Re: 2:00pm vote on gun control

[sec@moscow.com]

Date forwarded: 	Fri, 18 Jun 1999 12:06:11 -0700 (PDT)
Date sent:      	Fri, 18 Jun 1999 11:58:51 -0700
To:             	"scooke@uidaho.edu" <scooke@uidaho.edu>
From:           	Ry Jones <rjones@moscow.com>
Subject:        	Re: 2:00pm vote on gun control
Copies to:      	"Vision2020 Listserver (E-mail)" <vision2020@moscow.com>
Forwarded by:   	vision2020@moscow.com

> At 11:51 AM 6/18/99 , Stephen Cooke wrote:
> > In a 218-211 vote the NRA "gun control bill won last night. Another vote
> >will be taken at 2:00 pm (pst?) on the background check at gun shows
> >issue. 
> 
> of course the vote took place an hour ago. Here's the story from the AP
> feed.
> 
> House rejects gun control bill 
> By LAURIE KELLMAN 
> The Associated Press
> 06/18/99 2:34 PM Eastern 
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican-controlled House rejected a gun control
> bill today that would have lessened some current restrictions while
> imposing others. The vote against was 280-147. The bipartisan rejection
> came at the end of a tumultuous three-day debate as lawmakers struggled to
> respond to this spring's high school shootings in Colorado and Georgia.

ah yes! the fine old American practice of using tragedy to pass 
almost ANYTHING.. (do you know how any immigration changes 
were passed right after Oklahoma city?)

> The vote leaves the fate of gun control legislation uncertain. The Senate
> last month approved stronger restrictions, and compromise talks with the
> House are likely to begin this summer. Most of the no votes were supplied
> by Democrats, who objected to a National Rifle Association-backed
> provision that would have weakened existing restrictions on the sale of
> weapons at gun shows. But some conservatives also objected, on grounds
> that the bill would also have required safety devices to be sold with all
> handguns. The GOP leadership met a few hours before the vote, and Speaker

and who profits from that? trigger locks are dangerous. ( I recall the 
Chief Firearms Instructor for Spokane County showing just how 
"safe" they are during the 696 fiasco,.. buy discharging a .357 
magnum WITH the trigger lock on it, just the kind of thing that 
would happen to a child.)

> Dennis Hastert said he wanted an all-out effort to pass the bill. GOP
> officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity said he expressed concern
> that unless the bill passed, Democrats would pepper appropriations bills
> with gun-related amendments. Asked about 90 minutes before the roll call
> whether he would have the votes to prevail, the GOP whip, Rep. Tom DeLay,
> said, "Maybe. Not right now." The developments came several hours after a
> midnight vote in which the NRA prevailed on an amendment to loosen
> restrictions on sales at gun shows. President Clinton conceded momentary
> defeat. Asked today if the NRA beat him, Clinton snapped: "They did." The
> 218-211 vote, he added, "was a great victory for the NRA but it was a
> great defeat for the safety of our children."

ah yes! "The Gun Lobby", and just who makes up this "Gun Lobby"? Tax Paying
American Citizens..


> Attorney General Janet Reno
> concurred, saying the vote is "a very big step backwards." and
> "incomprehensible." Supporters of the measure said it would help restore

this is the same Janet Reno who refuses to enforce the laws currently on the
books RE: Firearms violations.

> the rights of law-abiding citizens, but Clinton accused them of squeaking
> the legislation through "in the dead of night" when the average American
> might not notice. "So one more time, the Congress of the United States ...
> said, 'We don't care what's necessary to protect our children. We can't
> possibly bear to make anyone in the NRA mad,"' Clinton said bitterly in a
> morning-after exchange with reporters in Cologne, Germany. The House vote

oh, like HE didn't do anything to annoy the American Public?

> took place Thursday at midnight on an amendment sponsored by the chamber's
> most senior Democrat, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, to a juvenile crime
> bill being crafted in response to recent high school shooting sprees in
> Colorado and elsewhere. The House began its daylight proceedings today by

Yup, more laws, we need more laws, God knows the ones we have 
sure didn't stop them!

> approving, 311-115, an amendment by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., requiring
> safety locks to be sold with all handguns. Far from conforming to the

and when the first child is killed because daddy's (or mommy's) 
State mandated trigger locked gun goes off and shoots a 
playmate? who will be responsible then?


> Senate-passed gun restrictions, Dingell's provision would cover even fewer
> gun shows than current law. In addition, the amendment would give the
> government only 24 hours to complete background checks, rather than the
> three days that is now the case. The House rejected a Senate provision

lets see.. they have had what? 5 years to get that system in 
place? where is it?

> requiring background checks at gun shows, regardless of their size or the
> number of guns sold. The proposal by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., lost
> 235-193. Clinton, who is attending a world economic conference in Cologne,
> Germany, said, "Instead of closing the deadly gun-show loophole, the House
> of Representatives voted in the dead of night to let criminals keep buying
> guns at gun shows. This vote will not stand the light of day. I will keep

ok, enough of that! whats next? mandatory back ground checks to 
buy a baseball bat? automobile? (more people are killed by cars 
than guns), Alcohol? where does it end? and I'm STILL waiting for 
ANYONE to show me real numbers on how many "criminals" buy 
guns at gun shows

> working until Congress stands up to the gun lobby and makes the

"> working until Congress stands up to the American People and 
makes the"

> commonsense measures passed by the Senate the law of the land." Earlier,
> the House voted to permit the Ten Commandments to be posted in schools and
> state public facilities, a provision that supporters said would help

a blatant violation of Church and State, already well dealt with by 
the Supreme Court, (anyone want to join my $100 Million Class 
action law suit if the Moscow School district tries it?)

> promote morality. Clinton said he applauds the intent behind that
> amendment, but believes the measure invites a court challenge. He said he
> would speak to lawmakers about "another option" he didn't specify that
> would avoid imposing one religion on students. The votes marked the
> House's opening shots at juvenile violence in the politically volatile
> period between a spate of school shootings and an election year. The task
> is particularly weighty for House Republicans, who are defending their
> narrowest majority -- six seats -- since the GOP's historic takeover of
> Congress in 1995. Democrats chanted "six seats, six seats!" as the vote on
> Dingell's amendment was tallied. But the chief GOP vote wrangler, Majority

sounds like a group of young school children to me

> Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, wasn't listening. After days lobbying his
> colleagues, his eyes stayed locked on the vote board, which lists the
> names of lawmakers and the votes as they cast them. Dingell had promised
> 38 Democrats would support his amendment. But when DeLay realized seven
> additional Democrats were voting yes, the Texan slapped his hands together
> once, turned toward the back of the chamber and pumped his fist back and
> forth in victory. Democrats refused to give up. "We are whipped, but we're
> not down," Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said on her way back to the
> Capitol this morning, just a few hours after the House recessed. Indeed,
> the House today approved several measures that bring its juvenile justice
> bill closer to the Senate's. Members approved amendments banning the
> import of large-capacity clips and magazines; permitting retired and

AH! thats old chestnut.. "more bullets make a gun more dangerous"

(and just this morning..another know nothing "reporter" talking about the "Extremely powerfull Teck 9
assault handgun" on the news.. funny thing is.. they use standard 9.mm ammo, and fire one round per
squeaze of the trigger.. I wonder how that makes it "extremely 
powerfull".
9mm is a caliber which a lot of People don't think has much 
stopping power)

> former law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons; prohibiting
> those under 18 from possessing semiautomatic assault weapons; requiring

except those "assault weapons" that congress likes.. there still 
exempt

> background checks on those who try to reclaim their pawned guns after a
> year; allowing District of Columbia citizens with no criminal history to
> possess loaded handguns in their homes; and imposing a lifetime ownership
> ban on those who committed "violent acts of juvenile delinquency." 

OOO! nice to know that the residents of DC might get some 
constituional rights. which means next time as Crack Dealer kicks 
in there door.. they might JUST have a chance to shoot back 
protecting there lives and property.

are they going to take away the right to have a drivers license in 
the same circumstance?