2008 Democratic national platform demands re-instatement of AWB

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Here is a copy of a post on TexasCHLforum.com discussing a new group of Texas Democrats. Mr. Barnett offers additional advice on contacting the Chairman of the Platform Committee.

Chas.

There is a group of Texas Democrats that have formed the Gun Owners Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party, with Mr. Daniel Barnett serving as Provisional Chairman. This group was formed to bring the Texas Democratic Party in line with traditional Texas values regarding firearms ownership and use. I applaud their efforts.

Attached is a message from Mr. Barnett and the content is both urgent and disturbing. Everyone needs to head his call to action and email the platform committee immediately. As noted in the message, the Platform calls for "renewal" of the assault weapons ban and it also calls for closing the so-called "gun show loophole."

Time is of the essence! We need to help Mr. Barnett's organization change this absurd plank in the National Democratic Party Platform. It would be far better to change the official position of the Democratic Party, than to shrug or shoulders and passively let these anti-rights provisions remain in the Platform. If those efforts fail, we need to work even harder to defeat every Democratic candidate that doesn't have a good voting record on guns, as evidenced by the NRA and TSRA rating for that candidate.

Sadly, this plank in the National Democratic Party Platform confirms what I have been predicting for the 2008 elections and the 2009 Texas Legislative Session. Our enemies are back, they have enough power within the Democratic Party to get this garbage in the Platform, and they will work hard to get their voters to the polls in November.

This is the hour for the Democratic Party to tell us where they stand on the true Second Amendment, not their watered down version. This is the hour for the Democratic Party to show us who runs the Party -- the anti-rights liberals, or those Democrats that share traditional Texas values including the right of self-defense and the tools to exercise that right.

Let's answer Mr. Barnett's call to action and email the Platform Committee and let them know of our displeasure and our resolve to defeat them in November, if the anti-gun provisions are retained.

Chas.


Daniel Barnett said:
Okay, folks, we're in for a fight. Here's a link to the 8/7 draft of the Democratic platform for 2008:

http://www.workinglife.org/storage/users/4/4/images/111/2008 democratic platform 080808.pdf

As you can see on page 43, the call for a ban on "assault weapons" has been included yet again. I understand that the draft has been revised since 8/7, but as far as I know, the ban has not been removed from the platform.

I encourage everyone to e-mail the Platform Committee at [email protected] and make your feelings known on this matter.

Good luck!

Daniel Barnett
Provisional Chair, Gun Owners Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party
 
Again, I'd urge everyone who wishes to write in to actually type out a letter, print it, put a stamp on it and MAIL it to Governor Napolitano at

DNCC Chair
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Telephone (602) 542-4331
Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883
Fax (602) 542-1381

Emailing is fine but letters and phone calls carry more weight. I wrote a letter, and my wife signed another one (that I drafted for her - hey every letter counts! ;)) - get your opinions out there!

For those of you who aren't hard-core Democrats (I'm not), or even those of you who aren't hard-core Republicans - write the DNCC chair indicating to them that this is a BIG issue that keeps you voting Republican / Libertarian / Green / etc. If they knew exactly how many votes they were losing, that might have an impact. You don't have to promise to vote for them if they change it - just let them know there are PLENTY of voters out there who NOTICE things like this and vote accordingly.

Every letter counts!

If you don't want to go to the trouble to write it out, PM me and I'll draft a letter for you. All you have to do is print it, sign it and drop it in the mail. I'll GLADLY draft a letter for ANYONE who would like!

Let's get this done guys!
 
Anyone have any stats as to how many "assault weapons" are sold yearly?

I am sorry, but I do not. I read somewhere that the selling-est gun model in the US were the AR-15 platform firearms. Marketing as hunting rifles sure hasn't hurt that. And generally, I think that the number of gun owners that really do comprehend the intent and purpose of the 2A are growing. In part, I think the Parker/Heller case has been responsible for this 2A resurgence.

But if "in common use" is going to stick as a test of constitutional protection, then I think AR-15 type firearms are quite protected from infringment.
 
Folks,

Lets stay focused on the issue of changing this and not rabbit down every little side trail commenting on the silliness of it. We need good ideas on how this can get changed more than jeering at the DNC.

Someone else has to have the imagination to come up with some more ways of teaching them this is a third rail issue.
 
Ok, I'm deleting all the useless OT chatter so it's a little easier to read. Remember the sticky at the top of Activism says no tearing down of any idea to make a change for the better.

Come up with some more ideas to reach the DNC or the local Dem politicians to convince them to drop the AWB silliness from the DNC platform.
 
hso,

Any member who can't follow directions after being warned to do so could be banned. This is not a forum to pile on the Democratic Party, folks.

There's plenty of fora available for that purpose. Please access them and whale awy.
 
Come up with some more ideas to reach the DNC or the local Dem politicians to convince them to drop the AWB silliness from the DNC platform.
Does anyone know just what the process would be at this stage of the game to actually get the platform changed?

I always sort of figured that it was pretty much set in stone by the guys in the smoky back rooms trying to figure out how to get the most votes, and when it got to the floor it was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Is there any history of platform statements being modified on the floor of the convention (of either party)? If so how they managed it might give us some ideas.
 
Perception

Both parties need to be reminded that messing with gun rights is a losing strategy.

If the party that wins the general election has a platform plank in place that reads "take away all the guns in this list" then they have a plausible (if false) claim to a "mandate" to go after the guns.

The party needs to be reminded well in advance of the election that gun grabbing is not only unpopular, but unpopular to the point where they could spend another dozen years in political Coventry if they try it again.

It doesn't do any good to point that out after the election, because their assumption at that point will be "anything we had in the platform will now sell easily to the masses." They made that mistake years ago, it cost them dearly, it caused gun owners all kinds of heartburn.

If it's still in their platform come the election, and they happen to win, their victory dance will include legislation based on the idea that a critical mass of the population is now in favor of being disarmed.

So, with that in mind, there is certainly merit to ripping out that plank regardless of which party logo you wear.
 
The first thing a gun owning Democrat should do is re-register as non/affiliated. I have been N/A for years (never a Dem again)

Next is to vote against any gun grabbers, especially ones that say they will protect your gun rights but have always voted otherwise in the past.

A voting record is much more of an indicator than a campaign promise.
 
Either that, or start to infiltrate the party from the grass roots level. Run as a Democrat locally, or for state legislature, and keep going...

I know a fellow who tried doing that, however, and the NRA backed a Republican against him, and the republican had a moderately dismal record...
 
My Letter

DNCC Chair
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ

Dear Governor Napolitano,

I’m writing because I am concerned about the inclusion of a new “Assault Weapons” Ban in the DNC platform of the upcoming election. I am a life long (37 years) New Yorker and has voted Democrat in every election from my 18th year up until recently. Why the shift? The answer is I became a gun owner.
I am the son of Chinese immigrants, went to a public high school, pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti-Iraq war and in many areas the typical New York Liberal. However, I am seriously considering not voting the Democratic line this year because of the party’s insistance on trampling on my Constitution right and passing laws that often only affect the law abiding and make millions of law abiding citizens into felons by banning a class of weapons that have been used in less than .05% of crimes during the last 20 years.
Please consider removing any AWB or any future gun control legislation from the platform. Gun control laws rarely affect criminals since they, by definition don’t follow laws.
Having suffered thru 8 years of the Bush presidency I would like nothing more than to see Mr. Obama installed as our next president, however I cannot in good conscience vote for him until he respects my HUMAN right to defend myself as I see fit and respect the CONSTITUTIONAL right of all Americans to so.
Thank you so much for your time in this matter.
 
hnk45acp,

Nice letter - I know writing isn't the only thing we can do, but it's certainly a start. I know there is a lot of discussion here about "what should we do about this" but to me, writing letters seems like a very logical first step. If we can't think of anything ELSE to do, we at least all need to do this.

I know many readers here would never consider voting Democrat for a whole series of reasons... but I don't think that should stop anyone from writing Governor Napolitano. The only important point that needs to be made is that this position is unacceptable and will result directly in the loss of a vote for the DNC. You don't have to continue on that you wouldn't have voted for them anyways. Just bring this issue to light and end there. If everyone who has posted to just this thread did that, I believe it would at least be noticed.

Let's take this first step while we're trying to come up with something more direct to do about it!
 
I fowarded my letter to a bunch of friends that are members of my range. Being in NYC most of them are/were Democrats like me and I think that a bunch of letters from "liberal new yorkers" may make her think twice about putting the AWB on the platform.

I agree that letters from potential Democratic voters would have the most impact, but the more letters the better no matter the source
 
Even if you guys are successful in getting them to remove the wording, you'll never remove it from their goals.
 
Phil -

If we can convince them they will lose enough votes, they may well forego seeking to fulfill those goals. We can't control what anyone else wishes to do, but we can attempt to influence what they are allowed to do.

You lock your doors and arm yourself to keep burglars out of your home. It doesn't matter if they still want to get in once you have prevented them from doing so.
 
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Even if you guys are successful in getting them to remove the wording, you'll never remove it from their goals.

That's what I'm thinking too. I think it would be better to insist they leave it in. It let's people know what they are really voting for when they vote Democrat.

David
 
Remember that the idea for the current AWB was floated by a Republican. So no one should be just attacking the Dems on this.

I'm drafting to a letter to Mizz Napolitano now. :cuss:
 
Phil DeGraves said:
Even if you guys are successful in getting them to remove the wording, you'll never remove it from their goals.

Maybe not. But maybe we can ensure going forward that a party that embraces gun control embraces itself right out of the running for any and every office in the land. I want to see gun control become a non-partisan issue.

I want the Democratic Party to face a choice: either stop plugging for anti-gun stuff, or else render itself irrelevant. May not happen in my lifetime, but I can hope.

As gunnies, far too many of us are so busy fixating on the gun issue that we'll embrace anything that's not a Democrat, with little regard as to whether they're overall better or worse than a Dem candidate.
 
misANTHrope,

That's a great point - my wife hates that I'm a one-issue voter for this election, and to be honest, I don't like being a one-issue voter, either. Unfortunately, to me, this is the MOST important issue currently being debated, so it is the one that MUST be focused on EXCLUSIVELY by those who love their country.

If we can band together to do that effectively enough, hopefully in time, we won't have to fight with every opportunity, vote and breath one day. Hopefully, one day, neither side will want to pursue it any more - and we can turn our attentions (and votes) to other matters that are also very important, but have been sidelined in the past.

Look back at what issues had to be fought tooth-and-nail for 40 or 50 years ago - segregation comes to mind. Today, voters no longer have to worry about that. They can focus on new concerns. I hope that one day, the same is true of gun control - and I'll try to make that happen by focusing ALL my efforts on defeating it ONCE and FOR ALL now, so it never returns and we can all spend our precious votes on other important matters.

The point - WRITE LETTERS! :)
 
Even if you guys are successful in getting them to remove the wording, you'll never remove it from their goals.
At least it will be a success, and that's how you build a winning campaign on successes, it may work it may not but I think it gives a sense of empowerment to people who take this into their hands.

At least it will show them that there are people out there willing to speak up about it, not saying anything is like quiet acceptance and they'll use that to build upon their agenda.
 
Too bad the DNC has banned the topic of firearms from their discussions.

http://www.demconvention.com/townhall-rules

America's Town Hall - Terms and ConditionsSubmissions may be video or text. Submissions must not: (i) include trademarks, logos, or copyrighted material not owned by entrant or used without permission (such as company names, music, photographs, works of art, or images published on or in websites, television, movies, or other media);
(ii) use individuals’ names, in whole or in part (including the entrant’s last name) without permission;
(iii) contain profanity, pornographic, or sexual content, content promoting alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms, or weapons, hateful content of any kind (including racism, sexism, etc.), content that promotes violence or harm to another living creature, or any other offensive, obscene, or inappropriate content;


As if there was a slight glimmer of hope for change.
 
Hmmm... I'm not sure, but in that context, I doubt they are ruling out a discussion of 2a - more like promoting Remington ammunition for the community, or discussing using a shotgun to shoot a home intruder.

I don't think discussing the merits of 2a is ruled out there - but I've been wrong before.
 
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