Publicola

Think they just wanted to stop at 'assault weapons' as defined in the 94 ban? Think again.
Here's the text of the 'Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003'. Here's a summary of the proposed law.


What they have put together is the most sweeping gun control law to come down the pike in quite a while. It would not only continue the ban on assault weapons as defined by the 1994 ban, it would expand the definition to include virtually every semi-autmoatic rifle, shotgun, & quite a few pistols. Think your duck gun is safe? Not if it's a semi-auto that can take 6 shells. The limit is 5 & since it does not define the dimensions of the 'rounds' used by shotguns, you can go ahead & assume that they'll use the Aguila Mini-shell to test your capacity. The Aguila Mini-shell is 1 & 3/4 inches long, compared to the traditional 2 & 3/4 & 3 inch shotgun shells. Needless to say 6 Mini-shells could fit into the space of most shotgun magazines. They couldn't cycle the action of most semi-autmoatic shotguns but they would fit in the magazine & fire in the chamber. In any event hunting shotguns are not excluded from the ban.

My personal preference has never been geared towards the newer semi-automatic rifles. I think some of them are neat, but they're nothing I particularly cared to own as my sense of aesthetics & utility are better served by a design from the first part of the 20th century. I'm sure some of you may feel that way as well. So the 1994 assault weapons ban never affected me personally, except for the magazine provision & the fact that congress decided it has the authority to tell me what I can & cannot buy despite the Constitution. But even though I was infuriated by their interference with our Rights I simply didn't want any of the weapons affected by the ban.
But this one is different. They thoughtfully guaranteed that any body who might be able to rationalize that they didn't want one of the banned weapons anyway would have to be a bolt action or single shot only kind of guy. Like hunting with a semi-auto shotgun? It's probably banned. Like having a pistol caliber semi-auto carbine at the cabin? It's banned. Enjoy your grandfather's M-1 Carbine that he brought back from WW2? It's banned. But what got me the most, what hit closest to home is that those bastards are trying to ban the M-1 Garand!!!!!

Here's the relevant part:

" `(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.'. "

Lemme point something out in case you missed it:

"...and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event" -Emphasis mine. Idiocy theirs.

Lemme sum it up for ya: M-1 Garands, M-1 Carbines, M-1A's, Ar-15's. Banned. Doesn't matter if you just made High-Master ( a prestigious rating in certain target matches) with one, it's banned according to this new proposal.

In addition it would ban the import of all magazines with a capacity of more than ten rounds, ban the sale of parts for the prohibited weapons & establish severe penalties on the transfer of any weapons defined as assault weapons by this bill.


In other words, this is not the top of the slippery slope, it's half-way down it!



Here are the co-sponsors:

"IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 8, 2003
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. WATERS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. CASE, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. STARK, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. LEE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. RUSH, Ms. WATSON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. FARR, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. VELAZQUEZ, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. BISHOP of New York, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary "


Please call them or e-mail them & inform them that they will not only lose your vote but their opponent, even if it's a third party opponent, will gain an active & vocal supporter if they don't immediatley withdraw their names from this proposed law. & if your elected official hasn't signed, make him or her aware of the poltiical repercussions that will accompany any & all support for gun control in any form.

& please do not think this ban won't pass. I hope it won't but there is only a minority of pro-gun Representatives & Senators in Congress & frankly they don't have the votes to stop it without our making our feelings known.

Remember the words of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in, I would have done it."

& remember the reason the assault weapons ban of 1994 was so important in the first place:

"In 1996 Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, who favors banning gun possession by civilians, conceded that the arguments advanced by supporters of the "assault weapon" ban were "laughable." The "only real justification" for the law, he said, "is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation." (the preceeding was from Jacob Sullum's article Ban Aid.)

So take this seriously. Tell your Representative & your Senator that you've had enough of them deciding how you may exercise your Rights.

Here's the GOA link to help you find your elected officials.

Here's some additional contact info:

House Majority Leader, Republican Tom DeLay
242 CANNON HOUSE OFC BLDG.
WASHINGTON, DC 20505
Office: 202-225-5951
Fax: 202-225-5241

Senate Majority Leader, Republican Bill Frist
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
Office: (202) 224-3344
Fax: 202-228-1264

THE WHITE HOUSE
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202 456-2461

Speaker of the House, Republican Dennis Hastert — (202) 225-2976

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
310 FIRST STREET, SE
WASHINGTON, DC 20003
Offices: 202-863-8500
Fax: 202-863-8820