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Feinstein at it again
Jimmy Boss
Member Posts: 1,857 ✭✭✭✭✭
Sen. Feinstein wants law reborn, despite no proof of increased crime
By DAVID WHITNEY
Mcclatchy News Service
WASHINGTON - It's been 10 months since the federal assault weapons ban expired, and for an idea of what's happened since then, pick up a copy of a gun magazine.
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There you will find ads for semiautomatic rifles and pistols looking like something out of a war zone, with clips holding 30 or 40 cartridges - many features that 11 months ago U.S. manufacturers could not include and gun stores could not sell.
"Since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, it has been open season for criminals who want the most dangerous types of military-style assault weapons," declared Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who in March introduced legislation to revive the old ban.
Feinstein said the expiration of the ban she fought for in 1994 "will have deadly consequences on the streets of America."
Hard to measure
But has it really made much of a difference? Are the streets less safe?
There is no hard evidence, one way or another.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has no statistics that would show whether there's been an increase in sales of assault-style weapons, and the Justice Department has no statistics that would show whether there's been an increase in their use in crimes.
Gunmakers say their shops are busy, but only because the ban created pent-up demand.
"It's changed our market a bit," said Mark Westrom, president of Armalite, an Illinois company that produces the military-style weapons. But Westrom said the company is not selling anywhere near the volume that many gun-control advocates forecast.
Sandy Abrams, a board member of the National Rifle Association who owns Valley Gun of Baltimore, said he's seen a drop in sales of the guns at his urban store.
"It's not like there was this groundswell of demand," he said. Abrams said manufacturers never stopped making what are commonly called assault weapons. They just made guns that got around the ban.
Even among advocates of gun-control legislation, there is no agreement on whether the expiration of the ban is a disaster in the making, as Feinstein claims, or the quiet death of a law that had no teeth.
Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that just because there are no statistics to prove it does not mean the expiration of the ban hasn't had a negative effect.
What's most disturbing, he said, is that the free-flowing U.S. marketplace for military-style rifles comes as gang violence is reaching horrific levels.
"Now manufacturers are kicking it up and we're seeing things like fingerprint-proof resistant grips," he said. "That's clearly to attract a niche that's not your regular duck hunter."
Hard to enforce
The federal ban outlawed U.S.-built ammunition clips holding more than 10 bullets and a handful of specific models. But mostly it prohibited the manufacture and sale of guns with a combination of specified features, such as a flash suppressor, a folding stock and a bayonet lug.
In the months after the ban's expiration, gun-control advocates took heart that several states began to look at enacting their own laws, patterned after California's, to keep military-style weapons out of gun shops.
Feinstein says there is little support in Congress to strengthen an assault weapons law. So she has reintroduced the old ban on the theory that something is better than nothing. She has the endorsement of many organizations, including police officers associations.
Link: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3240554
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
JBoss......Fear No Fish/peace through superior firepower/If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier!!!!!!!!!A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.
--- Sigmond Freud
By DAVID WHITNEY
Mcclatchy News Service
WASHINGTON - It's been 10 months since the federal assault weapons ban expired, and for an idea of what's happened since then, pick up a copy of a gun magazine.
ADVERTISEMENT
There you will find ads for semiautomatic rifles and pistols looking like something out of a war zone, with clips holding 30 or 40 cartridges - many features that 11 months ago U.S. manufacturers could not include and gun stores could not sell.
"Since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, it has been open season for criminals who want the most dangerous types of military-style assault weapons," declared Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who in March introduced legislation to revive the old ban.
Feinstein said the expiration of the ban she fought for in 1994 "will have deadly consequences on the streets of America."
Hard to measure
But has it really made much of a difference? Are the streets less safe?
There is no hard evidence, one way or another.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has no statistics that would show whether there's been an increase in sales of assault-style weapons, and the Justice Department has no statistics that would show whether there's been an increase in their use in crimes.
Gunmakers say their shops are busy, but only because the ban created pent-up demand.
"It's changed our market a bit," said Mark Westrom, president of Armalite, an Illinois company that produces the military-style weapons. But Westrom said the company is not selling anywhere near the volume that many gun-control advocates forecast.
Sandy Abrams, a board member of the National Rifle Association who owns Valley Gun of Baltimore, said he's seen a drop in sales of the guns at his urban store.
"It's not like there was this groundswell of demand," he said. Abrams said manufacturers never stopped making what are commonly called assault weapons. They just made guns that got around the ban.
Even among advocates of gun-control legislation, there is no agreement on whether the expiration of the ban is a disaster in the making, as Feinstein claims, or the quiet death of a law that had no teeth.
Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that just because there are no statistics to prove it does not mean the expiration of the ban hasn't had a negative effect.
What's most disturbing, he said, is that the free-flowing U.S. marketplace for military-style rifles comes as gang violence is reaching horrific levels.
"Now manufacturers are kicking it up and we're seeing things like fingerprint-proof resistant grips," he said. "That's clearly to attract a niche that's not your regular duck hunter."
Hard to enforce
The federal ban outlawed U.S.-built ammunition clips holding more than 10 bullets and a handful of specific models. But mostly it prohibited the manufacture and sale of guns with a combination of specified features, such as a flash suppressor, a folding stock and a bayonet lug.
In the months after the ban's expiration, gun-control advocates took heart that several states began to look at enacting their own laws, patterned after California's, to keep military-style weapons out of gun shops.
Feinstein says there is little support in Congress to strengthen an assault weapons law. So she has reintroduced the old ban on the theory that something is better than nothing. She has the endorsement of many organizations, including police officers associations.
Link: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3240554
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
JBoss......Fear No Fish/peace through superior firepower/If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier!!!!!!!!!A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.
--- Sigmond Freud
Comments
...Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that just because there are no statistics to prove it does not mean the expiration of the ban hasn't had a negative effect...
That's very enlightening. Some people just can't admit that they were wrong. Very sad. I know ol' jim brady got put in a wheelchair by a bullet, but what's the excuse for the rest of them to wallow in such ignorance?
Lord Lowrider the Loquacious.
Member:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets
She was only a fisherman's daughter,
But when she saw my rod she reeled.
pissants. I saw a documentry on her life recently. During the time
Harvey Milk was murdered in San Francisco, she was issued a CCW.
I guess she figures her life is more important than the rest of us...
Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Liberals....
How in the hell do these people manage to justify their existence as an unbiased reporter of news? This is a push-piece. Dianne may as well of written it herself.
Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Liberals....
I have been unable to think rationally since my best friend used his red rider bb gun to shoot me from 6 miles away. The bb completely penetrated my thick skull and did permanent damage to my frontal lobe, essentially performing an amateur lobotomy. Since that day, I have made it my personal ambition to eradicate all these dangerous firearms from the planet. Do not judge me too harshly if I fail to deal with facts and resort to innuendo and outright lies to forward my cause. As I said, I can only deal in the realm of the irrational since the evil assault semi-automatic bb gun changed my life forever. It is all the result of an assault bb gun attack from my childhood...permanent scars that may never heal. As I dab away the tears, I know that If I can but save one life, all the effort and sacrifice will be worthwhile.
Sincerely,
Diane Feinstein
Love them Beavers
My mission is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
Chris8161
Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof!