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ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

Gun Control A Tough Lift Even Among Liberals

Sen. Feinstein urges fellow Dems to grow a backbone

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by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Image: AP.

After the Connecticut elementary school massacre a few Democratic members of Congress are pushing for tighter gun regulations. They may find resistance not only among Republicans, but also with otherwise left-leaning politicians.

On "Meet The Press" Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) vowed to reintroduce a federal ban on assault weapons and urged President Barack Obama to lead on the issue. Assault weapons were banned under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004, but Congress allowed the ban to lapse.

Feinstein's stance is still a fairly lonely one on Capitol Hill. Consider Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist. The independent senator might be expected to join the anti-gun chorus. But representing Vermont Sanders has lots of hunters among his constituents. Sanders, in fact, first won his House seat in 1990 by running to the right of his Republican opponent on guns (Sanders won promotion to the Senate in 2006).

But Feinstein's optimistic the political tide is turning, citing her 1994 experience. "We got it through the Senate. We got it through the House. The White House came alive, and the House of Representatives and the Clinton administration helped. The bill was passed and the president signed it. It can be done," she said.

Via Politico.

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Should President Barack Obama make gun control a top priority for his second term?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • PNWest
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    Unfortunately the NRA is too strong now. America will have to live with gun violence for a few more years until the GOP is driven into obscurity. To act on this now would waste Obama's post election momentum in fighting a losing cause. Right now let's raise taxes on the rich and prepare the gun control issue for the 2014 mid-terms. Hillary will be able to enact better gun control regulation during her first term.
  • PNWest
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    @PoliticalSpice No - However important reasonable gun control legislation is it cannot happen in today's political climate. As we get more and more of these shootings it will become even more frustrating to the American people that the GOP is standing up for the gun nuts, much like they do for the corporations, billionaires and bible thumpers instead of representing the majority of Americans. Americans voted against the GOP in November because of their views on abortion and "lazy" 47%ers. Over the next 10 years the GOP will find it even harder to win elections because of their views on gun control.
  • PoliticalSpice
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    @PNWest I disagree with you on this for many reasons, but lets just stick to the most relevent. The gop is hardly alone on this issue. Many democrats also are against gun contol. There have been two times in recent history when gun legislation was able to be passed on followed the kennedy assasination, and other was under bill clinton. In that latter case a number of factors, including police support for the ban due nra protecting rights to teflon bullets, were a rare factor where an otherwise unattainable coalition in congress breifly existed. I'd be surprized if this most recent case leads to any major shifts. But since the topic interest you a book on how they suceeded in this under clinto is under fire: the nra and the battle for gun control (osha gray davidson).
  • PNWest
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    @PoliticalSpice Right now almost all politicians are afraid of the NRA. As the GOP becomes more and more marginalized the NRA will become weaker and eventually not be able to stop gun control legislation. For now as I said Obama should not squander his mandate on the issue. Use it as a wedge issue until there is enough support to really make changes. That time will come. Thanks for the tip on the book.
  • u
    mtkopf
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    @PoliticalSpice I agree with your rights to own guns specifically handguns and rifles. I'm only for a ban on assault weapons.
    With that said, I believe that you may have things backwards. A poll releases yesterday showed that 60% of Americans are for some sort of gun control.
  • View all 53 replies >
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    srs606791163
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    This website has made me sick. When I first started I thought it was a place for real discussion. It is a hate machine. People writing some of the most ridiculous things. I mean, the fixation on inanimate objects, REALLY? It is the epidemic of mass shootings. They are all done with these assault rifles. They are mostly done by troubled young males. There are so many problems to deal with. Mental illness being the biggest priority. It is easier to buy a gun than it is to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. There needs to be more done. This all comes back to Republican policies. God forbid we give healthcare to everyone. We wouldn't want some mentally ill person seeing a doctor on our dime. God forbid we have an assault weapons ban. I mean who doesn't go hunting with an assault rifle. This has to be the most disgusting website in the world I am never going to visit it again. It is a bastion of ignorance and vitriol. More people are defending the guns than they are defending the children. Sick. Sick. Sick.
  • Dan_Tien
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    @srs606791163 Real discussion involves talking with people who disagree with you. A cozy chat room where everyone nods in time is not real discussion, it is a circle jerk.
  • View all 53 replies >
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    tomincali
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    if we have 43-55 million household with guns that would mean the anti-gun folks need to come up with that many murders every year to prove anything they have to say has merit. if guns kill like they say where are all those bodies?
  • marine1
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    I have to wonder how many of these anti gun hypocrites have a gun or two stashed away because in their minds, they know better than us.
  • DrFunkenstein
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    Gun control does not mean banning all guns, it means a reasonable banning of Assault Rifles to start. Civilians were never meant to have weapons that fire hundreds of rounds per minute. If the founding fathers thought that multishot weapons were possible then they would have been more clear, the only weapons of the day were Rifles and Pistols that were single shot with a minute and a half to two minute reload. The only other weapon was a canon that civilians were not allowed to own. Can you at least accept that there has to be a limit somewhere to what types of arms are acceptable for civilians to own or will you feel comfortable with me building an atomic bomb since it would be my preferred method to defend my home?
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    bsking
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    with the libs its not really about gun control its about population control, and they will never accomplish that with an armed population. THATS THEIR REAL PROBLEM WITH GUNS
  • Dan_Tien
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    @PuroChorizo361 People who break up with their mates often go insane. That is the nub of the story you posted about a police officer who shot his "common-law wife" to death. Did you mean to say that police officers who carry guns are all psychotic?
  • View all 23 replies >
  • Politicskid
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    Yes, he should. It'll tick off a lot of his allies, making his administration weaker. Plus, unless the Supreme Court goes very pro control; he won't be able to get anything passed!
  • ACTSmom
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    I'm in the middle on this one. I see no reason for more controls on handguns, rifles and shotguns. But assault weapons? Why do we need them? Those guns should be left to the military and, in certain circumstances, law enforcement.
  • u
    mtkopf
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    I think that is what the majority of us are calling for. Keep your handgun with 8 round clip and hunting rifles etc. but assault weapons need to go. And keep the NRA out of any and all discussions.
    When the NRA actually classifies the 223 bushmaster ( its basically an AR15) as a hunting rifle, they lose ALL legitimacy.
  • John_Matrix
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    @mtkopf

    Really, because I know people that hunt with AK47's. Not the AR you mentioned but still an assault rifle that's being used to hunt.
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    woodtick57
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    @Dan_Tien

    How is this proving a negative? When has there been an attempt by our gov't to impose tyranny on the US citizenry and it was put down by people exercizing their second amendment rights?
  • Dan_Tien
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    @woodtick57 You cannot prove that there never would have been an attempt to impose tyranny on people in the US if they had not been able to defend themselves with weapons. One example of the US Government imposing tyranny on people living in the US who were not able to defend themselves was called "The Trail of Tears".
  • View all 26 replies >
  • Malitia_Man
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    In 1927 the largest school massacre occurred in the US!!! The killer used his car, and a bomb!!!

    Maybe we should talk about car control!!!
    Link:
    http://qz.com/37069/the-deadliest-school-mass...

    ----------
    Oh, and might I add that there were 3 other mass murders that was in favor of gun control! In fact 56 million people were murdered by these individuals!!!

    -Adolf Hitler
    -Joseph Stalin
    -Mao Zedong

    Will Obama and his UN thugs be the fourth? Will you communist liberals be able to live with the blood of millions on your hands?

    "Those who don't know their history, are bound to repeat it!"
    -George Santayana-
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    woodtick57
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    Well, it would seem that bomb should be regulated, which they are.

    those three you mentioned did not kill all those millions, it was the weak minded that folloed them that did the killing for them.
  • Malitia_Man
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    @woodtick57

    So you're are in defense for these individuals? So your saying if Obama used an unconstitutional executive order for more gun control and brought in the UN to enforce it, you would not hold the fourth mass murderer Obama accountable for all of the killings that would take place? Would you support the murders of gun owners that refused to turn over their guns?

    Sounds like you are the violent one here...
  • Malitia_Man
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    @woodtick57

    I'll understand stand if you support mass murderers!!! Everyone has their fetishes!!! Mine is liberty of the people!!!
  • View all 6 replies >
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    tomincali
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    funny how this comes up after the school shooting where the media showed the cop getting the rifle out of the car and now the same rifle is trying to be banned for being in the trunk of a car at the scene.
  • Bobolinsky
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    Within the Democrat Party voting bloc are what I think of alternately as blue-collar voters, union voters... they are the bloc of voters that vote their jobs and see the democrat party as defending the "working man." I contend they are wrong, but that's beside the point, they believe what they believe.(btw- most of the racists that I've met in my life are members of this group, but that's just my experience)

    This group of voters, which is sizable, likes their guns. Similarly, many like God... Which is why Obama's "gaffe" in front of a group of wealthy San Francisco Liberals was such a problem.
  • MarkJM
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    I hate to break it to liberals, but there are those within the Democratic ranks that favor the 2nd Amendment over "gun control". It's not just a GOP vs. Dem thing. The Majority of Americans (Vast Majority) I should say do NOT favor "gun control" legislation. The 2nd Amendment does a better job at keeping the peace than BS Big Brother Government failed legislation.
  • MarkJM
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    The issue is not guns, it mental health. If the government wants to do something intelligent for once, they'll address mental health issues (the prime culprit behind these tragedies) instead of taking gun access away from law abiding citizens.
  • MarkJM
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    @woodtick57 Hence why I said to address mental health issues. Apparently Jared Loughner, Jacob Tyler Roberts, Nidal Hassan, etc. all had mental breakdowns but were supposedly law abiding citizens beforehand. Pay attention little boy...
  • View all 9 replies >
  • bsking
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    fienstien announced shortly after obamas first election that she and the dems would be going after the second ammendment but she added "we will but we are waiting for the right time "

    the dems motto is never let a tragedy go by without turning it into a crisis, because if you can convince people its a crisis they will demand you do something.
  • o
    Sabio
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    no, he should spend all his time, for another four years, sinking this country deeper into debt, passing more pork filled stimulus bills, preaching his religion of Islam, giving away tax dollars to people who cheat the system, extend further rights to minority criminals and their families, you know, the same old liberal marxist ideas!
  • Dan_Tien
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    Followers of Islam are required to bow toward Mecca 5 times a day. Can you show me a single unaltered photograph of Barack Obama bowing on a prayer rug? Congress introduces and passes bills. The President only signs them or vetoes them. He may encourage the creation of a bill, but he does not have the power to pass any legislation on his own.
  • Dan_Tien
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    @Sabio Uh... that is a picture of Barack Obama shaking the hand and bowing to Emperor Akihito of Japan. Bowing is a form of greeting and respect in Japan, which is primarily Buddhist and Shinto, not Islamic.
  • Vance1
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    First off a gun has never killed anyone, without a human behind it.
    Gun laws never stop crazy people.
    anti gun idiots need to just shut up.
    This time the RIGHT needs to silence the Left using Alinsky's rules.
    Turn the tables!!!!!!!!
  • WMCOL
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    Yeah, Dianne, abolish guns and then only you and your type will have ARMED security. Provide armed security for every citizen and then we can talk about gun restrictions.
  • SavageMazx
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    Can anyone here give me a clear definition of "assault rifle"? Here in good old California, the upheld the ban. I have been to many meetings at the Capital and protests. Ask a typical CA anti gun person what makes an assault rifle and the can tell you what it looks like or what the media portrays. I had one lady tell me that I " had no right to own a machine gun" my response was "ma'am I don't own one. They are illegal here in CA useless you have a special license." Give me a clear cut this is what we want to ban and we can discuss it calmly.
  • stepped_in_it
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    nice argument there bud. I'm NOT a "gun control nut", but, think you need to (possibly) go back to commenting at your local Topix site. They like these (ignorant) comments, we prefer some intelligence!
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    gabe
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    All these mass murders have been committed in " gun free zones" that you spineless chicken liberals have created to make yourselves feel safe. in reality all you have done is created gun free killing zones so cowardly evil creatures can kill at will without any fear of being challenged. In reality these were created to get just this result. you want these murders so as to excuse the gun and population control your communist overlords desire.
  • Dan_Tien
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    Really? Have you forgotten that a U.S. soldier killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others at Fort Hood? Was that a "gun free zone" created by "spineless chicken liberals"?
  • u
    gabe
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    no i have not forgotten our brave military who are without a doubt the finest we have are not allowed to carry firearms not only on our bases here but also have been disarmed on bases in combat zones. it again is because of wrong headed liberals who want "safe" areas.
  • Concerned_Cit
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    Bingo! Gun free zones are created by the anti-gunners so that incidences like this can happen, so they can pass more restrictive laws! Shocking isn't it!? They are without conscience it seems! As to the silly comment above from Dan Tien or whatever, obviously he's never been in the military and doesn't realize most areas are "gun free" zones, only a select few can carry around sidearms, ammo, etc. on bases.
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