Posted on 09/12/2004 10:50:32 PM PDT by kattracks
THE FEDERAL "assault weapons ban" expires today, as President Bush and Congress won't renew the 10-year-old law. Will their inaction spur bloodbaths in the streets? Hardly.The assault weapons ban was a misnamed and ineffective piece of legislation designed to give Congress and President Clinton the appearance of doing something about gun crime. Just what did they do?
Well, they banned ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds. They banned things like bayonet attachments and flash-suppressing muzzle attachments. Did they actually remove so-called assault weapons from the streets? No. Witness the 1997 Los Angeles bank heist in which robbers used guns banned under the law to wound 16 people before being killed by police.
The Washington Times reported last month that a study by the National Institute of Justice, the Department of Justice's research wing, concluded: "We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence."
Perhaps the report was one reason why Republicans and a sizable number of Democrats in Congress decided not to press for the ban's renewal. The law simply did not work as intended.
Evidence notwithstanding, there are many who want to renew the ban. John Kerry has offered up the argument that assault weapons are not needed for hunting, so the government can and should ban them. Kerry said last week, "I support the Second Amendment. I've been a hunter all my life." In April his spokesman said, "John Kerry used assault weapons in the military, so he understands that they're not meant for hunting dove or deer."
It's scary when a man who may well become President of the United States thinks the Second Amendment — which says, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" — refers to hunting, not self-defense.
not for us in the People's Republik of Kalifornia unfortunately.. we are still prisoners of bad lawmakers...
yep, Flag has a bear and red star on it too!
We have GOT to get kick out our Senators!
"The good news Mrs. Johnson, your husband was shot with a hunting rifle."
Did it make you feel good? I don't think so.
YES!!
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