4 ms·

You have to love this, especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Meanwhile, l

You have to love this, especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Meanwhile, losing their ability to keep a secret from the government they think they're getting ready to revolt against doesn't faze them. grips forehead and moans

privong 11y ago
> especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Senator Feinstein, who co-released this draft bill, is also the senator who introduced the assault weapons ban which was law from 1994 to 2004. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein#Political_positions_and_votes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein#Political_pos... On the opposite side of things, Senator Paul opposes gun control but supports strong encryption. https://www.paul.senate.gov/about-rand/issues/second-amendment https://www.paul.senate.gov/about-rand/issues/second-amendme... http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/16/rand-paul-supports-google-apple-encryption-at-sxsw http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/16/rand-paul-sup...
- Ntrails 11y ago
  Slight digression, but does that mean owning assault weapons is a ok again in the US? Just curious.
  - privong 11y ago
    > Slight digression, but does that mean owning assault weapons is a ok again in the US? Just curious. It depends what is meant by "assault weapon". If you mean fully automatic weapons, then no, but those were essentially banned (with minor exceptions) for private ownership in 1986[0]. Ownership of those had been regulated since 1934[1]. The 1994–2004 "assault weapons" ban covered specific features[2] on guns. Since 2004, purchase of guns with (2 or more of) those features is once again legal. Note that some opposed to the 1994 assault weapons ban claim many of the features are cosmetic, rather than functional. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#Ban_on_machine_guns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Criteria_of_an_assault_weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Cr...
  - DickingAround 11y ago
    Depending on your definition of 'assault', yet. In the US is was essentially defined by the number of features your rifle was allowed to have, and indeed there is no longer a limit. It's hard (>$20k to buy a used one) to get a fully automatic rifle.
  - unchocked 11y ago
    Oh yeah, has been since Bush the second let the ban lapse.
    - privong 11y ago
      > Oh yeah, has been since Bush the second let the ban lapse. The ban expired because that's what was in the original law. There were efforts to pass a new ban, but they didn't even make it out of committee[0]. Perhaps a presidential endorsement could have helped it go farther, but one can't hold the president responsible for what happens in the Senate and House committees. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban
  - matwood 11y ago
    What do you consider an assault weapon? Fully automatic guns have been and still are illegal without proper permits. The problem with the ban referred to in the GP, is that it was mostly a superficial feel good law. Take a normal hunting rifle, add some cosmetic changes and suddenly it is an assault weapon under the old ban. Add that most gun crimes are committed with hand guns, and the ban amounted to nothing more than a news soundbite.
  - kabdib 11y ago
    The AWB was really about banning guns that looked bad. Feinstein and staffers went through picture books and made lists of guns that looked evil. During the AWB you could buy firearms functionally identical to banned ones, the only difference being cosmetics.
  - kyleblarson 11y ago
    "Assault weapon" is a completely made up term to make semi automatic weapons sound more scary to the uninformed.
saryant 11y ago
Err, it's Feinstein, who represents California, that's introducing this legislation. Republican representatives have been pushing back against these bills. Representatives Amash, Issa, Labrador. Senator Paul. Last weekend I was at the Colorado GOP state convention and I spoke in-person to Colorado's leading GOP senate nominee and he spoke at length of our need to block this sort of legislation. In addition, I spoke with State Sen. Tim Neville, who was the party favorite for the Senate nomination, and he spoke very highly of the efforts of Amash and Paul. Of course, they're joined by Democrats like Lofgren and Wyden and Independents like Sen. King. The GOP is not a homogenous group.
- NoGravitas 11y ago
  It's really the establishment within both the Democratic and Republican parties that is pushing for this. It's opposed by more left-leaning Democrats and more libertarian-leaning Republicans.
  - spdustin 11y ago
    I'm confused here - Democrats are "left-leaning".
    - saryant 11y ago
      Not all of them and not on all issues. There are many statist Democrats in Congress, Feinstein is one of them.
    - blktiger 11y ago
      I hate the whole "left" vs "right" way of looking at politics. It's far more complicated than looking at things as a scale between two extremes.
nickysielicki 11y ago
Bullshit. This is coming from John McCain-style neoconservatives and democrats that don't lean liberal on civil liberties. In my opinion, the only political identity that you might hope would fight back are Tea Partiers, and that's the same group that feels strongly about gun rights. I don't think you could be more wrong. It will be interesting to see what Cruz does here when inevitably questioned about it. Will he alienate his new neoconservative base on this issue? Will he stick to his Tea Party roots?

privong 11y ago

> especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Senator Feinstein, who co-released this draft bill, is also the senator who introduced the assault weapons ban which was law from 1994 to 2004. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein#Political_positions_and_votes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein#Political_pos... On the opposite side of things, Senator Paul opposes gun control but supports strong encryption. https://www.paul.senate.gov/about-rand/issues/second-amendment https://www.paul.senate.gov/about-rand/issues/second-amendme... http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/16/rand-paul-supports-google-apple-encryption-at-sxsw http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/16/rand-paul-sup...

Ntrails 11y ago
Slight digression, but does that mean owning assault weapons is a ok again in the US? Just curious.
- privong 11y ago
  > Slight digression, but does that mean owning assault weapons is a ok again in the US? Just curious. It depends what is meant by "assault weapon". If you mean fully automatic weapons, then no, but those were essentially banned (with minor exceptions) for private ownership in 1986[0]. Ownership of those had been regulated since 1934[1]. The 1994–2004 "assault weapons" ban covered specific features[2] on guns. Since 2004, purchase of guns with (2 or more of) those features is once again legal. Note that some opposed to the 1994 assault weapons ban claim many of the features are cosmetic, rather than functional. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#Ban_on_machine_guns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Criteria_of_an_assault_weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Cr...
- DickingAround 11y ago
  Depending on your definition of 'assault', yet. In the US is was essentially defined by the number of features your rifle was allowed to have, and indeed there is no longer a limit. It's hard (>$20k to buy a used one) to get a fully automatic rifle.
- unchocked 11y ago
  Oh yeah, has been since Bush the second let the ban lapse.
  - privong 11y ago
    > Oh yeah, has been since Bush the second let the ban lapse. The ban expired because that's what was in the original law. There were efforts to pass a new ban, but they didn't even make it out of committee[0]. Perhaps a presidential endorsement could have helped it go farther, but one can't hold the president responsible for what happens in the Senate and House committees. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban
- matwood 11y ago
  What do you consider an assault weapon? Fully automatic guns have been and still are illegal without proper permits. The problem with the ban referred to in the GP, is that it was mostly a superficial feel good law. Take a normal hunting rifle, add some cosmetic changes and suddenly it is an assault weapon under the old ban. Add that most gun crimes are committed with hand guns, and the ban amounted to nothing more than a news soundbite.
- kabdib 11y ago
  The AWB was really about banning guns that looked bad. Feinstein and staffers went through picture books and made lists of guns that looked evil. During the AWB you could buy firearms functionally identical to banned ones, the only difference being cosmetics.
- kyleblarson 11y ago
  "Assault weapon" is a completely made up term to make semi automatic weapons sound more scary to the uninformed.

saryant 11y ago

Err, it's Feinstein, who represents California, that's introducing this legislation. Republican representatives have been pushing back against these bills. Representatives Amash, Issa, Labrador. Senator Paul. Last weekend I was at the Colorado GOP state convention and I spoke in-person to Colorado's leading GOP senate nominee and he spoke at length of our need to block this sort of legislation. In addition, I spoke with State Sen. Tim Neville, who was the party favorite for the Senate nomination, and he spoke very highly of the efforts of Amash and Paul. Of course, they're joined by Democrats like Lofgren and Wyden and Independents like Sen. King. The GOP is not a homogenous group.

NoGravitas 11y ago
It's really the establishment within both the Democratic and Republican parties that is pushing for this. It's opposed by more left-leaning Democrats and more libertarian-leaning Republicans.
- spdustin 11y ago
  I'm confused here - Democrats are "left-leaning".
  - saryant 11y ago
    Not all of them and not on all issues. There are many statist Democrats in Congress, Feinstein is one of them.
  - blktiger 11y ago
    I hate the whole "left" vs "right" way of looking at politics. It's far more complicated than looking at things as a scale between two extremes.

nickysielicki 11y ago

Bullshit. This is coming from John McCain-style neoconservatives and democrats that don't lean liberal on civil liberties. In my opinion, the only political identity that you might hope would fight back are Tea Partiers, and that's the same group that feels strongly about gun rights. I don't think you could be more wrong. It will be interesting to see what Cruz does here when inevitably questioned about it. Will he alienate his new neoconservative base on this issue? Will he stick to his Tea Party roots?