|
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Ding, dong, the Witch (the Assault Weapons Ban) is dead... for now. After ten years, the Feinstein Amendment to the 1994 Crime Bill is now no longer in effect in America. Once thought guaranteed to be reauthorized, this amendment's ten year sunset provision has come back to bite its authors. Few will recall every detail of this battle, since it has spanned more than a decade and the main "combatant" on the pro-gun side -- namely, the NRA -- spent so much time pretending the battle didn't exist. The 2002 Congressional election debates were devoid of this issue, largely because the group that purports to represent gun owners rarely brought it up. Case in point: does anyone remember the NRA even attempting to pressure then-presidential candidate George W. Bush into changing his position on the assault weapons ban? Bush had staked out his position as early as 1998, yet many chose to ignore it -- giving credence to the claim that some organizations are more interested in getting invites to cocktail parties than effecting a strong change in our public policies on firearms. As the saying goes, you don't get invited to tea often when you are known to break the china. But this issue could not be ignored: for the first time in American history, an entire class of firearms was banned. The defense of these weapons was often a disingenuous plea of ignorance ("What IS an assault weapon, really?"), though this rang hollow. We all know what the gun-banners were trying to do: vilify an entire class of weapon they believed most gun owners would not defend. To tinker and argue about the definition of an "assault weapon" is ludicrous, as we all know which weapons (minus the gray areas) they are attempting to lock away from future use. The gun-banners' calculations were wrong, though: grassroots gun owners around the country have been incensed by the issue (which is largely what prompted the NRA to begin their recent media campaign against the ban -- they know which side their bread is buttered). In March of 2004, the witch had her best chance to reauthorize: Sen. Larry Craig, an NRA board member, was so driven by a piece of legislation (gun lawsuits immunity bill) that he accepted a "Unanimous Consent Agreement" to have a slew of gun control amendments offered (by objecting, he could have denied these attempts singlehandedly), not the least of which was reauthorization of Sen. Feinstein's "Assault Weapons ban". This was the pivotal point, to date, in the life of the ban: had nothing been done, polite gentlemen in the U.S. Senate would have shaken hands and forwarded the ban (along with the largest collection of gun controls ever advanced in one piece of legislation) to the House. The very existence of this ban would be trusted to a small few in the U.S. House of Representatives, a tenuous defense indeed. Instead, the grassroots answered with outrage: a dozen state-level gun rights groups openly attacked the ban, and more importantly, exposed the dangerous card playing the NRA was doing with this vital issue. Now, we understand that "grassroots" is a frequently overused cliche. In this case, though, it was a textbook definition of the action. These groups, called the "Coalition Against the Semi-auto Ban" or CASB, openly defied the gun rights giant. It was a gamble, to be certain, since many gun owners always believe the NRA is doing the right thing. But remember: "A man famous for getting up at the crack of dawn can sleep until noon." In this case, the alarm clock rang loud. And wake up many pols did: Sen. Craig committed the highest crime on Capitol Hill -- he killed his own bill. And with it, the witch's best chance of buying more time for her failed gun control was now dead. But there was one more chance to reauthorize the ban: Sen. Bill Frist, Republican leader of the Senate. He could either allow Feinstein to offer her ban reauthorization amendment (to virtually any bill) or block it with a parliamentary move, something Frist claimed was not possible. However, the able staff at Gun Owners of America -- don't kid yourselves, they are THE national pro-gun group -- showed Frist that a parliamentary move was possible, and may be the only way to stop the ban in the Senate. Again, with grassroots action, GOA and state-level groups applied enough heat to Frist to use that parliamentary move (which is always maligned by the left but used when they are in power). As former Sen. Dirksen said "When they feel the heat they see the light." Finally, a Republican proved why gun owners should want the GOP in leadership. This was truly a milestone The real milestone in America was just reached today, on Sept. 13th, 2004 -- the first repeal of a major gun control has taken place, though mostly because of inaction than the affirmative action of Congress. Either way, we'll take this victory, even if it is short-lived. The witch isn't going away, but its power is fading. Though public opinion polls show support for banning "assault weapons" (likely because they believe these weapons are "machine guns") some politicians are starting to understand that a vocal minority is a force to reckon with. Gun owners who want to see the certain future attempts at resurrecting this ban die must strive to prove that we are a force for politicians to fear, not eager lapdogs to dealing politicians. For now, happy shopping. The following are some links to sites which can answer many of the questions about the ban. Coalition Against the Semi-auto Ban GOA's alert about winning this battle ATF Q&A on the Assault Weapons Ban
|
||||