There was some good in the Lautenberg BS
Sorry I was to see it passed, but glad I was to see it passed in the form it was. The only good thing about the Lautenberg amendment is that for the first time, major gun rights restricting laws were passed without making any exception for the police or the military!
The 94 AWB contained money for more police, and the Clintons made political hay by claiming they put "thousands" of more cops on the street. And the Lautenberg bill took "thousands" of cops off the street! Cops, as a group have a higher than average rate of domestic problems (the stress, no doubt), which often includes domestic violence. Back in the day when it was not such a big deal, many cops wound up pleading to a minor domestic violence charge, getting light punishment, and moving on with their lives.
Since the Lautenberg amendment not only did not exempt cops or military, it was retroactive (ex post facto) in effect, it meant that many police and military members were now prohibited by law, not only from owning a gun, but even from carrying one on duty! All for misdemeanor incidents, often in the distant past! Everyone should thank the good senator from NJ for that (as well as the idiots that voted to pass that particular piece of legislatative feces)!
I condemn the law for what it did to otherwise honest citizens, Americans should not be stripped of any Constitutional right for a misdemeanor crime (no matter what it is), but a part of me has to applaud it for being completely fair to everyone it screwed. We have so many gun control laws that have special provisions for LEO and military personel, as if they were somehow more deserving of rights than ordinary citizens just because of the job they have that in this regard at least, the lautenberg amendment was (sort of) a breath of fresh (actually foul) air.
I do hope that when this does get to the high court they will see their way clear to overturn it, as it is a horrid thing that violates long standing judicial principles, as well as basic constitutional rights.
