There has been great controversy over gun control through
the years and recent events across the country from Colorado to Connecticut
have added to the debate. There seems to be a stark difference between
Democrats and Republicans as to what acceptable gun control is and what should
be re-evaluated. Senator Diane Feinstein has put forth legislation which she
hopes will help cut down on gun related deaths and violence. Senator
Feinstein’s legislation is aimed to regulate and ban certain military style
assault weapons as well as ammunition clips that are designed to work with
assault weapons. The bill would focus both on sales in stores and in private.
The bill itself would strengthen previous legislation that
was enacted in 1994 banning assault weapons but would exclude over 2,000 types
of firearms from being banned. The latest controversy that took place over this
legislation happened in the Senate’s Judiciary Committee when Republican
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas lectured her on the constitution and the second
amendment. The verbal exchange that ensued became heated as Senator Feinstein
responded. Feinstein has personal motives behind attempting to pass this
legislation. She is known to have worked on gun control reform based on her
experiences in San Francisco with the murders of George Moscone and Harvey
Milk. She describes the emotions of knowing how awful assault weapons were as
she had to put her fingers in the bullet holes.
Gun control has been a hotly contested issue with Republicans traditionally defending the right of American's to own any weapon they choose. Democrat's are more in favor of regulating which weapons are available on the market and who should be able to use them. This bill would help to strengthen background checks for anyone who wishes to purchase a firearm as well ban private sales of assault weapons.
I see no problem with banning the types of assault weapons
that Senator Feinstein is targeting. It doesn't seem necessary for private
citizens to have access to military style assault weapons when there over 2,000
other types of firearms at their disposal. It will be interesting to see how
members of each party will act once the final vote is called.
Works
Cited
Liptak, Kevin.
"Feinstein Describes Feelings during Exchange with 'arrogant'
Colleague." CNN Political Ticker RSS. Accessed March 18, 2013.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/14/feinstein-describes-feelings-during-exchange-with-arrogant-colleague/?iref=allsearch.
Stirewalt,
Chris. "Left Grows Impatient on Gun Ban." Fox News. March 15, 2013.
Accessed March 18, 2013.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/15/left-grows-impatient-on-gun-ban/.
"United
States Senator Dianne Feinstein." Assault Weapons -. Accessed March 18,
2013. http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons.
"What's in
Feinstein's Gun Bill." CNN. January 24, 2013. Accessed March 18, 2013.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/politics/feinstein-bill-details.
4 comments:
It will be interesting to see how the votes go with this bill. I know that under the constitution we have a right to bear arms. I don't want to take that way for anyone. However the actions of a few shows we also need to be protected from people who will use those guns against other people. This issue is hard one to decide how to handle because either the citizens will fill like congress did nothing to protect us or that the infringed on our rights.
I of course want to support our right to bare arms. I think the issue gets really tricky when you factor in if it is more important to be able to go to school, feel safe and not be shot, than it is to own an assault weapon.
I agree with you Ryan, nice post. Especially with the majority of Americans supporting more gun regulation and expanded background checks, it's a shame that we can't pass simple legislation like this. More importantly though is the fact that the 10,000+ homicide gun deaths annual are from handguns, and that is not part of the debate. Just to add another layer onto it as well, almost 20,000 people in the United States commit suicide with a firearm every year. Where are the efforts to address that?
We all want to support rights and the constitution, but where is the line drawn, safety is important and so is compromise, if that is possible.
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