Whose '92 gun ban? Was this an Arkansas thing?
My bad. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban AKA The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act was in '94 not '92.
As for Clinton admitting the political cost to his party was high:
Excerpted from “My Life” by Bill Clinton:
After re-reading Clinton’s thoughts on the matter, it would have been better for the country, the party, and better for Bill if Brooks, Foley, et. al. had had the courage to tell Bill to go make sweet love to himself and voted against the ban.
The Republican-dominated legislature was able to turn the Lewinsky scandal into a full-blown (heh) impeachment. Remember how that dragged out over what seemed like eons only to result in acquittal? In a Democratically controlled legislature, I don’t believe it would have been nearly the circus the nation, and Bill Clinton, endured.
When Gore ran against Bush, the NRA relentlessly beat the drums about Gore, as part of the Clinton administration, being one of the people responsible for the ban. Further, he was thought of as a traitor because of his previous NRA “A” rating. Maybe the election results would have been too heavily weighted in his favor for there to be any shenanigans if not for that.
The ban itself accomplished nothing in the way of reducing crime or “gun violence.” It did, in fact, spur gun makers to develop lighter, smaller full-powered handguns. For example, previous to the ban a 9mm was typically a full-sized pistol meant to be carried in a belt holster like a cop or soldier might wear. When the ban limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds, such a pistol seemed less desirable. The manufacturers responded by reducing the size of the guns. 8 or 10 rounds in a gun that’s virtually pocket-sized sold like hotcakes. Not to mention that the “assault weapons” themselves continued to be sold after the makers made a few cosmetic rule-beater changes.
Overall, being “the gun control party” is just a losing strategy. The Democratic Party would be well-served to simply let the whole gun issue alone at the national level. Let state and local groups pursue the issue if it is important to them.
*At * my Basic we had to listen to Lee Greenwood. Live. Isn’t Lee Greenwood in the Geneva Convention, as a ‘don’t’?
Ted Nugent says he’s insulted by concert cancellation
Bwaah hah. I saw the headline and made a bet with myself that he’d mention his First Amendment rights, and I was not disappointed:
Newsflash, Teddy, you already HAD your First Amendment rights tested this week, and they were rightfully upheld - when the Secret Service didn’t arrest your sorry ass after questioning you.
Just once, I’d like to see some indication that some jackass braying about his First Amendment rights actually knew what they were. The First Amendment does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and everyone is required to listen.” It does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and my boss cannot fire me.” It does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and face no monetary or social costs whatsoever.” All it says is that the government cannot punish you for saying whatever you damned well please.
I think Mister Draft Dodger Poopy Pants would be too much of a pussy to do a “shots fired” at anything or anyone who might shoot back. And, since there is no such law and probably won’t ever be, I think Old Poop Stain is just making shit up to appear all macho.
The Nugent crazy train ran off the tracks again:
That was awesome!
If he’s a moderate, I’d sure as fuck hate to see who he considers an extremist.
He was channeling his inner Niedermeyer.
Oh he fucking well did not.
I do wish the media would drop the “Motor City Madman” line. I don’t think the Motor City wants any credit for this guy.
That link is misleading. I was hoping for an actual explosion.
Poor ol’ Nuge, so misunderstood.
He flew off the handle in the interview, because he was suffering from a kidney stone, ya see?
And of course, he couldn’t possibly have meant he planned on killing Obama if he wins come November; rifle season doesn’t even begin until the 15th. What’s he going to use? This here 120 lb. draw recurve bow? Oh how he and the S.S. did laugh over that. Just adorable they are. I mean, Nugent is many things, but a poacher? Most certainly not!
You are going to live bitter and lonely and die angry. The revolution you’re hoping for will never come, and one day on your deathbed, but hopefully sooner, you’re going to realize that all the beliefs you hold are wrong.
No, he’ll never realize it.
Yeah, for that he’d need to have a molecule of self-perception in his body. Mostly he’s constructed of BBQ ribs and hatred.
Hey, I’d consider it a step forward if he came to realize these “beliefs” of his weren’t something he arrived at by himself, but was simply told to believe by the voices on a box.
I’m from West Virginia, and I have a close family member who says similar things about the government and his guns.
Every few years (and/or at certain milestones like 9/11, which was supposedly going to FINALLY give them the excuse they needed) he solemnly declares that the government is going to sweep in and take away all his guns.
Every time he makes this prediction, he claims to not remember the previous dozen or so times he made it.
Arguments about the logistics of a few thousand special agents in the FBI and ATF disarming a nation of 300 million are futile. “They’ve got computers!”
I think he does it to express contempt for government. And to feel formidable enough that the government would need to come after him (he’s getting older).
Whatever gets you through the night.
What more do you need, really?