CassandraComplex
New member
According to Handgun Control Inc who is running ads in seven cities, if George Bush gets into the White House, it will be equivalent to the NRA being in the White House. Sounds okay to me. If HCI is scared of Bush then that gives me good reason to vote for him. My enemy's enemy is my friend and I pray that HCI is correct.
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000505/2234385s.htm
Opponents seize on gun lobby's hopes for Bush
By Martin Kasindorf
and Wendy Koch
USA TODAY
Gun lobbyists' predictions that Texas Gov. George W. Bush would be a reliable friend in the White House became campaign fodder for his opponents Thursday.
Handgun Control Inc. began airing in seven states a TV ad that includes videotape of a National Rifle Association leader boasting to members that the Republican presidential candidate is all but in the NRA's pocket. Vice President Gore cited the tape in criticizing Bush's record on gun issues.
Also, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo sought to pin Bush down on whether gunmakers are right in expecting Bush to back federal legislation immunizing them from lawsuits filed by 31 cities and counties. Bush sided with the NRA in signing a Texas state law banning municipalities from suing gunmakers.
In an interview, Cuomo said Bush should be asked, ''Have you promised to immunize the gun industry or not?''
Reacting to the assault, Bush asserted his independence from the 3.5 million-member NRA and was noncommittal toward relieving gun manufacturers of liability.
Handgun Control paid $20 on the NRA Web site to buy a videotape of a speech by Kayne Robinson, the NRA's first vice president, to California members last February. ''If we win,'' Robinson told the Los Angeles audience, ''we'll have a president . . . where we work out of their office, unbelievably friendly relations.'' Robinson also said the next president is likely to appoint four or five Supreme Court justices. ''If we win, we'll have a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt,'' he said.
In Chicago, Gore said Robinson's speech indicates that Bush ''wants to take the gun lobbyists out of the lobby and put them right in the Oval Office.''
Bush distanced himself from Robinson. ''I don't want to disappoint the man, but . . . I'll make the decisions as to what goes on in the White House,'' Bush said at a campaign stop in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Taking the microphone Thursday at a Handgun Control news conference in Washington, Robinson said his speech was ''my feeble attempt to make an analogy to what Handgun Control has been doing'' in enjoying access to President Clinton.
Settlement talks in the litigation between gunmakers and state and local officials broke down in January. Many gunmakers are digging in their heels because they're pinning long-term hopes for relief on Bush, said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. ''Very definitely, behind the scenes their message to us is 'wait till November,' '' he said.
The lawsuits are moving forward in court, and both sides express confidence. A single manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, signed a settlement agreement in March. The deal promised changes in gun design and marketing.
Last month, prospects for an industrywide settlement were soured further when seven other gunmakers sued Cuomo and 18 state and local officials to stop them from buying police firearms only from gunmakers who sign the settlement. Blumenthal and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Thursday that the manufacturers' defiance makes it more likely that their two states will file their own claims against the industry.
Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry's lobbying group, said supporting Bush over Gore is ''a no-brainer'' because Bush is ''more hospitable to the Second Amendment.'' Still, Paul Jannuzzo, general counsel for gunmaker Glock Inc., said Bush isn't a potential savior in the litigation.
''The idea that a specific law would be passed for us strikes me as pure pie in the sky,'' Jannuzzo said. ''We're counting on winning these lawsuits based on the law.''
However, Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn, who filed one of the lawsuits, said the Supreme Court would rule as unconstitutional a federal ban on local anti-gun lawsuits
------------------
When they speak of instituting "common sense gun control laws" keep this quote in mind:
"A `common-sense' approach to gun violence in America would be to ban handguns,"
- Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, (Washington Post, March 2000)
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000505/2234385s.htm
Opponents seize on gun lobby's hopes for Bush
By Martin Kasindorf
and Wendy Koch
USA TODAY
Gun lobbyists' predictions that Texas Gov. George W. Bush would be a reliable friend in the White House became campaign fodder for his opponents Thursday.
Handgun Control Inc. began airing in seven states a TV ad that includes videotape of a National Rifle Association leader boasting to members that the Republican presidential candidate is all but in the NRA's pocket. Vice President Gore cited the tape in criticizing Bush's record on gun issues.
Also, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo sought to pin Bush down on whether gunmakers are right in expecting Bush to back federal legislation immunizing them from lawsuits filed by 31 cities and counties. Bush sided with the NRA in signing a Texas state law banning municipalities from suing gunmakers.
In an interview, Cuomo said Bush should be asked, ''Have you promised to immunize the gun industry or not?''
Reacting to the assault, Bush asserted his independence from the 3.5 million-member NRA and was noncommittal toward relieving gun manufacturers of liability.
Handgun Control paid $20 on the NRA Web site to buy a videotape of a speech by Kayne Robinson, the NRA's first vice president, to California members last February. ''If we win,'' Robinson told the Los Angeles audience, ''we'll have a president . . . where we work out of their office, unbelievably friendly relations.'' Robinson also said the next president is likely to appoint four or five Supreme Court justices. ''If we win, we'll have a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt,'' he said.
In Chicago, Gore said Robinson's speech indicates that Bush ''wants to take the gun lobbyists out of the lobby and put them right in the Oval Office.''
Bush distanced himself from Robinson. ''I don't want to disappoint the man, but . . . I'll make the decisions as to what goes on in the White House,'' Bush said at a campaign stop in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Taking the microphone Thursday at a Handgun Control news conference in Washington, Robinson said his speech was ''my feeble attempt to make an analogy to what Handgun Control has been doing'' in enjoying access to President Clinton.
Settlement talks in the litigation between gunmakers and state and local officials broke down in January. Many gunmakers are digging in their heels because they're pinning long-term hopes for relief on Bush, said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. ''Very definitely, behind the scenes their message to us is 'wait till November,' '' he said.
The lawsuits are moving forward in court, and both sides express confidence. A single manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, signed a settlement agreement in March. The deal promised changes in gun design and marketing.
Last month, prospects for an industrywide settlement were soured further when seven other gunmakers sued Cuomo and 18 state and local officials to stop them from buying police firearms only from gunmakers who sign the settlement. Blumenthal and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Thursday that the manufacturers' defiance makes it more likely that their two states will file their own claims against the industry.
Robert Delfay, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry's lobbying group, said supporting Bush over Gore is ''a no-brainer'' because Bush is ''more hospitable to the Second Amendment.'' Still, Paul Jannuzzo, general counsel for gunmaker Glock Inc., said Bush isn't a potential savior in the litigation.
''The idea that a specific law would be passed for us strikes me as pure pie in the sky,'' Jannuzzo said. ''We're counting on winning these lawsuits based on the law.''
However, Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn, who filed one of the lawsuits, said the Supreme Court would rule as unconstitutional a federal ban on local anti-gun lawsuits
------------------
When they speak of instituting "common sense gun control laws" keep this quote in mind:
"A `common-sense' approach to gun violence in America would be to ban handguns,"
- Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, (Washington Post, March 2000)