last* day that the AWB is still valid.
1 Full Legislative Day Left Until The AWB Expires
Monday night at midnight is what I have been hearing.
Stay safe !
Did the AWB outlaw manufacture of extended mags, or sales?
How long before the shops and shows have those wonderful little 30 round mags available again for the 10-22?
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