Ring in the New Year with Some Gun Control

Despite the bleating from gun control proponents and their continued claims that neither Obama nor other democrats have plans to come after gun rights (despite this being part of their official platforms), it should come as no surprise that Obama, Feinstein and their anti-gun pals plan continued attacks on Second Amendment rights in the coming year.

Feinstein recently released the following statement:  “On the first day of the new Congress, I intend to introduce a bill stopping the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of assault weapons as well as large ammunition magazines, strips and drums that hold more than 10 rounds,” continuing to say that she is currently drumming up support in the Senate and House.

Feinstein’s bill seeks to stop (nearly nonexistent) “assault weapon” crime by prohibiting sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing (stopping short of posession) of numerous firearms based on certain characteristics.  More than 100 specificly named firearms are also targeted.  This bill is only the latest iteration in efforts to revive the 1994 “Assault Weapons Ban” which sunset in 2004.  The CDC found no evidence that the ban had any effect on crime and a National Research Council panel echoed that sentiment, stating that “due to the fact that the relative rarity with which the banned guns were used in crime before the ban … the maximum potential effect of the ban on gun violence outcomes would be very small.

Feinstein’s bill also targetscertain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.”  If you’re not familiar with firearms, that could be loosely interpreted to include nearly every modern firearm produced for the last fifty to 100 years.  A study from University of Pennsylvania’s Jerry Lee Center of Criminology found no statistically significant evidence that such a capacity restriction (or any other provision of such an AWB, for that matter) had any effect on gun murders.

It is interesting that Feinstein’s press release, in a roundabout way, acknowledges that the bill will violate rights with claims that it “[p]rotects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment.”  If current owners of such items have a right to own them, who is she to contend that she can violate those same rights of others based on an arbitrary date?  It is also worth noting that a tremendous number of gun crimes are committed by those not legally allowed to purchase firearms.  This means that the criminals acquire their weapons from the “existing stock” of legally owned firearms, stealing them from legal owners, gun shops and the like, which would remain in circulation.

President Obama furthered the gun control push, saying recently “I’ve been very clear that an assault-rifle ban, banning these high capacity clips, background checks, that there are a set of issues that I have historically supported and will continue to support.”  He noted that, during his next term, gun control would be a priority, saying “I’m going to be putting forward a package and I’m going to be putting my full weight behind it.”

In pressing to reenact failed gun control measures of the past, both Obama and Feinstein invoked the recent murders at a Connecticut elementary school.  Feinstein’s statement on the murders included the following:  “As I have said many times before—and now repeat in the wake of yet another tragedy—weapons of war don’t belong on our streets or in our theaters, shopping malls and, most of all, our schools.  I hope and trust that in the next session of Congress there will be sustained and thoughtful debate about America’s gun culture and our responsibility to prevent more loss of life.”  Despite the facts that the Brady Campaign ranks Connecticut as having the “5th best gun control laws,” that Connecticut already has laws mirroring the proposed ban and that current gun laws already prohibited the murderer from purchasing firearms, they are still pushing to expand those failed policies nationwide.

Speaking of Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 1995, following Schumer’s nearly-inexplicable blaming of the NRA for the Oklahoma City bombing, Neal Knox said[n]ow he is trying to use [explosive taggants] as an excuse to condemn the NRA, so he can once again dance in the blood of fresh victims to advance his ‘gun control’ agenda.  That’s how the opponents of gun rights have always passed their laws.”  This disturbing attitude has shown itself time and time again after nearly every such national tragedy and is again rearing its ugly head in the wake of the recent brutal killing of innocent children.

As someone who lives in a city whose murder rate has hovered around 70 to 80+ in recent years (right around 70 so far this year – certainly not on par with the numbers achieved by gun control bastions like Chicago or NYC, but still not pleasant) and which has been terrorized in the past by a mass-murdering gunman (who shot 20 people leaving nearly half of them dead) and whose violent crime rates are consistently higher than both the state and national averages, the prospect of tighter gun laws does not make me feel safer.  I find it downright offensive that “the powers that be” want to make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to protect themselves from such crime.

Nobody has the all of the answers for how to fix crime problems, but one can be fairly certain that resorting to efforts that have proven themselves to be failures is not among the correct answers.  Don’t sit idly by and let your rights be stripped away so that gun control extremists can pass “feel good, do nothing” laws.  Write your elected officials and let them know how you feel, join a gun rights organization or start a local grassroots movement.  The enemies of gun rights are taking action right now; if you want to keep your rights, you should be too.

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