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Will congressional Democrats follow the Pied Piper of gun control to political destruction, asks firearms law expert
Washington, DC
Friday, February 23, 2007
Gun rights expert John M. Snyder released the following column today:
Last November, as Democrats won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1994 elections, observers began to wonder if the new Democrat majority would attempt to consolidate and build on its electoral success with outreach to groups the party previously had spurned with some of its extremist social policies. These groups included scores of millions of law-abiding firearm owners.
While the answer to that question remains to be seen, some recent developments on Capitol Hill could suggest that some Democrats at least are hell-bent on committing what well could turn out to be political suicide for the party as a whole.
Just before the President's Day recess, for instance, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York proposed to reauthorize a gun control measure which former President Bill Clinton and others blamed for the Democrats' loss back in 1994!
Not only that, but the McCarthy proposal actually would impose more restrictions on law-abiding American gun owners than the one Clinton referred to in his 1995 State of the Union Message as well as later in his autobiography!
Back in 1994, the extremist gun control lobby, with Clinton's support, pushed for and got a ban on the importation, manufacture and distribution of certain specific semiautomatic firearms as well as semiautomatic firearms which met certain criteria. In the legislation, the proponents referred to the firearms as assault weapons, even though the semiautomatic firearms really did not satisfy the military definition of assault weapons that includes the criterion of fully-automatic firing capability.
As part of the bill which Clinton signed into law, there was a 10-year sunset, or expiration provision.
The general public outrage following enactment of this so-called "ban" on so-called "assault weapons" was what led Clinton and others to conclude that it was Democrat enactment of the law which so heavily contributed to Democrat defeat at the polls in November of 1994.
Even though the extremist gun control lobby worked hard to revivify the law before it sunset a couple of years ago, their efforts did not succeed.
Then, last year, as Democrats campaigned hard for congressional seats, there was hardly a mention in any of their campaigns of any extremist gun control proposals. Many of the Democrat candidates appeared to be at least as supportive of the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens as their Republican opponents, if not more so.
When one looks at the McCarthy bill, H.R. 1022, her proposed Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007, referred to the House Judiciary Committee, one cannot help but wonder if the Democrats really have learned their lesson, or just played possum with the gun control/right to bear arms issue for campaign purposes.
Not only would H.R. 1022 reenact the old "ban," it would do that without including a "sunset" provision. It would include a definition of "semiautomatic assault weapon" as a matter of law even though there really is not a good technical reason for such inclusion. It even would authorize the U.S. Justice Department to determine and declare that even though a particular semiautomatic firearm model is used in a sporting event it has no sporting purpose and therefore can be included in the list of "banned" guns.
It's going to be interesting to see where, if anywhere, congressional Democrats go with this bill, as well as with other extremist gun control proposals. Eighty million gun-owning voters are watching their every move on Capitol Hill.
###
Last November, as Democrats won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1994 elections, observers began to wonder if the new Democrat majority would attempt to consolidate and build on its electoral success with outreach to groups the party previously had spurned with some of its extremist social policies. These groups included scores of millions of law-abiding firearm owners.
While the answer to that question remains to be seen, some recent developments on Capitol Hill could suggest that some Democrats at least are hell-bent on committing what well could turn out to be political suicide for the party as a whole.
Just before the President's Day recess, for instance, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York proposed to reauthorize a gun control measure which former President Bill Clinton and others blamed for the Democrats' loss back in 1994!
Not only that, but the McCarthy proposal actually would impose more restrictions on law-abiding American gun owners than the one Clinton referred to in his 1995 State of the Union Message as well as later in his autobiography!
Back in 1994, the extremist gun control lobby, with Clinton's support, pushed for and got a ban on the importation, manufacture and distribution of certain specific semiautomatic firearms as well as semiautomatic firearms which met certain criteria. In the legislation, the proponents referred to the firearms as assault weapons, even though the semiautomatic firearms really did not satisfy the military definition of assault weapons that includes the criterion of fully-automatic firing capability.
As part of the bill which Clinton signed into law, there was a 10-year sunset, or expiration provision.
The general public outrage following enactment of this so-called "ban" on so-called "assault weapons" was what led Clinton and others to conclude that it was Democrat enactment of the law which so heavily contributed to Democrat defeat at the polls in November of 1994.
Even though the extremist gun control lobby worked hard to revivify the law before it sunset a couple of years ago, their efforts did not succeed.
Then, last year, as Democrats campaigned hard for congressional seats, there was hardly a mention in any of their campaigns of any extremist gun control proposals. Many of the Democrat candidates appeared to be at least as supportive of the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens as their Republican opponents, if not more so.
When one looks at the McCarthy bill, H.R. 1022, her proposed Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007, referred to the House Judiciary Committee, one cannot help but wonder if the Democrats really have learned their lesson, or just played possum with the gun control/right to bear arms issue for campaign purposes.
Not only would H.R. 1022 reenact the old "ban," it would do that without including a "sunset" provision. It would include a definition of "semiautomatic assault weapon" as a matter of law even though there really is not a good technical reason for such inclusion. It even would authorize the U.S. Justice Department to determine and declare that even though a particular semiautomatic firearm model is used in a sporting event it has no sporting purpose and therefore can be included in the list of "banned" guns.
It's going to be interesting to see where, if anywhere, congressional Democrats go with this bill, as well as with other extremist gun control proposals. Eighty million gun-owning voters are watching their every move on Capitol Hill.
###
John M. Snyder
Manager
Telum Associates, LLC
Arlington, VA
202-326-5259
