| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Democrats Plan to Pursue Most Aggressive Gun-Control Legislation in Decades |
| 2018-11-10 |
| [WSJ] WASHINGTON‐Democrats say they will pass the most aggressive gun-control legislation in decades when they become the House majority in January, plans they renewed this week in the aftermath of a mass killing in a California bar. Their efforts will be spurred by an incoming class of pro-gun-control lawmakers who scored big in Tuesday’s midterm elections, although any measure would likely meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate. Democrats ousted at least 15 House Republicans with "A" National Rifle Association ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an "F" NRA rating. "This new majority is not going to be afraid of our shadow," said Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who is chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. "We know that we’ve been elected to do a job, and we’re going to do it." Mr. Thompson, who represents a district in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco, said he plans to introduce legislation mandating universal background checks in the opening weeks of the new Congress. The gun-control movement’s evolution was evident this week following news that a dozen people had been killed Thursday at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "What we do is say, how do we make certain that we protect the Second Amendment and protect our citizens?" Ms. Blackburn replied, referencing the U.S. Constitution plank that grants the right to bear arms. About 61% of voters participating in the 2018 midterm elections said America’s gun laws should be stricter, according to AP VoteCast, a pre-election and Election Day survey of about 90,000 people who said they voted or intended to vote. About 13% of Democrats and 8% of all voters said gun control was the most important issue affecting their vote. The 2018 elections marked the first time gun-control advocates outspent the NRA. The gun-rights advocacy group spent about $20 million in the 2018 election cycle‐much of it on advertising backing the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said. Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun-control organization backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a group founded by former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in a 2011 shooting, spent a combined $37 million in 2018. Ms. Baker said she is optimistic NRA-backed candidates will prevail in governor’s races in Florida and Georgia that have yet to be called. The NRA also invested in GOP Senate candidates who ousted Democratic incumbents in Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota. NRA-backed Senate candidates lost in Montana and West Virginia. "The biggest Second Amendment implication of the election is that the pro-Second Amendment majority in the U.S. Senate will continue to confirm pro-Second Amendment judges to the lower courts all the way to the Supreme Court," Ms. Baker said. At the state level, voters in Washington state approved a ballot referendum expanding the state’s requirement for background checks on gun purchases. In Florida, Democrat Nikki Fried leads the race for agriculture commissioner, whose office regulates the state’s concealed weapon permits. The highest-profile gun-control advocate on the ballot Tuesday was Democrat Lucy McBath, who defeated GOP Rep. Karen Handel in a suburban Atlanta House contest. Ms. McBath, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, became a gun-control advocate after her teenage son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 by a man who said the boy was playing music too loud. The assailant was later convicted of murder. Ms. McBath, who became a spokeswoman for Everytown and a 2016 campaign surrogate for Hillary Clinton, relayed her story on the campaign trail and in her early television advertisements. But in the closing weeks before Election Day, Ms. McBath focused on health care and economic issues. Everytown’s closing TV ad backing Ms. McBath didn’t mention gun control, focusing instead on health care. "Voters absolutely understood where Lucy stood on the issue of gun safety," said Everytown President John Feinblatt. "There was no question in voters’ minds about Lucy’s story." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #17 Really??? At first the idea seemed strange, But we all must be open to change. Now we empty our steins And uncork sparkling wines Like Bavarians down at the range. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2018-11-10 20:16 |
| #16 The "Hold My Beer" Law? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-11-10 19:54 |
| #15 true |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-11-10 18:34 |
| #14 I believe it is, and has been forever, a general practice to forbid firearms in bars. I tend to agree with that practice, given the overall statistics on risk of mixing guns and alcohol. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2018-11-10 17:21 |
| #13 "off duty police.sheriff officers in the bar that were unarmed per California law" Really??? |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2018-11-10 15:33 |
| #12 They don't understand that criminals don't obey laws That's the problem in Chicago |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2018-11-10 13:49 |
| #11 A legally purchased Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun, designed to hold, in California, 10 rounds and one in the chamber, had an illegal extended magazine allowing 30 shots + if reloaded. Preventing gun violence starts with changing the moral character of the gun owner but then logic and common sense escapes libs. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Dribble5682 2018-11-10 13:02 |
| #10 Yes Please do, It did so well when you did what you did in say ah, 1994?? It will REALLY help the next election cycle, Please do. |
| Posted by: ranture 2018-11-10 12:38 |
| #9 California has the most aggressive gun-control in the nation and we still had a shooting. I read today that there were a number of off duty police.sheriff officers in the bar that were unarmed per California law. That makes me extra sad. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2018-11-10 11:16 |
| #8 "The peasants are revolting!" "You're telling me! They stink!" |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2018-11-10 10:34 |
| #7 JQC, I'd put my money on hell & civil war before tyranny. Who could they get to actually do the confiscation? I doubt that the Army or Marines would do it. National Guard? Federal Marshals? Who fires the first shot and who catches the subsequent bullets? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2018-11-10 10:32 |
| #6 Of course the left wants more aggressive gun-control. There is nothing they would like more. They have soggy dreams at night about such things. It is the last road block for a leftist takeover. The ultimate goal is gun confiscation and that is a sure road to tyranny and hell. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2018-11-10 09:36 |
| #5 It worries me that they continue to push so hard. The push back will be harder. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2018-11-10 09:04 |
| #4 It really is revolting. Not yet, but getting there..... |
| Posted by: Hupusock Bourbon1229 2018-11-10 08:31 |
| #3 P2k, absolutely correct. The Dems want to rule a one party authoritarian government where everyone is their churl. For examples you can see most Central American countries, China, USSR, and many in Africa. It really is revolting. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2018-11-10 08:14 |
| #2 This is my shocked face. What is even more interesting is now its clear that its not just the 2d. They want to do away with the whole Constitution thingy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-11-10 07:43 |
| #1 Ha! They sound like republicans who would pass Obamacare elimination bills that would never get signed by Obama. What a waste of energy. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2018-11-10 06:34 |