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Gimme Back my AK-47

The democrats managed to head off an NRA (er, GOP) bill aimed at immunizing the gun industry from lawsuits today. They managed to pass two amendments to the bill before the final vote--one reauthorizing the assault weapons ban that is about to expire, and the other closing the so-called gun show loophole. The weapons ban is known to have reduced their use in crimes by two-thirds. The gun show loophole allows any convicted murderer to pickup a semiautomatic and a box of ammo at any gunshow without a background check.

Once these two terrible amendments had been added, the bill's sponsor declared it "so wounded that it should not pass." The NRA had been pressuring senators since the minute the amendments passed.

So let me get this straight. The right is so controlled by the gun lobby that they wouldn't pass a law immunizing the gun industry from liability lawsuits because they're too afraid of giving up the option of selling machine guns to convicted criminals at gun shows without a background check? Unbelievable.

Bush has previously said that he supports the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban, but obviously he wasn't expecting to see it on his desk. "Some are simply more interested in undermining that piece of legislation than they are in necessarily getting the other legislation passed," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said today. No Scott, its called democracy.

The democrats (and many republicans too) should be proud of this vote. Even Kerry and Edwards both showed up to cast their first votes of the year. This immunization law should never have come up in the first place. Can you name any other industry that has blanket immunity from liability lawsuits? Now, even if you could think of one (you can't because there aren't any), does their product have any use besides killing people?

Incidentally, this bill was foreshadowed in a great book by Richard North Patterson titled "Balance of Power", which I mentioned in a previous article. If you're interested in the NRA's control over the congress, gun issues specifically, and politics in general, I highly recommend the book.

Posted on March 2, 2004 05:19 PM

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