Congress has let the 10-year sunset law banning semi-automatic weapons expire, so please, help yourself to an Uzi, AK-47, a TEC-9 or an NRA membership. I distinctly remember Bush saying something once about wanting to prevent terrorist activity and violent crime in the United States. There is no better way to meet that goal than by making semi-automatic weapons available to any schmuck who wants one.
It's disheartening to think that NRA influence on Congress is strong enough to sway legislators to let the gun ban expire, and that the opinions and requests of law enforcement officials and their families mean little or nothing. Granted, Bush made a good political move in appeasing one of his biggest campaign contributors - the NRA - before a presidential election, but he didn't seem to think twice about the lives he would be endangering by allowing these weapons on the streets again.
The 2002 Sniper shootings in the Washington D.C. area were the product of an illegal assault rifle, according to the Washington Post. ( HYPERLINK "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles) Shooting sprees involving illegal weapons sometimes occurred under the ban, but how many more will occur when those weapons are perfectly legal?
In his 2002 campaign, Bush said he would sign an extension of the semi-automatic weapons ban, according to USA Today. Interesting that the extension date landed on an election year, and Bush conveniently decided not to urge Congress to send him the bill, as he had promised.
Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay told Reuters last Wednesday that, regarding the gun ban, Congress doesn't do things by the polls. Obviously. A study done by the non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center shows that seven in 10 Americans supported the ban, including a number of gun owners. If they don't do things by the polls, how do members of Congress get re-elected? After all, isn't that re-election the first priority on their agendas? The Justice Department has reported that violent crime is holding steady at its lowest levels since the 1970's and that it has dropped 14 percent since 2000. Let's stop that peaceful trend right now. It's getting out of hand.
I'm sure that if he gets re-elected, George W. won't hesitate to push the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act -- also a sunset bill -- through Congress for renewal this winter. The act, which is an acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism," allows government officials to rob citizens of basic civil liberties -- liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights - in the name of homeland security. This act vastly increases powers of the executive branch of government, and extends government agencies' powers of surveillance. Your e-mail and Internet usage can be tracked without your knowledge, the government can monitor financial transactions at will, and they can conduct nationwide wiretaps. The FBI can arrest citizens without a warrant and secretly search a person's home or office without notifying them until after the search is complete -- allowing government officials to evade the fourth amendment requiring probable cause. To review the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.03162:.
However, no one needs to worry about these unchecked powers lasting much longer. If John Kerry takes office, the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act will surely expire. And, as he has demonstrated this week, Bush isn't really a fan of renewing sunset laws, even if it's what Americans ask for.
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