Posted on 11/25/2009 3:35:35 PM PST by neverdem
matthew.chayes@newsday.com
Quick Summary Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and her former ardent foe, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), announced they were teaming up to sponsor legislation to combat gun trafficking.
Talk about a thaw.
In the latest example of politics making for the unlikeliest bedfellows, hugs, mutual praise and chitchat punctuated a news conference between Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a former darling of the National Rifle Association, and her former ardent foe, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), the stridently pro-gun-control congresswoman whose husband was killed in the mass shooting aboard the Long Island Rail Road.
Earlier this year, McCarthy had threatened to derail Gillibrand's upcoming bid to remain the Empire State's junior senator by running against her.
Tuesday, Gillibrand and McCarthy, both Democrats, announced they were teaming up to sponsor legislation to combat gun trafficking.
Flanked by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, and family members who lost loved ones to gun violence, the legislative duo said the bill would give federal muscle to the fight against illegal guns.
Specifically, the law would go after people who strategize to avoid legally required background checks by sending others to buy their guns, the lawmakers said.
In addition, the bill would fund federal agents and investigators for the fight against guns - at a cost of $370 million over several years, Gillibrand said.
Sitting in the front row at the event was Rita Kestenbaum, of Bellmore, whose daughter Carol and her friend, another LIer, were shot dead in 2007 at Arizona State University by a young man who then turned the gun on himself.
"Today's legislation . . . is so necessary," Kestenbaum said after the conference. "We have an attitude about guns that needs to be dealt with. . . . This is about keeping children, adults, everybody, safe from..."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
REPORTER: Senator Gillibrand was previously a staunch defender of gun rights, but now she's embraced by the gun control lobby. With this legislation she says the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms would get an additional 1,500 agents and inspectors. That would let them monitor gun dealers who don't do enough to screen out potential criminals.
GILLIBRAND: Because right now, they only have the capability to check gun dealers once every 7-20 years, literally. It is so outrageous.
The legislation would also increase penalties for gun traffickers. Separately, Gillibrand is co-sponsoring legislation to close the so-called "terror gap." That would prevent anyone on the terror watch list from being able to buy a gun. Gun rights advocates oppose the measure, saying the watch list includes thousands of people who are not actually criminals.
How to change from being rated A by the NRA to being rated F and a flaming liberal in a year or less. It will be funny watching gun grabbing Rudy use that to attack her credibility.
Landrieu and Gillibrand are in a neck-to-neck race to win the title “Whore of the Year” in the Senate.
“How to change from being rated A by the NRA to being rated F and a flaming liberal in a year or less. It will be funny watching gun grabbing Rudy use that to attack her credibility. “
Bought off for sure. Don’t worry, the Chickens are coming home to roost.
Sitting in the front row at the event was Rita Kestenbaum, of Bellmore, whose daughter Carol and her friend, another LIer, were shot dead in 2007 at Arizona State University by a young man who then turned the gun on himself.
>>”How to change from being rated A by the NRA to being rated F and a flaming liberal in a year or less.”<<
IMO it’s time for the NRA to broaden their scope when giving these ratings. They need to look at the big picture, not just how a senator or congressman voted on a few state/local gun issues.
Lifelong NRA member....panax
They are going to make it *more* illegal? Or are they going to put up yet more roadblocks to and recording of legitimate purchasers?
What was AllahPundit (and many posters here) saying about Gillibrand being more Conservative than Sarah Palin? Yeah I thought so.
Just what we need, 1,500 more JBTs and petty bureaucRats. (Many of which will be hired from ACORN and CAIR roles)
What DO they put in the water in DC?
CGA 68 redux?
It might have some untoward results, such as Scozzafava getting the NRA's endorsement, which must have been all or most of Scozzafava's conservative votes in the NY Assembly, but I prefer the NRA to just stick to the Second Amendment. Gillibrand did all of this flipping after her appointment as Senator.
I really like it when you can use NRA and GOA ratings against RINOs in GOP districts when it's a safe GOP district. It keeps them honest. There's a reason the Second Amendment hasn't been really been threatened by this Congress so far; so many rats pledged fealty to it.
No contest there, Landrieu is a very expensive whore, Gillibrand, easily gets the cheap whore award.
Life in the Senate results in souls being eaten. It is a corrupting place.
I think what they are going for is this, and I’ve already seen a billboard in Illinois that read something like this “you buy a gun for someone who can’t and you’ll face serious jail time”.
The end game may be to haul people into court if they have had a weapon stolen and create more legal BS for anyone thinking of purchasing a firearm.
Flip-flop alert.
“McCarthy attributed the changes of heart, at least in part, to the “education” she gave Gillibrand, an upstate lawmaker who once earned the NRA’s highest rating....You get an education, whether you’re in the Congress or in the Senate,” McCarthy said.”
I’m sorry this woman’s husband was killed (in the L.I. Train Massacre), just as I’m sorry for the victims and survivors of any violent crime. But that doesn’t automatically or necessarily confer expertise on a particular issue. Nor does it give Ms. McCarthy the right to preach down at those who do not agree with her positions.
And, just for a general FYI, the Long Island Train shootings were perpetrated by a guy who was a militantly racist nutjob with a persecution complex who had purchased his weapon legally in a fairly tough gun law state (California). Wiki has a good article on the perp (Colin Ferguson):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Rail_Road_massacre
It’s terrible what happened on that train, but it also needs to be noted that tough gun control laws didn’t keep Ferguson from getting a weapon, and that he was the proverbial ticking time bomb.
Remember, the NRA endorse Dede Scozzafava too. The NRA needs to change their ratings to include leadership votes, all judicial and executive nominees who are pro or anti-gun.
Actively pushing pro-gun or trying to stop anti-gun legislation and public appearances on TV, Radio, campaign ads, etc. should be factored into the grade.
You could cross out gun dealers and put in police officers, court officials, parole boards, parents, teachers, so on and so forth.
You'd need to read minds or monitor every single action to get this one right.
Like so many laws it is not based on logic or science, but feeling. Sadly, it is the people who are the final arbiters of liberty and lately Americans seem not to care about freedom.
ping to post #5
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