Posted on 01/24/2013 2:17:38 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
As Senate Democrats unveiled an “assault weapons ban” encompassing a variety of rifles, shotguns, and pistols, the newest lawyer in the U.S. Senate pointed out that “real assault weapons” have been illegal since 1934.
“Washington politicians shouldn’t be taking advantage of recent tragedy to try to push an aggressive gun control agenda,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in a statement today. “Real assault weapons—machine guns—are already functionally illegal, and they have been since 1934. This proposal would have done nothing to prevent the terrible murders in Newtown, but it would limit the constitutional liberties of law-abiding citizens.”
Through the National Firearms Act of 1934, Congress imposed “a tax on the making and transfer of machine guns and certain other weapons, as well as a special occupational tax on persons and entities engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing and dealing in those weapons,” according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The tax was $200 (in 1934, the U.S. dollar was valuable enough that 200 bucks was a lot of money). Congress passed a ban on machine gun ownership in 1986.
Cruz was responding to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who proposed a new assault weapons ban today. “Getting this bill signed into law will be an uphill battle, and I recognize that—but it’s a battle worth having,” Feinstein said in a statement today. “We must balance the desire of a few to own military-style assaults weapons with the growing threat to lives across America. If 20 dead children in Newtown wasn’t a wakeup call that these weapons of war don’t belong on our streets, I don’t know what is.”
Feinstein’s bill is co-sponsored by several top Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who went back and forth with Cruz about gun control on Sunday’s Meet the Press.
“The bottom line is that during the 10 years that the Assault Weapons Ban was in effect, the use of those weapons in crimes went down a significant percentage,” Schumer said.
Cruz countered by noting that the use of those weapons for crimes has continued to drop without a gun ban. “The Assault Weapons Ban was one of the least successful bills that has ever been put in place,” he told NBC’s David Gregory. “And in fact, when the ban expired, there were roughly 700 murders using all rifles. Today, there are roughly 300. There’s less than half. This is not designed to actually solve the problem of violent crime. This is designed to assuage liberal partisans who want to push their agenda forward.”
I actually own quite a few guns....and they are ALL assault weapons...in the right hands.
Pretty deadly too.
“I tell people “Look up the National Firearms Act of 1934”.”
How many blank stares to you get? I mean seriously, these politicians do not live and breath “gunpowder”. They get some talking points and run with them. In most cases it does not make them bad, it makes them dangerous like the MSM.
The “blonde bobble heads” on Faux News are another real dangerous group. The other day one was babbling on about semi-autos firing multiple rounds at a single pull of the trigger. Came uncorked sent an email to them to keep her uninformed mouth shut until she became “schooled”. About 15 minutes later she was apologizing. I guess she toke a quick course.....
The advantage of the Mod 98 is I got it from my father who “picked it up” in Germany, previous owner deceased.
No paperwork as far as I can tell.
You said...
"I actually own a real assault rifle."
I'm not buying this "assault rifle" crap....any gun staring at me..is assaulting.
Sorry but I disagree. It’s an assault rifle if it’s a war rifle issued by a sovereign power. If it wasn’t, it’s not an assault rifle. A semi automatic AK is not an assault rifle. A Brown Bess muzzle loader is.
Chuck Woolery on assault weapons..Please share..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evEg1VNfX3o&feature=player_embedded
You appear to be playing word games.....just like the Feds. I'm sure that is not your intent...but it appears like it.
Rank-and-file Democrats are akin to Hitler Youth: slavishly simple, blindly obedient to the socialist cause.
No I’m attempting to use a consistent and defensible definition of terms. The left claims weapons of war don’t belong in civilian hands. If a weapon has never been issued by a sovereign power to it’s military it cannot be an assault weapon and proposed legislation could not apply to it. This consistent and defensible definition would put the left in the absurd position of outlawing trapdoor Springfields and Brown Besses while leaving semi-automatic AKs and ARs untouched.
Me also.
I too, am proud to call Mr. Cruz my senator. Alan Dershowitz, his professor at Harvard, said, “Cruz was off-the charts brilliant.” (Just think, in two years he’ll be qualified to be President.) Please check out Ted’s resume at Wikipedia, the guy is really remarkable. He is a true man of accomplishment unlike the fraud and walking cliche in the White House who was fast tracked by millions of loony liberal sycophantic lickspittles. Make no mistake, Ted Cruz is the real deal. I have high expectations for him. Our country needs him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz
No they did not. What Congress did do is to not allow any more fully automatic firearms to be entered into the national registry, and therefore cannot be issued a tax stamp, hence cannot be owned.
Full automatic firearms that were already on the registry can still be owned, bought, and sold, after the necessary transfer tax and microscopic examination of the buyer's background.
Thanks for the info on Cruz. I’ve just been impressed with his conservative credentials and the rare spine he’s shown against some of the most outspoken liberals. That he’s that brilliant is just icing on the cake for me!
Ditto. But I hope you voted for him THREE times: primary, runoff and general. I had to think that process through for a minute, but it's true.
But does anyone here realize you CAN buy and OWN a machine gun...
I just checked. What you said is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Heh
My post stands........
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