Posted on 01/11/2011 9:04:15 PM PST by Second Amendment First
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is rejecting gun-control legislation offered by the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in response to the weekend shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Arizona.
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) announced plans Tuesday to introduce legislation prohibiting people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of members of Congress.
King, who has previously called for the removal of illegal guns from the streets, made the announcement alongside New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the nation’s loudest voices for stricter gun laws.
King said the legislation is not intended only for the safety of government officials but also to protect the public. He said elected officials are not necessarily more important than constituents, but by protecting them in this way, they would feel safer in meeting federal officials at public events.
“The fact is they do represent the people who elect them, and it’s essential, if we’re going to continue to have contact, that the public who are at these meetings are ensured of their own safety,” King said.
King’s legislation got the cold shoulder from Boehner and other Republicans after it was announced.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the Speaker would not support King’s legislation.
The office of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the majority leader is reserving judgment until the King bill is finalized.
“Mr. Cantor believes it’s appropriate to adequately review and actually read legislation before forming an opinion about it,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring stated in an e-mail.
The immediate rejection of King’s legislation by Boehner illustrates the difficulty gun-control advocates will face in moving forward with any legislation.
Even Capitol Hill’s most ardent gun reformers don’t anticipate any changes to the nation’s gun laws will be forthcoming in the 112th Congress. They say the combination of a GOP-led House and the powerful gun lobby is simply too formidable to take on over an issue that’s become a proverbial third rail of Washington politics.
“Anything you can get through the gun lobby is going to have little consequence,” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a longtime supporter of tightening Second Amendment restrictions, said in a phone interview. “I don’t see the likelihood of much progress — I don’t see much hope.”
Aside from King’s proposal, longtime gun-control advocates Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) are working on legislation to prohibit high-capacity ammunition magazines like those allegedly used by Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year-old college dropout who’s been charged in the Arizona rampage.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers say the public debate about whether incendiary punditry helped ignite the Arizona rampage has overshadowed the more important role that mental health played in the deadly shooting.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the sometimes violence-laced remarks from Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and other political commentators should be toned down, but were likely not the impetus for the shooting spree.
“Whether you blame them or any of those things on what happened, I don’t think is the issue,” Brown said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Rather, the reportedly erratic behavior of Loughner should have raised red flags about his mental health, Brown said — flags that might have led to treatments that could have prevented the tragic shootings.
“The mental health issues here haven’t been talked about much. We don’t really have much of a mental health safety net in this country. You know, there’s almost nobody watching today,” Brown said.
Although Loughner’s behavior reportedly set off enough alarms that he was expelled from community college and denied entrance into the military, he had no problems buying a hand gun from a local sporting goods store in November .
“This young man should have been [red-flagged] when he was thrown out of that community college,” Brown said. “The mental health safety net’s pretty shredded in Arizona, as it is nationally.”
King’s proposal perplexed some members of Congress, who wondered how it would be implemented because members are so mobile and often encounter individuals without knowledge that a congressional event is taking place.
“I think my concern would be, how do you put a 1,000-foot bubble around a member of Congress and what are you going to do about judges and Cabinet secretaries?” asked Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). “If you get past the logistics of it, it would seem to have a ripple effect throughout the upper echelons of appointed and elected officials.”
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, Andrew Arulanandam, said this week that it would be “inappropriate” for the group to comment on potential reforms so soon after the tragedy.
Rep. Hal:
Washington, DC, Dec 8, 2010 - “I am honored by the Republican Conference’s decision to elect me as their Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. It is truly humbling to receive the confidence of my colleagues and I am ready to get to work so that together we can move our country forward. We are facing unprecedented times and the American people are giving us a unique opportunity to start reining in government and getting our economy back on track. My Republican colleagues and I are listening and we will fight to rein in spending, implement rigorous oversight and work together to change the culture on Capitol Hill. There is no room for failure, our nation’s security depends on us getting this right and finding a new way forward.”
Rep. Hal:
Washington, Oct 18, 2010 - Last month, U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) and his Republican colleagues released A Pledge to America and put forward a plan to repeal the misguided health care bill and enact real health care reform that addresses the rising cost of health insurance and opens up access for all Americans.
“Our country provides the best medical care in the world - yet many Americans struggle to get the care they need because of the astronomical costs,” said Rogers. “That is why I support real health care reform that opens up access for all Americans, lowers the cost of health care and health insurance, and enables small businesses to purchase health insurance for their employees. The monstrosity of a health care bill that passed earlier in the year does nothing to lower costs and only imposes more red tape on our small businesses. Furthermore, this bill raises taxes on hard-working Americans and will sink us further into debt. It’s time to repeal the bill and get serious about true health care reform.”
In A Pledge to America, Republicans call for a repeal of the recently passed health care bill and instead replace it with real reform. The plan would enact medical liability reform which will lower costs by reining in junk lawsuits and stop “defensive” medicine. The plan also would allow Americans to purchase health insurance across State lines so that families have more choices. Republicans would also expand health savings accounts, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, ensure access for patients with pre-existing conditions and permanently prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion.
Rogers has served Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District since 1981. With a focus on economic development, job creation, fighting illegal drugs and preserving Appalachia’s natural treasures, he has a reputation for listening to his constituents and fighting for the region he represents. For more information visit www.halrogers.house.gov.
You are aware that you are talking about the “Prince of Pork”, a well deserved nickname for being the top porker in Congress.
Do you recall all the promises Zero made to the Left? We are seeing another politician making his empty promises to the Right.
Let’s see what he’s actually done in a year.
I am ok with that. However, you have bashed him without presenting ANYTHING that he has done this year.
I judged people by their history not their promises. You’re talking like the sob went from black to white overnight. He loves to piss away our money and I don’t like that in a politician.
John Boehner seems to be doing a good job protecting the 2nd Amendment!
Rep. Hal went beyond the GOP vow to cut house spending by 5% and reduced his appropriation committee funding by 9%, He appointed Rep. Aderholt chairman of the homeland security subcommittee. He has voted AYE to all GOP HR's.
You mean like his appointment of Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) and other GOP freshmen to the Appropriations Committee? Normally freshmen don't get on this one.
How did he get that name? Seems like the libs put it on him to deflect attention from the conservatives labeling Murtha as the Prince of Pork?
I will grant that Hal has brought $$ to Kentucky but can you cite examples where he has 'pissed' away our money?
Thanks for the link. From the first hit on your link:
House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers today gave the following floor statement on a resolution that would cut the office budgets of Members of Congress, committees, and leadership in the House by 5%. Chairman Rogers directed the cuts to his committee to go even further, cutting his own committee budget by 9%.
Thanks for the link. From your link:
Liberals crown Rep. Hal Rogers as ‘prince of pork’ to deflect away attention from Rep. Murtha.
You need to do some research for yourself. Google, Answers, Yahoo, Wikipedia
Pork is swapping taxpayer dollars for campaign cash. Understand how it works? Use the pork to make your constituents happy so they’ll contribute their cash to your re-election campaign. The happier a corporation is with your pork the more cash you can expect from them. And the best part is you aren’t spending a solitary dime of your own money!
That’s how a politician gets to spend a lifetime time sucking on the taxpayers tit. Living high on the hog spending our money. I don’t admire politicians. Respect very few of them. Most of them are attorneys with a gift for gag who have no conscience when it comes to repeatedly lying.
So far, so good.
These socialist idgits had 2 years to shove ANYTHING down our throats and didn’t even look at gun control issues.
Someone is waggin the dog....... Good on the SOTH for kicking this crap back in the round file !
Stay Safe Laz.......nite !
We will see if he keeps on course.
Sh*t, dawg, they knew they were gonna get creamed. They could have done a Sniper Rifle ban (hunting rifles), another AWB minus sunset, a conceal carry forbid, a handgun ban, and they would have gotten about the same drubbing.
Like I said, the only thing wot saved us from tyranny was that Barry the Kenyan was lazy. If Hitler played golf and sucked on ice cream cones as much as Barry the Kenyan, the 40's might have been a really nice, sweet, peaceful decade.
Yep yep yep....agree agree agree !!!
Doom on em !
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