- WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration
is bucking the National Rifle Association and supporting a renewal of the
assault weapons ban, set to expire just before the presidential election.
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- "The president supports the current law, and he
supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman
Scott McClellan said.
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- Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top
priority for the NRA. President Bush said during his presidential campaign
that he supported the current ban, but it was less clear whether he would
support an extension.
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- The White House comment comes just before the NRA's annual
convention and as the gun debate overall shows signs of fresh life after
several years of near hibernation.
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- Republicans now control the House and the Senate and
are using their newfound power to breathe life into the stalled pro-gun
rights agenda. This week, they pushed through a bill in the House to give
gunmakers and dealers sweeping immunity from lawsuits.
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- The assault weapons ban is considered a crown jewel by
the gun-control movement, and even though its expiration is more than a
year away it is already being watched closely.
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- Attorney General John Ashcroft, who like Bush is a staunch
gun-rights supporter, muddied the waters in a recent appearance before
the Senate Judiciary Committee when he refused to say whether the administration
supports an extension. Ashcroft cited a 1999 Justice Department report
that said the ban's impact on deadly gun violence is unclear.
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- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will introduce a bill
in the coming weeks to reauthorize the assault-weapons ban.
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- The White House announcement surprised those on both
sides of the gun issue. "That's lousy politics," said Grover
Norquist, an NRA board member who leads the conservative pro-Bush group
Americans for Tax Reform.
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- Joe Sudbay of the Violence Policy Center said it "creates
a huge problem for Bush" with the NRA. "The NRA said they would
be working out of the Oval Office when Bush was elected. This creates an
interesting situation for them," he said.
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- Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA,
said Bush's support was somewhat irrelevant. "Ultimately, I think
this issue is going to be decided by the Congress," LaPierre said.
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- If it is, the NRA has reason to be optimistic. This week's
action on the immunity legislation for dealers and gunmakers reflects the
interest of Republicans to resurrect the pro-gun rights agenda.
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- Congress had been poised to act on the bill last fall,
but the deadly sniper attacks in the Washington area prompted a delay.
The measure has enough co-sponsors in the Senate to pass that chamber unless
Democrats dig in their heels and filibuster.
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- Supporters of the immunity bill say it shields gunmakers
from bankruptcy because of frivolous lawsuits that became popular during
the Clinton administration.
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- Lawsuits filed by cities against gun manufacturers --
modeled on similar litigation against the tobacco industry -- have so far
been unsuccessful but have kept gunmakers tied up in court.
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- Gun control advocates say the immunity bill will keep
innocent victims of gun violence from getting their day in court. The gun
industry would become the first to receive blanket immunity protections
if the bill succeeds.
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- http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/5618793.htm
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