A little grandstanding of his own, but when was the last time you got more than a "I will keep your thiughts in mind . . ." from your critter?
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3964bdfb55f2.htm#1
This poster got a reply from his Congressman:
"A Must-Read Letter for All from Congressman Dave Weldon, 15th Distrrict-Florida
The following is a letter I received from my Congressman, Dave Weldon, 15th District, Florida.
Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about additional gun laws. It is good to hear from you and I am glad we are in agreement.
Instead of further restrictions on the Constitutional right of law-abiding Americans, we need to enforce existing gun laws and address the root of violence in our society by seeking to restore the value of life. States and communities where aggressive prosecution of gun crimes has been coupled with tough prison sentences are seeing a DROP IN VIOLENT CRIMES. That is because criminals who use guns are the most hardened offenders and the ones who commit the most crime. Getting them off the streets leads to a dramatic reduction in crime and sends an unmistakable deterrent message, "We will not tolerate crime!"
One of those states, Virginia, has reduced gun crimes by enforcing laws and ensuring a minimum prison sentence of at least 5 years for convicted violators. In other words, Virginia is "exiling" criminals from the neighborhoods in which thy commit their crimes. In Richmond, the first jurisdiction to enact a "Project Exile" program, gun-related crime has DECREASED 65 per cent. Florida has pursued similar efforts.
I voted for legislation before the Congress, Project Exile, which will provide resources to states to ensure tough sentences against violent criminals and serious drug traffickers. This bill places restrictions on criminals and not law-abiding Americans.
It is also important to assess and understand the root cause of why gun crimes are committed. As you know, in Michigan in early March, a six-year old boy brought a gun to school and shot a six-year old girl. This is an unspeakable tragedy and my heart goes out to the little girl's family. No one should have their little girl taken from them in a senseless act of violence. At its root, this tragedy is a reflection of moral decay in our society. It reflects a lack of value on human life in American society, today. This child was raised in a culture of violence and had little respect for the rights of others, including the right to life. The blame for this tragedy rests primarily with his parents who failed to teach him to respect the lives of others. Also, the peddlers of violence in our society are partly to blame. Professor William Allen, at Michigan State University, said it best when he said, "When you have 6-year olds shooting 6-year olds, you're not talking about crimes anymore, you're talking about moral decay."
President Clinton has already laid the blame for this tragedy at the feet of Congress for not approving his gun-control proposals. The reality is his gun proposals would have done nothing to stop this tragedy, and he fails to recognize that the problem in this case runs much deeper into the soul of this individual, our nation, and our culture. Mr. Clinton's statement is a shameful exploitation of this tragedy to secure support for legislation that would have done nothing to prevent this tragedy. Further, the President added to this when he stated shamefully, "Our cause has been aided by the deaths of all these children in all three schools, and in other settings; and, I think we should pay tribute to them." Too often, the media and politicians point to the need for additional gun control as the "solution" because they do not have any other answers or lack the will to consider the root causes that lead to these tragedies.
We are dealing with a cultural meltdown. Many are proposing simple, quick fix solutions. However we must recognize that there are no quick fixes. At the root of these tragedies is corruption of the heart. We must work to restore a value on life. Too often in our society, life is portrayed as expendable.
We must counter the message that some adults in our society are sending that some life is expendable. Children learn from our actions. Not only do many of our movies, music lyrics, and video games portray life as expendable, but many of the actions in our sociey convey the message as well. When our children see adults, including political leaders, advocating the acceptance of drugs, euthansia, and partial-birth abortion, adults teach our young people that life is expendable.
Today, we must ask ourselves if we have the courage to confront the root causes of violence. I am once again reminded of the comments mady by Mother Teresa in 1994, when she said, "Our children depend on us for everything--their health, their nutrition, their security, and their coming to know and love God. For all of this, they look to us with trust, hope, and expectation. But often, father and mother are so busy they have no time for their children---so, their children go to the streets, and get involved in drugs or other things. We are talking of love of the child which is where love and peace must begin." I wish our President would take to the bully pulpit with messages such as Mother Teresa's rather than making a bogeyman out of responsible gun owners.
We, as a nation, should start with the enforcement of existing Federal laws already on the books. Unfortunately, just the opposite has been the case with this Administration. Under the Clinton-Gore-Reno Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) federal firearms law violations cases sent to federal, state, and local prosecutors declined 46.5% between 1992 and 1998, a drop from 12,084 to 6,470. During these years, the peak BATF sentence, a median of 57 months in 1996, dropped to 46 months in 1998. Ironically, BATF's 1998 gun crime referrals for prosecution were the lowest in many of the cities that are now bringing
"junk lawsuits" against gun manufacturers for the medical and law enforcement costs of gun crime. In light of this abysimal failure to enforce existing gun crime laws, President Clinton"s call for more gun control laws is nothing more than political grandstanding."
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3964bdfb55f2.htm#1
This poster got a reply from his Congressman:
"A Must-Read Letter for All from Congressman Dave Weldon, 15th Distrrict-Florida
The following is a letter I received from my Congressman, Dave Weldon, 15th District, Florida.
Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about additional gun laws. It is good to hear from you and I am glad we are in agreement.
Instead of further restrictions on the Constitutional right of law-abiding Americans, we need to enforce existing gun laws and address the root of violence in our society by seeking to restore the value of life. States and communities where aggressive prosecution of gun crimes has been coupled with tough prison sentences are seeing a DROP IN VIOLENT CRIMES. That is because criminals who use guns are the most hardened offenders and the ones who commit the most crime. Getting them off the streets leads to a dramatic reduction in crime and sends an unmistakable deterrent message, "We will not tolerate crime!"
One of those states, Virginia, has reduced gun crimes by enforcing laws and ensuring a minimum prison sentence of at least 5 years for convicted violators. In other words, Virginia is "exiling" criminals from the neighborhoods in which thy commit their crimes. In Richmond, the first jurisdiction to enact a "Project Exile" program, gun-related crime has DECREASED 65 per cent. Florida has pursued similar efforts.
I voted for legislation before the Congress, Project Exile, which will provide resources to states to ensure tough sentences against violent criminals and serious drug traffickers. This bill places restrictions on criminals and not law-abiding Americans.
It is also important to assess and understand the root cause of why gun crimes are committed. As you know, in Michigan in early March, a six-year old boy brought a gun to school and shot a six-year old girl. This is an unspeakable tragedy and my heart goes out to the little girl's family. No one should have their little girl taken from them in a senseless act of violence. At its root, this tragedy is a reflection of moral decay in our society. It reflects a lack of value on human life in American society, today. This child was raised in a culture of violence and had little respect for the rights of others, including the right to life. The blame for this tragedy rests primarily with his parents who failed to teach him to respect the lives of others. Also, the peddlers of violence in our society are partly to blame. Professor William Allen, at Michigan State University, said it best when he said, "When you have 6-year olds shooting 6-year olds, you're not talking about crimes anymore, you're talking about moral decay."
President Clinton has already laid the blame for this tragedy at the feet of Congress for not approving his gun-control proposals. The reality is his gun proposals would have done nothing to stop this tragedy, and he fails to recognize that the problem in this case runs much deeper into the soul of this individual, our nation, and our culture. Mr. Clinton's statement is a shameful exploitation of this tragedy to secure support for legislation that would have done nothing to prevent this tragedy. Further, the President added to this when he stated shamefully, "Our cause has been aided by the deaths of all these children in all three schools, and in other settings; and, I think we should pay tribute to them." Too often, the media and politicians point to the need for additional gun control as the "solution" because they do not have any other answers or lack the will to consider the root causes that lead to these tragedies.
We are dealing with a cultural meltdown. Many are proposing simple, quick fix solutions. However we must recognize that there are no quick fixes. At the root of these tragedies is corruption of the heart. We must work to restore a value on life. Too often in our society, life is portrayed as expendable.
We must counter the message that some adults in our society are sending that some life is expendable. Children learn from our actions. Not only do many of our movies, music lyrics, and video games portray life as expendable, but many of the actions in our sociey convey the message as well. When our children see adults, including political leaders, advocating the acceptance of drugs, euthansia, and partial-birth abortion, adults teach our young people that life is expendable.
Today, we must ask ourselves if we have the courage to confront the root causes of violence. I am once again reminded of the comments mady by Mother Teresa in 1994, when she said, "Our children depend on us for everything--their health, their nutrition, their security, and their coming to know and love God. For all of this, they look to us with trust, hope, and expectation. But often, father and mother are so busy they have no time for their children---so, their children go to the streets, and get involved in drugs or other things. We are talking of love of the child which is where love and peace must begin." I wish our President would take to the bully pulpit with messages such as Mother Teresa's rather than making a bogeyman out of responsible gun owners.
We, as a nation, should start with the enforcement of existing Federal laws already on the books. Unfortunately, just the opposite has been the case with this Administration. Under the Clinton-Gore-Reno Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) federal firearms law violations cases sent to federal, state, and local prosecutors declined 46.5% between 1992 and 1998, a drop from 12,084 to 6,470. During these years, the peak BATF sentence, a median of 57 months in 1996, dropped to 46 months in 1998. Ironically, BATF's 1998 gun crime referrals for prosecution were the lowest in many of the cities that are now bringing
"junk lawsuits" against gun manufacturers for the medical and law enforcement costs of gun crime. In light of this abysimal failure to enforce existing gun crime laws, President Clinton"s call for more gun control laws is nothing more than political grandstanding."