Broad Coalition Calls for a Strengthened Assault Weapons Ban
5/7/2003

     
 
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Press Release
Doctors Against Handgun Injury
1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 1012
Washington, D.C. 20009

Contact: Rebecca Bruno
Phone: 202-232-3319

Groups Representing Consumers, Children, Civil Rights, Health Professionals, and Women call on Senator Feinstein to Support a Strengthened Assault Weapons Ban.

Washington -- Fifty organizations, led by Consumer Federation of America and Doctors Against Handgun Injury, delivered letters to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) urging her to introduce legislation that would not only reauthorize the 1994 assault weapons ban, but also strengthen it by addressing the limitations in existing law, which the gun industry has manipulated.

[B]The coalition maintains that legislation to reauthorize the 1994 ban must deal with military-style weapons available to the public by clarifying the definition of the term "assault weapon." The term "assault weapon" must include any semiautomatic rifle, shotgun, or pistol that can accept a detachable magazine and includes one listed additional feature such as a pistol grip, fore-end grip, or collapsible stock. This improvement recognizes the features that represent the essence of an assault weapon and would make the law harder for manufacturers to circumvent. In addition, the bill should ban conversion parts kits; regulate "grandfathered" assault weapons and enhance the tracing of such weapons; ban all high-capacity magazines, including imports; and prohibit juvenile possession. The bill should also expand the number of weapons specifically banned by name to include assault weapons, such as the Bushmaster XM15 used by the alleged Washington snipers, that were specifically designed to evade the 1994 law. [/B]

The current ban is set to expire in September of 2004 and Congress is faced with the decision to reauthorize the legislation or let it lapse. Although the current ban was a solid attempt to curtail an extremely unregulated industry, it is common knowledge -- among the pro-gun community, the media, and the public -- that the gun industry has successfully evaded the law. The coalition asked Senator Feinstein to use this opportunity to readdress the ban and plug the loopholes that make it easy to manipulate. The coalition looks forward to working with Senator Feinstein and President Bush, who has said he supports reauthorizing the current ban.

National Organizations
American Association of Suicidology
Association of Clinicians for the Underserved
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Consumer Alliance
Consumer Federation of America
Doctors Against Handgun Injury
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventive Medicine
American College of Surgeons
American Medical Women's Association
Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Medical Association
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Society of Critical Care Medicine
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Freedom States Alliance
General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America Handgun-Free America, Inc.
Mennonite Central Committee U.S., Washington Office
National Council of Jewish Women
National Organization for Women
National Women's Health Network
Presbyterian Church USA, Washington Office
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Voices for America's Children (formerly National Association of Child Advocates)

State/Local Groups
CeaseFire Maryland
CeaseFire NJ
CeaseFire PA
Champaign County Health Care Consumers (IL)
Chicago Consumer Coalition
Children Now (CA)
Citizens' Committee for Children of New York
Columbia Consumer Education Council (SC)
Consumer Federation of California
Democratic Processes Center, Inc. (AZ)
Florida Consumer Action Network
Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence
Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence
Kids in Common (CA)
Massachusetts Consumers' Coalition
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
New Mexico Voices for Children
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
North Carolina Consumers Council, Inc.
Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence
Oregon Consumer League
Physicians for a Violence-free Society (CA)
Statewide Youth Advocacy (NY)
Trauma Foundation (CA)
Voices for Illinois Children
Voices for Virginia's Children
Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
Youth ALIVE! (CA)

Well, that's it. I'm out of the ELCA!

These people don't know when to quit.

President Bush said he'd reauthorize the current ban if it was put on his desk.  He has not said anything about supporting a STRENGTHENED (i.e. worse than California) one.

The fools are going to shoot themselves in the foot on this one.

I don't have an AR yet. Looks like I may never have one. [:(]

Looks like I'm not going to become a Presbyterian after all....

I don't know about that. The Dems will offer a very strong ban and then they will be forced to compromise and concede but it still will be worse than the 1994 ban. JMHO

CRC

     

         Join the PCA, not the PC USA.



CRC

These people clearly need a fastball to the face.

Doctors Against Handgun Injury

[url]http://www.doctorsagainsthandguninjury.org/position.html[/url]

[b]Action[/b]

"To promote public safety, health professionals and health systems should ask about gun ownership when taking a medical history or engaging in preventive counseling. Patients
should be provided with information about the risks of having a gun in the home, as well as methods to reduce the risk, should they continue to choose to keep them. The presence of firearms in the home increases the risk of suicide, unintentional injury, and can result in a physically violent situation escalating to homicide. If, despite this counseling, the patient (or patient's family) decides to keep a gun in the home, the physician should provide them with information about secure storage as a way to reduce risk".

I'm assuming it's somehow connected with this.

(Do not hotlink... links to the Brady Center. Also requires Adobe Acrobat reader)

Americans Against Assault Weapons
http://www.bradycampaign.org/downloads/aaaw.pdf

I suppose there's two ways of looking at this.
One, a strengthened bill will make it that more difficult to pass committee. Two, if [b] it did pass[/b], we are truly fucked.

I'm hoping we can get a cloture-proof body of Senators (41) on our side and filibuster the thing to death like the Dems are doing to all the good judicial nominees.  Better still, kill it in committee.

Funny thing is that "doctors" KILL OVER 85,000 PEOPLE A YEAR DUE TO UNECESSARY SURGERY.

Sounds like they should police their own instead of us.

I thought churches lose their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status when they engage in political lobbying?

is that because you're too young to buy one, or because you don't have the funds yet?

if you're too young to buy, but have the money, i'm sure you could get someone here to buy one and promise to sell it to you at cost once you've "come of age"

If a bill like that passed, I would ignore it. It had better be "The Line" as well. Fortunately, I am sure that it won't. The scariest part to me is:

I would LOVE to see how the ATF would interpret THAT.

On the other hand, I really do appreciate the efforts these groups go to to marginalize themselves. If the last ban barely passed a much shittier legislature, this had damn well better not pass now!

I will sell you one, when you are "of age" (If that is the problem...)

My interest in firearms are mostly in ARs. I do love tactical shotguns and pistols too, but what I really love is military style weapons. (including M203s and tactical rifles [:D] no fund yet [:(])

They don't know the more they make it worse, they more chance it will not pass.

I don't have the money right now.

Edit: Doh! Forgot my manners! Thanks for asking. [:)]

[B]The term "assault weapon" must include any semiautomatic rifle, shotgun, or [I][U]pistol[/I][/U] that can accept a detachable magazine and includes one listed [I]additional feature such as a [U]pistol grip[/U][/I], fore-end grip, or collapsible stock.[/B]

I can't believe this! By definition this would ban all semi-automatic handguns in addition to AR15's etc.

This is actually a good thing. A strengthen ban will not pass and Bush has said he does not support any changes in the ban. If a modified ban gets to his desk (it wont) he wont sign it(so he says).

I believe this is his strategy all along. He says he will sign the old one but the chances of it or a new one making it to his desk is remote. So he appears to support the current ban knowing it will expire and a new one wont pass either.