Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

[Caveman]

Previous Ban Expired in 2004 During the Bush Administration


The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder said today.
"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder told reporters.
Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border.
"I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." Holder said at a news conference on the arrest of more than 700 people in a drug enforcement crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the U.S.
Mexican government officials have complained that the availability of sophisticated guns from the United States have emboldened drug traffickers to fight over access routes into the U.S.
A State Department travel warning issued Feb. 20, 2009, reflected government concerns about the violence.
"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades," the warning said. "Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico, but most recently in northern Mexico, including Tijuana, Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez."
At the news conference today, Holder described his discussions with his Mexican counterpart about the recent spike in violence.
"I met yesterday with Attorney General Medina Mora of Mexico, and we discussed the unprecedented levels of violence his country is facing because of their enforcement efforts," he said.
Holder declined to offer any time frame for the reimplementation of the assault weapons ban, however.
"It's something, as I said, that the president talked about during the campaign," he said. "There are obviously a number of things that are -- that have been taking up a substantial amount of his time, and so, I'm not sure exactly what the sequencing will be."
In a brief interview with ABC News, Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association, said, "I think there are a lot of Democrats on Capitol Hill cringing at Eric Holder's comments right now."
During his confirmation hearing, Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee about other gun control measures the Obama administration may consider.
"I think closing the gun show loophole, the banning of cop-killer bullets and I also think that making the assault weapons ban permanent, would be something that would be permitted under Heller," Holder said, referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Washington, D.C. v. Heller, which asserted the Second Amendment as an individual's right to own a weapon.

[MacLean]

Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association, said, "I think there are a lot of Democrats on Capitol Hill cringing at Eric Holder's comments right now."

Yup, every single one of them that remembers 1994.

[Rhino]

I was listening to Jamie Dupree about an hour ago on the radio. He's usually pretty unbiased in his political assesments, and so I take him at his word.

He reported that Nancy Pelosi, of all people, has stated that she has no interest in reinstating the ban because she believes we should concentrate more on enforcing the laws that are already there.

I can't believe something that intelligent actually escaped that woman's lips, but I hope it's true.

[MacLean]

So do I.

It does mean, however, that she wants to keep her job.

[Retdetsgt]

So do I.

It does mean, however, that she wants to keep her job.

She needs to worry about keeping her seat. She represents possibly the most left wing congressional district in the nation.

But that would be refreshing if she kept that stance.

[MacLean]

She needs to worry about keeping her seat. She represents possibly the most left wing congressional district in the nation.

But that would be refreshing if she kept that stance.

Her seat is safe, her job was what I meant.

Speaker goes to the majority.

The AWB has been directly credited with turning the house over to the Republicans by no less than William Jefferson Clinton, himself.

[countybear]

They will wait, I believe.

The Dems like to 'take drastic action' when the knees start jerking, that way they look like heroes to the American public.

I have no doubts whatsoever that they are chomping at the bit to reinstitute the AWB, but politically they are spending capital right now like it grows on trees, and the AWB would certainly be a dent in popularity, (unless it can be said that it was in response to a 'tragedy').

Like vultures, I think the birds will roost and await another 'heinous' crime against society to pounce on the corpses. Another Columbine, Virginia Tech, or similar tragedy by some nutcase will be just what the anti-gun doctors ordered... shameful, but true.

[Retdetsgt]

Her seat is safe, her job was what I meant.

Speaker goes to the majority.

The AWB has been directly credited with turning the house over to the Republicans by no less than William Jefferson Clinton, himself.

I understand your point. But representing the radical left at home, she might lose her congressional seat if she goes even close to center. Remember Foley from Washington state lost his seat when he was speaker of the house because his district didn't like the way he was headed. You can't be speaker if you ain't reelected....

[MacLean]

Fair point - I don't miss Foley either.

I'm fortunate to live in the 8th, and we have Dave Reichert.

[Retdetsgt]

Fair point - I don't miss Foley either.

I'm fortunate to live in the 8th, and we have Dave Reichert.

Yeah, it's nice to be a big shot in Washington D.C., but you gotta represent the folks back home. Tom Daschle also lost his senate seat when he was majority leader. And I don't think it's a coincidence that John Murtha is keeping a lot lower profile since he damn near got defeated last year in PA.

Unfortunately, we have David Wu in Congress. He's a rubber stamp for the Democratic House leadership. I go over his voting record now and then and he has never bucked the leadership on one vote. The boundary is such that he represents enough of Portland west side and Beaverton that the center to conservative people west of there have no chance in defeating him.

[Morris]

Funny, Eric Holder must not be reading his tea leaves correctly.

Gun sales shoot up in these uncertain times | KOMO News - Seattle, Washington | News

By Joel Moreno & KOMO Staff Watch the story ISSAQUAH, Wash. -- A new president and a bad economy are driving a rush for weapons, according to area gun store owners.

Shop owners say even those who've never owned a gun before have been stockpiling them in past months.

According to data provided by the FBI's National Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the number of background checks for buyers of firearms jumped 28.8 percent in January compared to January of last year.

The same data shows a 24 percent rise in December 2008 and a record 42 percent jump in November.

A reason for the change, gun owners say, is fear that the new president will target the second amendment.

"You could probably say that it's a realistic fear that the administration is going to start restricting certain firearms," said gun owner Joe Numeth.

Another reason is the tanking economy. The perception is that crime is on the rise, and many are flocking to gun stores, shop owners said.

"They're worried about protecting their family and their household," said Lance Kilgore, owner of West Coast Armory in Issaquah.

West Coast Armory typically sells 15 handguns a week. These days, the owner sells 45 a week. The store even has bare shelves where sold guns and ammunition used to sit.

Wade's Eastside Guns in Bellevue says business has doubled; the shop now moves hundreds of firearms every month.

Shoppers say the sour economy has helped boost the gun business.

"I do think there's an effect. People have a lot of fear right now about what's going to happen in the next few years," Numeth said.

Before President Barack Obama was elected, he tried to walk the line on gun control.

"We got a lot of hunters in downstate Illinois, and I have no intention of taking away folks' guns," Obama said during a campaign stop in Boise.

His words have not left gun owners reassured.

"He may not take away shotguns or bolt-action rifles, but a lot of us believe he will end up banning semi-auto firearms," said Kilgore.

The president has yet to announce any changes to current gun control policy. But uncertainty over his direction, and when the economy might rebound, means gun sales could stay strong for some time to come.

[mtaylor]

Personally I'm more afraid of the guy that's shooting at me with a bolt action from 300yds away vs the guy that's up close with a semi auto.

[MacLean]

Personally I'm more afraid of the guy that's shooting at me with a bolt action from 300yds away vs the guy that's up close with a semi auto.

I'm not a fan of being shot at with a .22 rifle for that matter.

However, just wait - they'll be after your "sniper" rifle too.

(Which means your deer gun, if it is black and has an optic.)

[Morris]

Funny little novel, Enemies Foreign and Domestic was rather close to that grind.

I've already heard the FUDDs clutch their collective chests when certain folks from the Brady Center ask why hunting rifles needed scopes. Cause, after all, that made it into a precision sniper rifle . . .

[Retdetsgt]

I'm not a fan of being shot at with a .22 rifle for that matter.

The odds of you dying are probably higher if you get shot with a .22 than a lot of other calibers, only it'll be a lot slower.

If I wanted to kill someone fast, I'd use a .45. If I wanted to kill someone just because they needed killing, I'd use a .22. The .22 bullet is more likely than not to splinter into numerous tiny, sharp lead pieces and distribute itself throughout your body and surgeons can rarely find them all. I've seen a number of people who drove to an ER by themselves, walked in under their own power with a .22 wound, only to die in ICU days later. I'm a lot more afraid of a .22 wound than a lot of others.

But the AWB is a joke. I used to find Tec 9's in drug labs all the time, none were operational. Most idiot badguys have no idea how to take care of one and often as not, would disassemble it and not be able to get it back together. That was how I almost always found them back then, laying around in a heap of parts. That was one nice side benefit of doing away with the draft, a lot of morons never got the chance to learn about weapons.

The media was reporting recently that bad guys were going back to revolvers because the semi's were leaving the casings. I was thinking, bullshit, it's because they don't know how to keep a semi auto operational.

[Donut Aficionado]

WTF is a cop killer bullet?!!! I'm sure a friggin .22 will kill me!!! and through my vest at that.

[MacLean]

WTF is a cop killer bullet?!!!

The one that hits you the wrong way.

Morons like Chucky Schumer have tried to label hollow points cop killers, even though I'd rather take a hollow point in the armor than just about anything else.

Even the old KTW rounds were misunderstood by these morons - I actually heard one of them say the teflon allowed the bullet to "slide" through armor.

[Retdetsgt]

Didn't they used to call the teflon bullet the cop killer?

And yeah, the hollow point would just give you a big bruise.....

[Donut Aficionado]

I dont even want to get shot with an Airsoft...I lost a tooth to an Airsoft!!! Damn, a cop tooth killer bullet!!!

[chewy]

They label stuff "cop killer" so that they can make it sound bad and get people to go along with the ban. The reality is that any bullet can be a cop killer. Any rifle bullet or fast moving pointed non-expanding bullet can be a cop killer because our vests aren't designed to stop that. It's just another term they use to scare people into voting to take away our toys.