So much for Obama not banning guns...

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-21-2004
So much for Obama not banning guns...
73
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:55pm
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6960824&page=1

Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban
The Ban Expired in 2004 During the Bush Administration.
By JASON RYAN
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2009

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.

Wednesday Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Obama
administration will seek to reinstitute the assault weapons ban which
expired in 2004 during the Bush administration.
(AP Photos/ABC News Graphic )

"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.


The Assault Weapons Ban signed into law by President Clinton in 1994
banned 19 types of semi-automatic military-style guns and ammunition
clips with more than 10 rounds.

"A semi-automatic is a quintessential self-defense firearm owned by
American citizens in this country," LaPierre said. "I think it is
clearly covered under Heller and it's clearly, I think, protected by
the Constitution."

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martinisnsushi - living the good life since 1963

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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 12:34am

I'm not so sure that banning assault weapons right now is a bad move.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 7:12am
Mexican gangs can get all the weapons they need or want out of Mexico, Central and South America.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 7:20am

When will people understand that "gun bans" only prevent law-abiding people from having guns?


Do you honestly think that making assault weapons "illegal" is going to matter to people moving tens of millions of dollars of an illegal substance?


Criminals don't care if it's illegal.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-21-2004
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 7:48am

The best selling rifle in the US (AR-15)

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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 8:48am

`We must enforce gun import ban'


More than 50 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce a ban on importing assault weapons, saying many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.



The ATF estimates that 90 percent of weapons seized in Mexico come from sources within the United States. Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south, and Obama has pledged to step up those efforts. The U.S. Congress included $10 million in the economic stimulus package approved last week for the ATF's Project Gunrunner, which targets gun-trafficking networks in the United States.

In a recent report, the federal Attorney General's Office said Mexican authorities have seized the most weapons from the Gulf drug cartel and its "Zetas" hit men. Members of the cartel have been found with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and weapons capable of piercing armor.


More...... http://www.chapala.com/webboard/index.php?showtopic=15104


U.S. Guns Arming Mexican Drug Cartels


 ImageHigh-powered weapons smuggled into Mexico from the United States are arming drug cartels in a bloody war with Mexican authorities that has killed more than 4,000 in 2008 alone, including hundreds of police officers, soldiers, and prosecutors — all while Mexico’s calls for the United States to cut off the flow have had little effect. Mexico’s strict gun laws make buying the weapons difficult, but in the United States, they are sold legally at stores, gun shows, and flea markets — and then smuggled across the border. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) found that more than 90 percent of guns seized at the Mexican border were originally sold in the United States, two-thirds of which have been traced back to Texas, Arizona, and California. In a report issued in November, the Brookings Institution estimated that 2,000 guns cross the border into Mexico every day. More....


http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/broken_government/articles/entry/934/


US guns arm Mexico's drug wars (2007)


The Calderón government is asking for – and getting – more US support in cracking down on gun smuggling.


http://www.flacso.org/hemisferio/al-eeuu/boletines/02/79/rel_01.pdf


ATF says most illegal guns in Mexico come from US


Nearly all illegal guns seized in Mexico come from the United States, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday.


ATF acting director Michael Sullivan said investigators have traced 90 to 95 percent of the weapons found in Mexico to the U.S. Generally, only law-enforcement officers or military personnel can legally possess guns in Mexico. More...


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-08-11-1597322846_x.htm

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 9:03am

The USA has this going on it's doorstep yet

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 9:09am

Just a couple of notes on the articles you linked...


In a recent report, the federal Attorney General's Office said Mexican authorities have seized the most weapons from the Gulf drug cartel and its "Zetas" hit men. Members of the cartel have been found with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and weapons capable of piercing armor.


None of these are assault weapons, and none of them are legal for civilian purchase in the US.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 9:17am
We can't control our border, the Mexican government obviously can't control it's border.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 9:57am

Mexican gangs can get all the weapons they need or want out of Mexico, Central and South America.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 02-27-2009 - 10:14am

"IT'S A WAR"


- Mexican President Felipe Calderon


http://projects.latimes.com/siege/#/its-a-war

 


Photobucket&nbs

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