So much for Obama not banning guns...
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So much for Obama not banning guns...
| 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."
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."
--
martinisnsushi - living the good life since 1963

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Look at the types of weapons being complained about.
"
"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."
It's a ban on semi-automatic military-style guns. Not your typical gun Americans use for self defense. Why would a citizen need a military-style weapon anyway?
The 2nd isn't need based.
"
***It's a ban on semi-automatic military-style guns. Not your typical gun Americans use for self defense. Why would a citizen need a military-style weapon anyway?***
I've always wondered this myself. I also think of the people I know that think they "need" this type of weapon for "protection" and "hunting." There is a certain mentality among them that is a bit........I don't know how to put it without offending anyone......
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.
But more to the point, what happened to Obama's insistence that "I'm not going to take your guns away!"?
He hasn't said anything about taking my guns away.
"Look at the types of weapons being complained about."
Taking that complaint as the entire picture is not accurat.
>"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."<
From Page 24 of November Report mentioned.........
>"The United States stands at the crossroads of many of these illicit flows. Violent youth gangs, such as the Mara Salvatrucha, have a presence in the United States. Some 2,000 guns cross the United States–Mexico border from north to south every day, helping to fuel violence among drug cartels and with the army and police. About 17,500 persons are smuggled into the United States annually as trafficking victims, and another 500,000 come as illegal immigrants. The United States remains both a leading consuming country across the full range of illicit narcotics and a country with major domestic production of methamphetamines, cannabis, and other synthetic narcotics."<
Limiting the firearms American citizens can purchase won't stop those who are already breaking the law from continuing to do so.
You do realize the AWB was worthless, right?
The presence of a bayonet lug (just for example) hardly makes it a far more dangerous gun than a rifle without such a lug.
But it does make it
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