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03/12/2005: GOP Firearms Policy...BuzzFlashed
Following is a commentary from BuzzFlash.com: "BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Wayne LaPierreWhat is the chief honcho for the National Rifle Association and key Bush supporter doing with a French name? With a name like Wayne LaPierre, you'd think good 'ol Wayne would be buttering croissants with John Kerry instead of working to make it easy for terrorists to buy big guns.
Oh, and we mean big guns. Like the .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle that a terrorist can use to shoot down a plane landing or taking off. Because of LaPierre's brass knuckle threats to Congress, he got them and the Justice Department to make it as easy for a terrorist to buy a .50 cal as it is to buy a rifle.
Because of the NRA, the Government Accounting Office said "47 known or suspected terrorists were allowed to buy firearms in the United States from February through October last year, including some who were under active surveillance." That's the way Wayne wants it.
In fact, The Violence Policy Center reported in October of 2001 that terrorists purchased .50 Caliber Sniper Rifles in a study, "Voting From the Rooftops: How the Gun Industry Armed Osama bin Laden, Other Foreign and Domestic Terrorists, and Common Criminals with 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles."
If your jaw just dropped and you break out in a cold sweat when your next plane takes off, maybe you'll be wondering if the NRA is getting a little extra "dues" from Al-Qaeda. Because otherwise, how could anyone advocate a policy that makes us more vulnerable to terrorism?
Of course, the Bush Administration gives the NRA whatever it wants, even if it means putting a .50 caliber sniper rifle right in the hands of a terrorist.
Remember, it's your life that's at stake -- and Wayne LaPierre couldn't give a damn, nor could the Bush Administration.
Wayne LaPierre is our hypocrite of the week because he's always babbling on about "self-protection" and when given the opportunity to protect Americans from suspected terrorists with .50 caliber rifles, he just looks the other way.
Hey Wayne, we want to keep our nation safe from terrorists, not arm them."
This BuzzFlash Moment comes after other objections have been made to the Bush Administration firearms policies from law enforcement leaders, policy experts, reasonable members of Congress and advocacy groups concerned about preventing terrorists having easy access to firearms:"For more than three years, law enforcement leaders, policy experts, reasonable members of Congress and advocacy groups have been arguing that bills passed by Congress and policies set by the Bush White House were going to make it easy for terrorist organizers to arm themselves for attacks against innocent Americans.
But the inner circle in power in the nation's capital wore blinders, singularly focused on delivering victories for the National Rifle Association.
"Today, Americans are learning the price that we've paid to please a special interest. And it's very, very disturbing," said Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March. "The report issued by the Government Accountability Office makes it painfully clear that there are people who hate America who have become stronger because of the gun policies of the last four years."
Congress is planning to move as rapidly as possible to deliver another prize to the NRA: unprecedented legal immunity for gun sellers, even if their negligence arms criminals and terrorists. The ludicrously named "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" has been reintroduced in the Senate (S. 397) with 42 cosponsors and the House (H.R. 800) with 141 cosponsors.
In the past four years, the Bush Administration and Congress have taken numerous steps to satisfy the extreme gun lobby which only benefit criminals and terrorists, including the following:
Required that Brady background check records be destroyed within 24 hours - a move that was opposed by the FBI Agents Association, which said "the more the retention period is reduced, the more difficult it would become to use the paperwork to investigate or prosecute crimes related to the use of sales of the firearms in question. Any such efforts can only complicate the already difficult task of law enforcement and jeopardize public safety."
Prevented Federal law enforcement agencies from requiring that gun dealers conduct inventories. This curtails investigations of dealers who show a continued pattern of selling weapons that are swiftly used in connection with crimes.
Allowed the expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, making weapons like Uzis, AK-47s and concealable Tec-9s, as well as high capacity magazines that can hold up to 100 rounds, legal again.
"President Bush must take a stronger stand against criminals and terrorists by reversing these policies," Barnes said. "And it's simply incredible to think that leaders in Congress, instead of addressing these loopholes, would be doing more of the bidding of the extreme gun lobby."
Karen on 03.12.05 @ 06:09 AM CST
