09/07/2004 Entry: ""
Posted by Maynard @ 04:23 PM MST
Gun Tomfoolery from Kerry
Its a popular blog meme right now, but I don't care. John Kerry has accepted a shotgun from someone at a rally in Racine, West Virginia. A weapon that would have been banned (perhaps) by a bill he sponsored.
[Heckler from the peanut gallery] What do you mean 'perhaps'?
Well, the bill gives a definition (in Sec. 2b):
`(42) PISTOL GRIP- The term `pistol grip' means a grip, a thumbhole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.'
The gun in the picture appears to be a Beretta A300, which has a grip of sorts carved as part of the stock. The Brady Bill, which Kerry's bill would reinstate, did not define pistol grips and was interpreted by the ATF as banning weapons with grips that were separate from the shoulder stock. The grip definition is clear in Kerry's bill, but it encompasses an entire class of weapons that would otherwise be legal except for their grip. The bill would more accurately be called a Semiautomatic Weapons Ban instead of an Assault Weapons Ban. It so thoroughly encompasses any repeater weapon as to make most guns illegal to own or manufacture.
Thankfully it went down in defeat.
But the bigger problem is not that Kerry wanted or received a gun. I'm not saying that Kerry has no right to own a gun; he has just as much right as I do. The problem is that he was disingenuous about his intentions with guns. He apparently wants to ban them for some but not for himself. He portrays himself as a regular-joe gun owner but sponsors bills that would take away the right to own or transfer the very weapons he portrays himself with. This is disingenuous and duplicitous, giving with the one hand and taking away with the other.
Unless, of course, he's had a change of mind about 'assault weapons'. His becoming pro-gun would be a welcome change, though unexpected. Perhaps a reporter doing his job could ask the occasional senator what exactly his views on semiautomatic weapons are. Does he support their ownership by law-abiding citizens? Would he tolerate semiautomatic weapons used for home defense?
The 'assault weapons' ban goes down in 6 days. It is imperative that it remain dead. Senators and Representatives that encourage, sponsor, or support bills like the one that Sens. Lautenberg and Kerry support should be turned out of and denied office this November. There is no reason to support banning weapons when it is much more effective to lock up criminals.
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