Bush Won't Follow Through 2000 Promise Ban Assault Weapons :: Ultimate MMORPG Gaming Community & Trading Zone

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Posted: 07/26/04 - 14:01 Post subject: Bush Won't Follow Through 2000 Promise Ban Assault Weapons

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Portsmouth protesters decry assault weapons ban

By DOUGLAS P. GUARINO

Democrat Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH — Ten years ago, Anne Lyczak’s husband was killed in a drive-by shooting in downtown Portsmouth.

On Thursday, Lyczak, founding board member of NH Ceasefire, stood in Market Square and called upon President Bush to lead the way in preventing the pending expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

"Americans, and in particular, the nation’s law enforcement officers, deserve an effective assault weapons ban, and President Bush has promised them and us that he would sign one," Lyczak said.

"The president should live up to his word and gain a renewed and strengthened law, and he should do it now, before it’s too late."

The 1994 law, which prohibited the manufacture, transfer and possession of 19 semiautomatic assault weapons, will expire on Sept. 13 unless Congress acts.

A poll done for NH Ceasefire by the University of New Hampshire in Feb. 2002 found 79 percent of Granite State residents favor banning assault weapons, Lyczak said.

Members of the NH Million Mom March and the New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence joined Lyczak at Thursday’s press conference.

Holding up a model of a Colt AR-15 assault rifle, NH Million Mom March Board Member Liz Wright said there was a perception that gun violence is not an issue in New Hampshire.

"After visiting the many sites in our state where people — even children — were shot and killed, one begins to understand how much we are affected," Wright said.

"If the federal assault weapons ban is allowed to sunset, the potential for more gun violence escalates with every legal Uzi sold."

Parked behind Wright was the Million Mom’s hot pink recreational vehicle. A poster attached to the side of the RV depicting an assault rifle declared "coming this summer to your neighborhood courtesy of George W. Bush unless you do something about it."

Speakers at the press conference blamed gun industry lobbyists and Bush "sitting on his hands" for the law’s potential expiration.

At several points during the press conference, Wright emphasized the group had no desire to make all guns illegal.

"There are plenty of responsible target shooters and hunters in our state," Wright said. "We are not concerned about them."

Wright said the group was focused on assault weapons in particular because they are designed to "kill as many people possible as quickly as possible."

Wright read a statement from Congressman Jeb Bradley written in response to a Million Mom inquiry.

In the response, Bradley said a Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report published in 2001 determined there was no evidence the ban had a significant effect on violent crime and that law-abiding hunters and shooters who used semi-automatic military-style rifles were the only ones affected by the ban.

"New Hampshire has a long history of protecting individual rights and liberties," Bradley, a Republican, wrote. "I am committed to preserving the right of all responsible Americans to purchase, possess, and use firearms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment."

Bryan Miller, speaking on behalf of States United to Prevent Gun Violence, said an assault weapons ban that the gun industry wouldn’t be able to evade with "copycat" weapons was necessary.

Miller’s brother, FBI Special Agent Mike Miller, was one of three law enforcement officers killed when a lone gunman walked into the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Headquarters with a MAC-10 concealed under his sports coat.

Though the 1994 law banned the MAC-10, manufacturers were then able to develop the MAC-11, a nearly identical weapon with a slightly different barrel, Miller said.

"According to FBI statistics, one in five law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty are killed, like my brother, with an assault weapon," Miller said. "None of you wants to stand in my shoes."

Bush Won't Follow Through 2000 Promise Ban Assault Weapons

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