71Commander
New member
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stor...040908037.shtml
By KORIE WILKINS
Of The Daily Oakland Press
OAK PARK - With federal legislation set to expire next week, state Sen. Gilda Jacobs is working to ensure that assault weapons will remain illegal in Michigan.
"We're not sure if Congress will act in time," Jacobs said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, said she plans this week to introduce legislation that bans the manufacture, transfer, purchase or sale of assault weapons in the state. State Rep. Bill McConico, D-Detroit, is sponsoring similar legislation in the House.
On Sept. 13, the 10-year-old federal law is set to expire. Ten states have already have bans or regulations on assault weapons and there are two federal bills pending - introduced by U.S. Rep. Michael Castle, R-Delaware, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California - that would extend the ban.
Congress returned to work Tuesday.
In March, congressional Republicans voted down their gunmaker immunity bill after the Democrats won an amendment to extend the federal assault-weapons ban beyond its expiration.
The provisions caused the National Rifle Association to withdraw its support for the bill, and Senate Republican leaders decided to kill it.
The end of the ban would mean the gun industry could resume making, importing and selling 19 types of military-style semiautomatic weapons.
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said the weapons are designed to "spray" ammunition, hitting as many targets as possible. She said 26 percent of fatal shootings in Detroit are done with assault-style weapons.
"I am in total support of the legislation," Bully-Cummings said. "These are weapons of war. They have no place in neighborhoods."
But not everyone is against lifting the ban. According to the National Rifle Association's Web site, the ban has done little to stop gun crimes and has urged members to speak out about continuing the ban.
NRA officials could not be reached for comment.
While opponents of the ban will work to allow the law to expire, those whose lives have been touched by gun violence are determined to keep the legislation on the books.
"Lifting this ban will wreak total havoc," said Mezzakemet Kweli, a Detroit resident paralyzed from the waist down after being shot 12 times in her home by a man wielding a 9-mm pistol. "I live with the effects of gun violence every day."
Kweli - a member of Pioneers for Peace, a group of shooting victims who speak at Detroit area schools - said assault-style weapons are not designed for every day use. They are for the military and police officers - not normal citizens.
"These guns destroy lives," Kweli said.
Members of one Oakland County community know that all too well. In 1994, 27-year-old Adam James Hills, a Rochester police officer, was shot in the Upper Peninsula town of Seney after a man opened fire on his car following a dispute. Hills, who was on a hunting trip, died.
The man who killed Hills, Jack Kidd Jr., used an AK-47 assault rifle. Kidd later died when he began shooting at police officers, who shot and killed him.
Hills' mother, Audrey, was scheduled to speak at Tuesday's news conference but could not because of a family emergency.
In addition to banning assault weapons, Jacobs' proposed law would tie up a loophole in the federal legislation. Jacobs' proposal seeks to define more stringently the guns, magazines and ammunition used in assault-style weapons to make it harder for manufacturers to produce "copycat" guns and skirt the law.
Justice Department data shows the proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has dropped by 65.8 percent since 1995. In 1995, the first year that the ban went into effect, assault weapons represented 3.57 percent of all crime guns recovered from crimes. By 2002, assault weapons represented only 1.22 percent of the number of guns used in crimes.
"This law resounds with the people of Michigan," Jacobs said. "We need to do this to save lives.
"These weapons should not be on the streets."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Call, write or send a pidgeon, but do something.
By KORIE WILKINS
Of The Daily Oakland Press
OAK PARK - With federal legislation set to expire next week, state Sen. Gilda Jacobs is working to ensure that assault weapons will remain illegal in Michigan.
"We're not sure if Congress will act in time," Jacobs said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, said she plans this week to introduce legislation that bans the manufacture, transfer, purchase or sale of assault weapons in the state. State Rep. Bill McConico, D-Detroit, is sponsoring similar legislation in the House.
On Sept. 13, the 10-year-old federal law is set to expire. Ten states have already have bans or regulations on assault weapons and there are two federal bills pending - introduced by U.S. Rep. Michael Castle, R-Delaware, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California - that would extend the ban.
Congress returned to work Tuesday.
In March, congressional Republicans voted down their gunmaker immunity bill after the Democrats won an amendment to extend the federal assault-weapons ban beyond its expiration.
The provisions caused the National Rifle Association to withdraw its support for the bill, and Senate Republican leaders decided to kill it.
The end of the ban would mean the gun industry could resume making, importing and selling 19 types of military-style semiautomatic weapons.
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said the weapons are designed to "spray" ammunition, hitting as many targets as possible. She said 26 percent of fatal shootings in Detroit are done with assault-style weapons.
"I am in total support of the legislation," Bully-Cummings said. "These are weapons of war. They have no place in neighborhoods."
But not everyone is against lifting the ban. According to the National Rifle Association's Web site, the ban has done little to stop gun crimes and has urged members to speak out about continuing the ban.
NRA officials could not be reached for comment.
While opponents of the ban will work to allow the law to expire, those whose lives have been touched by gun violence are determined to keep the legislation on the books.
"Lifting this ban will wreak total havoc," said Mezzakemet Kweli, a Detroit resident paralyzed from the waist down after being shot 12 times in her home by a man wielding a 9-mm pistol. "I live with the effects of gun violence every day."
Kweli - a member of Pioneers for Peace, a group of shooting victims who speak at Detroit area schools - said assault-style weapons are not designed for every day use. They are for the military and police officers - not normal citizens.
"These guns destroy lives," Kweli said.
Members of one Oakland County community know that all too well. In 1994, 27-year-old Adam James Hills, a Rochester police officer, was shot in the Upper Peninsula town of Seney after a man opened fire on his car following a dispute. Hills, who was on a hunting trip, died.
The man who killed Hills, Jack Kidd Jr., used an AK-47 assault rifle. Kidd later died when he began shooting at police officers, who shot and killed him.
Hills' mother, Audrey, was scheduled to speak at Tuesday's news conference but could not because of a family emergency.
In addition to banning assault weapons, Jacobs' proposed law would tie up a loophole in the federal legislation. Jacobs' proposal seeks to define more stringently the guns, magazines and ammunition used in assault-style weapons to make it harder for manufacturers to produce "copycat" guns and skirt the law.
Justice Department data shows the proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has dropped by 65.8 percent since 1995. In 1995, the first year that the ban went into effect, assault weapons represented 3.57 percent of all crime guns recovered from crimes. By 2002, assault weapons represented only 1.22 percent of the number of guns used in crimes.
"This law resounds with the people of Michigan," Jacobs said. "We need to do this to save lives.
"These weapons should not be on the streets."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Call, write or send a pidgeon, but do something.