2008 Woodie Awards
Bush Caves to NRA
Kevin Agnese
Issue date: 9/22/04 Section: Perspectives
- Page 1 of 2 next >
It has been a long ten years but thanks to President Bush and the Republican Congress we can all go out and buy an AK-47 assault rifle! Personally, I felt lost without mine. Yes, the historic assault weapons ban of 1994, which banned the sale of 19 kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons, expired on September 13th due in large part to President Bush's refusal to pressure the Republican Congress into extending the law. The White House claimed that President Bush supported the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban. Bush, however, didn't want to upset the National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby, in an election year. "Republican leaders in Congress want the ban to expire, and President Bush is doing nothing to renew it," ABC News columnist Bill Redeker said in an early September article, which appeared on abcnews.com, entitled "Set to Expire." I agree with Redeker. The President and the Republican leaders in Congress should be ashamed of themselves.
A survey released in early September by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that 68 percent of Americans wanted Congress to extend the ban. These numbers send a very clear message, which is why I was so surprised on September 8th when I heard Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, tell reporters, "I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire." Well, I guess the senator has to suck up to the NRA now if he wants to run for president in 2008.
According to ABC news, the NRA will now endorse the president's re-election bid, due to the expiration of the ban. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton told ABC, "They're weapons of murder. They're not weapons of hunting or collecting. Why do we want to let the ban expire just so some nut can go running around with a gun and show off? And that's exactly what will happen." Federal statistics show crimes traceable to assault weapons have declined by two-thirds since President Clinton signed the original legislation in 1994.
A survey released in early September by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that 68 percent of Americans wanted Congress to extend the ban. These numbers send a very clear message, which is why I was so surprised on September 8th when I heard Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, tell reporters, "I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire." Well, I guess the senator has to suck up to the NRA now if he wants to run for president in 2008.
According to ABC news, the NRA will now endorse the president's re-election bid, due to the expiration of the ban. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton told ABC, "They're weapons of murder. They're not weapons of hunting or collecting. Why do we want to let the ban expire just so some nut can go running around with a gun and show off? And that's exactly what will happen." Federal statistics show crimes traceable to assault weapons have declined by two-thirds since President Clinton signed the original legislation in 1994.