Bush Backs Renewing Assault Weapons Ban

Washington Post ^ | April 12, 2003 | Unknown

[Mini-14]

The Bush administration is bucking the National Rifle Association and supporting a renewal of the assault weapons ban, set to expire just before the presidential election. "The president supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told Knight Ridder.

Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top priority of the NRA. Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported the ban, but it was less clear whether he would support an extension.

[Mini-14]

bang

[Mulder]

bang

[Teacher317]

Say good-bye to a TON of votes.

[MonroeDNA]

This can't be true!?!

Please let this article be wrong!

[Mulder]

How long until the bots come and start posting that this is all part of some "brilliant plan" by Bush?

[Teacher317]

Ping

[newgeezer]

This seems a good place for one of my favorite taglines.

[Teacher317]

Along with the brilliant plan to increase the federal budget by 20% in the past two years, while we've been criticizing Clinton's budgets as too large and wasteful.

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[Mulder]

Along with the brilliant plan to increase the federal budget by 20% in the past two years, while we've been criticizing Clinton's budgets as too large and wasteful.

Hey we're at war. If you don't like it, you can move to Iraq.

/sarcasm

[tet68]

Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top priority of the NRA.

More slanted reporting, it's due to sunset, go out of existance, cease to exist.

Die, vile legislation, Die!

[Teacher317]

Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported the ban

Does anyone remember this? Any links?

[Bluntpoint]

The war on the Second Amendment can best be described as a Quagmire.

[toothless]

sad, i wont vote for him again if he does.

[lainie]

This is my issue and this is my litmus test, and he's going to fail it.

[dinodino]

You bet. I will not vote for Bush if he truly supports this. He's showing his true colors.

[chnsmok]

Same here Lainie.

[Teacher317]

Oops... I found seome... In his 2000 presidential campaign, Bush came out for renewal and for an additional provision to ban the import of ammunition- feeding devices of 10 bullets or more.

[chnsmok]

I am still ducking. Noone here to defend him yet?

[Teacher317]

Quagmire? Seems to me it's been a rather protracted victory march for the enemy.

[TLBSHOW]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will introduce a bill in the coming weeks to reauthorize the assault-weapons ban.

[backhoe]

What I recall is that the President said he would sign the renewal if it reached his desk.

I interpert that to mean our job is to keep it from getting there in the first place, and am doing what I can from here to effect that.

[JudgemAll]

It is deeply annoying. The man cannot be perfect of course, but this sounds like the "no new taxes scheme". The economy is not good, so Bush better emphasis principles and substance over humanism, because on the humanism and economy cause, he has nothing to gain.

Of course as a voter I cannot scrape Bush off stupidly and let it play in the hands of the hard left enemy, wishing them to win instead of him.

Now is not the time to split the nation's general momentum, which is much more important than the actual hits and misses of a president.

[newgeezer]

Noone here to defend him yet?

If you're that interested, perhaps we should ping Noone to get his or her views.

[JudgemAll]

As Christians, moral clarity exists by expecting the best and coping with the worst, and in this instance I am not writting off Bush yet on this legislation until it becomes an issue.

[TLBSHOW]

"The president supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

[PuNcH]

It is an incredibly stupid ban and there are probably a ton of people running around with technically illegal weapons because of this law that dont even know it. This pile of crap is about to come to an end. I wont be supporting those who cant recognize our 2nd amendment rights and wish to continue such an ignorant, illogical ban.

[Teacher317]

What I recall is that the President said he would sign the renewal if it reached his desk.
I interpert that to mean our job is to keep it from getting there in the first place, and am doing what I can from here to effect that.

He used that gutless line with CFR, didn't he? Is there any awful domestic legislation that he will grow a spine to veto?

[chainsaw]

Bush cannot afford to Pi$$ off 5 million voting NRA members.

He is either with US or against US, he can't be both.

[JudgemAll]

You bet. I will not vote for Bush if he truly supports this. He's showing his true colors.

Well, he has liberal tendencies after all, this is not a secret. But what people forget all too easily is that Bush supports the due process to come up to a decision on this. As long as he is not in the cover ups and courrageous enough to stand there in transparence, then he has my vote. Power should be at the service of truth, and not the reverse, and this is the 2nd amendment's logic.

[chnsmok]

Incoming....

[Timesink]

Here come the Fair Weather Republicans.

[Mark Felton]

Will Iraqi citizens have to abide by this law as well? < /sarcasm>

[Geist Krieger]

"FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS"

IF OR WHEN THEY OUTLAW THESE WEAPONS, THEN ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE THEM!

If this is true, then Bush needs to take a lesson from England and Australia where crime is up because the criminals know the public is now disarmed!...Canada too is not far behind.

WE ARE OUR OWN AND ONLY TRUE, RELIABLE HOMELAND SECURITY IN TIMES LIKE THESE!

[Teacher317]

And exactly what does this law do to promote public safety or principles of justice?

[JudgemAll]

Bush cannot afford to Pi$$ off 5 million voting NRA members.

He is either with US or against US, he can't be both.

THat is a strong possibility. As much as Bush's imperfection need to be forgiven, so are the voters'. Bush is held hostage by this legislation with Dems threatening him and NRAers threatening him on the other side. The point is that an intelligent argument must be lead instead of falling into party lines, and we have to make sure Bush will not cover up things in his explanations for his stance. We have to demand him an explanation. If he provides none or rationalizes things, then I will start to worry, not until then.

That said, if people are POed after the economy that cannot be proped up, Bush better not PO the rest of his support on his principles as opposed to his performance which will suffer in support. He has to indeed emphasis on his principles when his economic performance are criticised. If he clings to performance as his father did and abandons principles, he is toast.

[rwfromkansas]

While I am not thrilled with this, Bush supported it in the campaign an Bush is a man of his word.

I don't worry much about the assault weapons ban; it is when they get into other things that I get concerned.

[Teacher317]

Heck, not renewing the ban would also encourage the economy, since quite a few pieces would be available for sale (and many of us would be stocking up in anticipation of the next Democrat President and ban).

[Shooter 2.5]

Exactly.

NRA members worked in the offices of the candidates so we could have a majority in the House and the Senate. If Bush signs this, it will be his "No new Taxes" statement. All of the military victories won't help him if he signs this.

We can't sit back and take this. It's up to us to see that the renewal never reaches his desk.

[newgeezer]

Now, I'm as pro-Second Amendment as anybody. But, this is truly amazing if you think about it. It appears that, if there'd been enough "litmus test" voters in our ranks, and the left had convinced enough of us during the 2000 campaign that Bush would consider supporting the extension, we could be coping with President Gore today.

Incredible.

[lainie]

Here's one.. looking for others.

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/guam/41/ar15/georgew.htm

Gun restrictions OK within basic right to own guns

Bush opposed repeal of the 1994 assault weapon ban and indicated his openness to Clinton’s call to raise the age of legal handgun ownership from 18 to 21. But Bush opposed Clinton’s call for reinstituting 3-day waiting periods for gun purchases, saying he preferred instant background checks. And while he said he could support national legislation to extend such instant checks to purchases at unregulated gun shows, he’s made no effort to support a state bill that would have done just that in Texas. Source: L.A. Times May 1, 1999

[Kevin Curry]

If true, he's going to alienate some of his core supporters while receiving no credit whatsoever from leftist gun-haters.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I've learned to watch and see what he does.

However, if this bill is extended or replaced by another, I wash my hands of him, even if it is raining gold and the entire world is singing happy somgs of peace. I would stay with him if the economy is still struggling, if we suffer reverses in the WOT, if my own neighborhood was blown up by terrorists, but if he turns against the Constituition he's gone.

I find that I can not believe he will.

[lainie]

I don't like it either, but it's indefensible.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

I assume that everyone here who opposes the ban was written a letter to the President expressing their vehement opposition, right?

I voted for G.H.W.B. in 1992 after his 1989 import ban and latter regretted it. It is in the best interests of everyone here (even the Blind Bush Backers) to remind the President and his advisors that unlike democrats, Republicans vote principle over personality.

[The Coopster]

Longer, apparently, than it took for you to post a rude comment.

Debate the topic, by all means. FWIW, I don't agree with it, either. But you don't see people sponaneously posting for you to get over Buchannan, do you?

[JudgemAll]

I would hope that threads on criticism of Bush not go out of hand and emphasised a certain discipline on finding the truth and clarifying it about Bush, instead of politicking for pet preference issues and "holier than though" statements criticizing Bush.

[The Coopster]

So, you'll vote Democrat?

[Teacher317]

If Bush signs this, it will be his "No new Taxes" statement.

The fact that he promises to is enough for me. We apparently have a domestic rubber-stamp who won't stand up to anything that comes from Congress.

Personally, I worked my butt off to help him get elected so that, in part, these moronic bills could be stopped. I didn't do it so that I would have to work my butt off all over again to prevent Congress from sending him those bills in the first place because he is too gutless to stand up and do the right thing.