ClydeR
05-14-2009, 12:45 PM
Democrats Divided On Gun Legislation
by David Welna
Morning Edition, May 14, 2009 The National Rifle Association's annual meeting kicks off in Phoenix on Thursday — and its members may have good reason to party.
The NRA has been scoring early and often on Capitol Hill despite a new president who has long supported tighter gun laws and in the face of bigger Democratic majorities in Congress.
Democrats may enjoy a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, but when it comes to voting on guns, it's a party divided. In February, 22 Senate Democrats joined most Republicans to amend a District of Columbia voting rights bill so that it essentially forbids the city from restricting gun ownership. And when a GOP-backed amendment came up this week on credit card legislation that would allow carrying concealed loaded weapons in national parks, 27 Democrats voted for it.
More... (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104125168)
In debating the credit card legislation, the Democrats could not come up with a single intelligent reason why people should be allowed to carry credit cards in national parks -- when everybody knows credit cards have ruined our economy -- but should not be allowed to carry guns in national parks -- when everybody knows that privately owned guns are what liberated us from British rule.
If the Democrat party keeps moving in the right direction on gun rights, then there might be hope for them yet. But I'm not going to hold my breath.
by David Welna
Morning Edition, May 14, 2009 The National Rifle Association's annual meeting kicks off in Phoenix on Thursday — and its members may have good reason to party.
The NRA has been scoring early and often on Capitol Hill despite a new president who has long supported tighter gun laws and in the face of bigger Democratic majorities in Congress.
Democrats may enjoy a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, but when it comes to voting on guns, it's a party divided. In February, 22 Senate Democrats joined most Republicans to amend a District of Columbia voting rights bill so that it essentially forbids the city from restricting gun ownership. And when a GOP-backed amendment came up this week on credit card legislation that would allow carrying concealed loaded weapons in national parks, 27 Democrats voted for it.
More... (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104125168)
In debating the credit card legislation, the Democrats could not come up with a single intelligent reason why people should be allowed to carry credit cards in national parks -- when everybody knows credit cards have ruined our economy -- but should not be allowed to carry guns in national parks -- when everybody knows that privately owned guns are what liberated us from British rule.
If the Democrat party keeps moving in the right direction on gun rights, then there might be hope for them yet. But I'm not going to hold my breath.