Sticks and stones may break my bones, but guns are sure to kill me

On 14 September the Assault Weapons Ban will expire after 10 years. The bill was passed in 1994 and bans guns like the TEC-9, AK-47, and Steetsweeper and also prevents manufacturers from producing weapons with more than one “assault weapon” feature. (Read more about what is currently banned on the Brady Campaign website.)

The Senate has the votes to pass the renewal legislation, although the leadership wants to avoid a vote if at all possible and probably will be able to. However, the House does not have the votes to pass the bill and it is unlikely that they will be pressured to take up the issue without pressure from the White House, which is also unlikely. The president has said he would sign the bill if it came to him, but it doesn’t appear that he is going to make any effort to encourage the House to take action.

A surprise really, when you consider this is an election year and the NRA is dead set against the renewal of the AWB and is also a huge contributor to the Bush/Cheney campaign as well as many members of Congress.

Some fun facts about the NRA:

• In 2000 the NRA doled out $41.1 million in political contributions ($88 million in ‘89-‘02)
• The NRA maintains a list of organizations that are anti-gun. The list includes such insidious groups as the American Medical Association and the ACLU, and Oprah Winfrey
• Has a board member who said, “…no more than five to ten people in a hundred who die by gunfire in Los Angeles are any loss to society…”
• The NRA also wants Congress to pass legislation immunizing manufacturers and dealers of guns from lawsuits. (more on this later)