NRA official rips weapons-ban bid. Calls link to Mexican gangs phony.

[TGO David]

NRA official rips weapons-ban bid

Calls linkage to Mexican gangs 'phony'

By Kara Rowland (Contact) | Monday, April 20, 2009

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/20/nra-official-rips-weapons-ban-bid/

A top National Rifle Association official said the Obama

administration is using the increasingly violent drug cartels in

Mexico as an excuse to push for reinstating the ban on assault

weapons.

"They're trying to piggyback this whole phony issue on the back of

the tragedy in Mexico," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president

of the gun-rights group, on CBS' "Face the Nation" program Sunday.

In a speech in Mexico last week, President Obama - who on the

campaign trail called for reinstating the ban, which expired in 2004

- said that while the prohibition made sense, pushing for it now

would be a political non-starter. But in the meantime, he said, the

country should enforce existing laws more vigorously.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod said in another "Face the

Nation" segment that the administration will "monitor" the issue,

which is complicated by opposition from dozens of moderate Democrats

from the more- conservative "red" states.

"If there's a consensus, we'll move on it," Mr. Axelrod said on the

program. "We're faced with an enormous array of challenges, and we

need to make some choices as to which to pursue first."

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell called on Congress to reinstate

the ban, after three Pittsburgh policemen were killed recently by a

man with an AK-47. But the Democratic governor said he understands

Mr. Obama's decision not to raise the matter now, with major issues

such as the economy and health care on the table.

"But I think it has to be brought up in the near future, because

every police organization in this country supports, virtually

everyone supports, banning assault weapons," he said, appearing

Sunday on CBS alongside Mr. LaPierre.

Mr. LaPierre said that assault weapons are "functionally no different

than any other gun" and that Mr. Rendell and other supporters of the

ban are distorting the facts.

The 1994 assault-weapons ban "was enacted ... on the basis of saying

these were machine guns. That's a lie. They were rapid-fire. That's a

lie. They made bigger holes. That's a lie. They were more powerful.

That's a lie. It was lie after lie after lie," he said. "Congress

found it out. That's why they let it expire, and lies that are found

out don't get re-enacted."

Mr. LaPierre also accused administration officials of misstating the

percentage of guns used in Mexican crimes that are smuggled into

Mexico from the U.S., challenging a popularly cited figure of 90

percent that Mr. Obama used in his speech.

He said there is no proof for the figure, which has also been

referenced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I challenge the president of the United States and the media to

prove that 90 percent of the guns used by the drug cartels are being

smuggled," Mr. LaPierre said.

"The only people that have ever put up their hand in the air and

testified under oath on this is BATF, two weeks ago in Congress. And

let me tell you what they said: 'I'm not sure where those institutes

get these numbers,' " Mr. LaPierre concluded, referring to the Bureau

of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

A recent Fox News analysis of the issue noted that the statistic only

covers some of the guns that were submitted by Mexico to the BATF for

tracing. Of those 11,000 guns, almost 6,000 could be traced, and more

than 5,100 of those were linked to the U.S. - or close to 90 percent.

The statistic excludes the 5,000 guns that could not be traced, and

also leaves out the 18,000 guns from Mexican crime scenes that were

never sent to the U.S. because it was obvious the weapons came from

somewhere else.

Mr. Rendell did not address the statistic.

In the often-tense debate, both men echoed traditional arguments for

and against increased gun control.

"There's absolutely no reason under the sun, no rational reason that

we should allow people to legally possess these types of semi-

automatic assault weapons. They're made for one purpose. They're not

used in a duck line for hunting. They're not used in the Olympics for

target shooting. They're used to kill and maim people, and most often

it's police officers," Mr. Rendell said.

Mr. LaPierre argued that increased gun-control limits won't deter

killers and other criminals.

"Don't you get it? They're criminals. They violate all your laws," he

said.

[Punisher84]

I'm sorry I missed that. I'd have liked to see Wayne lay into him.

[USMCJG]

"There's absolutely no reason under the sun, no rational reason that

we should allow people to legally possess these types of semi-

automatic assault weapons. They're made for one purpose. They're not

used in a duck line for hunting. They're not used in the Olympics for

target shooting. They're used to kill and maim people, and most often

it's police officers," Mr. Rendell said.

What a load of crap! I have an "assault rifle". I have owned it for years and shot it many times. It has never, EVER, been used to hurt ANYONE. EVER. Of course, I've never shot a duck with it either. But I have read the Constitution numerous times looking for the word "hunting" anywhere in it. I've come up empty so far.

[Punisher84]

It has never, EVER, been used to hurt ANYONE. EVER.

Don't feel bad. I hear Ted Nugent's guns have the same problem. Mine are defective too. They just shoot paper.

[USMCJG]

Don't feel bad. I hear Ted Nugent's guns have the same problem. Mine are defective too. They just shoot paper.

That is amazing. Hundreds of millions of guns in the US, and probably 99+% of them are defective. All of mine are defective as well. Handguns, shotguns, rifles, even BB guns. Not a single one of them has ever killed, or even wounded, anyone. Unless they're sneaking out by themselves in the middle of the night after I'm asleep, as some in the media and politics would have us believe. But I'm pretty sure they can't because they're all(almost) locked in the safe and you can't get to the lock from the inside. And besides that they don't have thumbs.

[raydog1]

I'm sorry I missed that. I'd have liked to see Wayne lay into him.

Wayne did a good job here. Well worth watching.