Hope and change!
First is Obama's choice for AG, Eric Holder.
Eric Holder was the Deputy AG under Clinton and On March 2, 2000, he gave a question and answer on the topic of gun control. Here's his introduction:
We know that there is not one simple answer, and we know that there is nothing we can do that will prevent every single crime or act of violence. But we also know that there are some common-sense things that we can do and that we must do. And so I want to add my voice to those who are calling on Congress to finally -- to finally -- pass these very common-sense gun measures:
* First, to require child safety locks for all handguns that are sold.
* Second, to ban violent juveniles from ever having the ability to own guns.
* Third, to pass the president's handgun licensing proposal, which requires safety certification for all handgun purchasers.
* Fourth, to support research in smart gun technology which can limit a gun's use to its authorized owner.
And finally, to close the gun show loophole by requiring a background check for all gun purchases at gun shows.
Next we learned that Obama has chosen Arizona's Governor janet Napalitano as the next head of Homeland Security. In 2007, she vetoed Arizona SB 1302, which would have made Arizona's "Stand Your Ground" law retroactive.She also killed a bill that would have made carrying a concealed firearm without a permit a petty offense, rather than a Class 3 felony. It would also have prohibited the confiscation of the firearm. While even a "petty offense" for the exercise of one's Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental, absolute human right of the individual to keep and bear arms without first having become "licensed" to do so is offensive, it beats the hell out of a felony and confiscation of one's property.
Lets not forget Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who was basically the point man for the Clinton era gun bans we all remember.He also cosponsored H.R. 1312 Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005 and H.R. 1022 the The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007, which were both far more extensive versions of the one passed by the Clinton gun ban of 1994. He voted twice to allow lawsuits against gun manufacturers for their misuse by criminals which was being used by anti gun mayors like N.Y. City's Bloomberg to drive the indusrty into oblivion.He has also supported closing the mythical "gun show loophole" which is nothing more than ending the private transfer of firearms between individuals without paying for a background check from a certified FFL holder.
And lets not forget Obama himself who was once a director of the anti gun Joyce Foundation, a radically leftist anti-gun organization who doled out 2.7 million doillars to anti gun groups who advocated positions hostile to the right to own firearms. He has professed a desire to pass federal legislation to ban concealed carry laws, and has also voiced support for a reauthorization of the ill fated 1994 "assault weapons" ban and the gun show loophole.
During the campaign Mr. hope and change told us we didnt have to worry about him coming after our guns, please excuse me for being skeptical but if these selections mean anything, we have a right to be nervous.
uncategorized | John Anderson | 4 comments
Fears of a Obama crackdown lead to boom in gun sales
11 09 2008, 7:06
Gun sales are going through the roof in fears of an Obama gun grab overreach.
This from the AP, "Last month, as an Obama win looked increasingly inevitable, there were more than 108,000 more background checks for gun purchases than in October 2007, a 15 percent increase. And they were up about 8 percent for the year as of Oct. 26, according to the FBI.No data was available for gun purchases this week, but gun shops from suburban Virginia to the Rockies report record sales since Tuesday's election."They're scared to death of losing their rights," said David Hancock, manager of Bob Moates, where sales have nearly doubled in the past week and are up 15 percent for the year. On Election Day, salespeople were called in on their day off because of the crowd.Obama has said he respects Americans' Second Amendment right to bear arms, but that he favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he'll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault and concealed weapons.As a U.S. Senator, Obama voted to leave gun-makers and dealers open to lawsuits; and as an Illinois state legislator, he supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on all firearms.During an October appearance in Ohio, Obama sought to reassure gun owners. "I will not take your shotgun away," he said. "I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."
This is what Obama's website said as of yeterday, "As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets"
The NRA helps us decipher Obama's gun ban talk, "
"Making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent." Perhaps no other firearm issue has been more dishonestly portrayed by gun prohibitionists. Notwithstanding their predictions that the ban's expiration in 2004 would bring about the end of civilization, for the last four years the nation's murder rate has been lower than anytime since the mid-1960s. Studies for Congress, the Congressional Research Service, the National Institute of Justice, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found no evidence that gun prohibition or gun control reduces crime. Guns that were affected by the ban are used in only a tiny fraction of violent crime-about 35 times as many people are murdered without any sort of firearm (knives, bare hands, etc.), as with "assault weapons." Obama says that "assault weapons" are machine guns that "belong on foreign battlefields," but that is a lie; the guns are only semi-automatic, and they are not used by a military force anywhere on the planet.
"Repeal the Tiahrt Amendment." The amendment--endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police--prohibits the release of federal firearm tracing information to anyone other than a law enforcement agency conducting a bona fide criminal investigation. Anti-gun activists oppose the restriction, because it prevents them from obtaining tracing information and using it in frivolous lawsuits against law-abiding firearm manufacturers. Their lawsuits seek to obtain huge financial judgments against firearm manufacturers when a criminal uses a gun to inflict harm, even though the manufacturers have complied with all applicable laws.
"Closing the gun show loophole." There is no "loophole." Under federal law, a firearm dealer must conduct a background check on anyone to whom he sells a gun, regardless of where the sale takes place. A person who is not a dealer may sell a gun from his personal collection without conducting a check. Gun prohibitionists claim that many criminals obtain guns from gun shows, though the most recent federal survey of convicted felons put the figure at only 0.7 percent. They also claim that non-dealers should be required to conduct checks when selling guns at shows, but the legislation they support goes far beyond imposing that lone requirement. In fact, anti-gun members of Congress voted against that limited measure, holding out for a broader bill intended to drive shows out of business.
"Making guns in this country childproof." "Childproof" is a codeword for a variety of schemes designed to prevent the sale of firearms by imposing impossible or highly expensive design requirements, such as biometric shooter-identification systems. While no one opposes keeping children safe, the fact is that accidental firearm-related deaths among children have decreased 86 percent since 1975, even as the numbers of children and guns have risen dramatically. Today, the chances of a child being killed in a firearm accident are less than one in a million.
You might have noticed that the Obama website link is actually a google cache page, because the Obama team erased his "agenda" pages.
This is what is says today.
Is that what he means by "change"?
