NRA uses Justice memo to accuse Obama on guns

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By ALAN FRAM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Rifle Association is using a Justice Department memo it obtained to argue in ads that the Obama administration believes its gun control plans won't work unless the government seizes firearms and requires national gun registration - ideas the White House has not proposed and does not support.

The NRA's assertion and its obtaining of the memo in the first place underscore the no-holds-barred battle under way as Washington's fight over gun restrictions heats up.

The memo, under the name of one of the Justice Department's leading crime researchers, critiques the effectiveness of gun control proposals, including some of President Barack Obama's. A Justice Department official called the memo an unfinished review of gun violence research and said it does not represent administration policy.

The memo says requiring background checks for more gun purchases could help, but also could lead to more illicit weapons sales. It says banning assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines produced in the future but exempting those already owned by the public, as Obama has proposed, would have limited impact because people now own so many of those items.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130224/DA4KMBPO1.html

---

FILE – In this Jan. 28, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama meets to discuss administration policies to reduce gun violence with representatives from Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriffs Association at the White House in Washington. The National Rifle Association is using a Justice Department memo it obtained to argue in ads that the Obama administration believes its gun control plans won't work unless the government seizes firearms and requires national gun registration, ideas the White House has not proposed and does not support. At left isHennepin County Minnesota Sheriff Richard W. Stanek, and at right is Charles H. Ramsey Police, Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

[onehandle]

1. Nobody cares what the NRA thinks anymore.

They are heading towards the dustbin of history.

[struggle4progress]

2. nra propaganda. whoopie.

[LAGC]

3. NRA bloviating aside, that Justice Memo spells out the facts of the matter.

None of these current half-baked gun control measures being proposed are going to be effective at all. It's just going to be a lot of political capital wasted for nothing.

Universal background checks will probably only lead to MORE illicit arms on the streets as more straw-purchases and stolen guns flood the black market.

Nothing short of a full ban and MASSIVE buy-back of all handguns will put a serious dent in gun violence in this country.

So-called "assault weapons" and rifles only account for a very small portion of gun crime, and not even a very big portion of these mass-shootings, Aurora and Sandy Hook aside.

[AlbertCat]

5. ...MASSIVE buy-back of all handguns will put a serious dent in gun violence in this country.

I dunno.

How about a change in the attitude that a gun is some kind of kitchen appliance and a DANGEROUS weapon instead.

How one does that, I don't know. Education.... public announcements... I dunno. Why the zeitgeist changes is probably too complicated an act to get a handle on.

[bossy22]

6. I have a problem with the education proposal

I think 99.99% of gun owners realize that a gun isn't just a toy but a tool that if mis-used can have deadly consequences. I'd say that percentage is far higher than the amount of people who have similar feelings/respect for cars (when i was learning to drive my father taught me that a car should be treated like any other deadly weapon).

Such an education campaign would have to seriously overstate the inherent danger in a firearm. You would have to make it so that it appears that a gun is more dangerous that most household items- many of which are statistically more dangerous than a gun (example is a private pool and childhood drowning)

[AlbertCat]

8. It's not how dangerous a gun is!

You are illustrating my point.

It's not that a gun is a dangerous weapon.... it's that it is a WEAPON in the 1st place.

Cars, household items, guns..... one of these things is not like the other...

[In_The_Wind]

10. I disagree!

[Tx4obama]

4. The headline on the front page of HuffPo says: NRA Uses Justice Department Memo To Make FALSE Claim

[bossy22]

7. I like the idea of an online portal

it would def. alleviate the fears that universal checks would make it prohibitively difficult to sell a gun privately.

I'd add 3 more things to such a compromise
1 handgun a month limit- this would def. limit some of the bulk purchase and straw buys we have. There would be an exemption for collectors
Universal Safe storage- this would lower the amount of guns stolen. We could tailor the law to prohibit unsafe storage of a firearm when no one is home. this would allow for someone to still keep a shotgun/handgun next to the bed at night ready for home defense. We could even make the purchase of a Safe tax deductable to encourage this activity
National CCW endorsement- This would allow someone with a CCW to get a federal endorsement (it would require certain training and testing) to carry a firearm in all 50 states. The requirements should include proficiency testing and requalification. It would be similar to a police firearms course but tailored to the situations private citizens are most likely to face