AW Ban Enhancement Act of 2003...

[SteyrAUG]

If you ain't seen it here is what they are after...

thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:1:./temp/~c108KDXk2D::

Assault Weapon Ban Enhancement Act of 2003 (Introduced in House)

HR 143 IH


108th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 143
To prohibit the importation of dangerous firearms that have been modified to avoid the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 7, 2003
Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A BILL
To prohibit the importation of dangerous firearms that have been modified to avoid the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Assault Weapon Ban Enhancement Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. BAN ON IMPORTATION OF DANGEROUS FIREARMS THAT HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO AVOID THE BAN ON SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS.

Section 925 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(g) The Attorney General shall prohibit the importation or bringing into the United States of any semiautomatic assault weapon (including the frame or receiver of any such weapon ) that is of a type which, as of May 1, 1998, was determined under subsection (d)(3) to be not generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes, or that includes any of the following characteristics:

`(1) The weapon has a thumb hole stock that functions as a pistol grip.

`(2) The weapon can accept a detachable large capacity ammunition magazine.

`(3) The weapon has a fixed magazine which can be readily modified to accept a large capacity ammunition magazine.

`(4) The weapon uses .22 caliber ammunition.'.

108th US Congress -

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE -
(this is where all gun-control bills are introduced in the House)
Chairman - Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-WI: GOA rating: A

HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY -
(this is the judiciary subcommittee that is the first to vote on (or bury) all gun-control bills)
Chairman - Rep. Howard Coble, R-NC: GOA rating: A
Subcommittee Members -
* Rep. Tom Feeney, R-FL: GOA rating: A
* Rep. Rick Keller, R-FL: GOA rating: A
* Rep. Mike Pence, R-IN: GOA rating: A
* Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA: GOA rating: A-
* Rep. Randy Forbes, R-VA: GOA rating: A-
* Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH: GOA rating: A-
* Rep. Mark Green, R-WI: GOA rating: B-
* Rep. Robert Scott, D-VA: GOA rating: F-
* Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA: GOA rating: F-
* Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-TX: GOA rating: F-
* Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA: GOA rating: F-
* Rep. Martin Meehan, D-MA: GOA rating: F-

HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP -
(this is who is most responsible for either "moving" bills or "sidetracking" bills in the House)
* Rep. Tom DeLay, R-TX: GOA rating: A

 

[Triad]

What they want and what they get are two different things. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[voilsb]

well, from looking at the GOA ratings on the guys in that committee, it doesn't look like the enhancement act is going to get very far

 

[Leatherneck]

voilsb

Don't count those chickens quite so fast. A 7 to 5 majority against those particular dems is not a sure thing. Ever see someone do something they didn't particularly want to do simply to get away from a shrill nag? We need to encourage the good guys to hold their ground. Don't waste your energy on the bottom feeders. :banghead:

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[gun-fucious]

Assault weapons ban back on the table
Feinstein irked by lukewarm support for extension
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Wednesday, March 5, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/03/05/MN6752.DTL&type=printable



Washington -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein and President Bush seem headed for a showdown over her effort to renew the federal assault weapons ban after the administration hedged Tuesday on a presidential pledge to support the renewal.

The semiautomatic assault weapons bill, which barely passed in 1994, stands as a legislative hallmark of Feinstein's 10 years in the Senate. It is due to expire in September 2004, unless Congress votes to reauthorize it and Bush signs the bill. In his 2000 presidential campaign, Bush came out for renewal and for an additional provision to ban the import of ammunition- feeding devices of 10 bullets or more.

Feinstein wants to renew the law and expand it to include more weapons, ban the ammunition imports and make it illegal for juveniles under age 21 to possess semiautomatic guns that were permitted under the 1994 law.

Feinstein asked Attorney General John Ashcroft at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday if the Bush administration would back the renewal.

"The administration supports the current ban," was as far as Ashcroft would go under repeated questioning from Feinstein and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who was the House sponsor of the 1994 legislation.


BAN'S UNCERTAIN EFFECT

Ashcroft said National Institute of Justice studies conducted in the 1990s showed the ban on semiautomatic weapons has had an uncertain effect.

"We will continue to study the issue," he said, adding that the White House also hasn't yet taken a position on the ammunition or juvenile-possession issues.

Feinstein, who said she was profoundly disappointed by Ashcroft's answers, had met with the attorney general on Jan. 8 to try to line up White House support for the extension. She did not receive a reply until Tuesday.

"I was a bit nonplussed. They are well on record supporting extension," Feinstein said after a hearing at which Ashcroft appeared with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Feinstein, who said she will introduce her bill this week, warned the administration of trouble if the president changes his mind.

"I will hold him to his campaign promise, and I think the American people will hold him to it. I don't think there is any evidence that the American people want assault weapons on their streets," she said.

In fact, when Ashcroft was a Republican senator from Missouri, he introduced the legislation to ban juveniles from possessing assault weapons that were grandfathered in under the 1993 law. At his 2001 confirmation hearings for attorney general, Ashcroft said he and Bush supported renewing the assault weapons ban.


ASHCROFT BACKED EXTENSION

"It is my understanding that the president-elect of the United States has indicated his clear support for extending the assault weapons ban, and I will be pleased to move forward with that position," Ashcroft said in response to a question from Feinstein.

Gun control advocates wouldn't speculate why Bush seems to be hedging on Feinstein's proposal.

At the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, spokesman Rob Wilcox said that despite Ashcroft's answers on Tuesday, the group still hopes Bush will back the renewal of the assault weapons ban.

"Nothing he said made it seem like they won't do it," Wilcox said of Ashcroft's testimony. "We think there is room to work with them."

But the National Rifle Association, which wants the ban to die in 2004, said the law has been ineffective.

"Its intent was to curb crime. The study from the Clinton administration's own Justice Department showed it had no effect," said NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox.

"Some politicians are determined to play politics as they seek to renew and expand this ban," he added, referring to Feinstein.

Gun control advocates say the law, in conjunction with other measures, has cut gun violence.

Bush has generally said the country doesn't need more gun laws. He opposes state and local government lawsuits against gunmakers, but has said he wants mandatory child-proof safety locks on new guns.


ISSUE IMPORTANT TO FEINSTEIN

The weapons legislation remains important to Feinstein. A framed front page of The Chronicle from the day the Senate first passed the bill in November 1993 hangs in her outer office at the Hart Senate Building.

It was during debate over her proposal, which was an amendment to President Bill Clinton's anti-crime package, that Feinstein had a pointed exchange with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, that boosted the reputation of the former San Francisco mayor who became chief executive in 1978 after Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death by ex-Supervisor Dan White.

"The gentlelady from California needs to become a little bit more familiar with firearms and their deadly characteristics," Craig admonished the freshman senator.

"I am quite familiar with firearms," Feinstein said. "I became mayor as a product of assassination. I found my assassinated colleague (Milk) and put a finger through a bullet hole trying to get a pulse.

"Senator, I know something about what firearms can do," she ended and sat down.

E-mail Edward Epstein at [email protected].

 

[Tim Burke]

Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill

Mr. Nadler is a slug.

 

[Nightfall]

"I am quite familiar with firearms," Feinstein said. "I became mayor as a product of assassination. I found my assassinated colleague (Milk) and put a finger through a bullet hole trying to get a pulse."

I think this explains a lot. Feinstein was traumatized by this event, and now she's on a misguided crusade she sees as righteous as over compensation for this event. Logic isn't a part of her stance on this issue, it's all emotion. Instead of stripping Americans of their right to keep and bear arms trying in vain to stop a criminal, she should seek counseling, and stay away from a position of power if she's still dealing with it. Punishing hundreds of millions of innocent US people with laws that have no measurable affect on crime is not the way to go.

You can never allow the actions of the few determine the rights of the many.

 

[falconer]

Feinstein wants to renew the law and expand it to include more weapons, ban the ammunition imports and make it illegal for juveniles under age 21 to possess semiautomatic guns that were permitted under the 1994 law.

What implications would this have on the sport of HighPower rifle?

All those kids shooting M1A's and AR-15's would become criminals.

 

[gun-fucious]

juveniles under age 21

hmmm....

 

[GSB]

What's the deal with wanting to ban .22 imports?

 

[Kaylee]

* Rep. Tom Feeney, R-FL: GOA rating: A
323 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
phone: (202) 225-2706
fax: (202) 226-6299



* Rep. Rick Keller, R-FL: GOA rating: A
Washington Office:
419 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone (202) 225-2176
Fax (202) 225-0999



* Rep. Mike Pence, R-IN: GOA rating: A
1605 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3021 office
(202) 225-3382 fax


* Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA: GOA rating: A-
2240 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5431
(202) 225-9681 fax


* Rep. Randy Forbes, R-VA: GOA rating: A-
2371 Rayburn House Office
Washington DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-6365
Fax: 202-226-1170




* Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH: GOA rating: A-
129 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202)225-2216


* Rep. Mark Green, R-WI: GOA rating: B-
1314 Longworth Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5665
Fax: (202) 225-5729


* Rep. Tom DeLay, R-TX: GOA rating: A
242 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5951
FAX: (202) 225-5241

 

[Sam Adams]

"What implications would this have on the sport of HighPower rifle?"

With all due respect, WHO CARES? The 2nd Amendment ain't about sport, sport. It is about freedom. I also like to put .22 and .30 cal. holes in paper, but I can't believe, in my worst nightmare, that the Founding Fathers had ONLY this in mind when they drafted and passed the 2A. Target practice is, of course, PART of what they wanted us to do, but the shooting sports (or hunting or protection from criminals) are mere incidental benefits of the RKBA.

I sincerely hope that you were being sarcastic.

 

[cheygriz]

I once saw Representative Nadler on C-SPAN. He's actually a space alien.

He's known in the Tatooine system as Jabba The Hut!

 

[George Hill]

"I am quite familiar with firearms," Feinstein said. "I became mayor as a product of assassination. I found my assassinated colleague (Milk) and put a finger through a bullet hole trying to get a pulse."

Sounds like a confession to me... someone should look into her.

 

[gryphon]

Notice that Fienstein said she new what GUNS can do. She completely dismisses the fact that it was the actions of a person. Once again villifying the tool and not the actions of an obviously disturbed individual.

These people will never learn that holding people responsible for their actions is the best way, and revoking freedom is the worst way to try and solve a problem.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The 2nd Amendment ain't about sport, sport. It is about freedom.

Amen! This message needs to be spread far and wide, loud and clear.

 

[St. Gunner]

Proper kind rhetoric escapes me on this issue, if I delve into it to deeply I might violate the rules here, so suffice to say I have a couple words that sorta cover my feelings about certain reps and senators.

I feel I need a surgeon generals warning tatoo on my forehead for tyrannical fascist evil legislators to read. You know everytime this stuff comes up I ask myself what Thomas Jefferson or Samuel Adams would have said, then I pour myself a stiff drink and wish I had been born in about 1758 with the knowledge of what would happen to this place in the future.

 

[EJ]

GSB

What's the deal with wanting to ban .22 imports?

22 cal ak clones IE-- AK74 types in 223 are now getting by the import ban-- WOW

 

[ahadams]

okay folks, it never hurts to contact your reps and senators and remind them of why you voted for them and what you expect of them in return. That being said, remember that any member of Congress may introduce any bill he, she, or it wants to introduce. The question is how much support does it have? The next question is which committee gets it. We know which committee has it, but I have yet to see anything that says it's supported by anyone other than one or two antigun wingdings.

Anybody know any differently?

 

[NapAttack]

Just an FYI, this so incensed me, I sent a message to Feinstein. Here's the text of my message. I know it's like whistling in a tornado but maybe if enough people wrote her she'd get an inkling.

Text:
According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle you support a ban on juveniles under 21 to possess semiautomatic weapons.

I am a Vietnam Veteran, I enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 with my parent's permission. Ms. Feinstein, I ask you why it is okay for me to enlist in the military at age 17, be trained in and issued a fully automatic m-16 and you think I did not have the maturity to own a semi-automatic weapon? At age 17 I was in charge of and responsible for multi-million dollar F-4 aircraft. I did not have the maturity to own a semi-automatic weapon?

My son-in-law is currently 20 years old. He enlisted at age 18, was issued a fully-automatic M-16 and sent to Bosnia. Are you telling me that he has the maturity to defend our nation and our way of life, marry my daughter, father three wonderful grandchildren and yet, he does not have the maturity to own a semi-automatic weapon?

Ms. Feinstein, what would you say to the under 21 year old juveniles that are enlisting in the military today? You are telling them that you expect them to defend our nation and our way of life even to the extent of dying for it and yet you do not trust these same men and women to own semi-automatic weapons? What would you say to them?

Ms. Feinstein, I believe that your support for the AW weapons ban extension is irrational and would urge you to rethink your position.

Thank you, Gary Perry.

 

[Wildalaska]

Bravo! Love to see her response..... (like this?)

Dear Mr NapAttack...

See...you got a M16 at 17. Becasue of that, you engaged in an unjust war agaisnt the freedom loving people of Vietnam who were brutally murdered by the slavering mad running dogs of American capitalism. If you had not have been given that gun, your peaceful instincts would have taken over...

Yours in Kumbaya

Diane Beerstein


You wrote a nice letter, you are wasting your breath....

WildAlaska

PS..next time add...How come you got a carry permit Diana baby?

 

[TheLastBoyScout]

Juvenile who occasionally posesses one of those evil black rifles right here.... COME AND GET ME!
Be prepared to bleed....

 

[Kaylee]

Trying to convince Feinstein at this point is like trying to get Goebbels to come worship at synagogue.

Politics aren't won by convincing the die-hard on the other side, they're won by backing up YOUR own side and getting out YOUR vote.

So back up our side! Call those committe members! call the White House (if you can get an open line, what with all this Iraq stuff)
Email if you have to... but preferably call.

The ball is starting to roll, and best we stop it NOW, before it's in the limelight and first thing on Suzy Soccermom's mind.



Calling your reps.... because it's less embarassing than burying your kids after the ATF tries to Molon your Labe.



-K

 

[NapAttack]

Got a response from Feinstein.

It was a blank email with the subject line "out of state".

 

[ahadams]

KayLee is absolutely right! This is especially true of the leftists in the senate - all of whom are known as far left ideologues who are able to lie with a straight face to any camera. True story: the standard definition inside the beltway of the most dangerous place to be is NOT in southeast DC with the druggies, pimps and gangbangers but instead it's between Charles Schumer and a network news camera with a live feed. Even Feinstein and Boxer get out of his way!

Napattack - I remember being on alert in the ROK a few months before my first ETS (don't say it, I know, I know) and staring at the M16A1 in my hands thinking "in six months my own government wont let me near one of these things". Made quite an impresssion on me that's been one of the underlying motives of much of my work in gun rights.

BTW: does *anybody* use the A1 anymore? If you've got trigger control you don't need all this "burst control" garbage anyway!