Posted on 04/17/2007 10:34:12 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Gun control advocates made little headway after another bloody April shootout eight years ago and acknowledged Tuesday they face similarly tough odds in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. "It is a tough sell," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., the House's most ardent proponent of gun control legislation.
In 1999, after the Columbine High School killings in Colorado left 15 dead, including the two shooters, lawmakers unsuccessfully introduced dozens of bills to require mandatory child safety locks on new handguns, ban "Saturday night specials," increase the minimum age for gun purchases and require background checks on weapons bought at gun shows.
A month after the Columbine shootings, then Vice President Al Gore cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to advance a juvenile crime bill that included gun show restrictions. But the bill died after a year of on-and-off negotiations with the House, where gun rights lawmakers held sway.
Gun control became an issue in the 2000 election and many political analysts say Gore, assailed by the National Rifle Association for supporting gun control, lost critical votes in rural states where voters are strong supporters of gun rights.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sponsored the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that Congress allowed to expire in 2004, said in a statement that she believed the killings at Virginia Tech would "re-ignite the dormant effort to pass commonsense gun regulations in this nation."
But while Democrats now control the Congress, many of its new members are gun rights supporters from rural states.
McCarthy said she is trying to promote legislation that will be acceptable to gun rights people, including a bill that would require instant background checks for gun purchases rather than making buyers wait a day or more.
Sarah Brady is very sad.
Gun control = tough sell. Let’s keep it that way .
And so it begins...
If Webb and Feinstein can have guns, so can I.
Period.
Gun control already existed on the VT campus.
It was a gun-free zone, for cryin’ out loud.
Gun control is hitting what you aim at.
It should be “No Sale.”
i tell my gun-hatin liberal friends,
you can always move to
ol’ mexico
where as you drive down the 5 and 805 freeways, signs announce
“guns illegal in mexico”.
si.
but only the corrupt government and the drug lords and criminals have guns...
so, guess wha’?
you die.
the gop should fire back with laws of their own fighting back against the ban on right to conceal laws that are being pushed in many locations across the country.
Can anyone remember the name of the town that passed a law requiring a firearm in every household? Crime went down.
I’m guessing that the VA Tech shooter obtained his guns illegally, making any calls for more gun control purely political...
Violation of their oath to the Constitution.
Treason.
Try these idiots in court and get rid of them. Before they get more innocent people killed...
So, who's got the over/under on how many seconds it took this Senate whore to politicize this tragedy?
And news reports today say that he used a handgun. Don't all handguns already require a permit?
So, if that's correct, it seems to prove that gun control doesn't work.
I wonder what is it about the month of April?
There have been more than one town....and then there are Switzerland and Israel......here’s an article I kept....
Concealed Carry Laws Reduce Crime
Major crime fell dramatically in states which have legalized the carrying of concealed handguns, according to a comprehensive new study at the University of Chicago.
For the first time, researchers analyzed crime statistics for all 3,054 counties in the United Sates between 1977 and 1992, according to one of the authors of the unpublished study, Professor John Lott. After adjusting for a general fall in crime rates, the study found that:
* In the 31 states that now have “concealed right to carry” laws, murders were down, on average, by 8.5 percent.
* Rapes were down 5 percent and serious assaults by 7 percent.
* In cities with populations of more than 250,000, murder rates dropped after the passage of such laws by an average of 13.5 percent.
According to the study, the fall in crime did not result from an increased use of guns, but from potential criminals avoiding confrontations. In fact, criminals apparently shifted to lower-risk offenses, since property crimes increased in those states. Other findings included:
* The most dramatic falls in murder rates were in areas where the number of women carrying firearms was high.
* The study found that for every woman who carries a concealed hand, the murder rate fell by three to four times more than it would have if one more man had carried a concealed gun.
* If states with concealed handgun bans had allowed them in 1992, about 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes and more than 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided.
In addition, the researchers found no evidence of an increase in accidental killings or suicides in states with concealed carry laws.
Sources: Ian Katz, “’Gun Law’ Cuts Crime Rate, US Study Finds,” Guardian, August 3, 1996, and Dennis Cauchon, “Study: Weapons Laws Deter Crime: Fewer Rapes, Murders Found Where Concealed Guns Legal,” USA Today, August 2, 1996.
There was one in Oregon, too.
There is a small town near here (”here” being Boise) in Idaho that is doing the same thing as Kennesaw, Georgia.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.